John 316 Marshall

I am always fascinated by the names new church planters use for their congregations. We are in the one-word, two-word, at most three-word, era. One thing that helps reduce the number of words in a church name is to dispense with the name Baptist; some even don't use the word church. Oh well, be that as it may, I would like to share two thoughts on this subject; one tongue in cheek, and one for real. I think I would like, just to be different, use multiple words for a church's name. For instance, how about "The Loyal Order of Non-creedal Apostolic Followers of the Bible in the United States of America, Incorporated"? When I was a boy, there was a church in Philadelphia that had a name longer than this. It had a national radio program we sometimes listened to. One year on vacation, Mom and Dad decided to be in Philadelphia for this church's Sunday morning worship service. It was baptism Sunday. They went outside, turned up the music, turned on the hoses, and started

Jesus lived in an agrarian society. Thus His parables often played off themes familiar to people in that kind of culture. Had our Master lived today, in a group that loved to do puzzles, He may have used the following parable at Luke 15:4-7. "What puzzlers, having 999 pieces safely on the table, do not leave them to find the one? When they find it, they bear it joyfully to the table, rejoicing. And when the puzzle is done, the puzzlers tell their families the glad tidings, and then post on Facebook a Huzzah! Likewise, there is joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over 999 just persons, who need no repentance." This idea came to me while I was flat on my belly, crawling from one piece of furniture to another, looking for piece 1000. I've done this twice in recent days. One time I found it; one time I failed to locate it. There is a huge difference between finding and losing the one piece. Our Master cares about the one. May we follow His lead. www.john316ma

15. Mark on your calendar early in the year all holidays, vacation days, and special occasions with family. Don't let your loved ones and you be a victim of your own negligence. Calendars fill up quickly. Make sure you are the filler, not the fillee. 16. Call people by name. Before I had my heart attacks and stroke 14 years ago, I could call 2000 people at Second by name. I miss being good with names. If you don't know a person's name, address them with neutral terms like "Sir, Ma'am, Brother, Sister" as opposed to "Honey, Dear, Sweetie, Precious, Handsome, Hunk." Some find the latter demeaning, others interpret them as a come-on. 17. Never throw away magazines, books, DVDs, etc. Pass them on to others. You never know when someone's life may be immeasurably blessed by what you put in their hands to read or listen to. 18. Do nothing anonymously. At Second, anonymous connections cards were immediately destroyed rather than passed on. If you can'

10. Do not use negative humor. No ethnic jokes, no racial slurs; my southern-born parents drilled this into me. No demeaning remarks about your spouse. Marriage is thought lowly of in our culture. Let's try to turn that around. Next to being saved, being happily married is the most wonderful thing in the world. 11. Work hard, work happy. Both are Biblical. Work hard is the Protestant work ethic. Work happy reminds us work was part of the blessing, not the curse, in Eden. Help others enjoy their work settings. Be a model employee. Glue the seat of your pants to the seat at your desk until your work is done. 12. Be a lifelong learner. Read, watch videos, attend conferences, go see others who are doing well what you would like to do, etc. Stay on the cutting edge of life. Never grow stale. 13. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Answer phone calls, emails, text messages, and messenger notifications promptly. Be courteous. Don't leave people hanging. 14. Always—always!—be on tim

5. Write. I have kept a daily diary every day since July 20, 1976. I wish I would have kept a prayer journal. Writing is a difficult, but highly rewarding, discipline. By the way, use good grammar while you're at it. 6. Develop the habit of being kind and gracious. It is learned behavior. Practice makes perfect. Kindness costs us nothing, yet buys a world of good will. Kindness is Christianity in action. 7. Let your words be seasoned with tenderness. Few lies are bigger than "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Words can be the ultimate killers. Turn them into the ultimate blessings. 8. Control your anger. Don't ever excuse it or blame it on your DNA. You yourself are responsible for your emotions. Outbursts are your own fault. If you have a problem in this area, go get help. Anger has damaged more churches and families than alcohol, drugs, and adultery combined. 9. Receive criticism gladly. It can be a great teacher. If it is not just

Life is too valuable to live it haphazardly. Over my next few blogs, I will share what I believe to be worthwhile goals that can help us live our lives with purpose. 1. Holiness matters most. Keep this uppermost in all your planning. Have a vital inward holy communion with the Holy One that results in an outward holy life worthy of the Holy One. Do private time every day. Pray without ceasing. Try to read the entire Bible every year. You will never regret having this as the top priority of your life. 2. Never quit having hopes and dreams. Life is a stretchable commodity. Flex it with all the gusto you can muster. By the way, these goals are a good place to start. 3. If you ever have marriage, money, or mental heath troubles, get help immediately. PRONTO! In my 51 years of ministry, one thing I saw way too often was; people who came to me for advice and help waited way too long to come. Life is too short and too valuable to let a train wreck in your personal life derail it. 4. Try to ma

I would again not know how much money individuals gave to the church in offerings. This is controversial among Pastors. Many think they should know, and almost have to know, in order to wisely perceive whether people's hearts are with the church or not. I always feared it would lead me to show favoritism or anger. By the way, I would also again never touch church money, and I would also again keep precise receipts on all church money I used. I would again continue my practice of trying to give fallen ministers another chance at the ministry. After I went through my difficult departure from a church, I decided to contact any minister I know that leaves under unpleasant circumstances. When I hear the news, I have regularly called them immediately. Several times I have been told I was the only Pastor that contacted them. A wounded preacher is fragile. Handle with care. I would again try to stay up to date enough with technology to be able to use it as a Pastoral tool. I've never b

I would maintain excellence in worship. I know excellence can become an idol, but what I too often see is mediocrity in worship, which for sure is not good. Always strive to put our best foot forward for the Lord. In my early years, I was Pastor of a church that had a poor choir. We chose to sing only congregational songs, and have solos for the special music. The music was excellent. We sang every verse of every song, and people loved it. Find what your church is musically strong at, and give yourself to it wholeheartedly. I would again finish my education when young. Cram it in. Get it done. If you don't, it will probably come back to bite you later. Earning a degree is harder once you start a family. My only claim to fame is; I am the youngest man ever to earn a doctors degree from a Southern Baptist Seminary (age 23). Now I admit, I made a promise to God the night of my graduation I have kept; I vowed I would never take another school test as long as I lived. Now that I'm a

If I had it to do over again, I think I would pursue a terminal degree. My degree is a professional one; thus I cannot use it to secure a job teaching at a college or seminary. Remaining strong and faithful in the Pastorate for over 40 years is very rare and very hard. A terminal degree gives a minister a few more options vocationally as the decades go by. I would have spent more time praying, and studying about prayer. Enough said. In a do-over, I think I would involve women more in leadership. The only position of Biblical debate is Pastor of a local church. Other than possibly this one position, women should have a free opportunity to serve in any capacity in the Kingdom. Ruth and I wish we would have discovered earlier the huge power of hospitality in our home. Had we started our college group earlier, we would have stayed in touch with young people more through the decades. This would also have taught us the value of surrendering our home to the Lord's work. For most

I made many mistakes through the years, as we all have. There were a handful of church-wide decisions I had to make that I'm not sure I did the best thing. I learned, though, that Satchel Paige, the famous pitcher, had it right when he said, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." We need to think about our past, and learn from it, but must not get mired down in it. At some point, we have to walk away from it. One consolation I do have is; I never made a decision in all my 51 years of ministry that less than a majority of the congregants supported. I am truly a Baptist to the core. Majority rules; not a select few. Unanimity is not necessary. Another regret: I never learned to rest in the Lord. I always felt I was Jacob wrestling with God. I never relaxed in His presence and glory. I am convinced many of my health issues stem from the stress this failure caused me. I did not exercise enough or eat right. When I had my two heart attacks, 14 years

"Pentecostals are poor." That was the stereotype when I started preaching 51 years ago. Tongues-speakers were on the fringe on Christianity. I remember when some thought it was merely a passing fad. Then things began to change. The Pentecostals began rising on the socioeconomic scale, and many of them began staying in mainline denomination rather than leaving due to their beliefs and practices. In my early years, many local church battles were fought over this issue. My family took a huge hit on it. My dad  was one of 12 siblings who grew to adulthood. Eight remained Baptists; four became Pentecostals. The enmity was sometimes palatable. I have a cousin who is an Assembly of God preacher. He and I have grieved that our dads were never able to relax with each other. The "issue" was always there between them. Dad felt it was of the devil; Uncle Bill, whom many in our family say was the greatest pulpiteer our family ever produced, obviously was hurt by this. I remember

Churches will close by the hundreds. We are already seeing this happen. This helps explain why church-planting is our only hope. We are in serious trouble already—only 20% of churches are showing any growth at all—this means 80% are inward-focused, not engaging the culture around them. To avoid our going out of business, our people must interact more with unbelievers. One on one relationships are the only way most unbelievers will ever come to Jesus. Social media has significantly hurt us here. We think it is giving us more influence with unbelievers, but the truth is; Facebook and other social sites are essentially joining us closer together with people just like us. We believers are by and large only talking to each other. Few people outside Christ follow us, and most of us follow very few, if any, unbelievers. This brings me back to one on one relationships. If we are serious about being salt and light in a decaying world, we are going to have to take our calendars out, and

We are clueless. Only God knows for sure. Right now, we are celebrating a honeymoon time of being together. We have always immensely enjoyed each other. The extra time we are having together is like Heaven. No kidding. We are enjoying being parents and grandparents more often. Our family means the world to us. That's the main reason we plan to stay in Springfield. I would like to write, but probably won't. I am a very disciplined person, but writing requires a unique style of discipline I'm not into. I plan to preach till I die. I want to supply preach and hold interim Pastorates, especially in the St. Louis area. The latter would allow me to spend weekends at my dad's house. I covet time with him right now. With regard to the ministry, Ruth and I feel we are living between Acts 9:30 and Acts 11:25. In Acts 9:30 Paul returned to Tarsus for a season. We know nothing about what happened in his life during these days. In Acts 11:25 Barnabas went to Tarsus and r

What do ex-Pastors do? I for the first time in 45 years have to answer this question. I miss preaching regularly to the same Sunday crowd, to people I know and serve. I miss sermon preparation. My spiritual gift of teaching still gnaws at me. I miss the huge intercessory prayer ministry I had as a Pastor. My prayer life has dwindled to a mere shadow of its former self. I knew I spent a lot of time praying for others, I just had no idea how huge a percentage of my prayer time was taken up with it. This former Pastor is having to find a new way of organizing prayer. I plan to go back for a while to the overly simplistic acronym ACTS. ADORATION. I will take time to praise God for who and what He is, His traits. This comes before acknowledging what He does for us. He is holy, love, just, faithful, etc. CONFESSION. In the first of his 95 theses, Luther said repentance is the essence of the Christian life. We always have sins we need to repent of. THANKSGIVING. We thank God