Five Down, Five to Go

A few random thoughts on why we do what we do …

2) It’s a heavy schedule, I know, and part of it is that my travel tends to come together topsy-turvy. One of the invitations I had accepted while I was still a pastor in Oak Park. Others came over a year ago. This has just turned into a busy season of life for us.

3) I have a new appreciation for all those businessmen and women who travel for a living. I know now what a toll travel takes on the body and the mind, not to speak of the soul. People who think travel is glamorous haven’t done much of it.

4) But it’s not all bad. Tonight I talked with my older brother Andy, a urologist in Florence, AL. I told him my schedule and said that I was pushing hard until November 12 when my major travel for the year will be over. “Just be glad you have somewhere to go,” he said. Wise advice. Last night at 11:30 PM he was called to do an emergency operation on a teenage boy who had an ATV accident. Then he had two more surgeries in a nearby town this morning and two more this afternoon plus other office visits. “Someday all my days will be free,” he said. True enough.

5) I had an awesome, amazing time at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles last weekend. Pastor H. B. Charles, Jr. and his people rolled out the red carpet in every possible way. I loved worshiping with them on Sunday. We started the first service at 8 AM and finished at 10 AM. Then the pastor and I and several leaders went to his office where we were served breakfast, and I don’t mean a continental breakfast. I’m talking about scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits, grits, and orange juice. Then we started the second service at 11 AM and finished about 1:15 PM. I signed books and greeted people until about 2 PM. Then the pastor took me to the Marina (I don’t really know which one, except that it was near the airport) for lunch at Eli’s Cheesecake Factory. Then one of the associate pastors took me to see the new location for the church. It’s a larger church they hope to purchase and occupy by January. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.

6) Pastor Charles has written two very kind blog entries about the weekend:

Still Feasting
Saturday Pastor’s Seminar

7) H. B. Charles Jr. is an amazing man. At the age of 34, he has pastored Mt. Sinai for 17 years already. That’s not a misprint. His father pastored the same church for 40 years. A year after his father’s death, H. B. Jr. was called to follow his father at Mt. Sinai. The late E. V. Hill and H. B.’s father were very close friends, by the way. So starting as a teenager, Pastor Charles (or “H. B.” as nearly everyone calls him) has led the church forward. As a preacher, he is committed to expository preaching. Right now he is preaching through Ephesians and Joshua. And because of his obvious gifts, the Lord has opened doors for him to preach almost every week at churches across America. Without a doubt he is a rising star among younger pastors in America.

8) Readers of this blog know that I like to do a quick evaluation of churches I visit according to three standards:

Strength of congregational singing
Obvious love between the pastor and the people
Eagerness to hear the Word of God

I would rate Mt. Sinai very highly on all three categories. We sang accompanied by a drum set, a Hammond organ, a synthesizer, and an electric guitar (and we had a choir in the second service). I particularly enjoyed singing “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High,” not in the up-tempo way it is usually sung, but slowly and with deep feeling.

9) Before we observed the Lord’s Supper, Pastor Charles had the congregation read the church covenant together. Then he exhorted us to thank God for our salvation and reminded us of the importance of Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. The whole atmosphere was personal and reverent and vibrant.

10) In the first service, just before I got up to speak, he said, “Preaching time has come.” It was a dramatic announcement that the congregation should be prepared to hear the Word of the Lord. As I preached, the people listened intently and often responded verbally to my sermon. I found that to be very encouraging and helpful.

11) If you wonder why I travel as I do, it is for the privilege of ministering in places like Thailand (a week ago) and at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church last Sunday.

12) I have been thinking a lot about Keep Believing Ministries lately. I like to tell people that “our name is our mission.” We write and speak and travel and provide resources to help people keep believing in Jesus. We do that through the Book Depot and through the Internet and by our books and by speaking in many places. I think God used us in Thailand and again in Los Angeles to encourage pastors and to strengthen believers.

13) That’s why we do what we do, and that’s why it’s five down and five to go.