What does Zebu Dung have to do with The Gospel?*

A Zebu is a small South Asian cow. They are less than half the size of regular cows and they have a distinctive hump on their back near the shoulders. They look like a miniature Brahman cow.

We have a very creative and energetic children’s minister, Jackie Frazier. She has a great ministry with lots of volunteers, kids, and their parents.  Vacation Bible School is one of her specialties. She hosts statewide VBS clinics and her preparations and decorations are among the best I’ve ever seen.  This year’s theme was “In The Wild” from LifeWay. Her decorations were exceptional with every hallway decorated with a different habitat: Arctic, Antarctic, African jungle, African plains, and Asian animal habitats. She had live animals each night: from sloths, to bunnies, to llamas and alpacas; she also had kangaroos, goats and sheep… and this year she had a Zebu! The kids loved them all. They added to the enhancement of the theme and excitement of the whole VBS experience.

On the third night of VBS, the Zebu was the featured animal. This Zebu was small even for a miniature cow, had large charming cow eyes and a calm disposition in spite of the wild surroundings, loud music, and kids singing.  The Zebu had just completed its session of petting and parading, when, as all animals do… it did another p word… it pooped! Fortunately, it was not around the children but it was near one of the entrances to the building where children and their parents would soon be exiting. Several people quickly got to work doing Zebu dung remediation.  Mind you this is a cow, they don’t drop biscuits, they leave piles of manure. At first, I was a little taken aback… as if I expected the poor Zebu to have better manners than to relieve itself at the entrance of the church building. But then, I had to laugh. I began to think how many people in United States churches can say, “yeah, I cleaned up Zebu dung at VBS last night.”  Then I started thinking, “Wow, I’m a part of a church that will go to any length to reach kids with the Gospel, ‘that by ALL means we may save some.(1 Cor. 9:22)’”

This was a messy ministry night, but Rick Warren reminded me years ago at a conference that ministry is messy (and not just when we have animals at church).  Warren points to the principal behind Proverbs 14:4 that says, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.” Warren says, we want to love people, disciple them for Jesus and bring them into the church, but humans have messy lives and when we love them well, we eventually find their mess.  When we follow Jesus, we become people who love each other especially well through our messes. We could have squeaky clean churches, but they would all be empty. When we do real life ministry, there is always some dung to deal with.

Those who love me well, deal with the not so pleasant stuff in my life.  They help me clean it up and I’m grateful. I hope you soon get to enjoy the great privilege of loving or being loved so well that life's mess gets cleaned up. If we love each other well, I believe we will get to see the increase.

How All Believers Go PRO With Emotional Pain:* Two Ways are Really Bad, One is Really Good

Emotional pain is inevitable… We have all been hurt at some point in our lives and we will all likely be hurt again. Jesus told us, “in this world you will have trouble…” So, how do we deal with this pain?

In 5th grade I changed schools, it was a traumatic experience. I had moved from a small setting designed for kids who had learning differences... mine happened to be dyslexia and the ADHD that sometimes goes with it. The new school had large classes that rotated... one of my teachers didn't even know my name. There happened to be an extra-large, almost full grown young man who was a student in my fifth grade class. I had never heard the kind of language that came out of his mouth and I had never experienced a "swirly" or been stuffed into a locker, or had a super-sonic wedgie until I met extra large, redheaded Raymond. I was undersized for 5th grade, so as I saw it, my options were few... As I look back on the experience, I can see where some good coaching on processing emotional pain could have been beneficial for both of us. I now recognize that the world he grew up in probably had few tools to cope with life other than physical strength, harsh language, and whatever strong arm tactics would ensure survival of the fittest. I also recognized that my life coping tool box had little more than silent, numbing and hiding behaviors that included eating a half a loaf of cinnamon toast smothered in butter and powdered sugar, then going to bed all afternoon everyday, so I could dull the pain. If my grown self could have gone back to that towheaded, wobbly kneed, inwardly angered boy self, I would have tried to give him some skills in handling the pain inflicted by my red-headed Goliath from elementary school. I would probably go back and try to give Raymond some coping skills for his tool box that would be more beneficial for him in the long run too. I would tell boy-me to pray for Raymond, talk about my emotional pain with a friend or my parents instead of eating my pain with lots of butter, cinnamon sugar and white flour bread and sleeping through my pre-teen life. I would have engaged boy-me in sports or karate or a hobby that would develop my own discipline. I would also tell Raymond it's not okay to put my head in the toilet. And as an adult, I may have told boy-Raymond that God really loves him and there are people who really care about him and there are ways to process the pain from his home and surroundings with words and prayer. I would ask him to express his frustrations and anger in more verbally productive ways rather than spewing expletives at anyone around him. I would involve him in a sport that would allow him to use his physical prowess in more rewarding, less destructive ways.

Using this and other personal life experiences and doing some research and bible study there seem to be three basic ways we deal with our pain. We can remember them with the word PRO. We all go PRO with pain, because sometimes life just hurts and sometimes people hurt each other … intentionally or not. There are two ways we handle our pain and they are bad for us because they are bad for our relationships and we are designed as relational beings. When we PROject our pain on others (like boy-Raymond) and/or we attempt to PROtect ourselves from ever being hurt again (like boy-me) we harm our relationships. There is however a relationally healthy way of handling our pain… we can PROcess it. Jerrod Justice tells us, “Our pain is either transmitted or transformed.”

When we PROject our pain, we hurt other people. We have become quite adept at the ways we can do it. We can gossip, berate, or belittle others.  It can be someone who hurt us, as we exact revenge, or it could just be someone around us, unrelated to the hurt, who happens to be convenient. We can intentionally ignore, exclude or abandon people.  We can physically harm them (like stuffing them in a locker).  We humans can be quite evil and creative when we project our pain on others.  Somehow we think it will make us feel better about ourselves, but that is never the case for long. We often get caught in a vicious cycle of harm when we project our pain on others. Projecting our pain, makes us the worst version of ourselves.

When we PROtect ourselves from pain, we hide from other people. We try any way we can to just escape the pain. We just want it to stop. We do need to protect ourselves from further harm, but there are some really unhealthy ways to do it which diminish who we are. We can numb ourselves with food (like loaves of cinnamon toast and butter), drugs, other chemicals, porn, alcohol and unhealthy relationships...   We can even convince ourselves that excessive exercise, religion, work, or sleep is good for us ... you can fill in the blank here with something else that is otherwise considered healthy or beneficial, but is destructive in excess.  Or we can hide behind a persona never showing who we really are for fear we will be hurt again.  When we hide our true self, we have cheated the world out of experiencing the very relationships to which we are meant to bring life. We bring much less of who we are to our relationships when we are numbing, masking, or hiding from others so we won’t hurt anymore.

PROcessing our pain is the best option. It allows us to help other people instead of hiding from them or hurting them. Processing preserves relationships and helps us move forward after painful encounters. We need to first process our pain with the God who sees us, hears us, and cares about us. We do this by praying and seeking some comfort from His presence, His Word and His people (those who are mature enough to bring some comfort and wisdom). If the pain is inflicted by people rather than something else, we may need to talk through the issue with those who have hurt us. According to Brene’ Brown in Rising Strong, we should generously assume the other person was doing the best they could at the time of the hurtful encounter. We will also need to set clear boundaries with these people and let them know what is "not okay." (Raymond was probably doing the best he could to survive in his 5th grade world with the tools he had been given by those in his world.)

We don’t choose to process our pain just because it is the best of our choices, we do it because it is who we are becoming as we follow Christ. Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder tell us in RARE Leadership, just because we have been given good rational choices, doesn’t mean we will choose to do them. Our actions are based on our identity ... who we really are, not on whether we think something is a good idea or not.(My boy-self identified as the undersized wimp who had no one to help and no choices but to self-medicate. Boy Raymond identified as the bully, who hurt others before they could hurt him.) As we identify with Jesus we connect with Him and act like Him and we learn how to do it from those who follow Him well. We can respond to pain in a healthy way and process it like Jesus did. He was hurt but it was His identity to love people no matter what. Jesus followers can do this too. The apostle Paul reminded the early church who they were in Christ and he told them how those who belong to Him act and live. We help others, we do good and not evil and we don’t numb ourselves… (even when we are hurting.)

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11 (CEV)

5  You belong to the light and live in the day. We don't live in the night or belong to the dark. 6  Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. 7  People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. 8  But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet. 9  God doesn't intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. 10  Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11  That's why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.

Don’t PROject your emotional pain and hurt others or PROtect only yourself and hide from others, but PROcess your pain, stay relational and help others... because it's who were are... people who love others well!

No Fruit, Rotten Fruit or Good Useful Fruit

When I lived in Chattanooga, I had some really big Bradford pear trees in my yard. They were so overgrown when we moved in, one of my first yard work tasks was to tame them. So, I cut them way back. The next year they bloomed so beautifully.  But a week or two later the blooms fell off and began to stink.  They smelled like a cross between bad preteen-slider-eating-boy-in-plastic-shoes kind of foot odor and week old diaper genie bag sitting in a hot wet trashcan.  Those trees looked really good, but they produced no fruit and they smelled bad. It made you want to avoid being near them.

Since moving to Ohio, I have discovered that many yards have apple trees, many with big red, sweet and tart delicious apples.  But in several of the yards, the apples had just fallen to the ground, rotted and begun to smell.  Those trees were full of apples, but the fruit they produced had just been neglected and left to decompose on the ground.

My daughter, the paleo-test-kitchen-chef, who my other daughter says "is too skinny for skinny jeans," actually picked some of the apples off a tree and made wonderful-whole-house-smelling, delicious-can't-stop-eating, gluten free, apple pop-tarts and strudels. She completed the process, making the fruit nourishing and enjoyable to others.

So, where is this discipleship pastor going with this orchard observation?  You knew there had to be an illustration somewhere. Here we go: some Bradford pear churches look really good, but they produce no useful fruit, they just look beautiful for a while, but then drop their blooms and begin to stink... people eventually discover that the beauty is all a facade and stay away.  Other churches look good and produce good fruit, but then the fruit is left to rot and it is no longer useful... people come and have great potential, but there is no mentoring or discipling going on, so the fruit is wasted.  But some churches produce useful fruit and actually use it to make something wonderful, nourishing and enjoyable to others... people are discipled; they not only look good, smell good and taste good, they  really are good and do good. They are developed to make a difference in the lives of others.

Jesus gives a warning in one of His parables about wasting valuable fertile soil space in  Luke 13:6-9 ... “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷  He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil??’ ⁸
 “But he replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹  Perhaps it will produce fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’”  

The vineyard owner was full of grace, he expected fruit every year, but for three years it never produced. The vineyard worker showed even more grace and said, "I will fertilize it." But after a total of four years and some extra attention, if it doesn't produce, it will be cut down.

Churches all over the US are closing their doors.  Some looked really good, "back in the day," but now they are producing little to nothing and/or what they are producing is going to waste.  Let's add some fertilizer, produce some fruit, make that fruit useful and see if there is some hope of production, before it's too late.

John 15:1-8 (CSBBible)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²  Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. ³  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴  Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. ⁵  I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. ⁶  If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. ⁸  My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

Farewell My Friend

While many men collect many different things. Jim had a different passion.

Some men collect golf trophies, hunting trophies and tennis trophies. Some even collect trophy wives. But Jim collected trophies of grace. He loved the Lord and thrilled to see people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then he loved to see them grow up in faith. He loved to tell people that my wife was one of those trophies of grace.

Here is one story that could be repeated over and over by people all over the country. My wife Anita was new to Brentwood as a high schooler.  Jim was the minister of youth at Brentwood Baptist. Jim visited Anita's house and personally invited Anita and her brother to church and youth activities. At the same time Jim was discipling Allyson, who would soon disciple Anita and several others in Christ.  Allyson ended up at Seminary and is now serving the New England Baptist Convention as a Student Ministry specialist. She has now discipled many generations of students. Anita ended up at seminary with yours truly and she has discipled scores of people too. Jim loved Jesus Christ and the fruit of his ministry is being passed down from generation to generation.

I remember the first time I met Jim, it was before I went to seminary and Anita and I drove from Knoxville to Chattanooga. He had brought his youth group from L.A., i.e. Lower Alabama, to Covenant College to student camp. He was so encouraging to me and told me to definitely move forward to seminary.

The second time I met Jim was when Anita and I had gone to Southwestern Seminary, he happened to be in Fort Worth on business and took us to dinner at Joe T. Garcia’s. He loved his Mexican food. We had enjoyed the meal and he was about to pick up the check and I jokingly told him that God had told me to buy his lunch and I pulled out a credit card. He laughed and called me a liar and said God knows everything and knows that Joe T. Garcia’s doesn’t take credit cards.

I loved how Jim didn’t pull any punches, he always told it like it was. Even when it got him into trouble he was going to tell the truth about a situation. You always knew where you stood with Jim. He would call out your sin and laugh, but you also knew he loved you no matter what.

When he moved back to Nashville. He was looking for another ministry opportunity. I had just taken a senior pastor position and knew that I would love to have him help with the students even if we could only afford part time, while he continued his job search.The church voted on him and we got to watch as he loved those kids just like he had all the others before.

Jim  mentored me well for almost 30 years. Jim has spiritual children and grandchildren around the world who are pastors, denominational leaders, teachers, deacons, and strong Jesus followers in the secular world. 

Jim was not perfect,  he never claimed to be but he always pointed to the grace of Jesus. Jim's road was not easy, yet he always persevered. Cancer took him too soon, but we have to trust that God’s timing is always right. 

Jim loved students and loved to see them grow toward Christ. He especially liked the hard cases... those who were too cool, too shy, too messed up or too angry. Which is probably why he agreed to mentor me! He never gave up on anyone. He always had hope and gave that hope to those around him. He loved his Mexican food, his ministry and his Jesus. 

Jim,  We will miss you, but we are confident that the One who saved you has saved us too and we will spend all eternity with Him. Farewell my friend!

Parenting Safari*

As our family grew I lost any of the coolness that I ever thought I had.  As more bundles of joy began blessing our home, the first thing to go was the sporty SUV.  We needed something much more practical, a Minivan.  We started with two old Chrysler Town and Countrys with wood panel decals, then finally a GMC Safari. That van had three rows of “don’t make me come back there” seating for 8. It was “so not cool”, but we discovered that the minivan was a great place to disciple our kids. They were captive in car seats, they had no control over the audio, and it was the first place Mom could help them process what happened at school, sports practice, or a friend’s house.

With four kids, we were always going somewhere… school, soccer, dance, swim, church and long trips to see the relatives. The minivan became a little chapel on wheels for our kids and their friends. We began with an opening prayer for a “hedge of protection” around our vehicle. As you can imagine, these preacher’s kids also had to listen to Bible Songs, Kids’ Praise music, and every episode of Veggietales. (And if you turned it up loud enough it would drown out even the most obnoxious whining.) When it was a bad day, conversations were steered toward God’s amazing love and forgiveness. When there were challenges to be faced the next day with a tough assignment or a difficult classmate, the discussion turned toward a Biblical life lesson. And when an ambulance came by we prayed for anyone who was hurt. The kids soon learned scripture and godly values as they rode around.

But don't get the wrong impression, just like most "churches," we also had our share of dysfunctional behavior in that van. Short tempered parents spewing angry outbursts at kids who were doing the best they could at the moment. Selfish choices to not share the snack or whatever. Sippy-cups thrown at siblings. Stopping at every other exit on a 2 hour trip, because, despite the warnings, at least one of them didn't use the restroom at the last stop. We definitely weren't the most emotionally or spiritually healthy van on the road, however, by God's grace He used it to help disciple all of us.

We were learning to share cheetos in that van, and to respect each other, and wait our turn to talk. We had a lot of joy in that van too... Singing together (we are definitely not the Von Trapp family) and we often got to hear the latest joke or funny incident at school.

Perhaps some of the most important discipling came during middle school carpools. My wife would sit, listen and gently steer the conversation back to something more healthy when the language took a turn for the worse.Once, my wife had a daily 45 minute commute each way to the gym with 7 middle school cheerleaders. She was not sure what kind of impact her driver’s seat discipling had made on these girls from various family backgrounds. But when one of them broke her elbow trying to do a handspring, they all ran straight to my wife asking for prayer and looking to her for support.  

Maybe that rolling Bible-to-life-lesson classroom in the uncool van did make a difference… our adult children still want to follow Jesus...

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (NIV) Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you go along the road... 

This article appeared in GoodNews Christian Magazine March 2018, Page 22. https://issuu.com/goodnewschatt/docs/chattanooga_march_2018

Sometimes God Has To Write It In The Sky

Our first (and only) time to go to Disney as a family, we had talked to all of our friends who were Disney fanatics. They told us how to make reservations to the resort and to the best dinner places around the parks, about the Disney dining plan, about how to ride all the best rides, how to make your dollar go further, what days to do the park hopper, where to see the fireworks and parades, transportation to the park, how to stay late, how to see the characters. These people knew everything. So, with much fear and trepidation I said, “okay Anita make the reservation.”

My wife did all her homework and made reservations for us. Of course, for the McGinnis clan we have to have enough room to sleep 6. So, Anita gets a really great Disney representative on the phone who set us up with adjoining rooms, a reasonable meal plan and park passes for 4 days for a reasonable price.

We always try to stay positive for our kids. When they are anxious we try to remind them of Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV), which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” However, God usually has to remind me too.

 On the long drive to Orlando, I start getting anxious. I’m thinking, “We are going to get there and the plans are going to fall apart.” I was thinking “Wow, I am so Disney ignorant. What happens if we have a terrible time? I will have wasted all this money and all this time and we didn’t get any closer as a family.”

 We get to “the happiest place on earth” the night before our first park day. I get a few hours of restless sleep at the All-star Value Resort and the next morning I get up and go poolside to do my regular quiet time. So, in my journal I talk to God about my worries and anxieties about us going to the Disney parks for 4 days with 4 kids. Finally, in desperation I write, “Okay God, if this is all going to work out, You are just going to have to write it in the sky.”

 So, we get in the Safari van and head to the park. As we are driving into the parking lot, the kids say, “Hey dad, that airplane is writing letters in the sky.” It says, T.R.U.S.T and under it is says, J.E.S.U.S.” So, the rest of the week, I did. I had that peace that guards your hearts and minds. I didn’t need secret insider knowledge of Disney. All I needed was Jesus. Now, whenever I get anxious about anything, my wife and kids say, “hey dad, that airplane is writing words in the sky.”

This article appeared on page 24 of the GoodNews Chattanooga Magazine in May 2018, click here to see it.

PS.  My oldest daughter later returned to Disney for the Disney College Program.  She loved it and she was "friends with" Pluto, Cinderella, the Easter Bunny, and Rafiki.  She too had many opportunities to TRUST JESUS while she lived and worked at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Neck Stretching, Leaning Forward, Tippy-Toed Christmas Anticipation

Christmas mornings as kids, my sister and I woke up really early. Many times we were sent back to bed for another hour or two.  Trying to stay in the bed when my heart was racing in anticipation of what could be under the Christmas tree was often a task too great for this youngster.  

Sometimes I would sneak back into the living room with the lights out hoping to see the outline of any of the gifts that were left unwrapped.  In the low light I could see faint outlines of what I thought was the gift I had “always wanted.”  Then my heart would race even faster as I imagined myself riding the new Big Wheel, pogo stick, moon shoes (now those were an accident waiting to happen!) or shooting a Red Ryder BB gun (“you’ll shoot your eye out kid”).

But the year I thought I would get that Spyder bike with the cool “monkey hanger” handle bars with black simulated leather tassels and the “banana seat,” the picture in my mind was too much. I was so absorbed in my imagination,  I even caught myself making “udn, udn” noises as if the bike was motorized, and then I had to look around in embarrassment to make sure no one had heard me.  The anticipation had me standing on my toes peeking in, leaning forward, straining my eyes in the dark to see if I really saw that bike.

The Bible  says that creation is doing the same thing, standing on its tippy toes straining to see something. However, creation does this longing to see which of us are true believers in Jesus. Romans 8:19 says,“For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.” Apparently, in the Greek this verse paints a picture of someone literally watching with outstretched head, standing on tiptoes and eyes looking ahead, totally absorbed with intent expectancy.

Mary and Joseph awaited the Messiah whom God told them she would bear that first Christmas. Every birth pang brought a little more anticipation of the Advent of Christ. There are birth pangs and anticipation again, from all creation this time for Christ’s Second Advent. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Jesus is coming again and true believers are living life leaning forward in anticipation. They are telling their friends and family about this great gift of salvation from God. Like kids eagerly anticipating Christmas morning, creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal Himself and His true children.  Jesus is coming back to save those who are leaning forward with tiptoed eagerness.  Hebrews 9:28 says,  “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

This article appeared in GoodNews Chattanooga Magazine in December 2017, Page 36 https://issuu.com/goodnewschatt/docs/december_2017_chattanooga