A Rest Upon the Way

"Insufficient funds!" "We just got your labs back and the doctor NEEDS to see you ASAP!" From the child who rarely shares: "Dad, we need to talk." "This is a collect call from XYZ County Jail will you accept the charges?" "This is State Trooper Sutton, what is your relation to ________?" "I regret to inform you..." These, and probably a few dozen other scenarios, can shrink one's world in a heartbeat. How do we reconcile the above statements or questions with Psalm 8, where God lavishes his care upon us? Or Psalm 16, where David says, "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places?"
I want you to know that the health and wealth "gospel" is alive and well in Reformed theological circles and in PCA churches, AND I am the chief of sinners who secretly wants health and wealth more than I want Jesus. I also want you to know that my view of God and His blessings are very small because of my just-below-the-surface health and wealth commitments. Why would I make such a statement? Because when the margins of your world shrink in the blink of an eye, you are given a choice: to trust God in the middle of the awful, or to long with every fiber of your being for the awful to be removed. You obviously can do both, but, at least for me, I'm not sure I wouldn't trade trusting in God for being relieved of my pain and worry.
In the past I have glossed over the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, but think on it with me for just a few minutes. This took place after being a human for 30 years, enduring the whispers of being an illegitimate child, of seeing His creation marred so much, of the constant doubt about who He is even within His own family. And now under extreme physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual duress He is given the choice: trust God or have your immediate pain relieved. All of it is a precursor leading up to the cross. And the temptations didn't stop after this event, Satan's attacks, as they always are, were purposed and relentless. I am thankful that I am united to Jesus and that His obedience is my obedience because my obedience is often lacking, and the worst of it you can't even see.
So what do I need to do and maybe if this resonates, what could you join me in doing? The plain and simple truth is repent and believe, yet again. All of us, your pastor included, are often blind to the majesty and lavish nature of our God. Maybe repentance looks like allowing people, including yourself, to be wrong and then to give them and you, perhaps at great cost, the space and time to repent and believe. I really want to qualify right now what I exactly mean by "wrong", but I am not going to. My reason being that the space and time and ways folks repent and believe are as different as our fingerprints. The only constant in an insufficient funds world is the ALL SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST, His life, His death, His resurrection, His sending of the Spirit, His constant intercession for us, His promises in Scripture and the certainty of His return and of a new heavens and new earth. I literally have nothing else, and my reason for writing to you is to plead with to find your nothing else in Christ also.

The Garb of Creation: Genesis 1-2

We were created this in and of itself will always be our initial covering, our first and perpetual garb.  Being made in the image of God was God covering His image with a sense, a shadow, a memory of the eternal God.  We were covered in glory to begin with, glory being defined as real reality.  There was no questioning our reality, we had no insecurity about who we were or no need to find ourselves.  We were given the garment of being actualized simply because we were made in the image of God.  We were clothed with purpose-be fruitful and multiply, exercise dominion, to obey our creator, to work and keep the garden.  We were draped with the mantle of peace, we only knew God at this point, the categories of good and evil were a foreign language so to speak. We even wore the garb of freedom, freedom from worry, freedom from confusion, freedom from sinful motivations, freedom from doubt, freedom from shame, once again these concepts would have made no sense to Adam and Eve.  They knew perfect peace, perfect freedom, perfect relationships with each other, with God and with the created order.  Dr. Cornelius Van Til explained with a simple picture that who we are has to be defined by a creator creature distinction.  



I believe that we view being a creature as lack, as less than, as a necessary evil.  We are on this side of the fall so to paint a picture of what we used to be covered in can only be done by looking at what we don’t have now and thus getting an approximation of what we used to be robed in.  The distinction that Van Til was emphasizing is that before the beginning of everything there was God, not us but only Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  They have always been, to quote ZZ Top, sharp dressed.  Their eternity has been one of perfect freedom, peace, relationship, order, and love to name just a few.  I’m not sure if this analogy is accurate, or simplistic but parents, adults, dress their children at some point like mini adults.  When my niece was born I bought her a pair of pink Chuck Taylors because my fiancé at the time wore them and I thought they were cool.  The Trinity clothes the nothing, the void that the Spirit of God was hovering over waiting to dress it in what they deem cool.  They start with light and the way they bring about this first garment is with words.  This is a sub level that I want to pursue in this book too.  We only know about the garments that define us by story.  We know about light because of words spoken, words written and ultimately by the Word himself, Jesus.  I don’t know about you but if I am wearing something that is loud, or unusual that I look particularly good in folks will ask, “Where did you get it?”  This is something that both sexes have in common our fellow males and females want to know the story behind those shoes, that hat, that scarf, the suit and yes the overalls. Back to creation, of all the things that could have been created first, that could have been the first item in our wardrobe the personal creator starts with spoken word and light.  The thing that sets us apart from the rest of creation is words, is language, is story.  God enters into the formless and void and like Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni shaping a lifeless block of marble He creates light.  Light defined, and I know its usually not kosher, by this Wikipedia post is:

 “Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometers (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 terahurtz.  The visible band sits adjacent to the infrared (with longer wavelengths and lower frequencies) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths and higher frequencies), called collectively optical radiation. In physics, the term "light" may refer more broadly to electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, whether visible or not. In this sense, gamma rays-think the incredible hulk and Xrays, microwaves and radio waves are also light. The primary properties of light are intensity, propagation direction, frequency or wavelength spectrum, and polarization. Its speed in vaccum 299792458 m/s, is one of the fundamental constants of nature. Like all types of electromagnetic radiation, visible light propagates by massless elementary particles called photons that represents the quanta of electromagnetic field and can be analyzed as both waves and particles.  The study of light, known as optics is an important research area in modern physics.”

David penning Psalm 36 put it poetically this way, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”  And again, in Psalm 104 the Psalmist writes, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment.”  Now if the God of the universe clothes Himself in light and we can only see light in His light it makes sense that our first outfit so to speak was light even though we had not been created yet light was hanging in our closet.  

The remainder of the created order isn’t clothing like but rather clothing adjacent.  Creation acts like a mirror reflecting who God is in His character.  Paul in Romans 1: 18-25 puts it like this, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So we are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

As we view and experience the created order, we are to be aware of two things, the overwhelming glory of God and our nature as creatures.  We have a mirror in our entrance hall, it is the only thing I wanted from my mother in-law’s house when she unexpectedly passed away about 10 years ago. I love this mirror because it makes you look skinnier than you are, in other words I like being deceived.  Paul understood this about humanity, we are given to exchanging truth for lies.  But even a distorted mirror can’t help but tell the truth.  When the true mirror is viewed rightly it reminds us sometimes painfully who God is in power and His divine nature and who we are in relation to those two things.   Every Christian and every Christian pastor knows what the true mirror reveals and we are equally undone, thankful, moved to worship and adoration.  

So What?  Pastors covered in God’s light, and checking out their and God’s reflection in the created order are men of hope and wonder.  A pastor who is not enamored with the created order and is a man who speaks only nonsense or condemnation from the pulpit and across the coffee shop table.  Just like a mom or wife who helps their son/husband with wardrobe choices, sometimes vetoing and even destroying certain beloved articles of clothing not suitable for public consumption so elders and church leaders need to encourage, pay for, make a way for their pastor to be looking frequently in the mirror of the created order draped in the robes of God’s light that helps us see light.  One can be moved to worship whether he is in the woods or on a boat, or walking the streets of downtown Chicago, or visiting the local art museum.  A pastor that “smells” of only books and office coffee is a poor substitute for one that smells like sheep and has a crick in his neck from star and cloud gazing or looking for chips of copper strewn everywhere.

Annie Dillard in her great work, Pilgrim at Tinkers Creek illustrates this point when she talks about hiding and finding pennies. “When I was six or seven years old, growing up in Pittsburgh, I used to take a precious penny of my own and hide it for someone else to find. It was a curious compulsion; sadly, I’ve never been seized by it since. For some reason I always “hid” the penny along the same stretch of sidewalk up the street. I would cradle it at the roots of a sycamore, say, or in a hole left by a chipped-off piece of sidewalk. Then I would take a piece of chalk, and, starting at either end of the block, draw huge arrows leading up to the penny from both directions. After I learned to write I labeled the arrows: SURPRISE AHEAD or MONEY THIS WAY. I was greatly excited, during all this arrow-drawing, at the thought of the first lucky passer-by who would receive in this way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the universe. But I never lurked about. I would go straight home and not give the matter another thought, until, some months later, I would be gripped again by the impulse to hide another penny.
 
It is still the first week in January, and I’ve got great plans. I’ve been thinking about seeing. There are lots of things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But—and this is the point—who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat kid paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won’t stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get.”

The pastor’s job includes many things, most of which he rarely gets to participate in.  Things like prayer, and time in the word or the theology of his tradition, church history and the like.  But just as important is time spent in front of the created order mirror, being reminded daily of God’s power and divinity and the pastor’s own creatureliness. Maybe I am imposing on others that which brings me into a doxological state, but for me seeing the mountains, or dipping below the surface of the ocean, sitting on my front porch and watching with enraptured attention the show that the skies of Texas put on pretty much every day, all of these make me breathe easier, they give me right perspectives. I know that for some its music of all types, or visual art, its food prepared and served with thought and love.  Others it is found in reading, or playing with their children or grandchildren, it is the roar of a well-tuned engine or the thrill of shooting targets, blowing a stump up, working in the garden, sewing quilts, etc… Bent Tree is a ministry to pastors, elders, and their wives.  We host in person conferences a couple times a year and the non-negotiables include a setting that takes your breath away, that relaxes you, that excites maybe even scares you a tad. It includes food that makes the eater close his or her eyes and utter a low super satisfied moan, the kind of food that literally makes you slow down and taste and see what is good. Why do this, because I fully believe that the man or woman enamored by God’s good gifts becomes the willing and vocal ambassador for that good God to His people.  

The garment that is most visible that was draped upon mankind was God’s image.  We are said to be made in the image of God. This is a human condition we all share.  You’ve seen folks get embarrassed that they wore the same outfit to a wedding or a party.  Why embarrassed? Because we want to be perceived as unique.  But on a very real level we are all the same, not reflecting God like the rest of creation but being seen as His very image.  This is what sets us apart from the rest of the created order, this is what makes us special.  I have been reading Shalom Auslander’s book FEH, the premise of this memoir is that we are not special in fact we are yuck, the English translation of Yiddish “Feh.”  There is a perfectionism that pervades humanity with the unwritten rule that not unlike Ricky Bobby says, “If you aint first you’re last.” We have a problem with being the image of God AND being made from dust.  In our post fall state, just saying one is made in the image of God is not enough, we must be the most perfect image or we believe the lie that we were deliberately made as less than.  So what does it mean to be cloaked with the image of God? To summarize Dr. Richard Pratt’s thoughts in his excellent article found here,  it means to be cloaked with fragility and majesty.  Human beings regardless of race, creed, or gender throughout history have had a problem with identity.  This is to say that our recent foray into identity politics, gender identification, and defining and redefining who we are is not new, its just new to us. But let us focus upon ministers of the gospel.  What does it mean for them to be cloaked with the image of God? I could categorize almost every habitual sin, reason for leaving the ministry, reason for staying in the ministry but being horrible at it and yes every reason for those who persevere, serve faithfully and finish strong down to these two categories-fragility and majesty.  The toxic leader, the serial adulterer, the plagiarizing fool, the thief, or lazy pastor has either taken their dust and used it as an excuse to ruin God’s people and the reputation of the church or they have taken the notion of majesty and lifted themselves above others at the expense of others and even lifted themselves up above God.  But the servant leader, the repentant sinner, the humble homiletical practitioner, the faithful steward of God’s resources dons the cloak of fragility knowing he is a creature created by a personal creator AND he is robed in the majesty of his heavenly Father king, a king who dies for his subjects.  Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale The Emperor’s New Clothes tells of a king who afraid of being seen as a fool, pays for and wears in public “clothing” that isn’t really there.  He pretends as do all those around him to be draped in the finest of material that only fools cannot see. Juxtapose this with King Jesus who drapes us in His robes of righteousness all the while he is naked on the cross.  Those at His crucifixion regarded Him as fool but it was because they could not see that without Him becoming naked and ashamed we could never be seen as beloved children of God.

Not only is humanity and pastors specifically cloaked in the image of God they are also robed in the creation mandates.  Humanity was given a mandate to be fruitful and multiply and to exercise dominion over creation, to be good stewards of the created order including one another. You have heard someone illustrate a person’s role or actions using clothing language.  Phrases such as, “It’s time to put your thinking cap on,” “you need to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes,” “too big for your britches,” “liar, liar, pants on fire,” “hiding behind your mama’s skirts,” “don’t get your panties in a wad,” “put on your hip waders when you enter into that situation or conversation,” “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”  The same could be said for the creation mandates.  Humanity is cloaked in the commands to be fruitful and multiply and to exercise dominion.  We mistakenly think that these don’t apply anymore.  The thinking Christian should pause and evaluate the current cultural mandates foisted upon everyone at every turn.  These mandates demand a reduction and if at all possible, removal on one’s carbon footprint. We are told again and again that population control is imperative.  The modern-day prophets and canary in the coal mines, stand-up comedians, have finally verbalized what thinking Christians have known all along regarding the pro-choice movement- abortion is murder, but there are too many people, so population control is the higher virtue.  It is anathema to suggest that humanity exercise dominion over creation, humanity must be subservient to nature, in fact it is regularly postulated that man is the biggest enemy of nature, and it is the height of species arrogance to say that we have been charged with stewarding nature. So, does one take the creation mandates as literal or figurative and if literal to what extent? Be fruitful and multiply is both literal and figurative.  The two largest religions that are growing exponentially are Mormons and Islam.  Both religions have as basic tenants that married women have one chief primary telos in life and that is to bear as many children as possible.  While both religions practice proselytizing their chief mode of expanding their religion is by being fruitful and multiplying, this would be considered a very literal interpretation.  Being cloaked with the commands to be fruitful and multiply and to exercise dominion, while it has a literal aspect to it can be seen in Christians carrying out the great commissions of Matthew 28:19,20 and 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.  So here we are, clothed in the light of God’s revelation both general and special.  We are literally clothed with creation if your clothes are made of cotton, and shoes of leather.  We are forever, image bearers and with that comes the wardrobe of creation mandates.  But being human, at least for most, feels like wearing clothes that don’t fit, they are either too big revealing how small we are, or too tight revealing how fat we have gotten upon a steady diet of autonomy. The effort it takes to go out into the world dressed up or dressed down as ways to deflect attention away from our shame is quite frankly exhausting.

I have been camping out in the scriptures looking at clothing, covering, garment imagery and I thought over the next year or so I would share some of these observations in hopes that it prompts you to pray, and to pray for your pastor and his family and maybe pray for this ministry.
 
People have always loved clothes.  Wardrobe selections worn in the past and what folks currently wear is fascinating.  What generations have worn is representative of people and cultures.  Clothes can, but don't have to, say a lot about the person.  It can say somethings based upon the people perceiving the clothing and their previous experiences or prejudices, but they may or may not have been the intention of the person wearing the actual clothes.  For instance, people who live in Texas have a common saying about folks who dress the part but are not the part, “All hat, no cattle.”  But maybe the person wearing the button snap shirt, cowboy boots, the right kind of Wranglers and yes, a cowboy hat simply likes how each piece of clothing feels, serves their needs and they simply like the way they look in those clothes. They are not pretending to be legitimate cowboys, but they are appropriating the cowboy “uniform.” Is this disrespectful, is this phony, or is it mimicking a way of life that folks admire and give all sorts of romantic idealism towards?  All of us are guilty of judging a book by its cover.  Our clothing, garments, get ups, costumes, uniforms, outfits, in short “Garb” can say quite a bit about our station, our feelings, our jobs, our emotions, our respect or lack thereof.   What does this have to do with preachers, their wives, the elders they serve with and their wives?  The writers of Scripture used different metaphors to explain the relationship between God and His creation, one prominent metaphor is clothing.  Starting with being clothed with glory, freedom, and peace in the garden of Eden to fig leaves, garments of skins, all the way through the history of redemption ending with the saints’ robes and the second coming of Jesus dressed in robes dipped in blood the authors of the Bible tell our story using the picture of clothing, garments, robes.  They even use the actions associated with the garments, primarily putting them on, and taking them off all of which allows us to understand one another better as followers of Christ.  I want to explore with you these pictures making special application to the office of elder and by extension their wives so that we might better serve these under shepherds.  This will not be an exhaustive word study for all the different words for clothing nor will it cover every picture in the Bible, but I think the categories I am laying out will illuminate the human condition before and after the fall, and God’s use of coverings to reveal himself and the plan of redemption to us.
 
Greater Tuna a play about the third smallest town in Texas, “where the lions club is too liberal, and Patsy Cline never dies” was written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard.  There are 20 characters and only two actors with a total of 43 costume changes in 95 minutes.  This may seem like a lot but consider your own lives, while the costume changes may not be as robust, the number of characters you play is probably pretty close to Tuna’s numbers.  You will always be an image bearer, a child, maybe an only son or daughter, a first, middle or last child. That child carries remnants of figuring who they are or want to be.  For instance, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the Evangelical sub-culture of Coral Ridge Presbyterian church.  I grew up in a fairly conservative home with two parents that at times lacked creativity, they named their cat, “Kitty” and their dog, “Puppy.” So, I was always trying on new personas, surfer dude, preppy, cowboy, punk rocker, jock.  Each of these came with a certain set of garments, get ups, markers of identity.  Let’s continue with you, you were someone in grade school, middle school, high school, if you went to college that carries with a whole plethora of “costume” changes.  Then maybe you get involved with a group via work, church, athletic teams, clubs and the like.  Each of these carries with it a certain garb, sometimes more formally expected and other areas the expectation is less formal but expected, nonetheless.  Maybe you get married, at least for one day there is a costume change, with the robes of nuptial bliss being a more long-term costume change.  Most young couples, sometimes the man sometimes the woman have problems letting go of the garments of single life.  They have a hard time leaving and cleaving.  Then if you have children, you get a whole new wardrobe, one that rarely fits perfectly.  Then you may become grandparents and finally the clothes of the parent fit perfectly.  Somewhere in there, for the preachers reading this, you changed clothes for the garb of a pastor, preacher, scholar, leader, counselor, prayer warrior, shepherd.  These clothes are both permanent for most of us, and yet they cannot be separated from the rest of our varied closet.  Throw in some crises of cancer, death, disease, mental illness, church politics, rebellious children, divorce or marital difficulties and you have got yourself way more than 43 costume changes. 
 
I have the annoying habit of being transparent, and this is no mock humility it is annoying because all of us want to compartmentalize one another quickly and efficiently so we can, if I might be a tad bit judgmental, treat one another like objects rather than subjects.  I was transparent last year in front of small group of folks, professional soul care jockeys for pastors and their wives. I was going through a hard time with some significant fears surrounding me and mine and instead of pretending like I had my s@#t together, I literally told this group that I absolutely did not have my s@#t together.  There was some raw, confessions on my part about some hardships we had endured as a family some of which we will carry with us until Jesus comes back.  Well, some of these fine folks were convinced that I needed to bare my soul to a professional counselor with the hopes, I gather, that I would stop being so transparent, or at least serve up my own little s@#t show with a smile.  I acquiesced and met with the “professional.”  Part of my problem or part of who I am is that if I am gonna go to a professional to fix something, I am not going to put lipstick on a pig.  When I go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned, I don’t brush beforehand, or floss-I never floss by the way unless something is horribly stuck.  They have the know-how and equipment to get my teeth cleaner than I could ever do, and my efforts beforehand just to look like “I’ve been doing the right thing all along” is reminiscent of a wardrobe change Adam and Eve made post cosmic rebellion in the garden, fig leaves and hiding in the woods.  Anyway, I show up for a 2-3 day intensive and I intentionally brought only t-shirts, overalls, and Birkenstock sneakers.  I knew that this guy had met with hundreds of pastors and part of me wanted to see what he would do with this get up.  I was kinda hoping that he would say nothing but alas it was too much for him.  He mentioned it almost immediately and then kept mentioning it every day, and not in a good way.  You see I was a problem to fix not a person, pastor, husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, friend, Christ follower.  I was wearing overalls, I had exposed tattoos and when we took breaks I stepped outside for a smoke.  He couldn’t let the overalls go, and I wondered to myself what garb do I have hang-ups with, what costume throws me from one anothering my brothers and sisters in Christ, my wife, my kids, my siblings, friends, enemies, and when they were alive my folks?  Sometimes what we wear, both literally and figuratively says too much and sometimes actually most of the time we need to see past the garb to the person. It reminds me of some stories we will look at more in depth later, but they are Joshua the High Priest in Zechariah 3, Satan chomping at the bit for God to judge him by his clothing.  Or the disciples of Jesus in John 9 asking Jesus about this blind man who had been blind since birth, asking in essence about his garb.  Was he wearing the jacket woven on the loom of his own sin or was it a jacket made for him by the generational sinful threads of his parents and grandparents.  The idea that the prodigal sons in Luke 15 could sport tracksuits of moral superiority or independent repentance void of any familial relationships is made ludicrous by the Father not accepting either costume and being nonplussed by their reliance upon them.  Instead, he insists that they wear the capes of sonship.
 
The question you may want to ask yourself, is do I see me and mine including my pastor as wearing the capes of sonship, the kind of get up that makes the Father giddy with love and eager to throw us a party? 

Originally written on May 23, 2023

Dear Bent Tree Friends,

Maybe it’s my age, but lately death has played a big role.  We have had ministers within our group suffer great loss at the hands of wicked people, frowning providences, and the overwhelming effects of the fall on one’s body.  As many of you know my wife is currently a cancer survivor, I use the word “currently” because once you get cancer you have a 1 in 3 chance of it coming back.  That is like walking around with a cocked, loaded gun pointing at your head all the time.  We pay lip service to the idea that we could be called home at any time, but until it is experienced in someone close to you there is no way to know the weight of that idea.  One of my high school friends just died this week. It was too early by most people’s calculations, but his health had declined to the inevitable point of death.  I’m thinking about going to our 40th high school reunion this fall simply because the small class I graduated from is populated with quite a few people I’ve known since pre-school and our numbers are diminishing.  Why tell you all of this?  Because the pastors who benefit from Bent Tree and those who need to benefit from this fellowship traffic in death, either personally or with their parishioners, on a regular basis.  Let me illustrate how we help them in this massive task and privilege by telling you about our spring training event this past April.
 
I want to introduce you to eight amazing individuals, starting with Karen and Chris Hodge.  Chris is the senior pastor at Village Seven Church in Colorado Springs. He has been through a lot and the folks at that church get to benefit from a battle-hardened saint that leads with compassion.  His wife, Karen, was one of our speakers a month ago at our spring training event. Karen is the director for Christian Discipleship Ministries Women’s Ministry. She gave the 36 pastors and pastors’ wives that were there a great vision for women’s ministry in the local church.  We also had the honor of listening to and learning from Nancy Booher, who is also a current cancer survivor a few times over.  She heads up Mission to North America’s, (MNA) English as a Second Language Ministry. Her husband Ron is indispensable to the execution of this ministry.  And then there was Ashley Belknap, the director for MNA’s ministry Engaging Disability With the Gospel.  Her husband John was at home taking care of their three children, two of whom are on the autism spectrum.  And finally, Paul and Laura Miller, a current cancer survivor herself, with MNA’s prison ministry, Metanoia.  Every one of these presenters, not to mention the people listening to them, have been through the ringer.  But their heartbeats are for serving the church and evangelizing the lost.  They are the embodiment of “walking in the valley of the shadow of death,” but because of God’s rod and staff they fear no evil.  They breathed life into a group of folks that left energized and ready to serve others via one or all of the ministries presented.  The temptation in the valley is to run, hide, or simply endure.  And most of us have done or currently are doing just that. But there is a better way: we can walk through it because Jesus walked through it for us and came out on the other side.  We can sit at a table prepared before us in the presence of our enemies, death being foremost, because resurrection life is on the menu.  

Please continue to pray for us. Our Fall Training Event will be this September, this time for pastors and ruling elders only.  We are already halfway full and would love to add space for others, so please pray and encourage your pastor or elders to sign up.  If they need extra motivation, we have a man, a retired Black Hawk pilot, who is a gourmet cook that volunteers his time and cooks for us, which is awesome in three ways.  One, the food is amazing. Two, the cost is significantly cheaper than eating out and the food is way better. Three, the time spent around the table with these guys eating good food and, if inclined, drinking good wine is worth the price of admission.  

David Wilson
Director For Bent Tree

P.S.  I would be remiss if I didn’t make you aware of our current financial situation, not that you would give but that you might encourage others to participate in this ministry, especially your church.  We are currently in a 90-thousand-dollar deficit, we are able to keep the lights on because of some significant gifts from 2021.  The best way for churches to feel confident supporting us is to have me speak at the session meeting or preach or teach a Sunday School class or all three, so maybe you could suggest they extend an invite. Please pray for God to provide for us through the gifts of his people.