The image of Aaron and Hur supporting Moses provides a vivid analogy for how we might support our priest in his calling to serve and protect the people of God through preaching. Just as they lifted up Moses’ arms, we can provide support for our priest as he attempts to deliver dynamic, Scripturally sound, Christ-exalting homilies.
Check out my newest blog post for the Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College.
The value of preaching is emphasized by the Sacred Scriptures. Bad preaching is the cause of much harm to the Church. And Pope Benedict XVI himself has called for a renewal in Catholic preaching based on its connection to the Eucharist. That’s how important.
Check out my new blog post for the Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College.
Dear Grace Baptist friends and family:
Greetings from Atchison, Kansas and the campus of Benedictine College! As ever, God continues to be good to me, but I do miss the Little Apple and all the blessings that came with it. Those blessings include, but are not limited to, the coffee at Bluestem Bistro, Aggieville on Game Day, Kay Bollman’s cooking, Dave Huebner’s sense of humor, nice conversations with Dorothy Tarrant, the greatest youth group kids in the known universe, and of course, all of you. “I thank my God every time I remember you” (Phil 1:4 ESV).
Not long ago, I received a call from an elder at Grace Baptist notifying me that the elder board would be voting to revoke my ordination to gospel ministry. The man who called me was warm and friendly, affirming and encouraging, and indeed, he talked to me like I was his own son—which is appropriate, since he’s always been like a father to me. He explained to me that the elders’ action was not intended to be punitive or mean-spirited. Given my decision to join the Catholic Church, he said, the elders viewed it as a reasonable and appropriate measure.
I am writing this letter to let you know that I wholeheartedly agree. I consider the action to revoke my ordination as entirely appropriate and just. I am no longer a Baptist minister; so, it is entirely reasonable for Grace Baptist Church to end my ordained status.
Of course, this does not mean that I think my ministry among you was performed in vain, nor does it change how much I love this congregation. The last year of my life, I have reflected on how little I gave to Grace Baptist and how much I received from it. I frequently failed, but God—and you—frequently blessed me anyway.
My confidence is this: the work that God began in me at Grace Baptist, he finished. My weaknesses and shortcomings were no obstacle for his sovereign work in my life. So, I am thankful. I am thankful for my time at Grace Baptist, thankful for all of you, and thankful that “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 115:3 ESV).
In light of his recent resignation, I also want to take a moment to express my love and support for Pastor Bob Flack, Lynn, and their family. When I was at Wheaton College, I read a book by Kent Hughes called Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. The majority of the book is spent defining what biblical success is. Success is not having a charismatic personality. Success is not having style without substance. Instead, success is…faithfulness, serving, loving, believing, prayer, holiness, and attitude. According to that description, Bob Flack was an incredibly successful pastor at Grace Baptist Church. To the extent that he continues to persevere in faith, hope, and love, I believe his best years are ahead of him. As you send him off, please make every effort to richly bless him.
Sadly, the character qualities Pastor Flack possesses are rare—even among pastors. So, I will pray hard for you, brothers and sisters. Finding a replacement will not be easy. But I believe, too, that God wants to bless the future of Grace Baptist Church. I encourage you to rally around the current staff as they seek to minister without a senior pastor. Serve them as they faithfully serve you.
Finally, I understand that many (if not most) of you may not understand or agree with my decision to join the Catholic Church. But I hope we can agree on this: whether it is a local church in Manhattan, Kansas or the universal Church headquartered in Rome, we are all of us desperately dependent on the grace of God in Jesus Christ. God knows his people make a mess of things. As a wise saint once said, “the greatest testament to the grace of God is the continued existence of his Church.” Let’s all pray for one another, that “our love may abound more and more” (Philippians 1:9 ESV) and that “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” (4:13 ESV).
The peace of Christ be with you all,
Vaughn
When I was a Baptist pastor, I loved writing prayers for the congregation. Now that I’m a Catholic, I’d love to contribute to the corporate prayer life of the Church.
Since joining the Church, I have enjoyed (and benefited from) praying “novenas”–formal, written prayers that are meant to be prayed nine days in a row. (I’m not sure what the history is behind the concept.) My Catholic friends will have to forgive me if I’m breaking some sort of ecclesiastical protocol; I’ve researched it and it appears anyone can write a novena. (I could be wrong.) My Protestant friends will, no doubt, struggle with the insertion of the “Hail Mary” into the prayer. Don’t get too upset; it is, after all, taken directly from Scripture: Luke 1:42-43, Deut. 9:12-13, 26-29. Certainly, you ought to have no problem with the use of the Lord’s Prayer or the Gloria Patri.
This novena is meant to be prayed by newly engaged couples. I wrote it for Kasia the “first time” we got engaged. Not sure I’ll write one for “re-engagement.” (Hint, hint, hint…)
Please let me know what you think.
__________
Our Father…
God, our Father, you have granted that a multitude of saintly men and women in Your church have enjoyed the gift of a marriage that is both faithful and fruitful, passionate and pious. Among those who serve as examples are Pietro and Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman, and Jean and Sheldon Van Auken. Above all, however, we look to the Holy Family as our model of purity and purpose in marriage. In this, the engaging prologue to the story of our life together, we ask that you grant us the grace to consecrate our marriage to Your service, for our joy and the good of the world.
Hail Mary…
Joseph Most Strong, You humbly responded to God’s call to be the human father of the Incarnate Word. Thinking nothing of yourself, you sacrificed your mortal desires for the sake of God’s glorious plan. Through your quiet and steady obedience, you became a model of humility, purity, and heavenly-minded masculinity. As [future groom] prepares for life as a husband, grant that he may receive a double-portion of your spirit. May those qualities which make you great also find their way into [future groom’s] life and love.
Hail Mary…
Blessed Mother Mary, when You said “Yes” to God, the Holy Spirit hovered above your womb and the first-fruit of the New Heavens and Earth was conceived. Because of your joyful submission to God, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. You gave birth to the One who gave us life. You provide the model of loving obedience and obedient love. You are the very definition of Womanhood, and all true femininity is an echo of your heart and life. As [future bride] prepares for life as a bride, grant that she may become your true daughter. May those qualities which make you great also find their way into [future bride’s] life and love.
Hail Mary…
O Jesus, Creator and Lover of Mankind, You who are both Son and Lord of the Holy Family, You are our hope and joy. As the great Husband, you love your Bride, the Church. You laid down your life to present her to the Father as pure and spotless. You have a holy passion for your Bride and are jealous for her affection. You are supremely faithful even when She is not. In your love for your Church, we see the fidelity, sacrifice, passion, and joy that are meant to be reflected in the sacrament of marriage. As we prepare for our forthcoming marriage, grant that our love and life together may truly reflect the glorious relationship that exists between Christ and His Church. And, on this day, we ask that [state intentions]. Above all, grant that we may we have an epic marriage, one that is faithful, fervent, fun, and fruitful. And use our marriage to spur us on to sainthood—for the glory of God and the good of the world.
Glory Be…
For thirty years of his life, Jesus was unknown by anyone outside the tiny backwater town of Nazareth. The last three years of his life, he changed the course of history and saved the human race.
Now, his name is known–and praised–throughout the universe (Philippians 2:10-11).
Lord, if it’s necessary that 90 percent of my life be obscure and unknown so that the last 10 percent powerfully reveals your glory, well…
…I’ll take it.
Several years ago, I had an experience that helped me better understand God’s motives in allowing and ordaining that his children suffer.
To help pay my way through seminary in Kentucky, I served as a manager at a family fun park. During my tenure there, I befriended the high school students who worked at the go-cart track, the bumper boat pool, and the miniature golf course. They were great kids, and one summer I decided I would take them on a fun road trip to St. Louis, the city where my folks lived. I thought they’d enjoy the Science Center, the Magic House Children’s Museum, and—of course—the Gateway Arch.
For the six-hour trip between Louisville and St. Louis, I decided we needed to drive something other than my increasingly unreliable 1988 Toyota Corolla. So, one of the kids asked to borrow the family car, and his dad graciously allowed us to take his brand-new 1998 Lexus GS 300, complete with power moon roof, booming Nakamichi 260-watt audio system, and—most importantly—a 3 liter 6 inline engine with double overhead cam and variable valve timing. That engine was a marvel; when it ran, it was soft as a mother’s lullaby and smooth as her baby’s tummy. But it was definitely a fuel snob; like a connoisseur who insisted on the finest, vintage wine, it would only accept premium unleaded gasoline.
Well, about fifteen minutes before we got into the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, we stopped at a gas station to refuel, since we hadn’t topped off the tank before we left Louisville. The guys in the back seat hopped out of the car and headed into the convenience store to pick up a snack, Nikki—my high school-aged co-pilot—stepped out of the car to stretch her legs, and I got out, lifted the nozzle, and started to pump.
Almost immediately, Nikki said to me, “Well, you learn something new every day.”
“What?” I asked, standing there with my hands in my pockets as the fuel, sounding like a small mountain stream, flowed into the Lexus.
She pointed to the pump.
“I never knew that a Lexus runs on diesel.”
I froze. I looked at the pump—and my heart jumped into my esophagus. Sure enough: I had pumped diesel into a Lexus GS 300!
“No! No! No!” I cried.
As quickly as possible, I stopped the pumped. Firing a prayer up to heaven, I ran into the gas station, which (thankfully) doubled as an auto repair shop. Exasperated, I found a mechanic and explained my sorry situation.
He stayed calm.
“Well,” he said. “You haven’t driven it yet, right?”
No, I told him.
“That’s good,” he said. “It’ll be okay, I think. We’re just going to have to siphon that diesel out of the fuel tank.”
Siphon? What did that mean?
si⋅phon [sahy-fuh n]–noun
Definition. 1. a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere.
Basically, it meant that all of the diesel needed to be sucked out of the fuel tank. Correction: it meant that everything needed to be sucked out—including whatever premium unleaded fuel was left at the bottom. The fuel tank needed to be completely emptied.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Saint Paul writes about his own experience with a siphon. It is not his car’s fuel tank that is emptied, however, but his very soul. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me…” (2 Cor. 12:7). Biblical scholars have tried to guess what exactly Paul was referring to when he referenced his “thorn in the flesh.” Although he personifies it as a “messenger of Satan,” some theorize that it was an excruciatingly painful physical ailment. Others think it might have been a person in Paul’s life who was a consistent and significant source of opposition and persecution. At the end of the day, we simply don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that whatever the “thorn in the flesh” was, God refused to remove it from Paul’s life—in spite of his earnest pleas.
This may make God sound harsh, but he had his reasons—and they were good ones. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul writes:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
God’s answer to Paul was twofold: first, his grace was sufficient. Second, his power was made perfect in weakness. Essentially, what God told Paul was this: “Paul, I’m not going to remove this difficult source of pain from your life. Why? Because it is emptying you. It is draining you of any tendency toward pride, self-reliance, and independence. And in the absence of these things, it is filling you with something that is far better: my grace.” That is why his thorn in the flesh—even though it hurts—was a good thing. It liquidated Paul of himself so that he can be filled with what would—in the long-term—be the best thing for him: God!
Like that Lexus filled with the wrong fuel, Paul may have been filled with the wrong “fuel.” The thorn in the flesh was God’s syphon to empty him so that he could fill him with something far better: his grace.
Nobody enjoys suffering. And there is a level of suffering that people throughout the world experience—including people who very much love Jesus Christ—that we simply cannot fully understand or explain.
We don’t have all the answers. But we do know that such people—and you may be one of them—are brought low for a reason. They are emptied of themselves and liquidated of their own self-reliance.
And, as difficult as that may be to experience, it’s a very, very good thing—for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5).