The Hartford Project

I am pleased to introduce an exciting new church planting effort in Connecticut which we are calling the Hartford Project. The Hartford Project is a strategic gospel mission targeting the Connecticut River Valley. It is the convergence of years of focused preparation and a passion to take the gospel where the gospel is most needed.  In the summer of 2013, church planter Steve Thiel and his young family will put down roots in Greater Hartford to launch a gospel-driven church which, by God’s grace, will become the epicenter of a church planting movement in the Connecticut River Valley.         See the Church Planting Prospectus.                 View the Thiels' May 2013 newsletter.     View the Thiels' March 2013 newsletter.     View the Thiels' January 2013 newsletter.

Estate Sales and the Gospel

Some people decorate their homes in a Victorian style. Others use a modern style. Still others go for a minimalist look. My wife and I have decorated our home in the style known as Early American Yard Sale. Pretty much every room has some treasure we found at a yard sale (or as they are often called in New England - tag sales), estate sale or church bizarre. Recently we were at an estate sale just two blocks from our home. We had actually been on the way to a different sale when we saw two boys holding handmade signs with arrows. The boys were jumping up and down and clearly excited about the sale they were promoting. It amused us so we decided to alter our plans and go to the estate sale.

When we got there we met Sally.* Sally explained that it was her mother's home, who had recently passed away at 91 years of age. The home has sold quickly and the closing date was only two weeks away. Sally needed to get rid of everything in the house in that two week time frame. As Sally talked, she got very emotional over the recent loss of her mother.

My wife and I could sense Sally's deep pain and our hearts went out to her. I told her that I was a minister and that I would like to give her a hug. She gladly accepted it and while I was hugging her told us that she was a non-practicing member of a non-Christian religion. We talked a bit about it and then she offered to show us some other things in her home that she had for sale. We looked around at various things but I could tell that she was distraught and really wanted to talk more about her mother and spiritual issues that death often makes us think about. Being an avid conversationalist who is comfortable talking about matters of faith, I reopened the conversation with her about her faith.

Suddenly twenty minutes had gone by as we sat on her couch talking about faith and spirituality. The religion Sally followed as a child did not believe in Jesus and she knew little about Him. But she did tell me that her religion had taught her that one day a Messiah would come who would bring hope to the world. I was pleased to tell her that Jesus was that Messiah. Though she was not yet ready to make a leap of faith to embrace that reality, clearly she was enthralled by the whole concept. Pray for Sally to continue her search for the Messiah and for that search to end in a commitment to Jesus.


*To protect my new friend's privacy, I have changed her name. Please join me in praying for Sally and the Father will translate her name into the right one as your prayers reach heaven.

God Uses Refrigerators for His Glory

Recently my wife and I moved from a lovely 1860's farmhouse on a hill in rural Vermont to a contemporary condo in a large housing complex just outside Hartford, Connecticut. We made this move so that we would be in a place for God to use us to stir up church planting efforts across the state of Connecticut. We only know a handful of people in Connecticut and most of them are either pastors or in some other type of Christian ministry position. But having been involved in church planting in Vermont for nearly two decades, we know God would connect us to unchurched people at the right time to see something new birthed for His glory in Connecticut.

 

After being here a few weeks, without being able to connect with any unchurched people yet, I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. I earnestly prayed that God would let me share His love with someone who really needed it. Little did I realize how God would do it.

 

Since moving into the condo, our refrigerator messed up several times and stopped working. Though it had a warranty, and the repair costs were covered, it was still frustrating for it to mess up several times, have to throw food away and wait for a repairman to come. The same repairman came twice in a row. He finally he got it fixed by replacing lots of parts. His name is Thomas.* Thomas had a pleasant personality and he and I chatted about various things both times he came. At the end of his second visit I felt led to talk to him about the Lord. To my surprise, he was very open to the conversation and told me he is a Christian who had fallen out of church. We talked about starting a Bible study in our home as a way for him to return to the Lord and try to get back into the habit of going to church again. He seemed very interested. I gave him all my contact info. Now I have to wait for the Spirit to work in his life.

 

I realized that this was the real reason my refrigerator had been messing up, so I could meet Thomas and talk about the Lord with him. God works in mysterious ways and this was just one example. I happen to think that a couple of jars of mayonnaise going bad is worth a soul! I praise the Lord that He can even use a broken refrigerator for His glory.

 

Join me in praying that Thomas will follow through and want to study the Bible with me.

 

 

 

*To protect my new friend's privacy I have changed his name, but the Lord knows what his real name is, so pray for Thomas and the Lord will translate those prayers into the right identify.

Hannah and Samuel: One Mother's Journey from Pain to Peace

1 Samuel 1:10-20
Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut." While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips. Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and scolded her, "How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!" "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer; I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.  Don't think of me as a wicked woman; I've been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment." Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."  "May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow and to worship the LORD. Afterwards, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

Background on this passage:

•               Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was both wealthy and deeply spiritual.
•               Elkanah had a second wife, which was a source of tension between the two ladies.
•               The other wife had children, but Hannah had no children. In that culture, this was considered a negative mark against the barren woman.
•               These verses take place when they made their annual pilgrimage to the tabernacle to worship.

Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               Hannah had a strong faith, yet she still had deep hurts.
•               Our faith does not erase our hurts, it gives us strength to endure them.
•               Hannah dealt with her hurt through prayer and tears.
•               Prayer has the power to change our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               Prayer does change things but does not always remove all our tears.
•               God designed tears to be part of the healing process when we go through difficult times.

The Miracle of Tears
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i4/tears.asp
•               Biochemist William Frey spent 15 years studying tears and found that stress-induced tears actually remove toxic substances from the body.
•               Crying reduces the body’s manganese level, a mineral which affects mood and is found in 30 times greater concentration in tears than in blood.
•               Crying also reduces the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which controls pain.
 
Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               There is nothing wrong with having a good cry every now and then.
•               But after we have shed our tears, then what do we do?

Verse 11 - Making a vow, she pleaded, LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction . . .

•               Hannah was not content to just wallow in her pain. She made a commitment (vow) to the Lord.
•               Hannah thought of some specific commitments she could make to the Lord and what actions she might take to follow through on those commitments.
•               When we are under stress, sometimes we make bad decisions that only make the situation worse.
•               In painful times we must pray, seek godly counsel and then consider our commitments to the Lord and to those around us.

Verse 11 . . . and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life . . .

•               Hannah focused on a specific problem and made it a matter of focused prayer.
•               She made specific commitments to the Lord about that specific issue.
•               Sometimes when we are under stress we try to deal with too many issues at one time instead of focusing on the most significant issue at that moment.
•               Dealing with too many issues at once often makes both our thinking processes and our prayers too generic and our commitments less clear.
•               Specific prayer and clear commitments keep us focused during difficult times in our lives. 

Verse 12 - While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips.

•               Eli was watching Hannah, though she probably did not realize it.
•               We may not realize it, but others are watching how we deal with our troubles.
•               They want to know if our faith helps us or not.
•               If our faith does not help us, why would they want to follow the faith either?

Verse 13 - Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               Eli did not understand Hannah’s spiritual connection with God, which was sad since Eli was a priest.
•               People will not always understand how faith helps us in times of difficulty. Sometimes even our friends at church will not understand.
•               Eli thought she was drunk.
•               Sometimes people will think we are acting like a religious fanatic, or joined a cult or some other odd thing when it comes to how our faith helps us in times of difficulty.

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied ‘I am a woman with a broken heart….’

•               Hannah may not have been understood by others, but she understood herself.
•               One of the things prayer does is help us sort our own thoughts and emotions so that we can hear what God is trying to say to us about our situation. 

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied . . . I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.”

•               As a believer, Hannah realized the first person she should share her heart with was the Lord.
•               Hannah needed to get her frustrations off her chest so she shared them with the Lord.
•               God is always happy to listen to our frustrations.
•               We need to learn the importance of pouring out our heart to God FIRST.
•               We tend to pour out of troubles to other people first.
•               Though it is good to have family and friends to share our burdens with, our FIRST response should be to go to the Lord and share it with Him.
•               When we share our hearts with the Lord first, it helps us be more clear when we share it with others. And then they can offer more focused support.
 
Verse 17 - Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."
•               Though at first Eli did not understand Hannah, he finally realized the depth of her pain and the power of her faith.
•               People can seldom understand the depth of our pain unless they have experienced the same thing in their own lives.
•               Eli joined her in prayer and sensed God was going to answer it soon.
•               Having a prayer partner is one key to finding peace in the midst of pain.
•               Therefore, we must not write off those who do not understand our pain the first time we share it.
•               They will eventually realize our deep need and join us in praying through it.

Verse 18 - . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast.

•               Hannah worshipped, she prayed, she poured out her heart and it really helped!
•               Then she had to go on with her life. Though her problem was not “solved” she found peace and strength to keep going.
•               Prayer, worship and sharing our burdens with others in appropriate ways can do the same thing for us. 

Verse 19 - . . . Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

•               Hannah was loved by her husband, which helped her find a great deal of peace.
•               Having people in our lives who love us is very important for our emotional health.
•               Hannah was also remembered by God.
•               Realizing that God has not forgotten us is also very important for our emotional health. 

Verse 20 - After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son….

•               It took time for Hannah’s problem to be solved.
•               It takes time to find real solutions to the problems we face in life.
•               God gave Hannah a son, which was an answer to her specific prayer.
•               God will give us answers to our specific prayers if we do not try to jump ahead of God. 

Verse 20 - . . . She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

•               The name Samuel has two interpretations. “God has heard” or “a son of God.”
•               However we want to interpret it, God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son.
•               Hannah gave the glory to God by the name she gave her son.
•               Will we give God the glory when He answers our prayer & meets our need? 

Conclusion:

•               Our faith does not erase all our hurts, but it does give us strength to endure them.
•               Prayer and commitment to God changes our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               We should talk to God about our problems FIRST, and then find a godly prayer partner.
•               God’s timing is not always our timing, but it is always the right time.
•We should give God the glory in all things.

Fathers and Sons and Worship

In my role as a denominational leader, I visit a wide variety of churches. A few of the churches have great worship services, a few not so great, and the majority are somewhere between great and not great. Recently I visited a church that has a more robust service with an excellent worship leader. As I was singing I was blessed to see many families around me worshipping as well. Then I made a startling observation that I have never noticed before. In all the families in which the father was singing, all their sons were singing too. In the families in which the father was not singing, neither were the sons. Once I noticed this in a couple of families, it caught my attention and I tried to observe as many men as possible to see how they were interacting in worship and what impact it was having on their sons. The more I looked, the more my initial observation was proven correct.

One family in particular caught my attention because there was no mother present. Perhaps she had to work that day, or maybe she was serving in the nursery, or perhaps it was a divorced family. I had no way of knowing where the mother was, but the father was there with his two sons, who appeared to be young teenagers. I noticed all three of them singing and taking part in the prayers and following along with the sermon quite well. In a day in which it seems that most men have checked out of being the spiritual leader of their home, here was an example of a dad who was succeeding, at least in some small measure, in being a spiritual example to his sons. And he was not just doing it because his wife was poking him in the ribs, since she was not even there. It was clear that he was there because he wanted to be, and from what I could tell, the sons did not seem to mind being there either, which is a miracle in itself if you know much about teenage boys and church!

I have wondered since witnessing this if the father and sons have openly discussed the importance of worship and why one should be actively engaged in it, or did the sons just learn by the father’s example? Either way, that dad has done something right and we need more dads like him.

So what about it men? Are we content to stay home while our wives and children go to church? Are we content to attend the service but mentally be planning our next round of golf or thinking up the roster on our fantasy football team? Perhaps it is time for us to reengage in active worship. Let us show our children, especially our sons, what it means for a godly man to approach the Heavenly Father in a God-honoring way. Let’s be men!

 

For tips on how to help your children or grandchildren enjoy church, read Dr. Dorsett's book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church.

Book Review - Jesus is His Name

In a culture that is quickly forgetting its rich Christian heritage, Rev. Drzymala writes an easy to read yet comprehensive book explaining who Jesus is. Entitled, Jesus Is His Name, the book starts with various Christophonies in the Old Testament and then moves through the life of Christ as recorded in the four New Testament Gospels. The book helps readers understand who Jesus is from the biblical perspective.

When I recently asked Rev. Drzymala why he wrote this book, he said, "I decided to write the book simply to point people to the person and work of Jesus Christ." He goes on to say "the main point of this book is that Jesus and Jesus alone can save us from our sins."

That kind of exclusiveness is not popular in our postmodern culture. Rev. Drzymala points out that though some modern scholars want to debate the historical Jesus by suggesting that the biblical account is inaccurate, but he refutes that using numerous scriptures. The book then jumps to the end of the New Testament to discuss the return of Christ as predicted in the book of Revelation. Unlike many discussions of the Revelation, Rev. Drzymala does not get into time lines and charts; instead he focuses on who Jesus is throughout that last book of the Bible. Finally, the book closes with an invitation for readers to make a personal commitment to following Christ. Though some readers may be taken aback by such an invitation in book form, what else would one expect from an author who describes himself as "an old fashion Baptist preacher?"

Rev. Drzymala told me in our interview that he was "hoping that unsaved will read the book and find Christ, and that new believers will read it and grow in their faith in Christ." He believes that his "readers will learn more about Jesus and who he is and what His plans are in the future regarding as His return." The book does a great job of dealing with those issues, so I join him in that hope.

I asked Rev. Drzymala if he could add another chapter to the book, what would it be? He replied, "If I added another chapter it would be titled "How will you respond to Jesus?" and would include all the different ways people respond to the Gospel." At the moment, Rev. Drzymala does not plan on writing additional books, but he also adds, "unless the LORD leads me too."

Copies of the book can be purchased at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Is-His-Name-ebook/dp/B008DZDSAI/

Processing the Boston Marathon Bombing - Guest Post by Bruce James

 

I’ve lived in New England since 1998 and I have to admit New Englanders are a tough, hardy people.  There’s a certain pride that comes from living in this area.  There is a heritage of independence, a respect for higher education, diversity, and free thinkers not to mention some of the best sports teams in the world. Work hard, better the community, play by the rules, do what you want but do no harm seems to be the general rule.   When bad things happen,  like the shooting in Sandy Hook, CT, and the bombing at the Boston Marathon, folks come together to help each other through the difficult days.  Resilient?  Yes.  And you can count on it that, in response to these tragedies, there will be many hours invested in making things safer and better so in the future the traditions we love will be preserved and the community will remain.

 

The search for the bombing suspects kept us riveted to the news for days.  An unprecedented city lockdown, a massive manhunt, and the take down and capture of the suspects were epic and the responses from the crowds were naturally those of thanksgiving and relief.   Now Bostonians could lay their loved ones to rest and bring healing to the wounded and grieving.    The day after the arrest, one person interviewed borrowed an insightful line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “This morning brings a gloomy peace.”

 

You have to admit that it is “gloomy” and I’m sure we will move on quickly…but not too quickly.  We will get tired of the talking heads and political wrangling.  We will tire of the constant reminders and get back to the better things of life and the dream of peace.  If only these conflicts of life could be limited to the playing field of Fenway or the basketball court of the TD Fleet Center we could all manage them better.

So where does the gospel fit into all of this?    We may want to consider first that there is no story without conflict.  Try as we will, life will never be a place without conflict.  As long as there are humans, you can count on us to hurt and maim one another.   That in itself is a “gloomy” fact.  Both man and nature were jettisoned into chaos when Adam pulled the sin trigger in the Garden of Eden--Act I of the prototype of all stories.  Paradise was overshadowed by darkness, as was that sunshiny day on Boylston Street.   Lives were indelibly marked on both days. Evil slithered away, cowards ran, and heroes rose.  In every great story someone rises to meet the challenge and to confront the chaos caused by evil. In the gospel God sends a Savior--Act II--who confronts and defeats sin by giving His life.  

 

I love the story of the Forum Restaurant’s staff, located at the epicenter of one of the blasts, who quickly began to assist those maimed by the bomb.  In an interview one of them said, “We were at the wrong place at the wrong time but we did the right thing.”  As believers we may look around our world and say it’s all wrong, it’s not the right time,  but let us by God’s grace do the right thing. Cowards run but heroes arise.  Another classic line I heard regarding how parents can talk to their children about tragedies came from our old friend Fred Rogers, whose video went viral this week as he quoted his mother’s advice, “When bad things happen, look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.”

 

As we look for closure, it’s a whimsical dream to think there will ever be a time in this life where there will be no evil, no death, sorrow or pain.  Try as we may in this life there is no return to Eden.  But there is the promise. We need to remember the story is not over and the conflict has yet to play itself out.  Few of us find joy in the battles of life, but in these days while our faith is tested and our characters purged let us remember the promise.  Remember the selfless acts of bravery by those created in the image of God bearing his image as they do the right thing.   As Christ arose victorious over the grave, he left us the promise that in the Father’s time He will bring us into the final act and that glorious day of restoration--Act Three.   In that day when peace is restored and mankind is brought into the fullness for which it was created, there will be no end to the celebration of the Savior, for in that day “the gloom” will be no more.

 

 

Bruce James serves as the Evangelism Director for the Baptist Convention of New England, a network of over 300 churches working together to share the love of Christ in their region.