Flannel Graph Memories

Proverbs 9:9 “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” (NIV)

When I was 15 years old I became a volunteer for a ministry called Child Evangelism Fellowship. As a volunteer I helped teach a weekly Good News Club. The club met after school and helped children, mostly from non-religious homes, understand the stories of the Bible, and especially the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Part of my training as a volunteer was learning how to use flannel graph to illustrate the stories. I collected a number of Bible scenes painted on to large pieces of flannel and had file folders full of various biblical characters that I could put on the scenes as a visual to tell the Bible stories. I had not seen flannel graph before and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I used those visual aids over and over again to help children learn biblical truth. Even after I was no longer working with Child Evangelism Fellowship, I kept all the different characters and scenes and used them to teach in a variety of settings, including to teens and adults, for many years. They were very helpful in illustrating the stories I was teaching.

That was 35 years ago. Now, I don’t know anyone who still uses flannel graph. Now we use video, PowerPoint, and interactive games on I-pads and cell phones as visual aids in our teaching. Every couple of years some new technology comes along and changes the way we teach. As a lifelong learner, I try to stay up to date. But sometimes I struggle to figure out how to communicate the message in whatever way is currently fashionable.

To be honest, there are times I miss my old flannel graph scenes and characters. They were easy to use and I was comfortable with them. Many children came to faith in Christ through them and so there was a real emotional and spiritual attachment in my mind to those teaching tools. But there came a day when I realized they were no longer as effective as they once were. Staying up to date with teaching skills is always be a challenge. At times I’m tempted to revert back to those old flannel graph visuals and do things like I did 35 years ago. In many ways it would be easier for me. But I always resist that temptation because I realize it would not actually communicate the message of the Gospel as effectively as I would like it to.

The question I ask myself often is “Do I want things to be easy for me or do I want people to actually understand the message?” If the goal is for me to teach the message of Christ, then I have to constantly upgrade my communication skills and abilities. I have to learn new teaching techniques that actually get the point across. I cannot just rely on my past training or experience. While the past does have value, I cannot live in the past. I must be a lifelong learning in order to continue the calling God put on my life as a 15-year-old to teach others Jesus. 

What about you? Are you a lifelong learner? When was the last time you upgraded your efforts to share the word of God? Ongoing training is essential and the message of the Gospel is worth the time it takes to learn how to share it well.

Lord, help us be lifelong learners so we can be as effective as possible in sharing Your Word with others. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett serves at the Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of New England. He has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Overcoming Leadership Mistakes

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

Every so often we hear a sad story of another Christian leader exposed for doing something wrong. These are vivid reminders that even Christian leaders make mistakes. Such news is always disappointing. Such news has the potential to shake the faith of those who are trying to remain faithful to the Lord.

Should we really be surprised that human beings fail? Just because a person is in a leadership position does not make them immune to mistakes. If fact, if adequate accountability is not put into place, being a Christian leader can actually be a place of incredible temptation. One reason that we struggle so much when we hear one of those stories is because we have placed our faith in people instead of placing our faith in Jesus Christ. We must learn to separate our faith in God from our faith in people. The reality is that sometimes a pastor will lose his temper in a business meeting. He shouldn’t, but sometimes he will. Does that mean that all the work he has done as a pastor is suddenly null and void? Perhaps a missionary took more vacation time than he should have. Does that mean that all the churches he planted are suddenly invalid? Perhaps you learn that your favorite Christian professor has padded his resume by claiming to have written more scholarship articles than he actually did. Yes, that was wrong. However, it doesn’t mean that everything he ever taught in class or wrote in the articles that he did compose can now be tossed aside.

While I do think we should call out sin in leaders when it exists, we should also give people a lot of grace. After all, isn’t that what we would want if we were in their situation? Our goal should not be to destroy them or their ministries. Our goal should be to help them overcome their sinful weaknesses and serve the Lord even more effectively than they did in the past.

I remember years ago getting into an argument with a deacon. He and I wrote a series of escalating emails back-and-forth to each other. Finally, a different deacon came to see me. He was very loving, but also very firm. He helped me see my part in the problem. I learned to stop writing caustic emails, even if someone else wrote one to me. I also learned the value of offering a brother in Christ a genuine apology. The issue was resolved and I think I was a better pastor as a result.

The question is not “will we make a mistake.” The question is “we will learn from the mistakes that we do make.” Learning from our mistakes actually helps our error become a testimony to the power of God to change our lives. But when we ignore our mistakes, or when we hide our sin and refuse to make it right, it reveals a darker side of our lives that is still in need of God’s grace.

If we see someone in leadership who makes a mistake, instead of looking for a way to humiliate them, we should confront them in love and seek to help them overcome their mistake. And if we are the leader who makes a mistake, we should be quick to acknowledge it, readily confessing it as sin. Then we can grow from the mistake into better leaders.

Lord, help us see our own faults and help us overcome those faults through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett serves at the Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of New England. He has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

How to Enjoy Your Retirement

Titus 2:2-4 - Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women . . .

America is slowly graying as 10,000 Baby Boomers retire every day. Retirement is supposed to be a fun- filled time spent with family, a time to create joyful memories with grandchildren, travel to places we have always wanted to visit and engage in learning and service opportunities that we did not have time for when we were working. Regretfully, many Baby Boomers are finding retirement to be less fun, joyful and adventurous than they had hoped.

Time magazine reports in a May 23, 2016 article that a growing number of Baby Boomers have isolated themselves as they age.  This is a negative trend. It is harmful for retirees, but it is also harmful for our culture. Our culture needs the wisdom of the older generation. Laura L. Carstensen, the director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, writes: “A large body of research shows that emotional experience improves with age. People are slower to show anger and more prone to see silver linings. They solve emotional charged conflicts more effectively and are more likely to forgive and forget.” In other words, they have a lot of wisdom and maturity that their family, friends, community of worship and local organizations need. When they isolate themselves during their twilight years instead of investing themselves in others, everyone suffers.

Another reason retirees need to resist this trend toward isolation is because it is not healthy for them. The Stanford Center on Longevity’s Sightlines Project tracked six age cohorts to see how well they are doing in areas critical to long term well-being. “There is ample evidence that social engagement has positive effects on health and longevity. Social isolation is as strong a risk factor for early mortality as cigarette smoking.” Just think about that. Isolating one self from the community brings early death just like smoking!

If the evidence is overwhelming that the community needs its seniors to be involved and that seniors need that involvement, why are today’s retirees  less engaged? Carstensen points out that “Boomers are less likely to participate in community or religious organizations than were their counterparts 20 years ago.” Their parents were the Builder Generation who built strong churches and healthy community organizations. And when they retired, they had built in connections to make those retirement years joyful and adventurous. But the Boomers rejected those institutions and preferred a more individualistic approach to life. Now, as the Boomers enter retirement, few of them have meaningful connections to churches or other community groups, and that is causing them to feel isolated and alone. The individualism they were so proud of when they are younger is now literally killing them.

The good news is that retirees can do something about this. There are churches everywhere! Find one and get involved in it. Don’t just show up occasionally for a pot luck dinner, or only for Sunday morning worship. Get as deeply involved as you can. Deep friendships can be formed with great people who can change retirement from a time of loneliness to a time of great adventure. There are many small non-profits in every community that could use a volunteer. Find one that needs your skills and start volunteering each week. It is amazing how it changes one’s perspective on life. And those kids who never call? The phone works both ways. Don’t sit and wait for it to ring. Pick it up and call a family member or friend. We are as connected as we want to be and in retirement, connections are vital for our own health and for the health of those around us. Shake off that isolation and invest yourself in others!

Lord, help us to invest ourselves in others during our senior years instead of isolating ourselves. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Challenging Relationships

Proverbs 26:4-5 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Both emails arrived the same day from two different pastors. The pastors were both dealing with problematic people in their congregations. They hoped I might offer advice for how to deal with the issue. Though they were dealing with the same problem, I gave each of them opposite advice from the other. I told one to meet with the problematic person and try to answer their questions and work the problem out. I told the other one to invoke the church discipline clause in their church constitution and vote the problematic person out of the body. Why would I give opposite advice to two pastors facing the same issue?

It has a lot to do with what I learned in my own ministry as I sought to put Proverbs 26:4-5 into practice. These two verses tell us opposite ways of dealing with foolish people. One verse says to answer such a person, the other verse says not to. Though these verses may sound contradictory, they actually fit perfectly together.

When we encounter difficult personalities in life, our first response should be to try to work out the difficulties. Often words or actions have simply been misunderstood and when we talk them out with the other person, the issue is quickly resolved. That is always a positive outcome and worth the time and energy invested even if it is awkward to initiate.

But sometimes the other party is not interested in resolution. In some twisted way certain people thrive on controversy. They seem to enjoy having an enemy to fight or a person or organization to blame all their problems on. In those situations the more energy and time we invest trying to resolve the situation, the worse it gets. When we find ourselves in such a scenario, it is time to withdraw from the relationship. We should do it graciously and in a way that honors Christ. But we must accept that there comes a point when further efforts will produce no positive results. All it does is frustrate us and we might be tempted to stoop to the level of the problematic person. That will not produce the positive results we hoped for.

God understood this reality long before modern psychology discovered it. That is why He gave us the wisdom of these two verses of scripture back to back. He knew one verse would apply in one situation and the other in other situations. Part of being a mature believer is knowing which situation is which and applying the correct scripture teaching at the right time. Through prayer, and with helpful advice from others, the Holy Spirit can give us that discernment.

Lord, give us wisdom to know when to keep trying to resolve challenging situations and when to walk away from them. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He has written a book about the spirit of offense that prevails in our current society. You can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

How Mini-Sermons Mess Up a Worship Service

Have you ever been in a worship service that seemed like one long series of mini-sermons, none of which went together? I use the term "mini-sermon" to refer to those infamous 5 minute talks that people who are participating use to insert their opinion into the flow of the service but which do more to distract from the service instead of add to it. It might be the long explanation about a song before a piece of special music, or a literal "mini-sermon" before or after what was supposed to just be a scripture reading, or perhaps it is a lecture wrapped up in the guise of announcements. Whatever form it takes, it typically has nothing to do with the theme of the service and often makes the service much longer than it needs to be. Though I dislike all mini-sermons, I suppose most people in a congregation can handle one mini-sermon in a service. However, I recall one service I was in where half a dozen people gave such talks. It basically added 30 minutes to the length of the service but provided nothing of significant spiritual value. Instead the result was people looking at their watch ten minutes into the pastor's sermon wondering how much longer the service would last. That was unfair to the pastor, who had spent numerous hours preparing to teach the Word that week.

If a person has something he or she wants to share with the congregation, that person should make their desire and topic known to the pastor or worship leader prior to the service. If it is appropriate, it can be inserted at the appropriate time in the service. If it is not appropriate, then an awkward moment can be avoided. It is wrong to hi-jack the service for one's unplanned mini-sermon and take time away from what the pastor, or others, have diligently prepared.

Someone is probably thinking that I don't believe that the Spirit can give an unplanned word in the middle of the service. On the contrary. I have witnessed many spontaneous testimonies in worship services. When the Spirit is behind it, everyone present will sense it and no one will be looking at their watch wondering how much longer the service will last. However, honestly, most of the mini-sermons I have heard did not seem Spirit led. They appeared to be people taking advantage of the situation to push their private agendas.

As a person who has participated in a wide variety of different types of worship services in churches of all sizes and worship styles, I want to urge my fellow worshipers to ask themselves if what they want to say is really NEEDED in that moment or will it distract from the point of the service or unduly lengthen it. One day each of us will stand before God and give an account for the words we speak. Let's make sure the ones we used in public worship were truly from the Lord.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is an author and Christian leader in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, adoring grandfather and thankful cancer survivor. You can find his books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/