Housekeeping Matters

Regular readers of this blog may be interested in the following personal update.  At any rate, yoru thoughts and prayers would greatly be appreciated.

On Thursday night / Friday morning, the facilities of Fairway Park Baptist Church, where I am blessed and privileged to serve as pastor were illegally entered by person or persons unknown.  These burglers made their way maliciously through the buildings, and focused most of their attention on my personal office space.  When they left, they took with them the church copier, my computer, printer, monitor, keyboard, and other peripherals, as well as personal mementos and ministry-related souvenirs.  Among the peripherals that were taken were the backups to most of the files on my computer.  To say that the loss of 8 years worth of ministry notes, sermons, photographs and other church-related documents is devastating would be an understatement.  I am trying to create a list of what is gone, so that I know where to begin in recreating the necessary documents needed for our church.

While the loss came as a surprise, I am learning some great lessons.  First of all, I am learning what it means to trust in the Lord completely, that is, without a safety net.  The sermon notes prepared for this morning's service disappeared a few hours short of being printed on Friday morning.  The recreated outline and message was much better - due in no small part to the fact that God was working on my heart as I leaned more fully on Him for guidance and direction.  Secondly, I am being reminded of the power of community.  The church family is wonderfully demonstrating the power of 'shared burdens and blessings' as they minister to me during this time.  Thirdly, I am growing personally.  My prayer is that my inner attitude would accurately be that which my words and actions seek to display.  I don't want to hypocritically say one thing while thinking another; and God is teaching me that.

So, pray for me and the church, if you would.  We are seeing God grow us individually and corporately through this process; and it's exciting to be a part of it!