The Bigger Fish

There's always a bigger fish in the pond than you. Jacob found this out when he met his Uncle Laban.

Running for his life from an enraged brother, Esau, Jacob fled at his mother's suggestion to her brother. There he not only met Laban, who greeted him as "my own flesh and bone" but his future wives and concubines (you read right, plural all around, and as you read Jacob's story you find that multiple marriage/sexual partners don't work out well at all--so don't go using this story to support any contemporary ethical purposes/challenges today).

Jacob thought of himself as the ultimate wheeler-dealer. His name literally means "finagler" and he lived up to this label. He cajoled and manipulated everyone around him to his own ends, always winning along the way.

But along came Polly, er, Laban. And Jacob gets played by his uncle.

Jacob fights back, as best he can. Graciously, God was with Jacob, and it was only by God's grace that Jacob could survive and prosper while in the clutches of the grizzled, seasoned, Master Manipulator.

Lots of water flowed under the bridge in the 20 years Jacob spent in Laban's service. By the end of that time Jacob had enough; so had Laban; so had Laban's boys; so had Jacob's wives who were Laban's daughers, Leah and Rachel. Jacob and family skipped town. Laban pursued. A battle was about to ensue, but God intervened; the Lord told Laban not to harm Jacob. A parlay and semi-truce was made, with a pillar and pile of rocks bearing witness to the accord.

The question that blasts out to me about the Jacob/Laban encounter is this: why does God do what He does? I mean, this story is all about exploitation and pain. Why doesn't God just flood the earth and start over--again? Or why doesn't God move to plan B--Esau?

The short answer is this: God has no plan B. He doesn't need another plan, for He has Himself and his purpose, and his purposes are not, not, not dependent on me. He will work out his purposes in spite of our character flaws and the pain we unleash upon ourselves and others. It may not be pretty, but it says to all concerned: "I am the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. And I will glorify myself. I will bless whom I choose to bless, and will curse whom I choose to curse. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power works out perfectly in your weakness. Now, follow me; walk in my way, and learn to trust. In this you will come to know the abundant life, and you'll be a more Godly person to boot."

Be the anti-Jacob: strive for the Lord Jesus Christ and his purposes, not yourself.

Where In The World Is Pastor Judy?

Pastor Judy is traveling to Newberg, OR this weekend for the annual meetings of Evangelical Friends Church International-North America. She works on the Christian Education Commission as a representative from Evangelical Friends Church Southwest.

The EFI-NA meetings rotate between the different member Yearly Meetings, including Mid-America, Rocky Mountain, Northwest, Southwest and Eastern Region. Having attended these meetings before, I know that the meetings are part business, part fellowship, part worship and part revival. It's always a wonderful experience to meet up with leaders from other Evangelical Friends churches.

When you think of Judy, please remember to pray for her. This link will help you picture where she'll be staying and meeting.

No More Debt!

That's me standing in front of what once was tens of thousands of dollars of debt our church incurred in the early 1980s. The wall. About 500 feet of it. Some of it retaining. All of it well-built, and expensive.

We were required to install it by local government. A less expensive wood fence wouldn't work. So we went to the Friends Development Corporation, the lending arm of Evangelical Friends Church Southwest, and got a loan. The cost was enormous for a church our size. But what could we do? You can't fight city hall, right?

When I first came to Glendora Friends Church in 1997 I didn't think too much about that debt. I was bothered by it, of course. It sucked $614 monthly in badly needed resources away from other ministry needs. But I didn't really think about it much because I didn't know month to month what our balance was, only the payment. That changed in April 2000 when our Treasurer began putting the balance of the loan payable into our monthly Financial Report. At that time it totaled $52,260. You can guess what the original note totaled 15 years before that. We thought about having a capital campaign to pay off the loan, but it never materialized. We just kept paying our $614 a month.

Recently we began to see daylight, as the payoff date of March, 2010 was approaching. But that seems far away when your current giving is not meeting your needs. As of yesterday the balance had shrunk to about $2,300.

Just today our Treasurer received a check in the mail, a gift from a friend of Glendora Friends Church, that has paid off our loan. No more debt! Plus we have an extra $614 each month. It's like adding one or two tithing families.

Rejoice with me, won't you? God is faithful to His own. Let us continue in our faithfulness to Him.

Dear Pastor Butler...

We cannot thank you enough for the wonderful garden fresh vegetables donated by Friends Church to Shepherd's Pantry these past few weeks. It's rare that we receive fresh vegetables, which is a shame because they are so badly needed. The fact that you and your congregation took the time and effort to grow them yourselves is even more special. The people who received them were very appreciative and grateful.

We value the relationship we have with Friends Church and pray that we can continue to work together in the future to reduce food insecurity in our community. Please tell your congregation how much we appreciate their donations and what a difference it makes in the lives of those whom we serve.

In His Service,

Phil Huisman

Executive Director

Shepherd's Pantry

857 E. Arrow Highway, Ste J

Glendora, CA 91740

626-852-7630

www.shepherdspantry.com

A Non-Profit Corporation #20-8277679

October Financial Report

So far this fiscal year (July, August, September, October) we've averaged $10,000 a month in income but averaged $11,500 a month in expenses.

I believe we'll turn a corner soon and am praying for God's intervention, which may well involve the addition of two or more tithing (10% of income) families. These families may already be among us. One of these families might be your own. I encourage you to consider tithing. It's God's plan for regular Christian giving.

October General Giving $8,411

October Rent income 1,215

TOTAL: General Income for October $9,726

Total Expenses for October 11,165

Negative Difference for October -1,439

General Giving Year to Date 35,272

Rent Income Year to Date 4,648

TOTAL: General Income Year to Date 39,920

Total Expenses Year to Date 45,352

Negative Difference Year to Date -5,432

Faith Promise Missions Giving for October 1,115

Faith Promise Missions Giving Year to Date 4,860

Total Designated Funds 10,130

Total Available Cash -1,224

Balance of Building Loan (pay-off date: 03/01/2010) 2,278

So What Happened At Stewardship Meeting Tonight?

As you may know our Stewardship Committee met tonight in emergency session with Ministry and Counsel to discuss our budget shortfall. This is what was decided:

• Ask the congregation to redirect this year's Thank Offering toward elimination of our outstanding building loan debt of $2,278. This will free up $614 in monthly payments.
• Cancel our cleaning contract, saving us $240 a month. Members of the congregation will be signed up to clean our facilities until we can rehire a cleaning company.
• Redirect $120 in monthly rent money that now goes into our Maintenance Fund to our General Fund.

These decisions have the potential of adding almost $1,000 to our monthly general income. However, we still need you to pray for God to meet our entire deficit, which has averaged $1,300 a month this fiscal year. Our committees will continue meeting in the months to come, discerning how to meet our deficit challenges.

We're praying to God that he meet our needs, and then some. Add your prayers to our faith.

The current economic climate has affected many of our families in a negative way. Some have lost jobs and some are underemployed. We are praying for all of you, too, as you meet your own deficit challenges with trust in the Lord Jesus and his provision.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Pumpkin Patch Outreach

Church Garden Delivery to Shepherd's Pantry

A kind Glenkirk Shepherd's Pantry volunteer took a photo of me inside the Pantry, next to the garden food I delivered today (in bags on the table).

Financial Peace University Graduates

Of Critical Importance

You know that I've never been one to act shyly about our church's financial condition.

Here's the skinny:

• We had an $1,834 deficit in September.
• Through the first three months of our fiscal year we're $3,952 behind.
• We now have a NEGATIVE balance in our checking account. All our cushion is now gone.

I'm asking you to pray and seek the Lord Jesus about what he wants you to do to help.

Thanks.

Back Home

I'm back from Matt (my nephew) and Kelli's wedding in Sapulpa, OK, glad to be home but still not feeling well. I'll post some pictures in a few days which will describe my trip.

I heard that Pastor Judy isn't feeling well, either, missing Sunday's service. But I also hear that our good folks were able to cover nicely. That's very encouraging to me. Thanks to all who helped with our worship service.

Midtown Friends Launches

From Pastor Timothy Friend's blog...

Oooooooook-lahoma!

I'm traveling to Oklahoma this week with brother Brice to attend our nephew Matt and bride-to-be Kelly's wedding in Sapulpa (a suburb of Tulsa). This is what I hope to accomplish while I'm there:

• Hang out with my mother and her husband, Randy, as well as with my sister Vanessa and her family, including her husband Chris and my niece Trisha, her husband, JonPaul, and their child, Dillon.
• Visit Gina's grandmother, Thelma, in Enid, and hopefully see Gina's mother, Barbara, in either Enid or Kellyville (her hometown outside of Sapulpa). I won't get to see Gina's dad as he's visiting relatives in the Virginia/Maryland area.
• Travel down Memory Lane in Alva (my birthplace) and Enid (where I graduated high school).
• Visit with the Butler side of my family while in Alva, and hopefully explore the Butler/McConkey genealogy with my cousin Verlinda, who has done far more work than I have. Very much looking forward to seeing Uncle Daro Dean (my Dad's brother) and Aunt Virgie, cousin Connie and family, and perhaps other extended family.
• Visit with my mom's side of the family (Wheelers/Gindlesbergers), including Uncle Milford and Aunt Rachel and my cousin Brian.
• Maybe, maybe, maybe attend the Enid High School football game on Friday night, against Choctaw High School, east of Oklahoma City.
• Visit the old Butler family places at Whitehorse (west of Alva) and at the Port of Catoosa (northeast of Tulsa). Yes, that's right. There's an inland seaport in Oklahoma. During the height of the Depression the Butlers moved from the Alva area (northwest Oklahoma) to the Tulsa river bottoms in a wagon. Grandpa Samuel (who was disabled in some way) and Grandma Eldra had 13 hungry mouths to feed.

What is "Evangelical"?

A fascinating post by Scot McKnight on his Jesus Creed blog about the meaning (or lack of meaning, depending upon his commenters' viewpoints) of the term "evangelical" in "Rob Bell on 'Evangelical': Follow Up". McKnight tries his level best to bring meaning to the term "evangelical" while his commenters generally say, "Don't define me!".

The money question from McKnight's post: "Why do these folks [who embrace the evangelical ethos of compassion and justice but would hesitate to define themselves as evangelicals are also traditionally defined--bible, conversion, cross, discipleship] want to be connected to the evangelicals?"

As always, the fun and fireworks are in the comments.

WitheringtonNotes on Dan Brown's New Novel

Prolific bible scholar Dr. Ben Witherington offers a critical review and reading companion for Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol. As always, the comments are where some of the best reading and thinking take place.

Will I read Brown's novel? Let me answer this way: I read and thoroughly enjoyed (and thoroughly disagreed with) both The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons.