Celebration

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October 25

Friday, October 25th, 2024

“CELEBRATE!” (cue up Rare Earth from the 60s or if you prefer Kool and the Gang)

I normally don’t post on Friday, or the weekend for that matter. But this is big! Huge in fact! I know you are waiting with baited breath to hear what is so important that Bill would break protocol to post on a Friday.

OVCF, the church I have had the honor and pleasure of pastoring for 19 years (I start #20 next month) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this Sunday. 20 YEARS!!! No matter how you look at it that is quite an accomplishment. From starting out with a meeting in a hardware-type building with just a few folks and meeting at several different places in its beginning, the church found a “home” at the Owen Valley Sports Complex, where it was meeting when Jo and I moved here in November of 2005. We temporarily moved to the middle school for a few months until someone got a wild hair to get us out so we went back to the complex. We went back to the middle school when the flood of 2008 displaced us from the complex for about 4 months. In 2010 we bought an unused Mormon church building. We had our first worship in the new facility in September and were excited about the future. In January of 2011 it came to light that over $200k had been embezzled from us. But God was good. I missed one paycheck during that time and it was made up at the next pay period. In 2012 we remodeled our building to accommodate our growth. We knew when we bought the building it was too small and would require an expansion.  In 2014 we hired Ryan East to be our youth pastor. He had been working at IU Credit Union and teaching our youth group. It was a perfect fit! In 2018 we sacrificed expanding the adult worship area for a youth wing. It was a very wise decision. Along with that we became debt free thanks to someone’s inheritance. When COVID hit the generosity of the people never quit. We didn’t miss a beat. In fact, we expanded to offer live stream during that time! We also increased our mission giving.  After finishing the youth addition, we began saving for an expansion on our adult worship area. We have been in two services since 2013 and there is a strong desire for a unified body in one service. Holidays like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday will often find us at the Abram Event Venue to hold all of us at once. But that comes with a ton of inconvenience and limited ministry to the kids (like none).  We have continued saving to be able to build debt free. Along the way we have taken our Easter offering and given it away to missions, giving all of  away unless designated otherwise. We have taken our anniversary offering and put it in the building fund or given away all or part of it to missions as well. God has been more than faithful to us.

So we celebrate Him this Sunday. We celebrate His faithfulness and goodness to us this Sunday. And yes, we celebrate the people of OVCF. They are, after all, the church. Not the building. People have come and gone-some through death, some through moving, and yes, some through discontent. But along the way, God has also brought some exciting people that I’m proud to call friends and ministry colleagues. One of them reads and comments on this blog almost daily-Ryan and his wife, Amanda. Jo and I still see them and go out to eat with them (Chili’s here we come!). People like Ryan have impacted my life in ways they do not know and words fail when I try to express them. Over my 19 years I have seen a lot happen at OVCF and in Spencer. My prayer is that the influence and legacy has been a positive one.

I’ll close this post for now and give an update on our celebration on Monday (Lord willing, of course). Until then, may I ask you to pray for us for Sunday? My deepest prayer, my most fervent prayer, is that in our celebration we will never lose sight of Who is behind it all and to Whom we give all the praise. One of the songs we will be singing, along with Good  Good Father and No Longer Slaves is  Firm Foundation (I prefer the Disciple/Honor and Glory version): “Christ is my firm foundation/The Rock on which I stand/when everything around me is shaken/I’ve never been more glad/I put my faith in Jesus/Cause He’s never let down.”

Amen!

{Note : if you so desire, we are unable to live stream from AEV due to a lack of good internet connection. My message has been prerecorded and downloaded and will be shown at 10:00 Sunday morning on our YouTube channel. It is a shortened version of the live experience but will give you a little bit of a taste of being there}.

One more thing: I did this from home on my iPhone so if you find typing mistakes, blame the phone. 😂

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September 18

Monday, September 18th, 2023

Jo and I and our daughter traveled an hour away yesterday afternoon to attend the Celebration of Life of a friend. On August 23rd I wrote about us attending a funeral visitation of a friend. That visitation was on Tuesday, the 22nd. On Wednesday, the 23rd, I made my way to the hospital to visit a friend from that same town who was in the hospice unit. It was a matter of time for her to pass. Both families were tied together by blood and hearts. On Saturday, the 26th that friend went to be with Jesus. Due to various circumstances, they had to wait almost a month to honor their mom.

One of the qualities of this friend people kept talking about was her sweet spirit. I have known her as a pastor and a friend since 1987 and never once did I ever hear a cross word or a bad mouth about anyone come from her lips. In fact, on display by all who knew her and spoke of her was her tender, gentle heart. That heart came from her deep and committed relationship to Jesus Christ. It permeated every part of her. If there was someone of whom it could said “every joint, every bone, every muscle, every fiber of her being was locked on to Jesus,” it would be her.

I think the best words I could say-that I want said about me when my days are done-is that she loved. There is a passage of Scripture which I think sums up Sherri’s life. I’ll let it speak for itself and say the rest of my words:

“Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear…All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Eph. 4: 29, 31-5:2 NASB2020)

What words would you want said about you if people gather to celebrate your life?

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September 12

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023

A further recollection of 9/11…only this one comes later…one year later.

I was still the pastor of a church in Sandusky, OH. As 9/11 approached, I knew the memory was still very real. I had befriended several other pastors and met with them on a monthly basis for laughter and mutual encouragement and prayer. I lived in a small town outside of Sandusky and had become acquainted with a law enforcement officer or two (not from disobeying the law). 🙂 Some of the other pastors had communication with LEOs and firefighters. So we decided to have a memorial service, which included some singing, short recollections, and honoring the men and women in attendance who were, what are now called “front line workers.” Standing on the stage with me were pastors of various churches, various colors, various races, and various nationalities. There was no distinction based on race, color, or creed.

There is a reason for that. When tragedy or hardship strikes, it knows no boundaries. It doesn’t say, “I’m just going to bother white people this time.” As a matter of fact, did AIDS just visit one class of people? COVID? Does discrimination? The answer, of course, is a big resounding NO.

We used a school auditorium for that one year anniversary of 9/11. It was packed! Year #2 not so. Much of the cooperation was also gone. Not because of animosity, but because life moves on. It happens. The pastors still met for prayer, laughter and mutual encouragement. But, in some way, the collective remembrance stopped. For me, 9/11 always brings a time of silence, of gratitude for others, and a renewed sense of living in a flawed, but still-the-best-country to live in.

I still sing “God Bless America” when I hear it (mostly under my breath because my singing acumen has much to be desired). 🙂 🙂 But I pray more that America will bless God, that we will repent and return to the ONE who controls all things and heal our land.

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