Paul Clark

Back to the classroom

What have you learned in all your years of education and experience that you could use in the marketplace? What can you do to expand your impact on others?

I’ve been preparing for my next teaching assignment with Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. I’m an adjunct professor and I've been asked to teach  Financial Management to a classroom full of adults in an accelerated degree-completion program. Why do I do it? Don’t I already have enough to do? Good questions.

The truth is I love to teach. It’s one of my spiritual gifts, along with administration. But I guess there are other, less demanding ways to exercise my gift.

I do it because it forces me to stay a “learner.” I’m forced to master the ideas and concepts in the textbooks before I can explain and teach them to the students. That keeps me fresh and current with ideas and trends that help me to be a better church manager. It expands my thinking so that I can look at situations or problems more broadly.

I helps me develop my ability to think clearly and speak publicly. Adult students are different than 19-year olds. They ask tough questions. When you step into the classroom for four hours, you better be prepared. It challenges me to find and present resources that are compelling and relevant so that the material comes alive. I think that helps me to be a better communicator overall.

It places me among a group of people that don’t particularly care that I’m a pastor. I have to go back to the drawing board so to speak, in thinking through how I can present my faith naturally and effectively.

At some point, you gotta get out of the boat

This is fifth in a series of Thursday devotionals on Gideon...

After we’ve dealt with our baggage, after we’ve unloaded all our doubts and fears on God, we have to step out in faith. Gideon was able to do that—which I think is what lands him in Hebrews 11 with all the other great people of faith. God told him to tear down his own father’s altar to Baal—he was afraid of the people in town, he was afraid of his family, but he did it—he did it at night when nobody was around—but he did it.

God told him to sound the trumpet and rally the Israelites to battle, he was afraid—he was full of questions—but he put air in that horn and he rallied the people.

God told him to send all but 300 of the 32,000 soldiers that showed up for battle home—he did it, this time with no questions asked.

God told him to break his small army into three groups and attack the Midianite camp with nothing but trumpets, torches and jars—and he did that too, no questions asked (Judges 7:15-18).

Each time Gideon overcame his baggage, overcame his fears, he learned something about trusting God. With only 300 soldiers, he partnered with God to route over 100,000 Midianites and rescued Israel from their tormentors. Each time God asked him to do something, Gideon had fewer and fewer doubts, and greater and greater confidence.

When God gives us a call—a call to ministry, a call to share our faith with our neighbor or person in the cubicle next to us, a call to a new career, a call to fix a broken relationship, a call to some task in his Kingdom, we may have questions and that’s okay, but ultimately we have get out of the boat—we have to take the first step. And each time we do, we grow in our own trust in God’s leading and we gain confidence in our ability to live in God’s strength.

Is there a decision you’re holding out on? Have you heard from God very clearly, but you just can’t get started? Whatever you’re hearing from God, no matter how big it is, or how small it may seem, whatever he is impressing upon your heart, that’s the most important step you can take. Life’s with God is an adventure, an awesome journey of great things, experiences, really cool stuff, if we just do what God asks us to do. If we step out and follow his lead.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Adding categories to my blog

Want to see all the blog posts relative to a particular topic?  I didn't do this as I posted each one, so I learned the hard way by going back to each post over the last three years or so and attaching a category.  Anyway, in the right hand column, you'll find categories like communications, finance, management, life, my church and more.  Try those to see specific blog posts about topics you might be interested in...  I had no idea I've posted as many times as I have! 

Hurting people

Over the past few days I was reminded what a special privilege we have in ministering to hurting people. In staff meeting, David told us about a woman he met on Sunday in the hallway who had recently been abandoned by her husband of 30+ years. I guess that happens, but it was somewhat shocking to hear that her husband was the Senior Pastor of a large mainline church in town. She felt abandoned and alone, losing her husband, her church and her support network, as her husband was evidently able to carry on his work in their church.

A couple days later I sat at my desk meeting with a couple working through some premarital curriculum. The young lady, as sweet and personable as I can imagine, told me with tears in her eyes how her parents have been divorced and remarried three times. Her mother has a serious substance abuse problem and three times her addictions have broken apart the family. The pain and bitterness were palpable.

There’s very little we can do or say to people like these. We can only try to care for them unconditionally and gently encourage them to discover the healing love of God. Our world is broken and we are sometimes harshly awakened to that fact. We’re snatched from the relative comfort of our “church business” world and drawn into the real issues that Jesus died to overcome.

Since when is it wrong for church to be fun?

We’re just about finished with the basement renovations that are part of our Imagine3:20 project. Wacky World has designed an environment that is first-rate and our kids love it. Sure it costs plenty of money, but when you see how kids almost drag their parents down the steps to emerge “underwater,” you instinctively know the cost was worth it.

Yet when an article on the project appeared in the Dayton Daily News, at least one reader was incensed that we would put that kind of money and effort into a children’s area, when the needs of the world are so great.

“A church is not supposed to be exciting and amusing. Its purpose is for the worship of God and to aid in the spiritual maturity of Christians. There are children in this country who are homeless and have no idea when or where they will get their next meal. There are families in this very state who are losing their homes and who are unemployed. This article was a classic example of hypocrisy in the Christian religion. Churches are becoming businesses, with Starbucks cafes, fancy lobbies and services not unlike what I would expect at a rock concert. What would Christ say to them in response to these foolish actions?”

Well, we didn’t respond in our own “letter to the editor,” but David did write these words in his blog:

“The church of tomorrow will be filled with kids that come to Christ today! At Fairhaven we are passionate about making church a place that excites kids to come and learn about God. There are so many things that are competing for the attention of our kids today, and the church needs to be attractive to them. If all we did was get them to come so as to amuse them, you would be right…there are many more useful things to do with our money. The reality is that hundreds and hundreds of kids have invited Jesus into their lives and because church is exciting for them, they are bringing their unchristian friends who are being introduced to Jesus Christ.

I wish you could see…the group of 4th and 5th graders that come every Saturday morning for prayer as they pray for their friends and our missionaries.
I wish you could see…that same group of kids lead their peers in worship every Sunday morning.
I wish you could see…our children that visit nursing homes every month.
I wish you could see…our elementary children that go on missions trips every summer and minister to the homeless and less fortunate in the poorest areas of rural Kentucky.
I wish you could see…80 kids who are in kids choir who sing worship songs with such joy and passion in our worship service, and in the community - The Greene, Dayton Dragons’ games, and Dayton Bombers’ games.
I wish you could see…the Christmas party that the kids planned for over 100 single moms and their children.
I wish you could see…the hundreds of children every Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, Saturday night and Sunday morning learning about God and who He is through His word.
I wish you could see…the number of moms and dads that have been brought to church because their kids don’t want to miss it.

The truth is that our investment in making church fun and exciting for children is something that Christ would be pleased with as He himself invited kids into His lap.

Nicely said, David.