And I have been taking mental notes some good some not so good…

A good I have observed is our evangelistic speaker for these meetings, Elder Ted Wilson.

What I am so impressed with, as are so many others, he is fully engaged in this initiative!

Something I keep hearing over and over again from people that have been serving the Adventist Church a lot longer than I have is, “Isn’t it great to see a General Conference President preaching and leading a full campaign!” People that have served in the General Conference offices for a number of years are expressing their appreciation of Elder Wilson not just casting the vision, but actually helping to carry out the vision of reaching New York. As one GC official said, “He could do what has been done,  set the vision and say ‘now go do it.’ But he is actually out there with us.”

What I am seeing is that Elder Wilson isn’t content to sit on the sidelines, he is passionate about reaching New York City. He is not going to tell others to follow the counsel of Ellen White to minister to this the most diverse city in the world, without also doing it himself. He isn’t just someone that goes around and talks about what should be done and the ministries that should be done he is actually doing those ministries and doing very tangible things to make those ministries a success!

Unwilling to sit on the sidelines.

He, and his wife Nancy, are even attending the classes for the Field School daily. He said, “I have a lot to learn.” So he is at each class learning.

As I watch Elder Wilson, I think back to the last time we were at some meetings together. A very different environment. The Pacific Union Special Constituency Session on the bylaw changes regarding the ordination of women within that Union.

That day as I once again was observing our General Conference leader, I was disappointed that he was there. It wasn’t because I have a different point of view on the topic and disliked that he disagrees with me, (I’m actually one of those folk that thinks its okay to disagree and state it with conviction trusting that we can both still love Jesus) I was disappointed because I felt that it wasn’t a very presidential move of him to be there when the whole world knew that he would get voted down. It felt to me like a very unsound move politically.

But as I think about Elder Wilson’s presence here at this event I think I understand more and actually now respect his presence at the former event.

Here is what I am concluding: If Elder Ted Wilson is passionate about something, if he is convicted about something, he is not the type to just sit on the sidelines and let everyone else do the work.

He was/is convicted on his position regarding women’s ordination. He is convicted on his position regarding reaching New York City…

…In both instances he acted on his conviction.

Unwilling to sit on the sidelines.

I don’t believe it is fair of me to affirm one and renounce the other.

I admire, I appreciate, I trust a leader…

…who stands for his convictions no matter how politically painful it may be to take on Union that has clearly stated their views.

….who preaches a full evangelistic campaign just like the rest of us pastors do, no matter how exhausting it may be.

I admire, I appreciate, I trust Elder Ted Wilson…

…not because we share all points of view in common.

…because I know his convictions by his actions.

He is a man unwiling to sit on the sidelines.

And that is a leader I can follow!

]]> http://www.chadnstuart.com/2013/06/elder-ted-wilson-unwilling-to-sit-on-the-sidelines/feed/ 8 http://www.chadnstuart.com/2013/05/the-four-most-important-evangelists-in-the-adventist-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-four-most-important-evangelists-in-the-adventist-church http://www.chadnstuart.com/2013/05/the-four-most-important-evangelists-in-the-adventist-church/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 04:05:17 +0000 Chad Stuart http://www.chadnstuart.com/?p=176627852 If you follow the world of Adventist Evangelism you are familiar with ministries such as It Is Written, Amazing Facts, Breath of Life, & Voice of Prophecy. You’re also familiar with the great evangelists of Adventism, some of y’all have seen them so many times on 3ABN or The Hope Channel that you almost feel like they are your own personal friends, Doug Batchelor, Shawn Boonstra, Mark Finley, Alejandro Bullon, John Bradshaw, Carlton Byrd, and more. But of all the evangelists in our denomination, The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which ones are the most important, the most vital to the growth of our church?

I’m going to give you my top four. They are…

1. Parking Lot
2. Groundskeeper
3. Janitor
4. Greeter

These three individuals & one inanimate object are far more important to the growth of your church and thus the growth of Adventism at least here in North America than any of the names I mentioned above. Why do I say that? Because these three evangelists have a weekly impact on the growth of your church that the other three do not have (unless of course one of them is your Pastor:)).

Pastor Nelson Searcy and other church growth surveyors report that churches have roughly 7 minutes from the time a guest pulls into your church parking lot to make them feel welcome and give them a compelling reason to come back. Now a lot of folk may be skeptical about that statement, but if you’re a church goer then that disqualifies you from being able to speculate on the mind of the un-churched. The un-churched don’t think like church folk or act like church folk or talk like church folk, but they are the folk we need to reach, which is why these four evangelists, parking lot, groundskeeper, janitor, and greeter are so important to the life and growth of a local church!

Let me tell you about the value of each one:

Parking Lot

Church growth studies state that if a parking lot that is more than 80% it is a deterrent to guests. When I first read this in a book by Russell Burrill I was skeptical, but I’m a pastor which makes me even less qualified than the average member in the pew to analyze the thoughts of an individual searching for a church, so I took the study to the church Elders and there in our meeting one of our Elders raised his hand. He said, “Pastor 8 years ago when my wife and I first move to the area we came to this church; we pulled into the parking lot and didn’t see many openings. The place seemed too crowded so we drove to another church in town.” They weren’t even here 7 minutes and they left. Praise the Lord they gave us another chance, they have been a great asset to our church! But we could have lost them because the evangelism of our parking lot dropped the ball! How can we help with the evangelism of the parking lot? Well first off pastors we can actually pay attention to it. One thing we did prior to moving to two services in Visalia, as our church grew, we not only paid attention to how many people were sitting in the seats but we also sent a Deacon to count the empty spots in the parking lot. When we were getting to full we began to ask our members to park elsewhere. There was a parking lot next door and we got permission to use it, we also had members park out on the street at the curb. Our church having the evangelistic heart that they do complied and our parking lot was once again ready to be an evangelist to our guests.

Groundskeeper

Are your bushes trimmed, is your lawn mowed & green, do you have flowers blooming? The first thing that people see when they pull up to your church are these things and whether we pay attention to it or not, it is noticed by guests. If you don’t believe me think about the last time you pulled up to a persons house whose yard was falling apart. Did you notice? Of course you did! Especially if you were about to go inside. In fact you probably thought in your head, “If this is what the outside of their house looks like, I wonder what the inside looks like?” We’ve all thought it (if you haven’t you may be the one with the ultra shabby yard:)). Well do you think folk pulling into a church think any different? NO! And what is one of the most important rules of evangelism? Start by focusing on the positive. What do most our main stream evangelists start their meetings with? Daniel 2. Why? Because they want folk to see the credibility of the scriptures and honestly probably the credibility of us, in that we were so “smart” to show them the meaning of Daniel 2 (sorry mild sarcasm there:)). But this is a positive message for a positive start. It is no different each Sabbath morning, we want to start things off on the positive. And the positive is a green mowed lawn, trimmed bushes, and flowers blooming. Pastors are you paying attention to the evangelism provided by your groundskeeper?

Janitor

Really this evangelist follows in the same line as the previous. If your church is unkempt and dirty you are communicating a message you don’t want to communicate. Bathrooms need to be clean! If they are like ours in Visalia (literally the worst church bathrooms ever) then you really have to go out of your way to make them as useable as possible! Papers should not be lying around, the walls should be clean, the tables at potluck should be clean. I was once speaking at a small church in the Southern parts of these here United States. I was the guest so I showed-up early that gave me the opportunity to stand in the foyer and look around while I waited for the Sabbath Schools to finish, what I noticed made me wonder how many guests came back. There was a coat rack that probably had half the coats hanging on the rack and the other half were lying in a heap on the floor. Sitting on top of the coat rack were stacks of what appeared to be old Adventist Review magazines along with other various papers. Everything just looked disheveled. We don’t get points if the outside is beautiful but the inside it is a filthy mess, either Spiritually or as a literal church structure. Your janitor evangelist is important!

Greeters

This evangelist may be the most overlooked because most people consider their church friendly. But just because we as members think our church is friendly doesn’t mean that is what your guests experience. And unfortunately what has been discovered is that members almost always rate themselves higher on the “friendly” meter than guests do. All the other 6 1/2 minutes of a guests first encounter with your church are important but the first 30 seconds that a guest steps inside your church are the most vital and will leave an impression of your church that can be very hard to shake! I’ve found within Adventism that most greeting ministries are the same. Hand-out a bulletin and be done with it. In some churches that is even an overreach of expectation. One of my associates went to preach at another church in our area, when he walked into the church foyer there was no greeter. There was a table though with a stack of bulletins. My associate greeted the table and took a bulletin To be a greeter is not to be a bulletin dispenser. A greeter is an evangelist! Every pastor should do training sessions with their greeters. Have a plan for how to greet and where to greet. Yes, where matters. Guests should not have to come to the greeters, I can not count how many times I have had to tap a greeter on a shoulder in a church I was visiting and ask for a bulletin. One pastor friend told me how at a church he was serving at the greeters refused to come out from behind the hospitality table, they said if the people wanted something it was clear where they needed to go. Sounds so hospitable! I find the greeting ministry of our church to be one of the ministries I spend the most time thinking about and praying over!

So there are your four “most important” evangelists in Adventism! From personal experience and observation I believe if a pastor will take a little more time focusing on even just these four areas, he or she will see the retention of their guests increase.

I say vibrating demon because my phone is almost always silenced due to my career being a constant in & out cycle of meetings and so it vibrates to get my attention. And I am ashamed to say that I respond faster to my phone than I do my wife, my kids, maybe even God. Why? Because we are driven by the immediate and not by what is truly most important.

Well the other day something happened and I have decided I will no longer let the vibrating demon control me.

I had about an hour free in my afternoon before needing to head out to our school for a meeting and I decided to run home

Stop Daddy. Put the phone away!

quickly and check in on the family. When I arrived home my wife and kids were hanging out by the pool, don’t hate me because God has called me to Pastor in California I sat down on one of the pool chairs, set my phone down on the end table by the chair, and began to talk to my wife. After a couple of minutes of conversation my 4 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 year old boys came running over to me and started asking excitedly, “Daddy, Daddy will you swing us?” I told them to hold-on while I finished talking to Christina (my beautiful wife) and then I said, “Ok.” My 2 1/2 year old loves to help me get up. Whether it is standing-up from a chair or getting out of bed he loves to think he is pulling me to my feet. So he begins to tug on my arm and as I am getting up I reach down and grab my phone. Landon and I take about two steps towards the swing and then he stops me, and in a very serious voice he commands me, “Put that in your pocket Daddy! Put the phone in your pocket!” I looked at my wife and she gave me a look that communicated, “How cute” & “I’ve told you so” all in one. Then I looked back at Landon, he was serious we weren’t budging ’till I put the phone away. He hasn’t learned the pocket doesn’t stop the distraction, but in that moment I learned the phone needs to be turned off!

I would rather be fired or asked to leave my church because people don’t feel like they can get a hold of me than to ever have my boys think again that the vibrating demon is more important than them. If my 2 1/2 year old has already figured out the distraction the vibrating demon is to his Dad, how is he going to feel as a teenager after years of that instrument of ministry and others taking away his Dad’s attention?

So tomorrow in the morning when I am with my boys the phone is going off…not just on vibrate…not just in the pocket…off!

Pastors (and all parents really) if you feel like your phone is a permanent extension of your hand due to calls, texts, twitter, email, Facebook,  your kids and your wife feel it too, so turn it off!

There are enough demons out to get us and our families, don’t let the vibrating one that you have control over be one of them!

My house was right across the street, providential that the school vespers would happen to be there on that night. If it hadn’t of been I wouldn’t have gone since I was already an hour-and-a-half late.

“If you have felt like God has been trying to say something to you these last few weeks about your life and your decision for Him, I want you to stand. Maybe you don’t even know what He wants and you aren’t sure what it all means, but you know want things to be different. Please stand!”

It all started with a group of 8 students that went from my school to a Prayer Conference in England, no I was not one of those 8, in fact even if the opportunity had been presented to me to go to England I would have turned it down because I wanted nothing to do with any type of God activity…actually, I thought God wanted nothing to do with me either, so it was an even relationship or so I thought…

But God didn’t feel about me the way I thought He did so He sent a friend of mine, actually a few friends of mine, but one in particular, Greg Taylor to England. And while Greg was in England going through his own conversion of sorts, the Lord told Greg that his mission when he got back to Ohio was, “Chad.”

This guy is now the Youth Director of the Wisconsin Seventh-day Adventist Conference

Praise Jesus Greg’s heart was truly converted which means he was willing to endure any level of ridicule to fulfill his mission, because ridicule was indeed what he received. When Greg told me that God had told him to talk to me, I told Greg he was “full of ….”. But Greg didn’t care, he loved me and more importantly he loved Jesus! So he kept talking day in and day out. I got more and more irritated, in part because there began to be things that were happening in my mind and heart that I didn’t know how to deal with. After an undergrad degree in Theology, a graduate degree in Divinity (what does that mean anyway, Master of Divinity?), and after 8 years of being a pastor I could give you some very knowing answer, it was the Holy Spirit convicting my heart, but at the time it was just unnerving.

I thought I wanted to stay the same, but the deck really was stacked against that happening. A group of 6 at my school had started praying for me when they got back from England, along with my future wife in California whom I had yet to meet but who had also been in England and had learned of this hard headed rebel named Chad. There were also a host of Mom’s praying for me at The Kettering SDA Church lead by Mel Miller, the mom of my dear friend Heather.  They were all united in prayer for me. I had no idea so many were praying for me, but God knew and the Holy Spirit kept working.

The people of this church prayed for me before I was saved and after as well. It was here I was mentored through the
first years and missteps of my journey with Jesus. I am forever grateful!

So on April 26, 1996 after a month of resistance, of swearing I would never be one of them. In my heart telling myself even if I did want to be one of them it was too late, God couldn’t forgive me. After a month of Heaven being deluged with prayer that was unknown to me but received joyfully in the courts of Heaven, Pastor Richmund stood up and began to speak. A man that had been my friend even though I did everything to make it known that I wanted nothing to do with his God or his way of life, yet he still loved me and so when he spoke that night I listened–

He put up with me for almost two years and that helped him to reach me on one very important night!

“If you have felt like God has been trying to say something to you these last few weeks about your life and your decision for Him, I want you to stand. Maybe you don’t even know what He wants and you aren’t sure what it all means, but you know want things to be different. Please stand!”

I stood…

17 years, thank You Jesus!

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” –The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America

So I have been following the gun control debate that is going on in our country over the last several months and I have some questions. Not questions meant for jest or sarcasm but true questions that are based on my desire in seeking precision in language and cohesion of logical thought. So here they are:

Can someone explain to me in legal language how limiting types of guns or mandating more background checks is against the 2nd Amendment?

This is a serious question, b/c the 2nd Amendment simply states that “we” citizens of the United States have the right to bear arms. It doesn’t say what kind of “arm” we are allowed to bear.

Am I correct in this?

Isn’t an “arm” a .22 or a smith & wesson six shooter?  I guess an “arm” could also be a bazooka or flame thrower.

So when is it or isn’t it an infringement on our 2nd Amendment rights? At what level does it become an infringement?

Also, I am curious according to the 2nd Amendment does one have to be in a militia that is protecting the United States in order to bear arms? I mean that is how it reads, but I don’t have a single friend or family member in a militia protecting the United States but a lot of them still own guns. I guess it could mean protecting oneself since “We the people” are the United States…

But still the right of the 2nd Amendment at least as it reads was put in place in direct conjunction to “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…” and no other reason.

So those are my questions. Questions I have based on my struggle to find the logic in arguing the 2nd Amendment in a lot of the debate that is going on.

I think to argue “life & liberty” would be more appropriate if someone wanted to use a historical/legal document, but I’m struggling with the 2nd Amendment.

Maybe y’all can help me out?

1. Dr. Ben Carson at the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. This first post was actually a most seen post and not a most read post since this is the video presentation of Dr. Ben Carson’s confrontational/powerful (depending on whom you are talking to) talk at the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. Some would call it, “Speaking truth to power!”
2. Sorrows & Grief. This post I enjoyed writing than many others lately. It felt last year there were a lot of posts I wrote about the different challenges and conflicts taking place in the Adventist church which are still popular a year later, as you’ll see later in this list. But this post was my life and probably many others. A post that was born out of a moment when I was holding my two year old son thinking how hard it would be to see him one day go through heart break and the Spiritual lessons the Lord conveyed to me in those few moments.
3. The 49ers Lost & That’s Okay. Did you hear the Niners lost the Super Bowl? Well I heard and watched it and for the first time ever in my life I was pretty much okay with one of my teams losing such a big game. You can read about my journey a little in this article.
4. Thank You Morris Venden. My brief tribute to a man that taught so many of us about the grace of Jesus.
5. The Superiority of Adventist Education. I wrote this over 2 years ago, but every now and then it still pops up in the top 10 of a month.
6. Adventist Education: It is “Something Better”. And another on education. This one I wrote this past fall so not as surprising that it is still appearing at times in the top 10.
7. Faster Pastor Episode #5: God & Sports. If I were a betting man I would have lost! You see we’ve done Faster Pastor episodes on politics & women’s ordination, and I would have thought those would have incurred the most outcry. But no, I was wrong. I’ve found that one is safer talking about a complicated issue that has great impact on the church or about issues that have great impact on the entire world, than dare challenging an individuals sports hobby. Oh and yes, Faster Pastor will be back (we’ve had some inquiries) I just don’t know when. David is in Australia and Albert is in Guatemala. So we’ll see?
8. Faster Pastor Episode #2: Unity in Diversity. This would be the one about Women’s Ordination, which seems like a really old topic now. But hey I guess some folk are still wanting to banter it around.
9. In Defense of Ted. Wow this is a really old post about our General Conference President Ted Wilson. I just reread this post, I did after all write it over a year ago and opinions flux and feelings change. But I can honestly say that my feelings remain the same as this blog post states. I may have a few more issues or moments of variance, but the overall tenor and sentiment of the post remains what is in my heart.
10. The Ellen G. White Quote Quota. I was glad to see this post back in the top ten. Maybe in the top ten for the first time if I remember correctly.

And here are the top ten cities of readership in February 2013:

1. Visalia, CA
2. Barrington, IL
3. Prescott, AZ
4. Fresno, CA
5. New York, NY
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Calhoun, GA
8. Chattanooga, TN
9. Milwaukee, WI
10. Collegedale, TN

Thanks for reading y’all! Stay tuned for more future posts.

“How am I going to handle it when a girl someday breaks this kids heart?”

Random! I know!

But there it was, a dreadful thought! I began to remember when I got my heart broken. I was a Sophomore in college, I got a phone call, if there is such a thing as “Dear John” phone calls that was it…I was dumped. I didn’t see it coming & I was heart broken. It was close to 1 a.m., but one of the first things I did was call my parents. My mom answered, I could tell I woke-her-up. “Mom,” I sputtered, “Chad what’s wrong?” “Mom, (Name withheld for protection since this individual may never want to admit to dating me:)) just broke-up with me!” I said through sobs.

Landon is two, he won’t even date for 15 years, but I found myself saddened at just the thought of that potential call.

And maybe it’s because I’m a preacher, but everything turns into a Spiritual nugget; & this was no exception.

Because while I was pondering and sorrowing over my two year old son’s future heart break at the hands of some woman whom fails to see how awesome he is!

This text popped into my mind,

“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” –Isaiah 53:3

And suddenly I understood it differently.

In the past I have seen this sorrow and this grief directly related to the emotional and physical torment Jesus personally went through on this earth; and maybe that is still what this text is primarily saying.

But tonight as a Dad worrying about his son’s hypothetical heartbreak and the ensuing phone call I will receive at 1 in the morning, I saw Jesus as sorrowful and grief stricken because He loves me so much that every hurt I have, He intimately felt and feels.

Before I had kids I never saw anything sorrowful or even painful about the life of a toddler. Now my heart hurts when I see my kids wounded physically and emotionally. I’m a man of sorrows & acquainted with the griefs of toddlers because I love them so much!

And one day if we are still on this planet, I will be sorrowful & grief stricken for pre-adolescent children, and then I will feel the sorrow & grief of teenagers, I will feel the sorrow & grief of getting dumped…not because I’ve been dumped…but because I have a son that has received that “Dear John” phone call.

Jesus loves me more than I love my kids, no wonder He is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; when my heart breaks, His heart breaks.

My Mom got me through that phone call, but I later learned that when she hung-up her and my Dad shed a few tears of their own.

Why?

Because that is the essence of loving parents, our sorrow is their sorrow, our grief is their grief.

Our sorrow is His sorrow. Our grief is His grief.

Pastor Morris Venden as his son Lee says, “Had one string on his violin, Jesus,” and oh how beautifully he played that string.

I like many prodigals that return home was trying to work off past mistakes. Whenever someone preached the law or I read about God’s expectations for the Christian life. I left either depressed or angry and resentful that someone had confronted me in that way. Then one day amongst my parents books I discovered, “Hard To Be Lost.” I read it in just a couple sittings.

That book taught me a philosophy that I have tried to live by ever since, “It is harder to be lost than to be saved!”

As I moved out of that phase of my Christian walk and into a true understanding of Jesus and His love for me those sermons that once depressed me or made me angry, now understood in the light of Jesus’ love encouraged me! The law was no longer about Jesus’ love for me or even my salvation, but rather my joyful response to that glorious and marvelous love! Seeing things through the glasses of grace changes how we view everything, Elder Venden helped to teach me that.

Soon after I read that book, I began to read more of Elder Venden’s writings. “Never Without an Intercessor”, “To Know God”, & “Your Friend the Holy Spirit.” I was blessed by them all.

But then one day I discovered some old camp meeting tapes in a box, an entire series by Morris Venden. I remember listening to these tapes over and over again with tears streaming down my face as I would drive here and there. The man knew how to tell a story and tie it to the Gospel!

Just a couple years later at Union College I met a number of people that knew Elder Venden when he had served as the Pastor of the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was through these people I learned about some of Elder Venden’s demons, his struggles, his awkwardness with people. It didn’t discourage me though, it actually endeared my heart to him even more.

He was a man that was far from perfect which is why He always had to lean on our Perfect Savior!

Two years later when I was now attending Southern Adventist University, Elder Venden was the speaker for our ministerial consecration weekend. During one of his messages on Sabbath afternoon, we were meeting in the Thatcher Hall chapel in the Women’s dormitory & the fire alarm went off. We all had to vacate for a few minutes outside into a courtyard. I saw Elder Venden standing there alone and I approached him. It was an awkward 30 seconds. He definitely was not a people person…I had heard this but to experience it first hand caught me off guard. And yet this man could stand in front of thousands and talk about Jesus in such a way that you thought he was talking directly to you or that Jesus had sent him with this message just for you.

Elder Venden is no more. But His message of Jesus lives on in all of us that heard it and were changed forever for the glory of our Savior!

Thank you Jesus for sending us for a season our brother in the faith Morris Venden!