Musings on Spiritual Matters

It was a lot easier when no one knew who I was.  You could write, and no one cared.  You could speak, but no one invited.  You could fellowship, and no one watched.  It was so much easier.  I have always had a policy of speaking any place in which I was invited.  In fact, as Keith Parker would say, I would preach in Hell if Satan would let me.  What difference does it make.  You are speaking the truth, you are not promoting error, so what difference does it make?  You should be judged based on what you teach, not on the teaching of all the other people on some event or program.  How can one person be responsible for everyone?  It seems easy.  But there is more to it than this.  People watch you, and you can give a false impression, you do not always get your day in court, and people will make judgments on you.  It is not easy.  I guess I am just starting to learn about this stuff.  Not having a background in the church, it has not been easy for me.  And mostly I am not good at this stuff.  I am mostly a happy-lucky guy, just happy to be asked to speak at any place.  But starting to realize that people might not give you the benefit of the doubt, and in some cases, people will just be judgmental.  I am coming to the realization that I have no clue about these issues.  I want to be judged on what I teach, not on someone else.  There is a lot of complexity in these issues.

So here is the real point of this post.  Man I miss my mentor.  Burnice Wesbrooks took me on as a son in the faith.  And over two years ago, I returned to preach his funeral.  At the time I was confident that I could move on, I felt that the Lord felt that I was ready to handle some of these issues on my own.  Maybe I am, maybe I am not, and most days I am feeling, I am not.  Man I miss him.  In these situations, in which it is not cut and dry, it is not easy.  There are a lot of variables surrounding the situation.  What I loved about Burnice was that he knew the church, he knew the Lord, and he knew what was right.  He was someone that I trusted totally.  He would have advised me on all of these issues.  He would have outlined the results, the blessings, and the fallout from these choices.  Man I miss him.  Everyday I just wish I could pick up the phone and ask for his advice again.  When I was with him at Hartsville Pike, every Monday we talked, well everyday we talked.  When I was in Waynesboro, every Monday we talked.  And I miss that.  I wish I could still call him.

Related posts:

1. The Four Emotional Reactions to Church–Church is Pointless
2. The Four Emotional Reactions to Church–Church is Perfect
3. Four Emotional Reactions to Church-Church is Problematic
4. Four Emotional Reactions to Church-Church is Purposeful
5. Organic Church or Visionary Church

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This entry was posted by Matthew on Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.