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Steve Whitney writes as Christian, app maker, preacher, former Silicon Valley computer guru, husband, and dad |
Times are tough and there’s a lot of stress and anxiety out there. God has a prescription for peace in our lives, and it involves prayer and giving thanks. How can we give thanks when we’ve experienced pain or loss? We’ll explore that together. Read Philippians 4:6-7.
Everything changes – just look at nature. And as Christians, we know that God is bringing change in our lives. A lot of the time, we don’t want change – or we only want change that we can control. That’s not how God does it. The only organisms that don’t change are dead. We all go through tough times, but God is with us. Will we choose to seek God’s way? Or to give up. This reflection is an encouragement to stick with it and trust God to bring us through and complete the good work He’s begun in us.
Christians understand the idea that those who become Christians receive forgiveness in Christ, but many of us then expect perfection of ourselves – especially in Christian service but also in other parts of our lives (parenting for me). God calls imperfect people – knowing who we are – loves and forgives us all the way, and provides healing when we blow it!
Jesus’ first followers lived in a tough time. There was a lot of anxiety, negativity and opposition. Sounds like now! But Jesus called them to be salt (presevative, flavoring, essential chemical for life) and light (help with direction, fear-reduction, and safety). He calls us to that too. In this message, Rev. Steve Whitney shares some keys to avoiding low-sodium, low-wattage Christianity.
We had a database error (and I haven’t posted since May so I didn’t notice). It’s fixed now!
Friends, this is a letter to the congregation at Trinity, but anyone interested can read it to find out more about what I’m doing and why.
I’ve been pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in West Sacramento for almost 8 years now. And in that time, God has done many amazing things in us and through us. There has been great personal and church transformation… And Eleanor and I agree that – despite the many struggles and challenges – this has been the best time of our lives. God has been very, very good to us.
We were surprised to find ourselves being called out of Trinity. There had been signs that my time there might be wrapping up, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it. We had figured that we had 4-5 more years of work to do before a different kind of pastor would be needed, but it turns out that now is that time. At some point we felt that asking the same question again an again after having received such a strong answer wasn’t the right thing to do so we began to pray for the transition.
In late April, Eleanor and I committed to a discipline of daily prayer for discernment, and we got some of the clearest answers from God that we have experienced. Every single day the answer to “Is it time to leave Trinity” was yes. Every time. Down to the details. We both saw a date in our minds for talking to the chair of the personnel committee – and it ended up being the same date.
I’ve heard a few concerns or positions that I would like to address:
“If he’s leaving then I’m leaving.” Please don’t do that! I believe that God has plans for Trinity. I believe that my departure is part of a process that will allow the church to come together as a whole to claim its mission. If the people who believe in our church’s mission leave, that’ll mess it up for everyone. At the very least, please commit to praying and seeing what happens next before you make that decision.
“They shouldn’t be kicking him out.” After June 26th, my family and I will not be worshiping at Trinity. It’s traditional in Presbyterian Churches for pastors to step aside and give the church space when they end their pastoral relationship. In general, there are very good reasons for this, and in this case it’s even more important. I believe that I have become the focus of a potentially church-splitting conflict. My presence as a change agent – and that’s what I am – has become polarizing. I need to step aside to let the church do its own discernment. It’s way too easy to say, “That’s Steve’s plan.” I don’t want that to happen, and if I hang around Trinity I believe the problem will still occur, making my resignation a waste! So I’m voluntarily stepping out. I believe it’s God’s will and God will bless my family. (My kids will likely visit from time to time with my sister or parents or their friends.)
“What will you do next?” This one’s harder to explain. All we know so far is that it’s time to step out. I don’t have another job lined up. But I am confident that God does know what’s next for me. There are many possibilities. I don’t think I’m going to know until I’m done with my ministry at Trinity. What I am very confident about – and I have had it confirmed by a pastor from New Mexico who didn’t even know me when he told this to me as well as someone i met at a conference yesterday – is that God will be taking care of my family and me. We are doing what we’re supposed to do, and when God’s people do that, God provides what we need. It will be better than any of us expect.
“What about our friendship?” I’m allowed to have friends from the church; I just won’t be discussing the workings of the church with you. This means we’ll have to learn more about each other since we can’t “talk business.” Nobody’s asking you to shun us.
“What will happen next at Trinity?” For about two months after I go, Trinity will ask people to step in temporarily to preach, teach, provide pastoral care, and handle church administration questions. Then they will hire an “interim pastor.” Interim pastors are pastors who are specially trained to help congregations find their way through transitions. They help the church with the grief process and also empower the church leaders to define themselves (by writing a “mission study”) and to choose a new pastor wisely.
Long-term, what happens at Trinity is up to you. If you have thoughts, questions, ideas, or concerns, please make your voice heard! Talk to your elders: Rob Armijo, Don Brooks, Steve David, Terri Davis, Sue Goodwin, Carla Hanson, Jill Thom, and Jill Whitney. Talk to Pastor Tina. You can also talk to me about it until June 26th.
I’ll be preaching this Sunday (May 15th) about Moses and Joshua and explaining some more of this and how I see it working out. Please come!
I have six weeks ahead to talk to people who want to talk – I’m hoping to set up a meeting time or two to explore it with people. If you’d like to talk to me, please let me know!
Finally, on June 25th, we’ll be having a dinner to celebrate our ministry together. They’re hoping for a roast, and I think it would be fun to laugh with you. Eleanor and I have done plenty of crying too, but let’s end out time together on a high note!
Eleanor and I have committed to praying for you in this transition. I hope you will also pray for Trinity and for us. God knows what he’s doing so let’s give Him a chance to show us what He has in mind. Remember, our God “can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20). Keep up the good work and remember that you are a family and the Body of Christ.
I’ll write more later. Let me know what topics you might like me to address.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Steve
Life includes a lot of painful stuff. I used to knee-jerk react to it. Then I’d end up some combination of angry, anxious, afraid, depressed or bitter. But lately, I’ve been thinking of those situations as being like digesting a rock.
When the incident happens, it’s like I’ve swallowed a rock. Once you’ve swallowed a rock, certain things are just going to happen. It’s not what I was designed to eat, but it’s happened.
I can expect several different kinds of pain along the way, varying in intensity. Once I swallow the rock, I know that this will come. I can make peace with it. It’s OK to feel bad right now. After all, I just swallowed a rock!
The best part of the image is that even though I can count on the pain, emotions, exhaustion, etc., I also know that it will run its course. I won’t always feel this way. Different sizes of rocks take different amounts of time to work through the system, but eventually, I’ll feel OK again.
This same kind of confidence in the midst of pain is what I see in Psalm 42 – “My tears have been my food day and night” (verse 3) moves to “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (verses 5 & 11).
Try to be at peace during your rock digestion process. It’s normal for you to feel some pretty serious discomfort. You may not be able to do everything you could do before swallowing the rock. But (at the risk of ruining a nice blog post with a horrible pun), “This too shall pass.”
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
From Fetters Free
March 7
The Lord looseth the prisoner. (Psalm 146:7)
He has done it. Remember Joseph, Israel in Egypt, Manasseh, Jeremiah, Peter, and many others. He can do it still. He breaks the bars of brass with a word and snaps the fetters of iron with a look. He is doing it. In a thousand places troubled ones are coming forth to light and enlargement. Jesus still proclaims the opening of the prison to them that are bound. At this moment doors are flying back and fetters are dropping to the ground. He will delight to set you free, dear friend, if at this time you are mourning because of sorrow, doubt, and fear. It will be joy to Jesus to give you liberty. It will give Him as great a pleasure to loose you as it will be a pleasure to you to be loosed. No, you have not to snap the iron hand: the Lord Himself will do it. Only trust Him, and He will be your Emancipator. Believe in Him in spite of the stone walls or the manacles of iron. Satan cannot hold you, sin cannot enchain you, even despair cannot bind you if you will now believe in the Lord Jesus, in the freeness of His grace, and the fullness of His power to save. Defy the enemy, and let the word now before you be your song of deliverance; “Jehovah looseth the prisoners.”
From Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com
This word from Charles Spurgeon is quite timely for those of us facing challenges right now. Try not to be bothered by the King James English. The message is still fresh – God has delivered us in the past and will deliver us from today’s fresh threat.
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Past Deliverance Begets Faith
February 22
David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:37) This is not a promise if we consider only the words, but it is truly so as to its sense; for David spoke a word which the Lord endorsed by making it true. He argued from past deliverances that he should receive help in a new danger. In Jesus all the promises are “Yea” and “Amen” to the glory of God by us, and so the Lord’s former dealings with His believing people will be repeated. Come, then, let us recall the Lord’s former lovingkindness. We could not have hoped to be delivered aforetime by our own strength; yet the Lord delivered us. Will He not again save us? We are sure He will. As David ran to meet his foe, so will we. The Lord has been with us, He is with us, and He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” Why do we tremble? Was the past a dream? Think of the dead bear and lion. Who is this Philistine? True, he is not quite the same, and is neither bear nor lion; but then God is the same, and His honor is as much concerned in the one case as in the other. He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us. Let us be of good courage.
From Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com
The devil and those working against God wait for an “opportune time”:
“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left [Jesus] until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13 NIV)
“From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand [Jesus] over.”
(Also see Mark 6:21, Romans 7:8,11, Mark 14:11/Luke 22:6, Jeremiah 46:17 and many others.)
But God’s people don’t wait for an opportune time. We don’t need an opportune time. When God decides it’s time, it will be possible to act, whether or not it initially appears so. We act in God’s time.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ” … 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (Joshua 3:7-8,15-17 NIV)
God told Joshua that it was time to act. It was time to enter the Promised Land. And God asked Joshua and the priests to carry the ark of the Covenant – the symbol of God’s presence – out into the river, even though the flood waters were raging.This was surely the least opportune time possible for crossing the Jordan. But it was God’s time. If God is for us, who can be against us?
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32 NIV)
What might it be God’s time for right now? How might God be calling us to step into the rushing river waters today? Can we count on God to part the waters and bring us saqfely through? What would it be like if we decided to stop waiting for an opportune time and decided to rely on God’s timing exclusively? Can you feel God’s leading right now?
We try hard not to give our kids a lot of stuff at Christmastime. We let them get stuff they need like shoes, backpacks, and jackets. They also get a few fun things. It’s not extravagent, but somehow there’s always enough to blow the kids’ circuit breakers. And I guess my circuit breaker blew this year too.
I was just at Target picking up 7-Up and saltines for a sick kid, and I saw the $5 DVD displays. In the past, I’ve looked them over to see if there’s anytrhing good there, but tonight it made me sick to my stomach. If there had been a good movie there, I think I would have paid the same amount to rent it and avoid having it stay in my home.
I simply love what we do in the church at Christmas. We remember Jesus’ birth and welcome him into our lives again. Children and adults alike share their gifts. People who are very different serve side by side to make sure that thigns go smootghly and everyone receives a warm welcome. And my family had a great Christmas breakfast together and a wonderful dinner with my parents and my sister’s family. I even received some stuff I can really use! But the gift exchange felt out of place to me. And I’d be happy not to buy anything for a long time.
I am thankful for my family and my life. I’m grateful that God loves me enough to come into the world for me! I need to pay the bills, and make sure my kids have what they really need, but it’s a lot less than I sometimes believe. I’m going to pray to hang onto this perspective.
What has your experience of Christmas been like? Do you feel the overload? Or are you looking at it from a completely different perspective?
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
The Reason for Singing
September 19
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his he, he will joy over thee with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
What a word is this! Jehovah God in the center of His people in all the majesty of His power! This presence alone suffices to inspire us with peace and hope. Treasures of boundless might are stored in our Jehovah, and He dwells in His church; therefore may His people shout for joy.
We not only have His presence, but He is engaged upon His choice work of salvation. “He will save.” He is always saving: He takes His name of Jesus from it. Let us not fear any danger, for He is mighty to save.
Nor is this all. He abides evermore the same, He saves, He finds rest in loving, He will not cease to love. His love gives Him joy. He even finds a theme for song in His beloved. This is exceedingly wonderful. When God wrought creation He did not sing but simply said, “It is very good”; but when He came to redemption, then the sacred Trinity felt a joy to be expressed in song, Think of it, and be astonished! Jehovah Jesus sings a marriage song over His chosen bride. She is to Him His love, His joy, His rest, His song. O Lord Jesus, by Thine immeasurable love to us teach us to love Thee, to rejoice in Thee, and to sing unto Thee our life-psalm.
Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
A Strong Heart
September 6
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)”
Wait! Wait! Let your waiting be on the Lord! He is worth waiting for. He never disappoints the waiting soul. While waiting keep up your spirits, Expect a great deliverance, and be ready to praise God for it.
The promise which should cheer you is in the middle of the verse — “He shall strengthen thine heart.” This goes at once to the place where you need help. If the heart be sound, all the rest of the system will work well. The heart wants calming and cheering, and both of these will come if it be strengthened. A forceful heart rests and rejoices and throbs force into the whole man.
No one else can get at that secret urn of life, the heart, so as to pour strength into it. He alone who made it can make it strong. God is full of strength, and, therefore, He can impart it to those who need it. Oh, be brave; for the Lord will impart His strength to you, and you shall be calm in tempest and glad in sorrow.
He who penned these lines can write as David did — “Wait, I say, on the Lord.” I do, indeed, say it. I know by long and deep experience that it is good for me to wait upon the Lord.
Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com/fcb
One of my sabbatical goals was to read through the New Testament this summer – the church leadership called it “scriptural immersion.” I was surprised by my resistance to doing it. My significant burnout was one factor, but that wasn’t the whole story.
When I started seminary, I read an article that talked about the danger of making Bible-reading and prayer into part of my professional job description rather than a spiritual discipline, but I didn’t expect it to happen to me.
It makes sense. I used to do computer programming as a hobby – until I started doing that for a living. Who wants to go home and do more work? I didn’t. It was no longer a fun thing I did for myself.
Reading the Bible and even setting aside specific times for prayer were painted with the same brush as church administration, expense reports, newsletter articles, and even preaching. Stuff I have to do. As I became more and more burned out, more things moved from the “Things I’m Passionate About” list to the “Things I Have to Do for My Job” list. At some point, without my realizing it, reading the Bible became something to do because I needed to teach a Bible study or preach. Not a good place to be if you consider that we don’t live by bread alone but by the Word of God.
God was gracious and gentle with me during that time, but I always had a sense that it wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Part of the difficulty came from turning the things God intends as a blessing to all Christians into an obligation for a job.
So I didn’t finish reading the New Testament – that felt like an obligation. But I did get to re-experience the joy of reading the Bible. I can read any part that strikes my fancy that day. I can research a topic I’m interested in. Or I can just experience the comfort of one of my favorite Psalms.
I’m not quite out of detox yet, and it will be a challenge as I re-enter my pastoral role to make sure I don’t slide back into seeing it as an obligation/job requirement.
Anyone have ideas? Let me know!
This devotion was particularly timely as I contemplate the road out of burnout:
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Choice Men (women too, -ed.)
August 27
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)
This has long been the motto fixed before our eye upon the wall of our bedroom, and in many ways it has also been written on our heart. It is no mean thing to be chosen of God. God’s choice makes chosen men choice men. Better to be the elect of God than the elect of a whole nation. So eminent is this privilege, that whatever drawback may be joined to it we very joyfully accept it, even as the Jew ate the bitter herbs for the sake of the Paschal Lamb. We choose the furnace, since God chooses us in it. We are chosen as an afflicted people and not as a prosperous people, chosen not in the palace but in the furnace. In the furnace beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed, and yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice. So has it been in our case. In times of severest trial God has made to us our calling and election plain, and we have made it sure: then have we chosen the Lord to be our God, and He has shown that we are assuredly His chosen. Therefore, if today the furnace be heated seven times hotter, we will not dread it, for the glorious Son of God will walk with us amid the glowing coals.
Sent from Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotion Android app – www.WhitneyApps.com
We put a Hostess Twinkie in my middle school time capsule. Many of us expected the Twinkie to survive with few ill effects. Apparently there are natural ingredients in a Twinkie because this is what we found when the time capsule came out of the ground:
Fresh Twinkie (left) vs. 20-year-old Twinkie (right)
Romans 10:8-15
“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Good mission statement? There are lots of ways to preach and send. Literally preaching is surely important. So is showing love in other ways. It’s hard to contemplate the Good News when your family’s hungry.
You can’t send without showing confidence in people’s gifts. And of course, no one can be sent unless they’re willing to reorder their life enough to make the time/energy.
My friend Eric gave me a copy of C. H. Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook, and I’ve been using it as a daily devotion lately. Today I happened to peek ahead at the July 10th entry and thought this was worth sharing. (It’s in the public domain so copy away!) You can find more at www.eternallifeministries.org/fcb_toc.htm In the meantime, meditate on this:
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. (Psalm 102:13-14)
Yes, our prayers for the church will be heard. The set time is come. We love the prayer meetings, and the Sunday school, and all the services of the Lord’s house. We are bound in heart to all the people of God and can truly say,
There’s not a lamb in all thy flock
I would disdain to feed
There’s not a foe before whose face
I’d fear thy cause to plead.
If this is the general feeling, we shall soon enjoy times of refreshing horn the presence of the Lord. Our assemblies will be filled, saints will be revived, and sinners will be converted. This can only come of the Lord’s mercy; but it will come, and we are called upon to expect it. The time, the set time, is come. Let us bestir ourselves. Let us love every stone of our Zion, even though it may be fallen down. Let us treasure up the least truth, the least ordinance, the least believer, even though some may despise them as only so much dust. When we favor Zion, God is about to favor her. When we take pleasure in the Lord’s work, the Lord Himself will take pleasure in it.
Sorry vegetarians, I have to agree with J&D’s – “Everything should taste like bacon.”
My kids are crazy. Really, they are. Apparently, they’ve been domesticated to the point that they no longer have any kind of survival instincts.
We had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Santa Cruz with Eleanor’s family, and someone in the group wanted to check out the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. After getting everyone settled and feeding them, we made the short (by adult standards) walk to the beach. By now it was evening, and the Boardwalk was really crowded, so we decided to walk along the shore. The kids kicked off their shoes and walked through the water as it washed up on the beach. Everyone was having a good time. But the kids started getting more and more energized. They dared to run farther out. They cared less and less about getting wet. Eventually, they tore off their shirts and started wading in the cold water as it was getting dark. We expected them to come to their senses at any moment. We thought they’d notice how cold they were and come back out seeking warmth. But it didn’t happen because, as I mentioned earlier, my children have no common sense.
As parents, we tried to stop them. We knew that they didn’t have spare clothes. We knew that we had to walk a mile to get back to the house. We knew that what the kids found so fun right now was going to make them miserable very soon! But now it was done. The die was cast.
We (the parents) started talking about how to help our children. Eventually, we decided that I would run back to the house, grab the minivan, drive back to the beach, and pick up the wet kids so they didn’t have to make the walk back in cold wet clothes. You see, we love our senseless children and are willing to do completely unreasonable things to ensure their well-being – even when the problem is one of their own creation.
As I was huffing and puffing on the run back up the hill, I thought about my own life and my relationship with God, which is a lot like my relationship with my children. God loves me extravagantly and – even though I frequently seem to have no common sense – continues to go to unreasonable lengths to ensure my well-being.
In fact, as I was trekking up that hill, I realized that I didn’t know the house number of the place I was trying to find. I knew what street it was one, and I would know it from sight, but it wasaloooong street, and the kids were waiting for me. I heard, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own insight. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5) I turned left and found the house with the minivan waiting right out front. Even as I as working to care for my children, there was another pair of arms underneath, holding both them and me.