Saying goodbye to our brother

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(Random notes on the funeral of Glenn D. McKeever, held Sunday, February 9, 2014.)

This weekend was one none of us will ever forget.

It was painful, tearful, memorable, sweet, blessed, and heart-rending.

We buried my big brother Glenn Sunday afternoon at 2 pm, across the road from the family church just outside Nauvoo, Alabama. He was laid to rest a few feet from our parents and not far from our youngest brother Charlie, who died 8 years ago.

In many respects, it was a typical funeral, I suppose.Our oldest brother Ron, one year Glenn’s senior, and I worked with home church pastor Mickey Crane who also sang two hymns. It was similar to hundreds of funerals the three of us have conducted over the 150 years combined we have logged in ministry. Except this time it was personal.

Glenn had had angioplasty last week, and in our judgment (as well as the coroner and medical examiner, too, as I got it), the hospital sent him home too quickly. He came home on Thursday and died of a blood clot the same evening.  We have given him back to the Lord, and Glenn was ready, so we’re mostly okay on this. He had suffered so much the past few years.

He suffers no more.

We are the ones who suffer. Our hearts are aching and the tears will not stop flowing.

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Since the congregation is made up of all kinds of people, expect anything.

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Often, I will post an article on this blog and a few days later, see that some online pastors’ magazine has lifted it (they have our blanket permission) and shared it with 75,000 of their closest friends. That’s when I find out what a bum I am.

Maybe I should not read the comments at the bottom of those articles, but the temptation is just too overpowering.  I end up reading things like:

“What kind of idiot would say such a thing as this?”  “I thought it was a positive article and could not wait to read it. Imagine my disappointment when I found out what the writer was saying.  McKeever is weird.”  “This guy is a Christian?”

It’s all I can do not to respond to such comments, and once in a while I will give in and say something like: “How unkind” or “Such anger,” and leave it there.

Mostly, I read it and go away reminding myself that anyone can subscribe to these online magazines, and often does.  Just as there are some bizarre churches in the land purporting to be Christian, they are led by pastors who tend to be just as off-center.

The point being, don’t let it upset you, preacher.

Not that I am above criticism.  Far from it.  In fact, I love it when someone points out a flaw in my thinking with some well-reasoned evidence or some biblical truth I may have not taken into consideration.  Often, I’ll go back into that “WordPress” program and correct the article.

There is, of course, a lesson for pastors here. And that’s the point of this piece.

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How to revitalize an old church and live to tell about it

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Let’s state the obvious here. If we let a church die and go out of business, then bring a new group into the building and start afresh with something different, we have not revitalized anything.  We have held a funeral and then birthed a new flock.  And that is often necessary and good.

We’re talking here about taking a dying, dwindling congregation, one that has been on the decline for years and even decades, and turning it around, giving the people new vision, and watching God turn it into a strong body of believers.

Hard to do? You bet.  And, may we say, pretty rare, too.  Most dying congregations are that way for a reason, chief among them being that they are wed to the present way of doing things and are dead-set on not changing a thing.

A young friend will be leaving his church soon to move to another state where he will be taking the pastorate of an older congregation that has been dwindling in numbers. Members who remain are all in their golden years.

The pastor was excited but clear-headed. He knows this can be hard in the best situations and impossible in others. So, wisely, he’s picking the brains of seminary professors and veteran pastors with experience in the business of turning around dying congregations. And, he’s interviewing young ministers who are accomplishing this very thing, wanting to know what they have learned.

As is often case, his small congregation has invited a larger, dynamic church to adopt them, completely turning over the keys to them, so to speak, which is the only way to achieve this.  The big church is the one bringing in my friend to lead the one on life-support.  That’s a good sign and shows the weak congregation is serious about wanting to survive and have a strong presence in their community.

For what they are worth, here are a few of my comments to the young minister….

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Some people love the idea of work more than its reality

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(These are simply stories and not a how-to article.)

“We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work” (John 9:4). 

ONE.

My grandson Grant might have been 5 years old. Frequently, on my off day that summer, I would pick him up and we would spend the day together. We would go to the park and feed the ducks or head to the playground. Sometimes, we visited the zoo and later the playplace at our favorite McDonald’s.

That day, he agreed to go with me to pick blueberries.

Now, to get from the city–we live in the western part of metro New Orleans–to the country is a drive of an hour minimum.  And to get to Talisheek, Louisiana, added another 30 minutes to the trip.  Grant was buckled into the back seat and we talked all the way. From time to time, he wanted to know, “How much longer?”  I soon decided this might have been a little more than he needed.

Eventually, we arrived at the blueberry farm. It’s a self-service thing where you take a plastic bucket and go in any direction. Later, you weigh up the product and leave money, so much per pound, in a slotted box.

Grant and I got our ball caps on, rubbed on some sun screen, grabbed our plastic buckets, and headed out into the field.

“Grandpa, this is fun.”  I was glad to hear that. The long drive faded in his memory, apparently. That was good because the ride home would be just as long.

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How to fire a staff member, and have him like it

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There are healthy ways to do the most unpleasant of things.

Nothing is more difficult, more unpleasant, and with a greater possibility for collateral damage than terminating a minister on the church staff.  Few churches get this right.  Many end up doing far more damage to the kingdom of God than if they had left that staff member where he was and done nothing.

To be sure, there are occasions when terminating a minister on the spot with no advance notice is necessary. I can think of several reasons…

–He has been arrested and there is probable cause.

–He is guilty of a serious immorality and people were hurt by him.

–He is doing teaching something blatantly unscriptural and insisting that he will continue.

–He is being disruptive in the church and doing great harm.  Let’s say he is leading a movement to get the pastor fired.  He should be terminated on the spot.

However, even in those situations, you as a church leader have more people to think about than just that one person.  If he has a wife and children, you owe them the Christlike care and continued ministry of the church until their lives straighten out.  If that minister has the trust and affection of church members, you owe them the assurance that this matter is being handled in a way they would approve of if they were doing it.

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How to be fired unjustly and come out a winner

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Let’s say you are a minister on the staff of a medium-sized church.  You finished seminary and at the invitation of this church, you moved your young family here to this city and have gotten deeply involved in ministry.  You are in the process of buying a house.  Life is looking good.

Then one day, you are asked to attend a meeting with a few leaders of the church. The administrator is there, accompanied by the chairman of the personnel committee and the deacon chair.  Long story short, you learn you are being terminated. Let go. Superannuated. Fired. Getting the ax.  Pink-slipped.

They gave you reasons.  They said things like, “We love you. We appreciate your ministry.  You have a great spirit and we treasure your family.”  Then they added the “however.”  Things like: “Things are not working out, finances have been down lately, it’s not a good fit, you and the church.”  Or perhaps, “Some people are unhappy with the way you do things” or “Your manner is abrasive and you have rubbed some people the wrong way.”

You did not see this coming.

They gave you no warning.  You wonder why.

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Reminders church leaders need on a regular basis

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“Remind them of these things….” (2 Timothy 2:14)

We think of the church leadership as mature, Godly, and self-starters.  They read the Bible for themselves and do not need to be spoon-fed. They know how to pray, have the confidence of the membership, and are able to counsel others.

However, church leaders need something which only the pulpit can give, and that is a regular diet of the staples of ministry. Those staples–the essentials–include the following:

1) Leaders need to be reminded of the holiness of the Church.

The church is the Body of Christ, the Bride of Jesus, and the one institution on earth to which He has committed His gospel.

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12 reasons to rejoice at age 74

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Growing old is not for sissies, we’re told. Maybe not, but it’s for the lucky ones, if I may be permitted to say so.

It’s for those blessed by God with the opportunity to spend extra time on earth and do more good.

I count myself among the fortunate, the blessed ones.  And I’m grateful.

1) Seventy-four is not so bad.

Granted, when you’re 30 or 40, it seems ancient. But to be 74 and still feel great and be going strong, 74 is a piece of cake.

When I was a kid, I thought of the year 1900 as the benchmark, the dividing line to determine who was middle-aged.  Born in 1940, as a teen, I saw so many of my parents’ friends in their mid-50s and saw they were in the prime of life. They were at the peak of their powers. Gradually, however, they aged and now, none of that group is left.

I’m now not only a senior citizen, but a senior to most in that group!

And glad to be!

2) I’m grateful to still have my health.

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The exciting, scary nature of faith

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“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

I sat across the table from a young man about to resign the church he has been serving as an associate for five years and move to another state for a new ministry.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Excited. Scared.”

That is the right combination.  Two currents flowing in from different rivers, meeting in our hearts and minds and clashing, then mixing.  Sometimes one overwhelms the other, sometimes both rise to the surface.  Both are legitimate responses to this new thing the Lord is doing in his life.

I said, “When you were called into the ministry, you were excited and scared. When you left home for seminary, you were excited and scared. When you preached your first sermon and when you took your first church, excited and scared.”  He agreed.

Acting on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ almost always produces those two reactions. You are sitting in church, thinking about stepping into the aisle and going to the altar to confess your faith in Jesus Christ.  Your pulse is racing, your knees are knocking, the adrenalin is lowing.  Tears are welling up inside you and will soon be making their presence known.

You are scared and excited at the same time.

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A friend asked me to critique his writing. Uh oh.

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this in a book as a memorial….” (Exodus 17:14).

Asking me to critique your writing and advise you on improving it is not unlike seeking my advice for your cooking.

I know good eating when I taste it, but don’t ask me how to get from a recipe to the dinner table.  I’m completely out of my element.

But, okay, with “writing,” whatever that is and however we define it, I’m somewhat more experienced. And I am eager to learn this business of print communication and get it right.

I have been working at learning how to write since I was a teenager. Literally.

As Paul said about spiritual things, I do not consider myself to have attained (Philippians 3:12).  So, please do not interpret any of what follows as Joe bragging on himself. Rather, it’s more like “here are some things I’m learning” about the craft of writing.

Maybe someone will benefit from it.  I would have forty years ago if I’d come across it.

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