The pastor said, “We’re not the same church we were before Katrina.” We were sitting in his office this Wednesday afternoon. He explained, “God has shown me just how introverted we were as a church before the hurricane. All our energies and ministries were directed inward.” I said, “A lot of our churches were that way.” “But we were slowly dying,” he said. “One of the things we are determined to do is minister in the community. A free car wash, giving help door to door, doing what we can to help the people.”
I rejoiced inwardly over his being given a clear focus from the Lord for his church. I told him of one of our local pastors who announced to his congregation recently, “We’re through having two hour business meetings to vote on spending a few cents on call waiting.” I told him that pastor’s congregation cheered his decision, and that his will, also. “Have you had any opposition?” I asked. “Not really,” he said, adding, “A little grumbling here and there, but nothing serious.” I gave him one of the mainstays of my quotes. John Wesley wrote a letter to a pastor, saying to him, in effect, “I hear you are doing a great work in that city. I am amazed Satan has not raised up a champion to oppose it.”
FamilyNet Radio is now broadcasting on Sirius, the new pay radio service. This morning at 7:30 am, in their live talk show portion, I was their guest for some 15 minutes as they interviewed me about the New Orleans situation. I didn’t say anything new, certainly nothing readers of this website haven’t seen fifty times, yet it’s good to find new audiences.
At our pastors meeting in LaPlace this morning, I suggested to our guys that they do what I’ve done, which was to take a leaf out of Chuck Kelley’s book. The president of our New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has to speak before many different groups, often on the same subject, so he feels no need to re-invent the wheel each time. “When we were in the New Horizons fundraising campaign three years ago,” I told them, “I attended many gatherings where Chuck spoke, each time saying basically the same thing, but with great gusto and enthusiasm. He was quite effective.” Every one of our pastors gets opportunities to speak before groups or be interviewed in the media concerning the New Orleans story. “Get your story,” I suggested. “Pick out your favorite quotes, scenes, comments, and insights, and arrange it so you can tell it effectively. Sometimes you’ll have a half hour and sometimes two minutes.”
Here are some excerpts from today’s pastors meeting with around 50 attending…