Conflict in the Church

Conflict in the local church.  It happens.  I was reminded of this today.  I am employed by a local church, working in a Christian school.  I work in a very effective school, a ministry of a very successful, influential church.  I work with great people, and that includes dedicated, professional teachers and caring pastors who value children's ministry.  It is in this setting that conflict and controversy can very readily arise.  How could it be?

Well, simply put, there are two problems.  Imperfect people and Satan.  God's work is vehemently opposed in the spiritual realm.  In his ministry, Jesus cast out demons from people.  Those agents of Satan did not just disappear.  Just look at some of the terrible news stories each week.  Meanwhile, well-intentioned people fail, and people get hurt from others' imperfections.  Hey, that is just truth.  We have all been wounded, and we have all done the wounding.

I once was fired from my job at a church.  I can honestly say my position was eliminated or, at least, reduced.  However, the way I was dismissed was hurtful to me.  I was told, "The Lord told me to give you 30 days."  This is not the usual explanation for one's loss of a job.  Now I knew the Lord was with me and working in the situation.  God spoke to me during this time to assure me things would work out.  I forgave my pastor (Whether he was wrong or not, I needed to do that.) and trust I do not have a grudge.  I realize there may have been some small things I did or did not do to contribute to the breakdown.  This experience, though, really hurt, and it hindered me from being very involved in ministry for some time.  I did not want to open myself up to the possibility of this hurt and disappointment.  And this is part of the enemy's strategy. 

John 10:10 is very clear.  There is opposition to the church, and Satan is the accuser who wants to thwart all God is doing.  Yet our own shortcomings also can be the trigger or the impetus to cause strife or division.  Also, we just aren't good at following Matthew 18:15; most people hope and pray their problems with other people will somehow go away without a personal confrontation.  This is unlikely.  We must be willing to see our flaws, and we need to have amazing grace for the imperfections of others.  We are subject to disappointment by anyone in our lives.  How we handle these delicate situations will be evident in the fruit of our ministry and in our testimony.  With God's grace, may there be a positive result.

Divisions in the church do not happen by accident.  There are problems even in the best ministries.  This is not by chance.  Conflicts result from the volatile combination of evil and human imperfection.  The sinister intent is to reduce or diminish our effectiveness as Christians.  When we recognize this, we can see things a bit differently.  We then can have a desire to pray, reconcile, and move on toward growth and maturity as believers.  Life is hard and it does get messy.  But God knows about it all, and He was aware these trials would arrive.  I think of Proverbs 14:4.  I like this poignant verse.  I hate my imperfections and selfish tendencies, but I love that God has given me the abilities and opportunities to serve Him.  I pray I may do it well and better, and I hope God will correct me even when it hurts.  Song of Solomon 2:15 mentions the "little foxes."  As God knows all the details of our lives and the intricacies of our hearts, he also will give us the wisdom and strength to deal with the "little foxes" in our lives.

Alaska Reflections - Part Two

I hadn't laughed so much in a long time.  Sure, maybe I have laughed harder a few times, but this team was good for consistent fun.  Really, we had a great team in Alaska.  Many of us had known each other for several years, but there were a few people I did not know well.  These people really added a lot of skill and hard work to the team.  The benefits of teamwork and being "pre-prayered" really showed on this trip.  We accomplished a lot.  Max had to get another load of drywall, and we installed all of it.

Meanwhile, our free day was Tuesday.  A few went fishing and returned with a modest catch of approximately 100 pounds of fish, including several halibut.  After processed, they flew home about 50 pounds of fish.  Fortunately for the rest of us, a gentleman in the church named Todd, followed through on a pledge to send a box of salmon back with us to share.  I have since had some of that salmon, and it is awesome.  The rest of us went on a half-day cruise into Resurrection Bay with Kenai Fjords Tours, one of the national park vendors for Kenai Fjords National Park.  We could not have asked for a better day. 

According to the captain, we were very fortunate.  We saw a humpback whale, several orcas ("killer whales"), sea lions, a relaxing sea otter in the middle of the bay, bald eagles, and many birds, including puffins.  To add to that, we had an amazing lunch at Fox Island.  This was a very good tour, and if the weather is decent, I highly recommend it.  We all were tired after the fun day, and we wondered how productive we would be on Wednesday.  Nonetheless, our progress continued at a great pace.

We met great people in the community, and our friends at Seward City Church were amazing hosts and a joy to be around and serve.  Also, Rod really served us and made our visit seem like a visit with a friend--which I realize really is the case.  Look at other projects and the ministry of North of Hope on Facebook.  Our last day was Friday, June 14, and several of us went and worked as long as we could to finish up the drywall and make a little bit more progress.  The whole team really worked together well to accomplish much.  Spiritually, I know we felt like we are connected to Seward City Church.  We are excited about the future of the church. 

Through Rod's stories and other stories, we learned life is not easy in Alaska.  We enjoyed the beauty of the place and terrific weather.  We did not see the harsh winter and its effects.  We did not experience darkness around the clock and people struggling to get by.  My hope and prayer is that Seward City Church will flourish more and be a place of encouragement and strengthening for that community.  I was glad and thankful to have the opportunity to do some of the physical work that will lead to greater spiritual fruit before long. 

Note:  I also will add an entry on my educational blog mrbartley.wordpress.com to detail Kenai Fjords National Park.

Alaska Reflections - Part One

As we flew in toward Anchorage, I could begin to see the snow-covered mountains and glaciers.  I was excited and looking forward to the end of a long plane ride.  Soon, we all would reunite after a long travel day which split our group, sending four of us through Phoenix.  Our layover there had been long enough to leave the airport, feel the 110 degree heat, and see a little bit of Scottsdale.  Now, we were on a ride from Anchorage to Seward.  It was 2:00 a.m. local time, and it was not dark.  By the time we all lay down to sleep, it was after 4:00 a.m.  The next day, we started work late but did hang our first sheets of drywall.

We had a good day Saturday.  Sunday, we had a great service at the Seward City Church, held at the Seward Middle School, the site of our accommodations for the week, as well.  It was great to see the people of this congregation.  We met many of them.  Several of them provided lunches for us throughout the week.  The food we had was plentiful and delicious.  Our host and leader of North of Hope, Rod Koop, prepared some fine meals including a halibut dish I will remember for some time.  Anyway, back to the mission.  We did some work on Sunday afternoon.  Monday, it seemed to take a while to get into a groove, but we continually made good progress.  Tuesday would be our fun day with no work, and it would represent a midpoint of our effort in Seward.

Seward is located in a beautiful spot on the Kenai Peninsula.  At the beginning of Resurrection Bay, Seward is referred to as a gateway to Alaska.  Some mornings, a cruise ship was docked there, and hundreds if not thousands of tourists would wander around town.  We spent time in downtown Seward a few times, being wandering tourists ourselves and looking for the right souvenir.  We learned about Alaskans coming into town to camp on the weekend to fish.  Salmon runs peak in late spring and/or early summer, and many people depend upon this natural resource to make it through the long winter.  Overall, we really enjoyed Seward and met some great people.  We were blessed with amazing weather; it was great enough the locals were talking about it.  It was sunny and warm most of the time.  To me, this could be a metaphor for God's blessing upon our team and our work.

Alaska Mission Trip...Coming Right Up

It is now less than two weeks until our team departs for Seward, Alaska.  Last Sunday, the pastor at the Seward church, talked about the church and the work we have to do.  In the video, filmed at some of Seward's docks before a backdrop of snow-covered mountains, Pastor Max is carefully explaining the story of the church and their gratefulness for our visit and effort.

Having seen the framing in the building, it looks like a LOT of drywall to be installed.  Our team is not too big, and it is not mostly young, strong men.  By the way, I do not consider myself a strong young man.  That is no disrespect toward anyone on the team or to myself.  It just seemed like a lot of work to do.  In spite of that, I am confident God will bless our effort, and I expect to be impressed by our progress.  Of course, we will need to thank God and praise Him for the blessing upon the team.  I expect it to go well, aside from the minor usual "hiccups."

We have our last group meeting tomorrow evening.  We did just one new team member with drywall experience.  That is good.  I have watched one drywall instructional video online, and I will do some more homework so I know at least a little bit about what to expect.  I have never done drywall work, although I have done some other labor-intensive jobs.  I expect some long days.

A few other notes I will mention.  I have been asked to share a brief testimony or word of encouragement with the Seward congregation.  Some of us have been asked by the mission pastor to do so.  I have thought about what to say, but I am not totally sure what that will be.  Also, we do have a fun day on Tuesday, June 11.  Most of us are doing a half-day cruise into Resurrection Bay.  At least two members of our team are fishing.  I wanted to do this, but it was more costly.  Also, I thought taking it easy might be preferred amidst the long drywalling days.

My Last Group Mission Trip

In 2000, a group from Good News, our church at the time, went to Tijuana, Mexico, for several days. While there, we distributed clothing in a poor community, constructed the foundation for a very small house on a hillside, did some work in a community school, and served some of Tijuana's poorest in a landfill. While the poverty and way of life were hard to comprehend, it was an experience I still have great memories of. One of the great things about the experience is the bond created with the other team members. For this trip, we flew to Los Angeles. We stayed at a halfway house there before and after we drove to Tijuana. Sadly, there was a homicide just up the street at a convenience store while we were out to church. In Tijuana, we gave medical attention to scavengers at a landfill. We also removed and replaced toilets at a Mexican school. We also drove down the coast and had a nice dinner at a restaurant in Ensenada. We saw a few sights in LA. What an adventure it was! I now look forward to a different experience in Alaska. We will be in a beautiful place. There will be hard work to do as is usually the case on a trip like this. We will be serving and working alongside people of a different place and culture. I am excited. I am expectant we will be very productive, and I hope for opportunities to encourage and impact people spiritually. I know I will be impacted in a positive way. Long-lasting memories will be snapshots of a story I can tell years from now.

Alaska Mission Trip- Intro

I am excited about the opportunity to help rebuild a church damaged by heavy snow in a recent winter. The support letters are about ready to go. The cost of the trip is $1150, and I will be glad to have some folks invest with me in this work. We are going to Seward July 6-14. We have a good team and our first meeting is tomorrow evening. I am looking forward to making a difference in Alaska. I will put on this website more information about what we will be doing later.