Vision Tour

It all started as an idea:

If our goal is to plant five new churches in the next five years, wouldn’t it be helpful to take a few leaders on a vision/prayer tour of the most populous and untouched parts of our district!

At first it was to be a ‘car tour’—five men in a sedan. That plan was abandoned when it became obvious that a car wouldn’t hold all those who were interested. We moved to a ‘van tour’. One day in conversation with General Superintendent, Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, I mentioned our Northeast Prayer & Vision Tour. “Paul, that sounds exciting,” she replied. “I’d like to go.” That week, by faith, I made a $500. deposit on a fifty-five passenger bus. It was obvious that God had bigger plans than ours.

Dean Brown, our Evangelism and Church Growth Director E&CG, and Cam Engert, our Office Administrator, took hold of the logistics and things began to come together.

Soon, large-capacity, high-influence individuals from other organizations who care about our district and our vision began to sign on for the tour. They brought expertise, enthusiasm and faith, and were available to coach and mentor us as we traveled. What an amazing array of talent God put on that bus to encourage us. In addition to Dr. Lyon, we were joined by…

• Stan Hoover, District Superintendent, Chesapeake District, a district that encompasses the Washington, DC area. Stan is also the chairman of the Wesley Seminary Board.
• Wayne Wager, District Superintendent, Central New York District (CNY), our neighboring district to the west.
• Lynn Ensign, CNY District E&CG Director and pastor of Mt. Pisgah Wesleyan Church in Smithfield, PA.
• Chris Conrad, Director of Church Growth, E&CG Department of The Wesleyan Church, who has planted two churches.
• Phil Struckmeyer, church planter, West Michigan District. Phil has planted Impact Church in Lowell, MI, a church that now runs 900. He has daughtered two or three other churches out of Impact Church, and has been one of the influences that has helped West Michigan plant 21 churches over the past five years.
• Wayne & Amy Otto, a dynamic church-planting team from North Michigan District, who are filled with enthusiasm, have planted six churches and have a goal of planting five more in the next five years.
• Ryan Kozey, Founder of The Infinity Alliance, whose mission statement is… 'We exist to engage in God’s redemptive mission by reaching every man, woman, and child in America through starting and partnering with missional churches'. His five-year goals include networking with 1,000 like-minded leaders, to discover 50 places where God wants to initiate movements, and then to initiate training for those 50 places through Renovation Centers that are being established.

We left Albany, NY at 7:00 am Monday, March 8 and returned at 8:00 pm Tuesday, March 9. Forty-nine hours of vision, prayer, mentoring, coaching, encouraging, growing, seeing, feeling, experiencing… During our travels we saw…
• Poughkeepsie/Fishkill/Newburgh area of southern NY (pop. 290,000).
• White Plains, NY, Westchester County (pop. 941,000).
• Stamford, CT, Fairfield County (pop.883,000).
• Bridgeport, CT, Fairfield County.
• New Haven, CT, New Haven County (pop. 846,000). While in New Haven, we spent an hour on the campus of Yale University. Amazing! And we dined in Mystic, CT, a quaint seaport town, complete with draw bridge, seafood and shops. Mystic is very near the largest submarine base in the world.
• Providence, RI, Providence County (pop. 622,000), a beautiful downtown, where we over-nighted and then walked the campus of Brown University before leaving on Tuesday morning. We also prayed over the Capitol Building.

(I digress… What an awesome district we have! The diversity is amazing. Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, Adirondacks, Catskills, Berkshires, Greens and Whites. Seaside villages and world-class ski resorts. Tiny villages and great cities. Four distinct seasons. Off-the-charts fall color. Winter wonderland. Flowering springs and mild summers. Educational universities whose thoughts influence the entire globe. Wow!)

• Boston, MA, Middlesex County (pop. 1,500,000). We walked the Boston Commons, where Dr. Lyon talked her way into a tour of the Park Street Church. We rode through the campus of Harvard University, and went to the top of the Prudential Building, where we saw community after community in all directions, many inhabited by 100,000 or more souls. We looked down on Fenway Park and on the home of the Boston Pops. We saw mile after mile of the brownstones of South Boston and Beacon hill. We saw the Charles River, site of many regattas. And we saw the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
• Hartford, CT, Hartford County (pop. 860,000), where the vice-chairman of the Local Board of Administration of the Hartford Wesleyan Church prayed over us.
• Springfield, MA, Hampden County (pop. 456,000), then we continued across the Berkshires.

As the day darkened, we approached Albany, capitol of the fourth most populous state and one of the most influential. Passing by the State Capitol Building, we prayed for a revival of moral and spiritual values to take root there.

Exhausted but exhilarated, the 40 of us went our own separate ways. We had spied out the land, and found it to be a 'land flowing with milk and honey'—and opportunity!

To be continued…

Coming Home

Last night, our daughter, Kathy, and her three children, Hannah, Brianna and Isaiah, arrived in New York for their first visit. Kathy’s husband, Earl, is deployed in Iraq, so he will not be with us this year.

The flight arrived at 11:30 p.m. As I waited, I saw family after family greet arriving loved ones—kids coming home from college, sons and daughters with military haircuts and cameo backpacks, etc. You could see the eagerness as many of them literally ran into each other’s arms.

Soon my quartet of travelers came into view. Isaiah carried his blankie, Brianna had a sack with her favorite stuffed animal and Hannah was wearing calf-high boots, looking much like the pre-teen that she is becoming (she was 11 on this very day)!

Cries of ‘Papa’ rang out as they sprinted toward me. “What a special greeting,” I thought, as I hugged armfuls of kids.

Shortly, we were loaded and headed for Queensbury. Mimi (Susan) had been working all evening to make sure that all was ready.

As we came in sight of the house, I slowed to a crawl. Candles blazed in every window. Six inches of snow blanketed the yard. I pointed out the acres of woods they could play in. Excitement filled the car.

”I know what I want to do tomorrow!”
“I want to live here.”
“This is just what I’ve always wanted.”

Once inside, and after the greetings with Mimi, they got a tour of the house.

The tree was lit and beautiful.
All of the Christmas knickknacks that they remembered
from other Christmases were sitting around.
Air mattresses were blown up and beds neatly made.

Again they were beside themselves. The district parsonage has two floors, roughly 1800 sq. ft. per floor; not a mansion but certainly larger than the Army base housing they are living in now. “This is awesome!” they declared.

Then Susan took them to see ‘the clubhouse’. Under the stairs is a large storage space. It has two doors and a play space that would capture any child’s imagination. Being a grandma and teacher, Susan knew this would be a hit, and she made sure that I moved everything out so that the kids could play unhindered. If it meant moving a fire-proof filing cabinet that had sat there for decades, so be it. “Get your pastors to help you, and make it happen,” I was told. We did. I think this clubhouse will become their headquarters while visiting.

Sometime later in the night, I awoke and thought of Heaven, a place Jesus says He has gone to prepare.

Welcoming candles in every window.
Beds and rooms are prepared.
Surprises are in store.
Jesus awaits.

In his book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes:

“Do you recall a time when you were away from your earthly home and desperately missing it? Maybe it was when you were off at college or in the military or traveling extensively overseas or needed to move because of a job. Do you remember how your heart ached for home? That’s how we should feel about Heaven. We are a displaced people, longing for our home.”

C. S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Alcorn continues, “Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for Heaven. We think what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, a large-screen TV, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. What we really want is the person we were made for, Jesus, and the place we were made for, Heaven. Nothing less can satisfy us!”

Keep Preparing Yourself

This morning I read a devotional entitled, Keep Preparing Yourself, and thought of all those who have participated in the coaching/mentoring program I call Success University. From Kansas to Florida to New York and New England, you know who you are. I prayed for you today and I urge you to keep working harder on yourself than you do on your job.

"David didn't suddenly become an expert marksman with a slingshot when Goliath showed up, or a master harpist when King Saul invited him to the palace. He took the long, slow, disciplined route. David had no idea what his future held; he simply found joy and fulfillment in discovering and developing his gifts. Your greatest obstacle isn't ignorance, it's the illusion of knowledge. It's in believing you have arrived. When that happens you are done growing, which means you are done!"

"Which zone do you live in?"

"The Comfort Zone - I only do what I already know I can do."

"The Coasting Zone - I don't even do what I have done before."

"The Challenge Zone - I attempt to do what I have not done before."

"Phillip Brooks said, 'Sad is the day for any man when he becomes absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, the thoughts he is thinking and the things he is doing; when there ceases to be forever beating at the doors of his soul a desire to do something larger--which he seeks and knows that he was meant and intended to do.'"

"David's brothers knew his skills, yet none of them told King Saul about him. Be encouraged, you'll get there without them! Then one of Saul's servants...said, 'Look, I have seen the son of Jesse...who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor.'"

"David didn't compete with his brothers or complain about his status as a sheepherder. He just kept developing his relationship with God and sharpening his skills, and when the time was ripe God promoted him."

What are you reading?
What are you listening to?
What conferences are you attending?
Who are you spending time with?

What thoughts do they have you thinking?
What direction do they have you going?
Is that okay?

(For those of you who are alumni of Success U. and those of you who are presently participating, I would love to get a testimonial regarding your present personal development track and what part SU has played. If you are an SU alumnus and are reading this blog, please forward it to other SU alumni you may think of.)

Breaking Barriers

Going to New York City was outside of my comfort zone. Forty-five years ago, our family had done a little sight-seeing there, but since then, I had only read about the Big Apple, or seen its images on TV. Going back was on my to-do list. Yet, to be honest, this small town boy was a little intimidated when I talked of Broadway or other city attractions.

Last week I was to attend a wedding in the Bronx, and in order to make sure I arrived on time I decided to drive down the night before and stay in a small, safe neighboring suburban city.

I arrive in the area around six p.m. “I’m going to conquer this fear downtown New York,” I said to myself. “I have my GPS!” Recently, I listened to an audio-book, entitled Hometown, that told the story of how Manhattan was developed—from the Battery to Harlem. In my mind, I had a little idea of how the streets were laid out. “I’m going in,” I thought.

In the Bronx, I passed Yankee Stadium—both of them (the new and the old). As a boy in the backyard, I was always Mickey Mantle and played center field in my imaginary Yankee Stadium. Soon, in a misty rain that persisted off and on all evening, I crossed The RFK Bridge into Manhattan and followed FDR Boulevard south along the river. My goal was to get to the southern tip of the island, find Broadway, and follow it north—uptown--the way that the island had developed. What I didn’t know was that much of Broadway was now one-way going south.

I passed the Staten Island Ferry terminal and then Battery Park. As I zigzagged my way north, I came to the Brooklyn Bridge—one of the engineering wonders of its day—I thought, “There is no way that pictures can do it justice. You just have to be here to understand its majesty as it spans the river. All of the other places on my list are probably the same way. Seeing them in person far outweighs pictures and videos.” I was reminded of my friend, Becky Storms’, Facebook statement, “I haven’t been everywhere but its on my list!”

It was dark and misty—hard to see—as I wandered around, what I thought was, the financial district. One building said Wall Street Plaza, but I never did actually see Wall Street, so named, I had learned, because in its early days a wall had been built across the island to keep enemies out. Looking upward through the skyscrapers, I saw the top of the Empire State Building.

Driving north with the Met Life building in the background, I saw a huge building with the road running right to it—and around it. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.

Nothing prepared me for TIME SQUARE. Neon lights and more lights; mammoth signs! Broadway musical theatres and people, people, people. I drove through that section three times. Went by Carnegie Hall, saw the Late Night With David Letterman building, NBC News and Radio City Music Hall.

“Heaven is going to be like this,” I thought, “only hundreds of times more grand. And I’m going to get to spend eternity there in the ultimate Facebook environment. Wow!”

Continuing north, I soon located Central Park and drove most of the way around it. Upper East Side and West Side came alive. Soon the landscape began to change. The sign on the subway station read 125th & Harlem. I was in the home of the Harlem Globetrotters. My GPS lady guided me a half mile to the RFK Bridge and I was on my way off the island.

Fears were conquered. Doubt gone. I had spent three hours in Manhattan, in the dark, in the rain, with hundreds of taxis, rickshaw boys, and horse-drawn carriages. I had been honked at, yelled at and narrowly missed by aggressive taxi drivers, but I had survived and thrived. I will do this! I’ll go back, walk the streets, see the sights, take my family, be the tour guide.

I had broken a barrier—where most barriers need to be broken—in my mind.

Danny

Twenty-seven years ago, I led Danny Carver to the Lord. He was nineteen! Physically, Danny wasn’t impressive; he was disabled. Mentally, he wasn’t sharp; he was a little slow. Socially, he wasn’t sophisticated; he had little training. Danny wore a long unkempt beard to hide some of the scars he’d received in an auto accident when he was two-months old. Other scars were hidden deeper inside. Because of his bushy look I called him a ‘woolie-bugger’. Even with all of these issues, God brought Danny into my life to change me.

As I ministered to Danny, God taught me that there are no second-class citizens; that Jesus died for all. Through a series of events, God gave me an attitude adjustment that left me changed forever. I have told Danny’s story everywhere I’ve preached. Thousands have been challenged and changed by it. He never realized the impact his story had. He lived his simple life in Anderson, S.C.

When I left Lakeside Wesleyan in 1986, he wrapped his arms around me, pulled me into his wooly beard and in a voice that was hard to understand said, “Preacher, I love you. Thank you for telling me about Jesus.”

Danny Carver died last week. He was 44. He no longer limps! He no longer breathes heavily or has a speech impediment. His mind is sharp and his body strong. He is whole in every way. Danny is with his Savior. It was my privilege to introduce the two of them years ago!

The next time I see Danny, he’ll wrap his arms around me and say, “Preacher, welcome Home.”

Don't Quit

The phone rang this week. It was Dad. “I’m just reporting in,” he said. “This morning I walked the entire circle; all 1.6 miles of it.”

This circle is what he walked every day before his open heart surgery; every day before his stroke; every day before his heart attack; every day before his thirty days of rehab; every day before infection sent him back to the hospital with a 106-degree temperature.

After months of illness, we wondered if he would ever be able to take care of himself again. He could not walk alone. He sat in the wheel chair all slumped over. He struggled to swallow and eat. The future, indeed, looked bleak.

At home he eventually graduated to a walker and success was measured in feet, not miles. As he struggled to walk he would veer to the left and not even be aware of it. The awareness of the left side was gone. He would start on the right side of the road and in 100 feet be across the road—almost in the ditch.

The walker was traded in for a cane. One hundred feet became two hundred; then four. Now eight months after the sickness struck he called to say – I walked the whole loop again – all 1.6 miles of it!

I have walked that circle with him many times. I know its every nook and crack. Although I am not there, I can see him, step by step, navigate his personal track. Amazing, yet it shouldn’t surprise me. He has always been persistent—consistent. In the home and in the church, day after day, step by step, job by job, he has persevered. If I’m fortunate, I inherited a little of that.

Facebook

I am now a card-carrying member of Facebook!

For years, one of my dreams has been to reconnect with as many as possible from the past. Susan and I have had the privilege to go to school with, and minister to, some of the finest people on earth. Responsibilities and busyness and moves have caused us to lose contact with many. Also, I have always tried to practice ‘ministerial ethics’ and stay out of the way of the person who followed me. However, the older I become, the more I have this urge to ‘re-connect’ to those with whom we have shared.

Recently, my kids have been nagging me to join Facebook and be their ‘friend’. “I’m already your friend,” I would reply. Occasionally, an email would appear inviting me to join someone’s network, but this was new and I’m not a whiz on the computer, so I procrastinated. Yesterday, however, my son, David put the squeeze on me and I made the plunge.

Within a few hours, my Facebook started to take shape. A roommate from the boarding high school I attended showed up. Several young people from the church in Warsaw—one now a student at Asbury. Janice and Michele from northern Indiana. I performed the ceremony at their weddings 15-20 years ago. And the list goes on!

“God,” I prayed this morning, “Please let this be a tool in Your hands. Often I pray that You will enlarge my territory and expand my influence.

May this be another way
to minister and be ministered to
to share and be shared with
to coach and be coached
to love and be loved
to influence and be influenced

God, give me the discernment I need as I touch lives.
Give me the discipline I need to use my time wisely.
Amen.”

Now, my dilemma is finding the perfect picture to put a ‘face’ on my Facebook!