My Resignation and My Acceptance of a New Call

Sometime ago, Kimberly and I were at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.  It was one of those perfect days.  The sun was shining; the sand was white, and the water was calm, clear and that perfect turquoise blue.  It was so beautiful that we just stopped and took it all in.  We barely spoke.  What do you say in the presence of the kind of beauty that reaffirms the only explanation for its existence is that the Creator is behind it all? 

As I think about this past year and a half at CFNAZ, I find myself with a similar realization:  The beauty of what God is creating in our midst is beyond words.  More than 80 people have made decisions to follow Christ!  Of those, 46 have been baptized.  Four new Connection Groups have been formed for mutual accountability and encouragement in discipleship.  Both last summer and this summer, more than 100 people offered hands of hope through service projects.  Human trafficking victims were helped through prayer, awareness and action.  The Pregnancy Support Center was blessed through your gifts on Mother’s Day.  Last year, a few teens went to the summer spiritual retreat; this year, two van loads will participate.  Our children are not only more safe and secure through the check-in system and being loved by small group leaders who know them personally, they are also learning to serve our community through such things as the community egg hunts.  The Belle Stone Pantry and partnership is a shining example of how God can find a way into public schools when his church cares enough to go.  Tutoring at the Sahara Apartment complex is a model of what it means to be missionaries, who rather than expecting others to conform to our church culture meet people where they are so they might see Jesus there too.  NextGen Basketball was not only a great program during the season, but our coaches made it a great opportunity for follow-up after the season.  When we saw that last year’s Biker Sunday no longer brought in unchurched bikers, Gator allowed us to make the bold move to stop that one Sunday service so we could help fund the ministry he does with Biker’s for Christ every week.  Faith Promise Plus is not only helping us join the Nazarene Church in doing ministry around the world but is raising an additional $30,000 for ministry to our community and beyond.  We praise God for 58 new givers who have stepped up to support God’s work among and through us.  And what an honor it is to see not only what Hope House 4 Women is doing every day but firsthand here on Sundays.  When I came to CFNAZ, I was told we had one or two Malone students worshipping with us; we now have several who not only attend but serve with Bryan in worship.  We watched God give the diverse group of people called our Refocus team a clear vision for God’s calling for us to be a church that invests in the next generation with Jesus’ love and gospel through worship, connection, service and living it all out where we live.  Even as I share these things, I realize there is even more I could mention.  It is like walking on the beach on a perfect day—God is doing some beautiful things at CFNAZ.  It is so beautiful that you just want to stop, take it all in and praise God!

As Kimberly and I were taking in the beauty of the beach, we had almost missed the obvious.  The beach was full of people, but no one was in the water where we were.  Why?  I looked around and saw the reason.  At the part of the beach where we were sitting, there were red flags planted in the sand.  Next to one of them was a white sign that warned of the rip tide in this location.  Even on a beautiful day when the water looked so very calm, the red flags and sign warned us: “Don’t be deceived; it may look beautiful, but the rip tide is so strong that even the best swimmers won’t escape its pull.” 

About six months after being at CFNAZ, I began to see red flags on our beach.  In fact, I changed the sermon series I had originally planned for last summer and wrote a new one based on the seven churches of Revelation, which we called “Let it Go.”  You demonstrated great courage and love by naming three red balloons for us to release as a church family so we would not allow a rip tide to ruin the beauty of God’s work.  Those that you named were: traditionalism, putting self before God’s mission and vision, and heart issues of forgiveness, pride and a critical spirit.  What I did not know at that time and what those who have been here for a while have since shared is that those patterns with their various symptoms were not new here because of the refocus process; they were patterns that have been around for a long time.  I listened as a few brave board members dared to ask what we as leadership might do about these longtime, repeated patterns and wondered the same.  In April, I realized that these longtime patterns could not be remedied by me or the pastoral staff but had to be addressed by the church family itself.  I sent an all church letter asking if the church family would be willing to look friends and family in the eye and say, “These old patterns will no longer be tolerated.”  At the annual meeting on April 26, I shared the misconceptions that I was told an anonymous group believed, and I invited people to come and talk with me and the board so the truth might be determined.  No one signed up.  No one called.  However, after that meeting, I was informed that another group left and another group was angry.  Again, the groups were anonymous, allowing for no healthy course of action to be taken. 

In the interview process, I explained that I am not the “feel good, bring you along and wait 20 years for change” pastor.  There is nothing wrong with that kind of pastor, but that is not me.  And while I am convinced that I—and you—answered God’s clear call for the likes of me to have the honor to serve you, it has become apparent that while some encourage me to keep being who God called me to be and hit things straight on, others see me as dealing too directly and harshly with these longtime issues and, in fact, think I should be a different kind of pastor than I am.  While I believe I am living out God’s call as the pastor he has called and gifted me to be, I will agree you are right about other things:  I have many faults; I have made mistakes, and I am weak in many areas.  It will be up to God to work in me and with me, and he knows I gave him permission a long time ago to do that however and whenever he wants in me.  But I wonder if anyone among the lay leadership and among the membership will dare to ask, “What faults, mistakes and weakness might it be healthy for us to allow God to address in us as a church family?”  I share this not because I am angry, but because I believe until this rip tide is acknowledged, people will continue to drown here needlessly.

That being said, I also believe that God could raise up some courageous people from within this church family through whom he will not only turn the tide but turn it into a tidal wave of his power and love.  A tidal wave that could wash over this beautiful church family with a fresh wave of the Spirit in which traditionalism, putting self first and the heart issues of forgiveness, pride and critical spirit could lose their pull once and for all.  I believe that tidal wave of the Spirit could break out of the walls of this building and spill into the community in a way like neither we nor the community could have ever hoped for or imagined.  Yes, you could see a revival in the church and a spiritual awakening in the community that will show the next generation that this is not just something the Bible talks about—it is what God still does today.

This year and a half has been amazingly beautiful and incredibly hard on us all, hasn’t it?  I have no regrets in accepting the call to move my family here.  Kimberly, the kids and I have grown closer to Jesus and to one another. We have been blessed to meet and fall in love with some very special people here and in the East Ohio District.  I thank God for the opportunity to work with such an amazing staff.  It has been an honor to serve a church with such a rich history.  The only regret I have is that you could get to see firsthand the rip tide turned into a tidal wave of the Spirit and I will not.  Instead of seeing it with my own eyes, I will only hear about it from afar.  I have become convinced that my role here was to refocus so we could see his fresh beauty, to name the rip tide for what it is and then to humble myself and admit that I am not the one equipped to lead you to the place where the next move of God will take place.  For that reason, for the sake of being submitted to God’s call, for the best of the church and for the best for my family, I offered my resignation to the you, the Canton First Church Board, yesterday, June 27, as I have accepted a three-year call to serve as a pastor of refocus and new starts for the South West Ohio District Church of the Nazarene.  My last Sunday here will be July 19 and I will begin the new role in August.  I promise you my prayers and I will value yours. 

 

With Hope in Christ,

Chad A. Current

Is His Eye on the Sparrow?

A sparrow chose our deck as the perfect place to build a nest, lay eggs and raise some baby sparrows.  I can look out our kitchen window and see them each morning.  Today, I told Kimberly, “It just hit me…last year a robin nested under the deck but this year we have sparrows.”  She looked at me as if to say, “Yes…and…?”  I said, “God says his eye is on the sparrow and so how much more he has his eye on us as his children.” 

I have been reveling in that thought today: “His eye is the sparrow” (not only that Scripture but the old song that is based on it keeps replaying in my head today).  It is an incredible thought.  If God is attentive to these small, brown birds…if he cares about their well-being…if he is interested in their provision, then how much more attentive is he of you.  His eye is on you.  He cares about your well-being.  He is interested in your provision.  He is so attentive to you that Jesus says knowing that makes worry a sin.  The Father has your back, so cast worry aside. 

It is one thing to read and sing about this truth, the question is how do we help other people experience the truth that God cares?  The answer will require nothing less than becoming incredibly and tirelessly practical.  For example, most Thursdays during the school year, Brenda Walters, would knock on my office door and say, “A guest is here from Belle Stone School.”  I would immediately drop what I was doing and head to the lobby.  There I would find Brenda loading a cart full of children’s clothing, personal care products and food.  Then Brenda would introduce me to our guest.  Our guests from Belle Stone are primarily folks who fall through the cracks and are unable to receive government assistance, but due to circumstances are barely getting by.  Once I had learned their name, I would ask, “Is there anything I can be praying for you about today?”  Not one time did a family answer, “Nope.  We are good.  Everything is just fine.”  Nor did the family talk to me about their financial burdens.  Instead, when asked how we could pray they shared of greater hurts and needs. 

One grandmother wiped away tears as she shared about the recent loss of her husband and son.  As if that was not enough, her grandchildren were being abused and neglected, so she took all 4 of them in under her care.  “Pray for God to give me strength,” she cried.

Another woman did not have tears but fear in her eyes.  She explained that her great nephews and nieces were almost murdered by their mother.  She received the children when the physical and emotional bruises were still fresh.  “Pray for the children to be safe,” she urged.

Another family had been laid off and had exhausted their last resources to move here for a new job.  Once they arrived to Canton, they were informed that the job offered was now withdrawn due to unexpected cutbacks.  You could see the despair in their eyes.  “Pray for something to just work out,” they asked. 

“His eye is on the sparrow.”  I’ll be honest.  Sometimes as I met with our Thursday guests, I have questioned that.  I want to say on their behalf, “God, if your eye is on them, and then why don’t you do something to help them?”  No sooner does that question make it to heaven, then I hear his reply:  “I am doing something to help.  That is why I have left my church here on earth and given them my Spirit so they might be cleansed from selfishness and empowered to serve.  In that way the world will know that if my eye is on the sparrow, how much more I care for them.” 

Canton First Family, will you help us restock our Belle Stone Pantry that helps both families from the school and families in need in our church family?  The list of accepted items are at the welcome center in the lobby or on www.cfnaz.com.  Thank you! 

Stupid Geese

Our house is a street up from Meyers Lake and so many of our neighbors are Canadian Geese.  The geese visit the lake, but they feed and breed in our neighborhood.  The other day, during my walk, I passed by two geese.  They were both drinking from a drainage pipe.  A small stream of water that had traveled off the roof of a home, down into an eave spout, into a drainage tile that was buried underground and was now ending its journey on 21^st Street was now a water fountain for two geese.  I shook my head as I walked by and thought, “These two geese have all of Meyer’s lake at their disposal and they are sipping water out of a drainage tile.”

As I walked a little farther, the Holy Spirit began to apply the thought to my own life.  God’s love and power could fill an infinite number of Meyers Lakes; am I drinking of its depths or have I settled for drinking the little I can slurp up off the street?  It reminded me of Matthew 15:21-28:

“Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon.  A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”

Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”

Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”

Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

In this conversation you cannot miss the satire.  Jesus is not being rude or demeaning.  No, he is speaking tongue in cheek.  He has a smirk on his face that the woman can see and so she plays right along saying that even the dogs eat the crumbs from the table. 

Here this woman, a non-Jew, Canaanite woman, who the Jews of the day looked upon as dogs, was coming to Jesus to drink of his mercy.  The disciples wanted Jesus to rid them of her because this “dog” was bothering them.  Instead Jesus engages in this sarcastic conversation to make a point.  The point is this that the sheep of Israel have been given a feast on the table and they are living on the crumbs of self-righteousness, legalism and religion.  But this spiritual “dog” comes looking for the crumbs and she ends up walking away with more of God’s left-over boxes full mercy than the lost sheep of Israel who should know better. 

What about us?  Are we surviving on crumbs or pulling up a seat at the buffet? Are we sipping water out of a drainage tile or splashing in the lake? 

"What Now?" by Nathan Shaub

This week I received the following email from Nathan Shaub (He helps lead worship on Sundays and does a great and spirit-filled job), who gave me permission to share it as my weekly blog. 

“So we worked for weeks with getting out of the boat. Some of us stayed in the boat knowing that while we may have a rougher time in the boat we are comfortable with those kinds of storms, but for some of us... We Stepped Out...

This may be a spiritual walk but the obstacles we face are very real and feel more threatening than staying in the boat. (I would recommend watching the new movie “Tomorrowland” because it depicts this perfectly. She touches the pin and is taken to another world, she can see and feel and experience things others around her cannot, but when she focuses too much on what she sees while touching the pin she runs into walls, falls down stairs, almost drowns...) I feel like to continue walking on water entire focus must remain on God, but then how do I do my day to day life?

If you know where to find the book titled, "What to do once you've gotten out of the boat..." I would love to read it. I am beginning to understand how Peter with all of the proof required to know God was with him there walking on water, could lose sight of the Lord and begin to sink. The story seems to end there and they are back on the boat immediately after Jesus reaches out and pulls him out of the water, but hadn't he taken a few steps out of the boat? Did Jesus carry him back to safety or did Peter once again have to walk on water but this time with the physical touch of Jesus, more than just the knowledge that he was there with him but the physical help someone with a broken leg would require to walk to a waiting car?”

Thank you, Nate, for your honest thoughts and questions.  I believe it is a fitting end to our “Brave” series.  If you wonder why I have not attempted to offer an answer it is because I think what is happening between you and Jesus is too important for me to get involved in and risk messing it up.  However, I do pray that your thoughts will give others permission to think, pray and wrestle with Jesus and perhaps even write the book, “What to do Once You’ve Gotten Out of the Boat.”

True Faith

Yesterday, after a prayer was prayed, Doug Kandel asked us to sing the following song with him as he lovingly helped his wife, Connie, transition from this life to the next. 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

 There's just something about that name

Master, Savior, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the rain

 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

There's just something about that name

 Master, Savior, Jesus

Like the fragrance after the rain

 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all heaven and earth proclaim

 Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

But there's just something about that name

 As the song was sung, the presence of Jesus in that hospital room was more than evident.  And how Jesus must have smiled at the Kandel family as he wiped tears from his eyes and interceded on their behalf to the Father because through them true faith was demonstrated. It is a faith that says, “We will trust Jesus no matter what—whether healing is on this side of heaven or in heaven itself; whether life gives us reason to rejoice or to grieve; whether things make sense now, later or never.  At the end of the day we will not submit to anything smaller than Jesus.”  Thank you, Kandel family for the example of true faith you live and that Connie lived.

Which Way?

Yesterday I was driving through downtown Mount Vernon, Ohio.  The road I was to take at the turn-about was closed.  I found myself all turned around.  The person I was riding with asked, “Didn’t you go to college here?”  “Yes,” I said, “But that was a long time ago.”  (Besides when I was at MVNU, the road I needed to take was not closed)!  To make matters worse, I got even more turned around on the way home.  If not for my passenger, who suggested I was headed the wrong way on Rt. 3, I would probably still be trying to find my way home.  I told him that he now knows how Kimberly feels.  She is use to my lack of a sense of direction.  My kids actually moan and say, “Are you lost again, Daddy?” because the occurrence is so common. 

It is one thing to get turned around and even lost when you are driving some place.  That is bad enough!  But isn’t it worst to feel like that is your life?  To be honest, when I was younger I thought my direction for life was pretty clear.  I accepted God’s call to ministry at age 14. I knew where I was going. I went to MVNU.  Then to seminary.  And then…well…after that it has not been nearly as clear.  I mean there are moments of clarity.  But there are also moments when I feel like the road I knew to take has been closed and I am left to guess at which is the best way to go. 

Have you ever wanted to scream:  “God, just tell me which way to go!  I don’t have the strength to figure it out on my own!” 

Jeremiah must have sensed that among the people of Israel as they were entering the land of exile.  They were separated from friends, relocated from their homes and removed from the familiar.  They were wandering and lost in a foreign land.  The road they knew was not only closed but gone.  And right there in the pace where they felt most lost, God spoke a word that still speaks today:

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come to pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, “ declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jer. 29:11-14).

It is interesting that God says we are not ready to seek and find him until we first are ready to believe that he has good plans for our future.  “Then”, he says, after we believe that promise, then we are ready to come to him in prayer.  And we will find him.  Apparently, the key to finding the right road back home is not by figuring out which road to take, but by seeking him with all our heart.  And once he is found (and he promises he will be), then he will bring us back from exile. 

“Father, thank you for your promise.  You have plans for us that are good and not to harm us.  Forgive us for trying to figure out the right road to take.  It is not about finding the right road, but about finding you.  Maybe we will stay lost as long as we are trying to find your will and way, because we are making it about something less than you.  We are sorry.  But we are also ready to seek you with all our heart because we don’t want to live lost in the land of exile.  We want you to gather us and bring us back home.  We trust you for this.  We need you in this way.  And we thank you for listening to us. Amen.”

What's in a Name?

If I was asked to share one specific example in which my Mom has had an ongoing impact on my life, I would say it has to do with my name.  I can still remember the day it happened.  I was elementary school age and we were driving some place.  It was during that drive that my mom said, “Do you know what your name means?”  I didn’t so she told me.  “Chad,” she said, “your name means defender or warrior.”  Well, at that age that would have been enough for me as knowing that is what my name meant was pretty cool.  But my Mom did not want me to interpret the meaning of my name without her adding her thoughts.  She went on to say, “Chad, God wants you to defend his truth and to stand up for what is right even if you stand alone.  You won’t always be popular if you live this way, but you will live for something worth more than popularity.  It won’t always be easy if you speak up when everyone else would prefer you to be silent, but it will be worth it, because you will make God happy.” 

That day she did more than interpret the meaning of my name.  She shaped me that day in a way that still influences me through today.  On days when I am tempted to back down, even though I know God is saying stand firm or when I would prefer to remain silent, even though I know God is saying say something or when I would rather give into apathy even though God is saying do something, I not only have the Holy Spirit’s thumb in my back, but my mom’s voice ringing in my head: “Chad, your name means defender.  You are a defender of the faith.”  Sometimes it really ticks me off…I want to scream, “Just be quiet and both of you leave me alone!”  But I am so thankful that neither voice pays a bit of attention to my protests because left to myself I would surely live for less.

Of course, what made her words all the more powerful in my life was that she and Dad lived out what she was trying to get me to hear.  Time and time again, I have watched my parents choose the way less traveled for the sake of God’s grace and truth.  They have embraced people who others rejected.  They have rebuked those that others feared.  They have done something while others were only willing to talk about it.  They have made sacrifices for the cause of Christ while others made excuses.  They were by no means perfect, but while others would have justified their shortcomings, they simply confessed it and even told their sons they were sorry.  Most of all, they showed me that a name is more than something people call you, but a calling to live for something more.   

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!  Thank you both, Mom and Dad, for showing me what it means to live up to the name you gave me.  I love you!