Church of the Week: Airport Chapel, Frankfurt, Germany

We didn't have time to go looking for it, but when the lovely Robin and I happened upon the Christian prayer room in the Frankfurt International Airport, we took a few moments to stop in.

Very modern. Spartan, even. But not without its charm, though it could use a bit more subdued lighting.

Interestingly, the Frankfurt Airport provides SEPARATE prayer rooms for different faiths. We saw signs for a Jewish and a Muslim prayer room nearby.

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A Filled-Up Soul

"A haunting memory sticks from years and years ago, when news came of a young husband in our congregation who was dead by an errant shot during a hunting trip. It was my lot as the family's pastor to rush to the home and sit with the family. As I drove away from my home, I found myself asking, "And what shall I give this family? My spiritual resources are dry. All I have is words, but my spirit seems empty." It was a most miserable moment, a scary one for a youthful pastor. And one of those times when I determined I would never again be caught with an empty soul when others needed spiritual resource.

"I came to see that I owed my congregation a filled-up soul. They needed this far more from me than all the church programs and visions I could put before them. Whether they encountered me in the pulpit or on the streets of our community during the week, they needed to know that if (perish the thought) there was only one human being in their world who had some experience in the presence of God, I would be that man."

(from Gordon MacDonald's A Resilient Life)

The Autobiography of George Muller

The Autobiography of George Muller tells the story of a remarkable man of faith. Redeemed by Jesus Christ from a life of selfishness and profligacy, Muller (1895-1898) left his native Prussia for England in 1829. There, he entered into pastoral ministry and, after some experience as a preacher, began a series of ministries--a Bible institute, Sunday school, orphan homes, etc.--in Bristol. But that's not enough half the story.

The real story of Muller's life consists of page after page, month by month and year upon year, of his resolute dependence on God for his (and hundreds of employees' and orphans') daily bread--quite literally at times. He determined from the beginning of his ministry that he would take any and all needs to God and him alone. Rather than appealing to donors or crowds for support, he would "take it to the Lord in prayer," as the hymn says, and await God's timing and God's supply. And, time after time--often before he (and sometimes others among his partners in ministry) finished praying--he received answers to his prayers.

This book is not like any other autobiography. Rather than presenting a narrative of his pursuits and accomplishments, it relates only those excerpts from his journals that pertain to his stated life goal: encouraging and edifying the church by showing the outline and fruits of a life that is lived and a ministry that is run in complete and constant reliance on God, in faith, through prayer.

The Autobiography of George Muller accomplishes that. It impressed upon me the need to pray more, but not only that. It showed the littleness of my faith and my native impatience. It exposed my idolatrous self-reliance. And it made me hungrier for God, and for his hand on my life, in things both large and small.

Faithbook Community Church?

Chet Gladkowski, on ChurchLeaders.com, posed the question: "Does Facebook have anything to teach the church?" He suggests that "Facebook has...[filled] a hole we, the Christian community, have created through absence and neglect." And then he offers five insightful answers to his question.

I think he's dead on. And I think you should go here and read the whole thing now.

Church of the Week: First Baptist Church, Oxford, OH

What a joy it was to worship, teach, preach, and fellowship yesterday morning with my friends Rev. Darryl and Cheryl Jackson at First Baptist Church in Oxford, Ohio.

The morning began with a lovely Bible study. I taught from Exodus 32, with reference to my book, American Idols, on the slippery slope to idolatry.

After Bible study adjourned, we all prepared for the worship service of the morning. The lovely Robin and I got to greet so many friends, old and new, and basked in the warmth and welcome that were extended to us, and the wonderful prayer, praise, and worship music that were offered to God.

Pastor Darryl gave me a generous introduction, and I preached as well as can be expected, from 1 Samuel 14, drawing from the last chapter of my book, Quit Going to Church. Though I'm usually accustomed to "amens" and "preach-es" and "come on, nows" only from my wife (and under her breath, at that), I was blessed by the feedback to the message, and thoroughly encouraged and enriched by the fellowship before, during, and after.

First Baptist Church just celebrated their 147th anniversary (from 1865!) last week, is located at 6701 Ringwood Rd., on the northwest end of Oxford, Ohio, the home of Miami University. I've worshiped numerous times with this family of faith, in their previous location on Vine St. in Oxford and their current facility, occupied since 2006, and have never failed to be blessed and uplifted by them and by the presence of God in their midst.

A Free eBook About Pastors

Charles Edward Jefferson was born in Cambridge, Ohio, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1882. He graduated from Boston School of Theology in 1887, and was called in September of that year to the Congregational Church in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He left there in 1898 to become the minister of the Broadway Tabernacle in New York, where he remained for thirty-one years, becoming pastor-emeritus on his retirement in 1930. He served just two churches in his lifetime.

Shy and retiring, he was renowned for his simple and straightforward preaching. Yet in this book he calls pastors to view their primary role not as preachers but as shepherds of the flock of God. He describes the work of the shepherd: to prod, provide for, and protect the sheep. He also writes of the pastor's two greatest temptations, and shows how they may best be avoided, and concludes the book by encouraging pastors to seek the reward promised to those who shepherd the flock with gentleness and faithfulness.

The free ebook can be downloaded here.