Richardhunter's Blog

This picture won an international photography award this year. It captures the moment a surfer gets wiped out and worked by the turbulence of one of the heaviest waves in the world. “This is the unseen part of surfing,” says photographer Ben Thouard. “I have so much respect for both the wave and the surfers – surfing such a heavy wave is a huge challenge.”

I’m not a surfer, yet I have plunged under the waves to snorkel. It’s scary and mysterious to be covered by a powerful wave. A sense of vulnerability and fear can grip us. An experienced surfer takes it in stride because they have been there before and they know the swell will carry them back to the surface, if they only wait and do not panic.

Life is fragile and frightful for many people right now. The contentious politics, the uncertain economy, the unknowns around future Covid or flu outbreaks….we can feel “under the wave” and a loss of control, even hopeless.

This morning my scripture reading took me to Isaiah 43: 2, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”

These words lift me above life’s uncertainties and revive my hope. God sees you struggling in the waves of life. He comes to you as your creator and redeemer always aware of your existence and always ready to comfort, guide and rescue. Wait, don’t panic, take God’s hand and swim for the shore. God’s mercies and grace are with you. You are not alone.

I was when leading a church through a season of visioning for the future and we seemed to hit a roadblock. Why were people not getting on board with the vision? We held prayer vigils, forums and sent out newsletters with explanations and diagrams. We hosted two churchwide meetings. Yet people kept saying they did not see or understand where we were going and some were opposed out of misunderstanding and fear.

“What often feels like resistance is often a lack of clarity.” Especially in times like we now live, we have to give people time, space and visuals of where we are leading them. Most church visioning processes used to take 1-3 months. Now I am seeing it takes a minimum of 6-12 months to get people on board and buying into the vision. When we rush this process, they just simply shut down or tune us out because life seems overwhelming.

Tod Bolsinger calls this an adaptive challenge – the ability to cast vision when the world is changing faster than people can understand, adapt or respond. At the church I referred to earlier, we had to step back and take our time. We began with the children and youth. We shared the vision, taught them scriptures that illustrated the themes and asked them to create artwork, mobiles and graphics that illustrated what we were talking about.

This taught us abundantly where we were communicating well and where we needed to improve. We then took their creations to the congregation in teaching times, on bulletin covers and in hallway art. We allowed time and space for the vision to move from these visuals into everyday conversations around the life of the church and community. We even shared these visuals and our vision with people in our community not connected to any church including our own, and we asked for their feedback. That was eye-opening! One of the best groups for helping refine our communication were our preschool staff and teachers. The second group that taught us how to remove barriers o change were our charter members – they had overcome misunderstanding and resistance numerous times and knew how to speak to the inside culture of the church.

Our next step was a time of interpretation and feedback. We offered a sermon series, a blog that expanded what was taught in the sermons and a Wednesday evening forum on the topics. We used these times to ask for feedback, additional ideas and even artwork and visuals from the adults. The children and youth had opened up our creativity to imagine a better and promising future. When we presented to the church body again one year later, it was a celebration and relief. Prayer, time, space and thorough communication had broken through. The vision was embraced and is now being implemented.

Like many of you, I am now working from my home and often from my daughter’s home when we are assisting her with the care of our two grandchildren. As this picture shows, there are days I would rather just join them in an Easter Egg hunt! I have a dose of ADHD in my system, so I have had to be very intentional to stay focused and productive.

Here’s some helpful tips I am learning:

Set a schedule. Even if you don’t have to be “in the office” at 9am, determine a schedule and stick to it. Work/home boundaries can be tough when it’s all the same thing so start with your schedule. Run your morning routine, get dressed, and go to work just like you’re working in an office.

Create a work-space. Whether you have a home office or find space for a desk in the corner of a room, create a space that’s dedicated to your work. Not only will this help you reinforce your routine, it will help others in your house understand when working and when you’re not.

Get support and buy in from others in your home. Speaking
of others in your house, this just might be the most important thing. If you’re working from home and there are others in the house, you need to help them understand and support your work reality. You need boundaries so you can focus on work and not get distracted.

Stay connected. One of the toughest things for people leaving a traditional office environment to work from home is the feeling of isolation. This is a very real thing. Use phone conversations, Zoom meetings and Facetime to have face to face encounters with work associates. This is important too!

Take Breaks. Get up and walk around the house or yard. Have a mid-morning cup of tea or snack. Take some deep breaths. Some days it really helps me to go ahead and dress for the office especially when I am having a Zoom meeting or just need to think professionally at home.

Realize this is new territory and may take time to find a routine and rhythm. Be patient and flexible. And in time, you may find you like this new normal and can be even more efficient and productive.

And most important…begin each day with prayer and scripture. Here’s an excellent guide I use. It’s free, online and inspires me to grow closer to Christ each day.  https://www.seedbed.com/daily-text/

Here’s a prayer for Working From Home: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/prayer-working-from-home/

Photo by Marcus Herzberg on Pexels.com

LEADERSHIP LESSON #5 from The Lion King:

“Leaders are life-long learners.” They listen well, consume books and articles and look for new, emerging information. They appreciate the wisdom of the pack (tribe & team). They see it as their duty to pass on life lessons to the next generation and continually raise up future leaders.

LEADERSHIP LESSON #4 from The Lion King

”When someone tells you that you need to step up and be a leader, listen to them. They’re telling you this because they believe in you. Listen to those who are encouraging you to lead. They can see your potential when you cannot.”

LEADERSHIP LESSON #3 from The Lion King:

“There Is More To Being A Leader Than Getting Your Way.” Great leaders build a team, not a dynasty. They welcome critique and surround themselves with people who will speak truth to them even when its unpopular. Great leaders want to leave a legacy not carry away fame & fortune.

LEADERSHIP LESSON #2 from the Lion King:

“Life isn’t always fair. Life isn’t fair to our team members. And life isn’t fair to anyone else. When you’re able to grasp this truth, life and leadership become so much easier.”

LEADERSHIP LESSON #1 FROM THE LION KING:

“While others search for what they can take, a true king (a true leader) searches for what he can give.”

Christians are called to work together for peace and reconciliation in every generation. Recent events in Hoover, Alabama have torn at the very threads of our community life. Last Wednesday over 70 pastors from area churches came together to pray and seek God’s direction on how we might spiritually lead our community into peace & reconciliation. As we prayed and worshiped together, a powerful sense of God’s empowering and unifying spirit came upon us.

We discussed options we could take as pastors leading local churches to impact our communities. Two words kept rising to the surface of our prayerful conversations: People Matter! The family of E.J. Bradford matters. We pray for their comfort, for answers to their questions and for justice to be served. The police officers and civic servants of our city matter – we know they grieve over these events and are dedicated to public service. Our schools and children matter – we want the next generation to see us leading in faithful ways with integrity as we move forward to heal our community. The employees of Galleria Mall and surrounding businesses matter and we pray & advocate for those whose jobs are threatened. All the People of our city and region matter to us as precious children of God.

As pastors we are committed to ongoing dialogue and to have helpful, life-changing conversations with one another, to listen and not judge, to be bridge builders and not rush to judgment. We also committed to having dialogue in our churches and to lead our people in the path of peace. (Luke 1: 79)

Our immediate step is to organize a tool to assist those who have become unemployed or lost wages in the aftermath of this tragedy. The pastors have set up PASTORS4PEOPLE. This fund will be used to assist employees of the mall and surrounding businesses who have lost vital wages. The fund will be directed by a board of laity and clergy and administered by Citizens Federal Bank. You can learn more at pastors4people.com and direct people in need to this site.

These prayerful dialogues and this fund are only the beginning of our reconciliation  process.  We have much work to do. Please join me in praying for our community, be quick to listen and slow to speak, wait for all the facts to be assessed and don’t rush to judgment. There are many people who are hurting and needing the hope of faith, justice and mercy. Let us be the body of Christ, committed to his way and eager to learn from and serve one another in His name.

Last Sunday I was preaching on Jesus’ healing of the man born blind in John, chapter 9. Here’s how the story begins, “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.” (English Standard Version of the Bible)

In every sermon there is always more background material and good illustrations than a preacher can use in one sermon. Here is an excerpt from an article I read on the Biologis website that is relevant to my sermon.

TheologIcal Reflections on John 9: 1-7 by Dr. John Pohl

BioLogis: February 18, 2013

https://biologos.org/blogs/archive/a-faith-journey-in-a-medical-science-career-part-3

Now that we have gone into quite a bit of detail about one specific disease, I want to describe certain aspects of a Creator related to what we have learned about CF genetics.

1. God is smarter than me (or you). It is amazing what He has done in regards to the complexity of life and inheritance.
2. Disease and death are a part of reality, which is justified in a reading of the Bible. The blind man, just like a child with CF, had no sin which caused a debilitating illness. Much of the suffering that we see in the world of medicine is due to environmental and genetic consequences.
3. Besides our immune system, there appear to be other mechanisms for protection against disease that are often difficult to observe in a first-world setting. We see this idea in how CFTR protein mutations may protect against certain infectious diseases. Whether God did this through a divine purpose or allowed a random mechanism to occur (or for what appears to be random to us, in our limited scientific understanding) is irrelevant. I can see that the process of mutation occurs, and I believe in a God that allows it.
4. Finally, I am thankful that “modern” medicine has developed therapies in the basic science and clinical realms to allow an improved quality of life in CF patients, as well as for patients with other diseases. It is now common for patients with F508 mutations to live into their 30s or 40s. At the beginning of the 20th century, most CF children died well before 2 years of age. I use quotation marks around this word – modern – as 20 years from today, much of our current CF treatments will have changed, leading to even longer life for these patients. I am thankful that God has allowed us the capacity to investigate our world at an ever-advancing state through the use of the scientific method. That, in itself, is a gift for humanity for which we should always be thankful.

(John F. Pohl MD is a pediatric gastroenterologist and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.)

When I was a 9-year-old kid, this house seemed huge to me. My mom would often drop me off here while she went to practice the organ or have her hair fixed for the weekend. You see, my great-grandmother lived here. She was in her mid-80’s, had Alzheimer’s disease and was cared for by a sweet African-American lady who lived with her. They would play card games with me, my great-granny would bake sugar cookies and her caretaker would chew snuff and tell me fascinating stories from her childhood.

The house was built around 1900 and still stands today. My great-grandparents were its’ first occupants – he was the foreman at Avondale Mills in Birmingham. During the depression of the early 1930’s my mom, her sister and their mom moved in with my great-grandparents because they ran out of food, money and my grandfather went off to work in the Works Progress Administration. He would send money home when he could and return home about every 3 months. It was a long, painful 3 year separation – yet they were thankful to have a place to go when life seemed to offer very few opportunities.

My mother grew very close to her grandparents. She often talked about how they made her childhood full of love, family and faith. They all worshiped at the Woodlawn Methodist Church where my grandmother sang in the choir and my great-grandparents taught adult Sunday school classes. Life was good and a blessing even though the depression seemed to take a huge toil on everyone. They ate from the large garden my great-grandfather maintained and unemployed drifters often came to the back door for food and hot coffee. Later they found that a “hobo” had painted a mark at their curb indicating this family would share food with hungry folks.

Last year I decided to drive through this old, forgotten part of Birmingham and look for my great-grandparents’ home. Could it still be there? What shape would it be in? I was thrilled to find it and even see  that someone was restoring it. It has a wrap-around porch because back in the day, folks sat and rocked on their porches and talked at length with people who walked by on their way home from work, to school or to the neighborhood store. It had a “sleeping porch” in the back that was walled in by just a screen – the coolest bedroom in the heat of the summer!

When my parents married in 1948, they moved into this sleeping porch and lived with mom’s grandparents. This enabled them to save money and buy their first house in 1951 at the huge price of $12,000! That seemed like a fortune to them. I know I should not grow too attached to places, houses, cars and things. Yet we can treasure the memories they bring home to our hearts.

I’m sure that when Jesus returned to Nazareth or sailed on the Sea of Galilee, he remembered all the people who had poured into his life and helped make him the man and teacher he became. His carpenter father, his mother’s steadfast faith, his priest’s teachings, the fisherman who brought his family fresh fish, the blind man who sat by the side of the road…all of them made impressions on his life and heart.

It’s the same for us. This old house reminds me that my life is richer because lots of good folks poured into my heart and mind along my life’s journey. Mrs. Simmons who taught me in 8th grade, my grandmother who sung in the choir, my aunt who took me to fine restaurants and taught me manners, my uncle Bob who was so patient, Jack Shores my scoutmaster, Rev. Wayne Graham who let me preach at our church and encouraged my call to ministry, my mom who paid for my music lessons and my dad who showed me what it meant to truly love our neighbor regardless of skin color, economic status or where they came from.

What people and places have shaped the trajectory of your life? Give God thanks today for those generous people and special places where your journey went deep and life lessons were learned.

A leader in any community organization runs the risk of running out of steam often. The needs of your community, your staff and family never cease because humans are frail and need care as we traverse the journey of life. It seems that stress, anxiety, depression and fatigue are much greater in our culture today than even ten years ago. I attribute it to the rancor of our politics, the distance between people and their extended families and the increasing use of media that keeps people “on the job” and on-call for longer hours of every day. I often hear people say they never get a vacation or break from their job because they are expected to constantly check emails and texts or they just can’t shut down and let it go.

I have gone through numerous periods of my life where I realized I was not relaxing even on my off day and could not mentally disconnect from my job even when hundreds of miles away. I often felt like I had cheated myself or my family when I did not rest and connect just with them when I was supposed to be “off the clock.” When we never get off the fast track eventually it catches up with us and we hit the wall. I see many people who suffer from this and it shows in their physical health, emotional well-being and spiritually they are spent and often in despair rather than thriving in God’s hope and promises.

Jesus gives us a very good pattern to balance the demands of calling, job, family and personal needs. He is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, full of the Holy Spirit and cared for by angels. Yet he retreated from the fast track and got away often to rest, to be renewed and listen intently to his heavenly Father. If Jesus needs this on a regular basis, so do I and you as well! No one can run at 100 MPH 6-7 days a week be content, on top of their game, rested and fun to be around. We are not wired to be constantly in high gear and producing results.

We read in Luke 5: 16, “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” It is obvious to me that Jesus loved being with people and was drawn to crowds, the hurting and hopeful because of his compassion and sense of mission. He came to seek out the lost, the lonely, the broken and hopeless. I believe he was energized by the crowds, sharing with them the good news of God’s love and healing them of their sicknesses and diseases.

Yet Jesus demonstrates wisdom and balance in getting away to rest, pray and listen to God’s voice. I also notice in scripture that he was exercised regularly, was careful to not overeat and he observed the Sabbath for worship, rest and to connect with his community of elders and friends in the faith. He knew and valued the influence of the community of faith.

If you are a business leader, a pastor, a teacher, government official or medical professional, it is vitally important that you develop and practice healthy habits. If you or I ignore or neglect practicing healthy habits we will not be able to sustain our health and focus for the long haul of community service. I have found that these habits sustain and even insure I can thrive in my vocation:

1. A good balance of work, rest and play. I find that a hobby or sport can be a healthy distraction when going through stressful days and busy times.
2. Eat smart and watch your weight. When I am over-weight I am usually prone to fatigue, more susceptible to sickness, sluggish and have a hard time staying focused. If you suffer from poor nutritional habits or are overweight, talk to a nutritionist and get on a smart diet. You should not starve yourself, just eat smart and make healthy choices.
3. Exercise 4-5 days a week. Recently I started wearing a Fitbit that tracks my steps and encourages me to monitor weight, my water intake, sleep patterns and to read more about healthy habits. Monitoring my steps and exercise motivates me to make my goals and I feel much better than I did 6 months ago.
4. Start the day in reading scripture and prayer. I like having a worship guideline like Seedbed.com This website sends me a daily devotional to read, meditate on a theme and has a prayer focus. Then I pray for my family and colleagues by name and pray over my schedule for that day. I now look forward to this 30-45 minute retreat. I even get up before my family so I can enjoy the peace and quiet before the day starts.
5. Have an accountability partner who will ask you about these healthy habits and speak truth to you in love if you revert to working overtime, neglecting your family, your health, not taking time off or not observing Sabbath rest and worship.
6. Take a day off every week. No one is indispensable. Organize your work so you can disconnect at least one day a week (2 is best!). And take at least 2 weeks of vacation even if it’s a stay-vacation where you enjoy your home town and just rest at home and around your town. Vacations don’t have to be expensive to be restful and meaningful!

The leaders of a local church drove by the municipal ball park each Sunday on the way to worship. One staff member thought, “What is wrong with these parents that they are not at church with their children? What are they thinking!?” The next week she drives by again and this time she is mad at her city officials for allowing baseball games on the Lord’s Day.

Then she attends a Fresh Expressions Vision Day. We start talking about taking the church to the community. Her mind returns to her Sunday drive and passing the ballpark. She thinks of the 2500+ parents and children and wonders how her church can take Christ’s love and presence there. She discovers that every Sunday the park takes a hour break at 1:00 p.m. for the parents and children to have lunch and rest. She envisions her church setting up a tent with free water, snacks, Christian background music, free books and materials, bug spray and first aid supplies.

She shares this vision with her church’s outreach team. They catch the vision, make plans and soon they will launch their ballpark Fresh Expression of church. They will serve families where they are rather than judging them for not being where the church building is. I can imagine all the good press they will receive. I can foresee all the people they will serve, refresh and expose to true Christian love and caring. They could add Christian books to give out, an occasional witness or Christian singer. This has so many possibilities.

Take the church to the ball park! Oh yes!!