Changes

Heraclitus is credited with observing that the only constant is change. He was almost right. The only constant is God. Perfect and immutable, He is the one fixed reality behind (and in) a universe where all is in continual motion, down to the smallest bits we can detect. “I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (ESV, Mal. 3:6).

In creation, the only constant is change.

Change in my life

About a month ago, I turned in my resignation at Grace Baptist Church, and for the time being, I am taking a break from pastoral ministry altogether.

People are often unsure what to think when they encounter a man who was a pastor but is no longer in ministry of that kind at all. I always used to wonder what happened. Did he have a really bad experience? Did he just run out of money (Acts 18:3 comes to mind, and maybe John 21:3)? Was he disciplined? Was there some scandal?

I don’t think there’s any wickedness in that kind of curiosity. And depending on what sort of view of “the call” someone has been taught, he can be forgiven for seeing “former pastor” as an inherently negative thing.

As for my own case, I can only relieve your curiosity a little. Sometimes in life, changes beyond your control bring you to a point where all of your options are unattractive. You have to make a decision, but none of the potential commitments feels right. At these moments, if you’re a subscriber to the “I have a peace about it” school of decision-making, you’ll go nearly mad. Fortunately, I’ve never believed in or taught that approach to making choices.

So what I’ll say about my reasons why is basically this: the church (and deacons) didn’t want me to resign; I didn’t want to resign; but I came to believe it was the right thing to do and that, for the same undisclosed reasons, it is also wise for me to not be in a pastoral role at all for a while.

Not coincidentally, that means I’m unemployed. So part of the purpose of this post is advertising—as the Car Talk guys so eloquently put it, shameless commerce.

What all this means for my family is that the future is a sea of question marks. Where will we live? What school will the kids attend? What about health insurance? Can we keep the dog?!

I am still teaching part time at Baldwin Christian School (logic, rhetoric), and hope to find a way to live nearby, continue teaching, keep the kids enrolled there, and enjoy the occasional Winter Without End (three days ago, morning of a job fair an hour’s drive away—14 inches of snow on my front porch).

I’ll not post my resume here…not quite. If you want to know what I can do, the skill set is wide but a bit shallow (with good depth in a couple of places). I’m a generalist. I love helping people; I love tweaking Linux servers and probing the guts of websites. I can supervise, manage and lead, but do need more training in those areas. I can write and edit, do a little graphics work, develop a database, style with HTML and CSS. I can probably make your PC work better. I can teach anything you give me time to learn, and I enjoy teaching new things as much as (sometimes more than) familiar things. I listen and empathize well. I’m pretty sure I can sell anything I really believe in and nothing I don’t.

I also sing and play the piano (neither very well, but certainly with pleasure).

I don’t write poetry; so if you’ve hired recruiters to track down another poet for your staff of bards, I’m not your man. (So I also crack jokes—not well, but certainly with pleasure.)

Changes for SharperIron

All of this raises some questions regarding SharperIron. Will it fold up? Will it change in emphasis or focus or “direction” (a freighted word, if ever there was one)? Will I hand it over to someone else?

I can’t predict any of that. My hope is to keep the lights on and heat running (or AC, if you’re some place where flowers are blooming and the robins are well fed). To those few who long for the day when SI ceases to exist: don’t break out the bubbly just yet.

Regardless, I do need an Assistant Editor. This role consists of coordinating front page content (including involvement in selecting it), communication with writers and publications we draw content from, copy editing, a bit of tech (working with our site interface to schedule articles, turn knobs, flip switches and so on—it’s not too bad), and optionally some writing. If you can volunteer your time and talents in that way and are interested, give me a holler.

Changes unknown

Heraclitus is also credited with saying that “no man ever steps in the same river twice.” Well put. But James, the brother of our Lord, put the truth of constant change—and therefore of uncertainty—more theologically.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Forward, then. I wonder what will change today. I’m glad to know Who will not!