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!
Aaron Blumer Bio
Aaron Blumer, SharperIron’s second publisher, is a Michigan native and graduate of Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, MN). He and his family live in a small town in western Wisconsin, not far from where he pastored Grace Baptist Church for thirteen years. He is employed in customer service for UnitedHealth Group and teaches high school rhetoric (and sometimes logic and government) at Baldwin Christian School.
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That change comes is obvious to every rational creature. The discovery of why the change has come gives comfort to the soul . A comforted soul is a rejoicing, contented, worshiping soul.
I have suffered change this past 14 days and it was a change that I have resisted and even fought against for a number of years. And then the change was forced upon me and my peace is peaceful indeed. I hadn’t realized how much the circumstance in which I was working was affecting my soul, but now change has been applied, there is a sense of bliss, a sense of rest.
To the praise of the glory of His grace. Amen.
I am praying for you, Aaron.
Forward. Thanks for your ministry here at SI. DJ
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Aaron,
Be sure of my prayers as you walk this foggy path. Thank you very much for your service to so many for so long.
God bless,
Larry Lilly
My prayers are with you.
I’ve really enjoyed your work here at Sharper Iron; hope it can continue.
David R. Brumbelow
Thanks for sharing, Aaron, Praying for you.
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Greg Long, Ed.D. (SBTS)
Pastor of Adult Ministries
Grace Church, Des Moines, IA
Adjunct Instructor
School of Divinity
Liberty University
Been there. (Four times.) No tee shirts but testimonies of God’s grace.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
Aaron, I will pray for you. You might apply to Chrysler here in Kokomo, IN if you are up to a move. They are adding a third transmission plant in our area; don’t know if they are hiring computer people or not. I believe they do their preliminary applications online.
"The Midrash Detective"
[Aaron Blumer]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.
Thanks for sharing Aaron. I certainly can relate to your quote above. Life isn’t always about attractive circumstances. It is about doing right, as you say.
I love your writing, and your humor, and your view of your “have peace about it” school of decision-making. I’m in your camp there (because it’s not fiction ;>D).
I certainly to appreciate your work on SI, all the while functioning in your many various capacities. I hope you find good work soon.
I will pray for you too.
For the Shepherd and His sheep, Kevin Grateful husband of a Proverbs 31 wife, and the father of 15 blessings. http://captive-thinker.blogspot.com
Will be praying for you, Aaron. You have done excellent work on this website. Best wishes.
Will pray for God’s direction for you. May the Lord give you peace and direction! It is good and right that you have come to the conclusion you have with the Lord’s help rather than fighting against it.
If you end up still seeking direction into the summer, you might want to check out some volunteering at Christian camps.
I trust you can find God’s strength and encouragement.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
Blessings, brother.
I have a close friend who was in my class in Bible college who, after almost 17 years of pastoral ministry, resigned and took some time off. As it turned out, God used the circumstances that led him to that decision to grant him a sabbatical he should probably have had about five years earlier.
As things turned out, however, after he spent a lot more time with his family and getting a handle on some personal matters, he discovered that he was becoming the guy that some of the area pastors began to depend on to fill their pulpits, that he began to have a ministry of encouragement to them because they felt they could talk to him in ways they couldn’t talk to others, and that he spent time counseling people with their problems through the contacts he was making.
In other words, he discovered that God hadn’t really led him out of pastoral ministry after all. He had just given him a much needed break and helped him face some things he hadn’t had the time to focus on before and that He simply redirected his pastoral ministry. Well, at least that is what I have witnessed in his life over the past six or seven years.
NKJ Ephesians 4:11-12 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ….”
If God really has given you to His Church as a pastor-teacher —and it sure looks like He has — I think you will find — perhaps after a period of needed rest and family time — that He will be using you as such, even if in a different way.
I pray that He will refresh your heart and your family during this time.
Keith
Soli Deo Gloria Reformed Baptist Blog Immanuel Baptist Church
After more than thirty years in some form of “Full-time” Christian service, the Lord has placed me in a job in the real world and it’s been refreshing. There were a few who opined that I had somehow stepped outside the will of God, but I’ve since learned that they didn’t know what they were talking about. I’ve learned to embrace the challenges of being a witness for Christ in a secular work place and have found that people were more receptive now that I wasn’t “a minister”. In addition, the Lord has graciously put me in a church where I can serve others and still use the abilities He has given me.
You have a glorious future!
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
[Huw]That change comes is obvious to every rational creature. The discovery of why the change has come gives comfort to the soul . A comforted soul is a rejoicing, contented, worshiping soul.
I have suffered change this past 14 days and it was a change that I have resisted and even fought against for a number of years. And then the change was forced upon me and my peace is peaceful indeed. I hadn’t realized how much the circumstance in which I was working was affecting my soul, but now change has been applied, there is a sense of bliss, a sense of rest.
To the praise of the glory of His grace. Amen.
Thanks for that. Yes, there is always a why… there is a Big Why and there are smaller, often less clear why’s. But those in Christ have the joy of always knowing the Big Why is God’s glory and our own remaking in His image. Sometimes I find great comfort in that. Sometimes, I confess, not… that is, it’s truth, but it’s pretty lofty truth and conditions on the ground loom large, of necessity requiring a whole lot of attention and thought. The challenge is to keep the nuts and bolts realities from eclipsing the big picture (apologies for the weird combo of metaphors!)
Thanks, all for your thoughts and prayers.
One thing I neglected to mention in the post is that if my schedule no longer permits involvement in SI in any substantial way, my aim would be to hand it off to someone who will take it forward. So I think it’s not all that likely that it’ll just close for business.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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