Starter Tires

Our normal path to work and church leads us down Riverview Road through the national park. This summer, that road was seemingly constantly under construction. One night coming back from Blossom around 11 PM, we hit an exposed part of the road and heard the sickening sound of a flat tire. We pull off the side of the road and look at the tire. It was certainly flat. We were about two miles from home. I did a mental evaluation. It would be so much easier to change the tire at home. So we made the decision to try to drive on the flat tire. We got about another half mile down the road and now started hearing metal upon metal. No way to continue so we pull off the side of the road. I examine the tire and it quite literally is in shreds like below.

We were able to put the spare on. The next day, I went to the Toyota dealer and got a new tire. The service counselor (that is what they call them now) told me that the original tires had about 15,000 miles of expected life but the "new" tire would have a 60,000 mile warranty. She explained to me that the original tires "starter tires". They are only expected to last a brief amount of time before they are going to have to be replaced. It is a way that car dealers save money by putting tires on that won't last as long. We see this in other items too like printers. To bring the cost of printers down, manufacturers put "starter print cartridges". Cartridges are where they make their money anyway.

As I have worked with men over the years in discipleship, I have noticed a progressing trend towards "starter Christianity". It means that someone has experienced true transformation but they lack depth of knowledge and true foundation. They are like the seeds mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the Sower and the Seed that fall and have no firm root and the sun stunts their growth (Matt 13:1-23). This is a conscious choice they make. Well known author and founder of Man in the Mirror ministries, Pat Morley has commented that depth of faith in men always have to do with two things - amount of time in the bible and amount of time spent with other men of faith. He says he can almost guarantee problem areas if both of those are lacking.

I have a friend going through a difficult time right now. He has said that he is doubting his faith. But this same guy does not spend time in the word and is not being around stronger men to disciple him. Of course he is having issues. We in America expect that faith to be like the drive-through window where we place our order and then go with the meal when God offers a sumptuous sit down steak meal. Me - I want the steak meal.

There is no quick fix to depth of soul issues. But there is a fix. First, it is daily reading, meditating, memorizing, studying, inhaling of God's word, the Bible. It does not have to be hours, but it certainly needs and must be more than a few minutes. Secondly, it is being around and being challenged by older, more mature men in the faith. I am so thankful for my mentor when I was a young Christian. Pastor Dean Brdlik discipled me and set a firm foundation for years to come. Even when I was at my most carnal ways, I was grounded. Even still today, I am challenged and motivated by my more mature Christian brothers and I try to be that for other men.

You get what you invest in. I couldn't know my wife if I spent only a few minutes with her and wasn't listening. Same with God - your investment of time yields a deep relationship that will carry you through the trials and travails of life. Start now - don't wait.

Celebrating a Life in Ministry

A 23 year old young man walks into a small church. He is a new believer in Christ. He understands the change in his life, but he doesn't know totally what it means. It is so vital that he get exposed to someone who is mature in the faith. He needs someone to not only explain to him what a relationship with Christ is like, but to model it in how he lives his life.

If you haven't figure it out by now, the 23 year old young man was me. It was 1983 and I had just moved back to Cleveland and I was looking for a bible believing, bible teaching church. I found a small church through of all things the newspaper. I attended Little Church in the Vale. When I walked in, I immediately noticed I stood out. I think I was the only one under 30. A number of people took me under their wing including a gregarious older man who just effused love by the name of Bill Banfield. Bill was just one of those guys who seemed like he was always upbeat. The pastor of that church taught me how to read and study God's word, but it was Bill Banfield who taught me how to conduct myself in love (still learning), how a godly marriage looks, and how to raise a family with Christ as the center.

I married that pastor's niece and we raised our young family in that church. I dug the following video out of our family archives. It is a short snipped of Vacation Bible School in 1991. The theme was "Sonward Ho", kind of a western motif. Bill is the one leading the kids in singing "Good News". The little girl I zoom in on is our daughter Ashley. Our kids still remember Sonward Ho.

While we left the church a few years later, we never forgot Bill and Ada. Today we celebrated their retirement of Bill as an elder of the church. I got to tell Bill how much he meant to me as that young man. Today, I try to pour myself into other men just like Bill did to me. Bill of course led the singing tonight and I captured Bill leading us in "Oh For a Thousand Tongues to Sing". Brought me back to that day I walked in the church in 1983.

Bill is not done with ministry. As he said today, he is not old, he is just getting older. As he is spending more and more time with his extended family in North Caroline (10 great grandchildren), he knew when to step down. But he simply is transitioning to a new phase of ministry. I am grateful for men and woman like Bill and Ada and it challenges me to be more like them in discipling others.