Category: John Wilburn Missionary to Melbourne

In early April the Lord told me to do something really strange…step away from every volunteering ministry

This was weird since this was a wonderful way of connecting with the unsaved, and sharing the Gospel. The Lord’s allow me to have an impact on many lives through these ministries for the cause of Christ. And to be honest I still loved doing it.

However realizing the Lord knows what’s best for me more than I do [1] my focus began to revolve around studying and writing instead of active ministry. That was fun for a few days but soon I found myself getting bored.

My first response to this boredom was going online and looking for any new volunteering opportunities in the area, then I remembered God was leading me away from this.

After a week of this different philosophy my frustration was building and I began asking the Lord to open a door of opportunity instead of trying to force it open myself.

God answered in an incredible way

On June 17th I will be on my way to Chittagong, Bangladesh to teach two classes on behalf of Piedmont International University.

The first is an overview of Christology that uses forty Biblical events to describe the Bible’s big story. The second class is an Introduction to Classic Christian Literature which interestingly will be using films on major Christian books since we don’t have time to read them.

In late April when I was asked to teach this class [2] immediately it became clear why God wanted me to step aside from everything else…He was calling me deeper

That’s the thing about God, He loves to open huge amazing doors for us if we let Him.

The problem is we (I) are totally focused on our own strength, and end up pushing with all of our might against a much smaller door (but one we are just sure is God’s Will).

Because God loves us and wants us to choose Him willingly He will give us what’s behind that door.  But He knows they won’t satisfy because the door we walk through is too safe.

Drew Dyck in his book “Yawning at Tigers” (awesome book by the way)describes our choosing safety over God’s Will using the illustration of a lagoon at a resort, and the actual ocean

The problem really wasn’t what was in the lagoon. Its what wasn’t. There were no waves, no spray from the surf, no tides, no coral reefs, no danger, no depths. It wasn’t the ocean (pg.20, par.3)

If the ocean is like God, the lagoon is a poor, but useful replacement. It’s domesticated Christianity. It’s engagement with a letter deity (pg.20, par.5)

In a thousand little ways, we’ve chosen the comfort of the shallows over life in the deep (pg. 21, par.3)

As I prepare for Bangladesh I’m dealing with some conflicting emotions. Part of me would prefer to teach kindergarteners English instead of flying to a foreign Country and teaching Theology, but at the same time I know thats a door that I would have opened instead of God.

And it’s the safe little lagoon.

We can be thankful that God knows deep inside each of us is a craving for something deeper than the average life. And therefore He calls quietly but urgently for us to follow Him into the deeper water.

Saturday I got back from spending twelve days in Daniels WV with my family at a little house my father was born and raised in lovingly referred to as “Wilburn Hill” [1].

I love Wilburn Hill because it’s a place that we can go to just relax and connect with one another

1. There’s no internet
2. No cable
3. No home phone
4. In other words family members are forced to (gasp) actually spend time talking!

Sadly we are usually only there for a day or two, and most of that time is spent on jobs around the house [2]. The good news is this keeps us pretty busy.

Thats actually what made this trip to Wilburn Hill different for me…and quite annoying.

You see I happen to be a work-horse. This means I’m happiest when doing a hard job (preferably for other people) and absolutely hate being bored. As you can imagine after the usual two days of jobs around the house we ran out of things to do…which for me was a BIG PROBLEM.

My parents and brothers family didn’t mind this. In fact our reason for spending that long at Wilburn Hill was to relax which meant sitting around doing nothing (I believe the technical term used was lollygag). For most people doing nothing is actually welcomed, but not for me.

Slowly over our time there my frustration began to build

1. It started on Tuesday when we walked into our eighth souvenir/antique/craft shop
2. It grew as I waited on a bench outside JC Penny’s with all of the other grumpy men waiting for my mother to get done clothes shopping
3. And almost reached a boiling point as we spent a whole morning walking around a little town

The thing that kept going through my head was “I can’t wait to get home so I can accomplish something!.” But the frustration blinded me to the many things that had actually been accomplished.

I played chess with my niece (and lost)

 

Enjoyed a tea party

Raced around the house

And yes…I did push my niece out-of-the-way so that I could win the race 🙂

We painted some seashells (and Uncle John)

I made my mom a birthday cake

And spent time with my brother who was on his way back from taking PHD classes in Louisville Kentucky

The thing is few of our days on Wilburn Hill could be called productive since most of the time was spent relaxing.  But the memories made during our unproductive days were worth all the forty-hour workweeks in the world.

So find your own Wilburn Hill and spend the day doing nothing

I’ll even giving you permission to do a little bit of lollygagging.

Saturday I got some messages from a friend in Australia saying that he was praying for me, and my return. In them he brought up the fact that many Christians like myself find themselves in a “holding pattern” [1]

There are few things more frustrating than wanting to do something, but not being able to because of God’s intervention. A friend of mine recently described it as “having ten pieces of a twelve piece puzzle and you can never get those last two pieces!”

He had devoted almost all of his time and energy to finding those elusive pieces, but they always seemed just out of his grasp. I could totally relate to what he was saying since tons of my energy had been invested in gaining those final pieces for my return to Australia, only to come up empty-handed.

It took me a while to realize the way to escape God’s holding pattern (waiting period) isn’t to chase missing pieces since God will provide those in His time. Instead we are called to walk through the door that He HAS opened.

Because God loves me He has my best interest in mind. This means sometimes He will refuse to give me what I want (in this case returning to Australia) because it isn’t whats best for me at that time [2]. In those situations He will offer another opportunity or door that IS best for me.”

In a deeper sense these holding pattern experiences help us wait on the Lord. Most of the time in my impatience I will run ahead of God (relying on my own strength or wisdom) which of course only ends in disaster. Holding patterns force me to stay close.

As a child I had a very short attention span, and this caused some serious problems when working with my father. He is an individual who likes to do jobs in a slow step-by-step manner (the best way to do them) and I preferred to rush out and complete them as quickly as possible.

On Saturdays dad would list step one in his five step plan for a job and I would almost always start walking away. Eventually after this was repeated for steps two, three, and four a new rule was instituted…wait till he says I can go.

During my childhood years that rule seemed ridiculous. I mean seriously in the time he described the job number one could be completed! It didn’t take long to learn however that there was a huge difference between my idea of “getting a job done” and my fathers.

The point is dad knew that allowing his ten-year old son to run off and do the job as quickly as possible wasn’t the right way to do things. So he forced me (and I do mean forced me) to sit down and wait patiently so that the job could be done the right way.

The same way God knows that in my heart I’m still that impatient ten-year old who wants to run ahead of him and take care of things on my own. And this is why He brings waiting periods or holding patterns into my life.

1. They keep me close to Him
2. They ensure things are done in God’s timing
3. And eventually I learn things done His way are best

Holding patterns are never fun. Somedays I still revert to my childhood responses of deep-sighing, eye-rolling, and impatient tapping of the foot. Yet just as I know doings things my fathers way is much better than going back and doing it again, I know my Heavenly Father has my best interests in mind.

In recent days the issue of same-sex marriage has been a very important one, particularly for Christian circles. In the days leading up to and following the Supreme Courts hearing same-sex marriage blogs, Facebook walls, and comments sections have been filled with Christians denouncing this change in marriage law.

My goal today isn’t to give arguments against same-sex marriage even though I do view it as sin [1]. Instead I want to give a basic understanding of why Christians are making such a big deal about this issue.

Let me be clear that if something is against the commands of Scripture (which same-sex marriage is) we should make a big deal about it. However there is a deeper issue in this changing of how marriage is defined.

You see it isn’t just about marriage…it’s about religious liberty.

Lots of attention was given to the fact that during Supreme Court arguments on same-sex marriage it was admitted that if Religious institutions refused to accept this new marriage definition it would “be an issue.”

This was taken to mean that “religious exemptions” pertaining to laws that affect a institutions beliefs would be removed. Resulting in a loss of tax-exempt status, and in some cases the ability to refuse admission to students based upon their religious beliefs [2].

The fact that Churches or Christian Colleges will lose their tax-exempt status worries me because it’s the first step in losing our freedom [3]. But what really scares me is the loss of personal religious freedom.

As a Christian I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, in fact Scripture says that most people WON’T agree with me. That’s okay since I’ll still share God’s truth in love, and there is “religious freedom” that allows me to openly share my beliefs.

In recent months however things like the same-sex marriage have redefined the idea of “Religious Freedom”. In the past this freedom allowed me to openly share my own beliefs and refuse to accept those of others.

Today Religious Freedom is:

1. “the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish — in their pews, homes, and hearts.”
2. “rightly bowing to the enlightenment of modernity”
3. These quotes come from articles in January written Frank Bruni, defender of LGBT marriage [4].

Basically Bruni is saying that Religious Freedom should be secondary to the popular culture, and only used within the Church (there is no place for sharing our religious beliefs outside of it).

Of course that’s an extreme view of just one man. However this redefining of Religious Freedom and removing Religious Exemption is taking place before our very eyes.

When the same-sex marriage movement began gaining steam they went out of their way to assure us it would in no way affect our freedom. But that isn’t their message any more.

On April 30 an interesting article was written for the Wall Street Journal entitled “Modern Sin: Holding On to Your Belief [5]. It explains how the LGBT community have now begun demanding Christians agree with their personal beliefs or view of marriage, or just completely ignore the differences and never talk about our view.

An illustration of this new “Religious Freedom” is found in the article “I choose at once to love my sister and disagree with her on gay marriage” [6] where the sister who disagrees with the others same-sex relationship just never talks about it.  I also find it revealing that the sister who does believe in same-sex marriage uses the analogy of rescuing dogs as an illustration of how those who disagree should approach those of the LGBT community.

“But I’ve found an analogy for understanding it (different beliefs on marriage), even if the analogy isn’t on the same order of importance as marriage. It is this: Becky and I care passionately about dogs, and have come to see dog rescue as an absolute imperative. Several of our friends, though, don’t see things the way we do. Despite many conversations and attempts at persuasion, they still insist on buying pure-breed dogs. They are doing something that we, on moral grounds, wouldn’t do ourselves. So are we required to hate them, or their dogs? Should we refuse to associate with them, and wish them ill? Of course not. Our views are in a certain sense independent of our friends and family.” (emphasis added)

Some people tell Christians to simply give into the issue of same-sex marriage (it will probably pass anyways) but we can’t. Because this is just the beginning.

One of the best sources of information on this Religious Freedom issue is Albert Mohler, and in particular his podcast “The Briefing [7].” Yesterday he discussed an antidiscrimination bill that went into effect on Tuesday (May 12) protecting Gays and Transgender people as a joint effort of the LGBT community and Mormon Church.

While many in the same-sex marriage groups applauded this, there was almost immediately a voice that said it was not enough.

”“LGBT residents say the law is a positive step, but they worry it still allows discrimination because religious organizations and their affiliates – such as schools and hospitals – are exempt.” [8]

The bottom line is this isn’t about same-sex marriage. It’s about breaking down my Religious Freedom an ability to (in a spirit of love) share God’s truth.

I don’t expect people to believe or agree with what I’m saying here…but I do expect the freedom to say it.

Editors note: With the completion of my school ministry and a “farewell tour” for Kev IV my inflatable Kangaroo last week I wanted to write him a fictional letter of thanks for being such a huge help to my ministry.

Dear Kev,

Please don’t be offended as I put you in storage along with your Great Grandfather (Kev Sr.), Grandfather (Kev Jr.), and Father (Kev III). The truth is nothing has done more for my ministry (except for the Gospel) than a collection of inflatable kangaroos.

The funny thing is it all started as a joke in 2009 when my Aussie friends presented your Great Grandfather to me (while singing the Australian national anthem off-key). The idea was to take random pictures of Kev Sr. and put them on Facebook while in the States on furlough.

Somewhere along the line I decided to start taking your Great Grandfather to Churches with me while presenting my ministry. I’ll never forget the night a little girl walked up to me and asked in a very quiet voice, “can I sign him?”

The rest was history

Truthfully I started bringing Kev Sr to Churches because it was fun.

1. To see the expressions on people’s faces when I walked down the hall with an inflatable kangaroo under my arm
2. To see children’s eyes light up when I pulled him out of the car
3. And to see motorists do a double (or triple) take when I let your Great Grandfather ride shotgun

 

But I started bringing him for a different reason…to create a relationship with people.

The awesome thing about being a Missionary is it allows me to share my burden for Australia with people all around the United States. The bad news is I often only get to see them once, and we usually only spend one service together (around an hour) which of course isn’t enough to develop a real relationship.

The thing is I want to have that kind of relationship with people

1. One that shares the bad news as well as the good
2. That allows them to become an active part of my ministry
3. That interacts with them (finds their needs, and ministers to them when possible)
4. And leaves room for the random or ridiculous experiences of life to be shared

Thankfully with Social Media it’s possible to have this kind of relationship. The problem is getting the contact info from people so that relationship can be created. The sign up sheet for updates would always be on my table, but it seemed as if it wouldn’t gain much interest.

Eventually I realized that there needed to be something that created a bridge between that service, and a relationship that would continue outside of the Church building using Social Media.

Over the years your ancestors (and yourself) have been that bridge. As people signed their names on a kangaroo with sharpie it was more than just something fun…it was the beginning of a relationship.

Now don’t worry buddy even though the farewell tours over you aren’t being “put out to pasture” just yet. We have a Vacation Bible School coming up next month, and I just know those kids won’t forgive me if Kev IV doesn’t come along. And even after that there’s always going to be a need for me to create those deeper relationships.

Besides…I still love seeing the looks on people’s faces the first time they see you