Last week was quite a busy one for the Weaver family on the Eastern Shore… and blogging (unfortunately) became a casualty of that busyness. Somewhere in the midst of all the preparations for our first Parent Forum on Sunday nite (which went extremely well), all of the meetings at AMBC (as we continue preparations for the transition from the old building to the new building and from the old routines to the new routines), and all of the appointments at Starbucks with students (nothing like latte to jog some relational dialogue)… I was able to carve out some time for a quiet Saturday road trip to explore some sand that had yet to be discovered and to walk on a beach that had yet to be explored with my wife and my son… and I was able to carve out a few moments to read a new book.
There are many important lessons that I have learned over the past three years of balancing marriage and ministry. And three of them were reinforced within me during this past week of busyness. Here they are (in highly non-dramatic fashion): there is no such thing as over-prioritizing time with my wife and my son… a balanced reading routine keeps my soul fresh and helps my mind find rest… and the legacy of shepherding that has been passed to me via my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my father is of incalculable value (and intrinsic heavy-ness).
The Lord provided a perfect book to remind me about these three lessons last week. The book is entitled “Faith of My Fathers” by Chris Seay. Chris is currently a pastor in the inner-city of Houston, Texas. He was also the founding pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas with a little known recording artist and worship leader named David Crowder (and he is also the brother of Robbie Seay). Chris is also from a family of Southern Baptist pastors… his grandfather and his father were/are both pastors in Texas. The premise behind this book was for Chris and his family to find some time to sit down and discuss life, ministry, politics, homosexuality, generational conflict, the church, marriage, some James Dobson, depression, money, and family. The pages of this book catalog this discussion among men who share the same blood and the same vocational Calling.
Chris’ familial legacy in vocational ministry is similar (in some ways… certainly not all) to my own… and his words were well-timed at this unprecedented phase in my life.
Several years ago, while I was the youth pastor at First Baptist in Cartwright, Oklahoma… I decided to attend the annual business meeting for Bryan Baptist Association. While listening to the run-of-the-mill proposals and yearly reports that were rank-and-file-in-line with Roberts’ Rules of Order… something that was not on the agenda grabbed my attention. My eyes were pulled away from the line-up of preachers sharing their reports from behind the Mead Baptist pulpit to the black-and-white booklet that was in my hands… and a name… stood out from the endless list of names in the “Historical Table” who had served as the annual Clerk for the Bryan Association. The name was Houston Boydstun. It was listed there five times (1947-1951) among all of the others who had served in that capacity from as far back as 1911. The name was unnoticed by the 150 or so in attendance at that meeting… but the implications of that name have resonated in my heart ever since.
When I read my great-grandfather’s name in that list… for me… there was nothing else that needed to be said in that meeting. God had spoken clearly. Quietly I excused myself and stepped through the side-exit of the auditorium and into the parking lot… where I completely fell apart. Up until that moment… I had been exercising my voacation with the understanding that my Calling was unique and (in some way) separated from the Call that had been placed upon my fathers. The reality of the Story that God had been telling in my family for generations (and generations) was more than I could handle alone. I remember sitting in my truck outside Mead Baptist with my Dad on the phone… and I remember crying together because of the value and the responsibility and the weight of the Story… and the legacy.
I was never able to meet my great-grandfather in person, but the stories of faith and love and character that he is remembered by make me proud to share his blood and his legacy. The life that I have shared with my G-Dad and my Dad as they have taught, preached, coached, mentored, and instructed those that they have encountered in their journey has helped me to better understand the value (and the heavy-ness) of this Call that has been placed upon my soul. Every day that I am able to follow the Call of the God who writes His Story on the hearts and lives of man… is a day that I am blessed to embrace the legacy that He has granted me… and my family… and my brother… and my sisters… and my children… and my son.
.: Faith of My Fathers by Chris Seay :.
Dude… this book is solid. I cannot speak enough about the style, encouragment, and truth that I found on the pages of this book. Here are only a few of the many memorable quotes that I discovered within…
+ Weaver’s favorite “Faith of My Fathers” quotes:
-”Pastors don’t give many answers– they just hold your hand, pray, shed tears, and join in the laughter at the right times. They remind people that they are not alone in the universe, that God is with them, and that God has sent a servant to be with them.” (p.35)
-”The people who are the most mature are the people who bend for the immature. We are supposed to be flexible for the non-believers, and in reality that is just not happening… Those who are supposed to be the most mature– who have been in the faith the longest– are the most inflexible. They are the ones that don’t want to bend. I just don’t want to be that way as I get older. ” (p.43)
-”The simultaneous call of being a husband, father, son, brother, friend, and pastor is often too overwhelming for a person to do all of them well.” (p.67)
-”We often bemoan the decline of morality in our land as if we can expect something different from a decreasingly post-Christian population. I am not an ambassador for morality, nor do I long to see the world become a more moral place. I want to see people come to faith in God, and only after they have come to faith will they see their entire lives transformed.” (p.148)
-”The church should refocus on the gospel instead of the culture wars. It is to our shame that we point out sin to our culture knowing that without the power of Christ, they are ill-equipped to change their lives. Instead, let us speak the love of Christ by loving all people.” (p.148)
-”Christ alone is perfect. Though you may strive to be holy as he is holy, you will not achieve it. Reveal your struggles to those who journey with you; they are snapshots of redemption.” (p.173)
PRESS ON!!!
-Weav
