New Site

For those who might still be checking this site, please see my new site www.jamesfaris.blogspot.com which contains a new project.

Update from Synod

You can read fuller updates on the ongoing meeting of the 175th Synod of the RPCNA at www.rpsynod.blogspot.com, but I will add a few thoughts here from time to time.

The most impressive aspect of last night’s meeting was not the introduction of new delegates or the other ordinary business, but was instead the introduction of our pages, who are all seminary students. Professor Denny Prutow, not a puny man himself, was dwarfed by this bulky lineup of pages. There was an inaudible but nevertheless obvious “wow” from the Synod. Some suggested that if those of us in seminary a few years ago were the skill position players on the football team, these are certainly the offensive line. One of these men did in fact play offensive line at John Hopkins. I would guess it has been a long time since any member of the Synod has been able to bench press what at least one of these men can press – and none of them appear diminutive. Another member of Synod suggested that our moderator should feel very safe being surrounded by this group of bouncers. The clerk, or someone, unknowingly spoke these true words on the floor last night: “If you have any questions, these men [the pages] can help you out.” So, the moral of the story is, be careful what you ask!

Leadership and Tattoos

At present, a group of young leaders and I, are working through J. Oswald Sander's book Spiritual Leadership. It is a helpful guide in pointing us back to the kind of servant leadership of which the Scripture teaches. Sanders, like many others who have taken up this topic, rightly points us to the example of Jesus' servant leadership which is so clearly laid out in the gospel. The core principle of leadership truly is service, and we must ever labor to learn and relearn that lesson.

Yet, it seems to me that a great weakness in contemporary Christian thinking regarding leadership is that it often ends with thinking about the way Christ servant-led while here on earth. What about the ongoing, all-powerful leadership that Jesus Christ, our Mediator exercises as the God-Man today? Perhaps that question and its implications need to be more fully worked out in future works on Christian leadership.

__________

Secondly, while on vacation recently, I was in a crowd of people at an amusement park and began noticing the proliferation of tattoos in our culture. One of the editors of the Wall Street Journal has noticed the same thing and has written about it today. More than one in three Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 sports a tattoo these days. Tattoos have absolutely no appeal to me, but apparently people who want them feel that they will stand out and express their individuality or some part of their identity through their tattoo. They want to prove that they "stand out" in some way. After elaborating on some of the many weaknesses of tattoos, the author hits exactly the right note in saying, "There is something to be said for dressing to fit in and thinking to stand out."

Van Taylor

We all have people who have impacted our lives deeply, but who are not always recognized widely on earth for their contribution. One such person in my life is Van Taylor. Van hired me as a too-often-lazy thirteen-year-old to work for Kirk’s Popcorn, which Van and his wife, Becky, owned and operated. Working at Kirk’s for Van is still the longest job I’ve ever held – and it was probably the most dramatic time of change in my life as I learned what life is all about.

Over the five-plus years that I worked for Van, he became a great friend. Beyond my family, he was without a doubt the most influential person in my life through my high school years as we spent hours working together. He gave me opportunities, I know now I could never have had anywhere else. His patience with me was more than I will ever fully appreciate. He provided and environment for me to grow, make mistakes, learn, contribute, take responsibility, learn about agriculture, creation, people, machines, marketing, humor, story telling, warehouse management, product distribution, teamwork, theology (though we did not always agree :)), family, community, informal debate, evangelism, and fun. He afforded me the opportunity to work with people from my own age all the way up to those in retirement. The stories we could tell together – mostly about people – would take at least as much time as the five years we worked together.

Recently, Van Taylor was appointed as the Executive Director of the Kokomo Rescue Mission. The Sycamore RPC in Kokomo has a long history of working with the Mission, even going back to the early nineties when I was a member there. Currently two members of that congregation minister on a full-time basis at the Mission and others have either come to the church through it or volunteer there – and Pastor Barry York has been big part of these long-standing relationships. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I learned of Van’s new leadership position. The Lord has well-equipped him to take this new role. Though I’m not geographically close enough to actually co-labor on the ground with Van, it is a great joy to know that we are still co-laboring in the gospel with a closer connection than I ever expected when I went to college. And, if God can use Van to develop men in Kokomo in the way the he helped me to develop, I have no doubt but that we will see changed men come out of the Kokomo Rescue Mission in the coming years. I praise the Lord for Van and commend him to you as a faithful man in the Lord.

Timing is everything

Isn't it interesting that there are more comments on this blog when I do not post than when I do? Apparently, people find it more interesting when I do not say anything than when I do. Scary, especially given my calling.

Also, someone placed a stopwatch in my mailbox at church in the last couple of days. I suppose there are three possibilities for what this sign might mean:

1. Someone thinks my sermons have been going to long and is attempting to help me grow by giving me this gift.
2. Someone has been convicted about timing my sermons and is attempting to confess their guilt.
3. Someone has misplaced their stopwatch and in so doing has stirred up needless speculation.

If you know which of these is true or know who the responsible party is, please inform me.

Presbytery winding down

Presbytery is nearly finished with the spring meeting. Things have gone well...we've acted to move forward with work in Atlanta, licensed Rut Etheridge to receive a call, and things have gone generally well. Praise the Lord.

I have enjoyed my jelly beans as we have moved through the deliberations and the Sycamore ladies have fed us wonderfully.

For those interested, I shared with Ram Rao the task of reviewing the minutes of the Selma. They were in good order. I was also appointed to the visitation committee for the Southside congregation, to meet sometime in the next year.

Since the jelly bean bag is empty, that will be the final report from presbytery!

Spring Presbytery Meeting

The Great Lakes-Gulf began its spring meeting at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. We are hosted by the Sycamore congregation in Kokomo. I was pleased to turn the gavel of the moderatorship over to Charles Brown, pastor of the Westminster congregation, upon his election at the beginning of the meeting.

God seems to be opening doors in the Atlanta area for church planting, and we as a presbytery are considering how to best be about the work that he is raising up there.

We are taking up congregational reports at the present, and have had good fellowship over the supper break.

Please be in prayer for us.