What Glenn Writes

Every now and then, you hear a story about a surprise birth. These sorts of stories are amazing to me, but I’m a guy and I really don’t understand the mysteries of a woman. I mean, I understand some aspects of a woman… you know, the simple things which are easier for guys to understand, but there are those mood swings, crying jags, and other really deep end of the swimming pool kind of stuff where I just like to remain safely in the kiddie pool and not think about.  But then I hear a story about a surprise birth and I come up with some really intelligent thoughts on the subject, like, “Come on”, “Whoa”, “Really”, and “You gotta be kidding me”. That’s as deep as you are allowed to get when you stick to the kiddie pool on these woman issues.

From the news wire, a lady in Harrodsburg, Ky., had a surprise birth last week. On March 4, Kelly Bottom was doing laundry when she started feeling some discomfort. She didn’t know she was pregnant, so she continued to do the laundry until it started feeling worse, deciding then to try to use the bathroom. On the way, she had the baby.

For a guy, having a baby on the way to the bathroom is just way too complicated. Stub a toe? No problem. Bang my head with the door? Sure. Have a baby or complete some other form of home surgery? Not gonna do it.  

Not only did Kelly self-deliver this surprise buddle of joy, she cut the umbilical cord herself, cleaned herself and the baby up, then went to pick up her son at school before heading off to the hospital. What was she thinking? The laundry wasn’t done yet!

After helping my wife with pregnancy three times, watching my wife work through each nine month segment of her life, hugging the porcelain throne every morning, craving Taco Bell, ice tea, breadsticks, or whatever was the hankering of the moment, I find it difficult to believe a birth can sneak up on any woman. As clueless as I am to the complicated inner workings of a woman, I would have picked up a hint somewhere along the line. The kiddie pool may not be deep, but there is still water in the pool, you know.

Without getting into stories about the birds and the bees or having to move the pool toys around too much, there is a transformation beginning with conception. Even guys know about this transformation. You begin each pregnancy with home cooked meals and finish with take-out orders. Your office or computer playroom gets morphed into a nursery. You begin talking about baby names but end up talking about another guy… which is really wild, but for some reason you don’t mind your wife talking about this other guy. My wife talked about the same guy with every pregnancy, and all her friends talked about him. Who is this Brackston Hicks anyway?

Kelly Bottom probably doesn’t know Brackston, as her surprise delivery transformed her from not being pregnant, to being pregnant, to not be pregnant again in a matter of about ten minutes or so. No time for take out orders, nursery preparations, or baby names, let’s just focus on birthing. Talk about a surprise birthday party.

Whether Kelly Bottom realized it or not, she was still pregnant for nine months, or maybe slightly longer. She only realized it in the last ten minutes. For nine months, her body and her baby were preparing for the final ten minutes when she would then become aware. She might think it was a short pregnancy, but reality is to look past her awareness and attention to the change and recognize a much longer span of preparation.

I will be ordained next month. On April 25, there will be a ten-minute span of time when I am changed from being not ordained to being ordained. For some, it may be easy to look at the ordination and see only the ten minutes or so of the ceremony, yet I recognize a much longer span of preparation.

For one, I know there are several people who helped train me. Those who were deliberate in their discipleship with me were Gerry Soviar, Art Hackett, Glenn Webster, John Stites, Ray Nethery, and Ned Beruby (takes quite a few guys for a numbskull like me). There were countless others contributing to my transformation, but none of these gifted men and woman can actually place me in ministry. They can encourage it, they can assist, they can do many things, yet only One can reach the heart of a person to make that call. As much as each one of the men listed above were a factor, the Apostle Paul points out there is only One source for any true call to ministry.

1 Timothy 1:12
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

I look at this verse in a different way as the day of ordination comes closer, however I see this meaning not just for those recognized in ministry by a certificate, but for every believer.  There are many forms of ministry and many ways we minister. Just being a believer places us in service to one another.  Waiting until an ordination to begin ministry would be like a woman waiting until the birth to be pregnant; one is solely dependant on the other as a form of preparation.

How do we define Jesus Christ and His primary ministry? Was His a ministry of healing? Was His a prophetic ministry? One of administration or hospitality? I see His ministry encompassing all of these factors, but the one true theme consistent in all His ministry efforts and the same for all of us is a ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

For this is the very reason Jesus gave up His position in Heaven and became human, died on the Cross, and was resurrected, so that through Him and Him alone we may be reconciled with God for eternity. Every mission or vision statement related to ministry should have this concept as the core and foundation in focus.

Going back to the 1 Timothy passage above, we find that not only does God give us this ministry, but He also provides us with the strength we require in this ministry. The Greek word for strength in this verse actually is translated to mean “a continual flow or supply of strength”. We’re not talking about an Energizer Bunny running on a limited supply of battery power, which, no matter how the commercials put it, will eventually run out of power. We are talking about a plugged in power source beyond any capacity of power generated on earth! A continual source and flow of strength, that is, when we are acting on His strength and not on our own.
 
A transformation is taking place in all our lives. Whether we are believers or not, we are constantly being changed by whatever obsesses us. We become like the things that occupy our minds. Our character and personalities are influenced and impacted by whatever has hold of our thoughts, our focus, our attention, or our hearts.

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

I will be ordained April 25. Will I begin new duties or start doing something different? Nope. Nadda. No way. I will continue to do just about the same thing I have done for quite some time now: Follow God and do what He is doing.

What about you? Who are you following? Where is your focus? What obsesses you? What are you being prepared for right now?

I encourage you to think about how you are being transformed or you may be surprised by an unexpected delivery… of sorts.

Glenn Sasscer

PS: My new goal is to double my readership by the end of the month. Would you help me? 

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www.glennsasscer.com