The First Next Step

Seminary is over. Perhaps the most difficult part of the last few weeks has been accepting the fact that this chapter has concluded. I liked this chapter. Some chapters of books can stand alone as great works in and of themselves. I think of the “Grand Inquisitor” from Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov. That chapter was Dostoyevsky’s dealing with his own lack of faith in a haunting and chilling way. It is brilliant and you can read that chapter without reading the whole book. But it, like any single chapter, is better in the context of the whole book. The seminary chapter of my life was great. I’d like to think it could serve as a stand alone story, but it is better in the context of the whole.

So, the question is…what’s the next chapter? I’ve been praying about the next chapter ever since I started the previous one. And the Lord, in His graciousness, has provided the first “next step” for us. In a few weeks time, our family will pack up and move to Freeport, Bahamas.

I have accepted an interim pastoral position at LucayaPresbyterian Church (EPC) in Freeport, Bahamas. We will be there at least through the end of August. They are currently searching for a full-time pastor and I will help them fill in the gap until the right man is found. This is a great opportunity for me to get some more experience preaching and beginning to exercise the gifts the Lord has given me. And while we would have made the same decision if the location had been in, say…Iowa (nothing against Iowa, Kevin Costner thinks it’s darn near “heavenly.”), it doesn’t hurt that the church is located mere miles from some of the most beautiful water in the world. Make no mistake, though, this is not a vacation, I’m there to work…but we’ll manage to find time for some fun too! I will be preaching weekly, leading a Bible Study and prayer meeting, and doing some pastoral visitation.

I do solicit your prayers. I’ve never preached on a weekly basis. It will be a totally different kind of work week for me. Please pray that God’s Word would fall on fertile ground (first in my heart and then in the hearts of the people) as I preach each week. But even before we begin this, we have to pack up our house in Orlando, say our goodbyes, and prepare to leave for several months. Leaving is always a difficult thing. We are made to live in time and space. We are made to occupy a particular place. One can’t help but develop roots in a place and every move requires those roots to be dug up. It is a bittersweet time. We are so excited for this next chapter. But starting this chapter means that the last one is done. We’re excited for the what lies ahead but we mourn what we’ll leave behind.

And we’ve only been given this first “next step.” We don’t know where the Lord will take us after our time in the Bahamas. We’ve applied with several churches. We trust the Lord that there is a church looking for us as we look for them. But we don’t yet know where that is. Again, we solicit your prayers. We are learning how to trust the Lord in new and exciting ways. That’s the positive way of saying that we are living in anxiety producing times. Like many lessons, however, experience is the best teacher. But all things being equal, I wish I could just read about it in a book. Thankfully, God is a good story-teller. He’s writing a great work in my life and I’m hopeful that this next chapter will outshine the previous one.