Douglas Young

The eyes may say more than any audible expression ever could. Yesterday, as I spent my last day with 16th & Pile as their preacher, I looked into a lot of eyes. Some were tearful, others joyful, but the eyes said it all.

I am glad that we aren’t moving far away because there are people here who mean a lot to us. It is hard to forge solid relationships in such a short period of time, but we’ve been able to do that here.

I hate that they seem so defeated, though. I hate that they feel so marginalized.

We all struggled with the words, but the eyes… they didn’t struggle at all. Thank you. Love you.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a minister’s study, but for the first time I had my Macbook with me. To the group, this seemed odd. I asked if the hosting church had an open wireless signal because I needed internet access. Why? I was in the middle of trying to mediate a divorce for my graduate class, Advanced Mediation: Marital Disputes.

When I apprised the group of what I was doing, they were somewhat shocked. I understand why. After all, we are ministers and we feel like it is our duty to save marriages, not facilitate them coming to an end.

Before the class started, I had serious reservations about it. The class title told me one thing, but the reading titles (Divorce and Family Mediation & Mediating Divorce: A Step-By-Step Manual) suggested something else. I’ve known from the beginning that divorce mediation was a significant part of the curriculum and that I was going to have jump in with both feet, but my feelings from ministry led me to be resistant to it. I want to preserve marriages, if at all possible, not help them amicably come to an end. On the surface, is anything more illogical than a minister trying to mediate a divorce?

But here I am, five weeks into it, and I’m pleasantly surprised. Most, if not all, of my fears are gone and another point is proven: perspective is everything. This class, especially the role-playing, has been as beneficial to me as 10 years worth of hands on ministry experiences. No joke. The mediation process is as valuable as gold because the process, worked in the right way, lends itself to reconciliation. And that is what God cares about most (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). It creates opportunities that, more than likely, would not be had any other way. This may not mean that two people don’t divorce, but it does mean that a process is experienced that can be capitalized in so many ways to revolutionize one’s life. This isn’t hyperbole, either. I’m serious!

The mediation process affords us techniques that can be used just about anywhere, at any time, and at any place. Best of all, when used proactively, it can really change the course of things if people are really pursuing peace. Of course, I learned this week one in Negotiation and Mediation: you have to have two parties who are willing to sit down and discuss things if reconciliation is ever to be possible. It would be nice, across the board, if we had more people who were willing to calmly sit down and be peacemakers. After all, that is what we are called to be (Matthew 5:9; Hebrews 12:14).

If you are in need of insurance, Clovis NM is the place to come! Insurance agencies are in abundance. Take your pick from any of the big boys: Allstate, Farmers or State Farm. Or you can go with one of a number of independent agents. There’s definitely no shortage of insurance agencies from which to choose.

Consequently, I’ve noticed that when it comes to Farmers and State Farm agencies, in particular, there are more than just a few of each. On my short drive to the office I count four different State Farm agencies and there is at least one more not on my route to the office.  Knowing the insurance business is extremelycompetitive, I wonder if all the State Farm agents get along. Is there enough business to go around, or does the competition create tension? Do these agents, serving the same company, get along? I’ve come to learn something of an answer to the question. After all, I’m a fan of my State Farm agent, Mike Morris, the one not on my route to the office.

Over the years, I haven’t had the best of relationships with other preachers in communities where I’ve lived. My relationship with ministers of other faiths was non-existent, but it wasn’t much better with those of other Churches of Christ.

Especially in the South, Churches of Christ are ubiquitous in communities. Large cities are prone to having tons of congregations. Sadly, though, a lot of small communities are prone to having a significant number of them, as well. I’m no longer certain whether this is good or bad. We are a people who’ve been prone to division. Much of that division is born out of people believing they were doing the right thing, which may or may not have actually been the case. That it looks so terrible that communities of 10,000 or less might have five or more congregations, I wish more would see. All you have to do is ask around and you’ll discover that we’ve marginalized ourselves because we struggle to get along with one another.  

My time in Clovis, though, has been different for me personally. I have a wonderful relationship with Larry Tittle, the preacher for the West 21st Street Church of Christ. He’s become a very dear friend to me. In the year that I’ve been with 16th & Pile, we have done a lot together. We’ve played golf, had coffee, ate lunch, worshiped, studied, and prayed with each other. We’ve done all of these activities, and more, on more than one occasion.

I am proud of the relationship Larry and I have forged. Sadly, I am on my way to the NM Christian Children’s Home and will no longer be preaching at 16th, but that doesn’t mean we will no longer be getting together. After all, Portales, NM is only 20 miles from Clovis.

Here’s what I love most: for the last twelve months, anyone who might have wondered if the preachers from the 16th & Pile Church of Christ and the West 21st St. Church of Christ got along could be answered in the affirmative!

Earlier this week I heard a missionary tell of his work in Africa. I loved listening to him and I think he does amazing work. He repeatedly brought up, though, how Americans were being targeted, kidnapped and held hostage in nearby areas, but American churches were paying large sums of money to buy their release. I remember thinking, “Hmmm. Isn’t that just fueling the fire, enabling groups to do more of the same?” But that’s another subject, maybe, for another time.

It got me to thinking, though, about the inherent dangers involved in mission work. Missionaries know that there is serious danger in that kind of work. To a large extent, that is exactly why I appreciate them. But the know the dangers are more than hypothetical, they are real, and yet still they go. But what should happen when the unthinkable actually happens?

If we will think about it, danger lurks around every corner, hides in virtually every crevass, and can happen anywhere. Danger can found on the Mexico border, in the African village, as well as on the suburban street corner. There is no escaping it. You can try, but it will be to no avail!

I don’t believe Jesus launched his mission into world so that we might play it safe. What we refer to as The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) wasn’t a proposition to simply take the gospel to places where we’d be sheltered from harm. There was no caveat which stated: “Go into all the world..except for the high risk places.” After all, there really is no 100% safe place. Evil is everywhere and harm is indiscriminate about where it will emerge. If we only played it safe, we’d go nowhere. But for some reason, I don’t think, in our heart of hearts, we believe that’s the right thing to do.

Think about it…Daniel lived for God in the middle of a Babylonian firestorm of danger. He was in a foreign land, and yet he was open about his faith and devotion to God, even if it meant a front row seat a lion’s den or a fiery furnace. I know he was taken into captivity by force, but that didn’t change how he acted while there. It was in those situations that Daniel’s faith was exhibited, regardless of what would befall him. How comfortable would we feel telling Daniel our stories about how we didn’t go to the risky places because it was dangerous? Not me.

And then there’s Stephen in Acts 7. That guy was nuts to preach that kind of message, to that group of people, in that kind of place. Didn’t he know it might get him killed? Didn’t he know that he might better serve the cause of Christ by going on his way and finding a people to preach to who wouldn’t start chucking rocks at him? After all, he might die of such treatment. Err…he did die. But Stephen was outright foolish to do what he did, wasn’t he? But again, doesn’t it sound odd to suggest such? It does to me. After all, we extol martyrs. He loved the Lord and was willing to die for him.  We are supposed to be “faithful” even if it might cost us our lives (Rev. 2:10). But what does it say about us if we only go where it is advantageous to us?

I read a book a while back that noted how the Psalmist seemed fond of new songs. His express desire was to sing “a new song”  to the Lord (Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1). I must admit, I feel the same way about a lot of things in life.

The longing for something new isn’t abnormal. It’s actually natural, and at times needed. The covenant offered at Sinai was in need of being replaced by something “new” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13). But something new is generally risky. The “old wine” might be what we are used to, and often, we will only take on something new if we can put it in old wineskins (Luke 5:36-39). After all, we are entrenched in the belief that “the old is better” (v. 39). But the inborn sense of desire for something new must be dealt with. You can only avoid it for so long before it becomes deconstructive.

For a while now, I’ve considered breaking free from local church pulpit work to do something new. I don’t want to quit ministering, but I do want to minister in a way that I sense betters serves people. Yes, that’s exactly what I meant!  “What can better serve people than to preach ‘the good news’ to them?” you might be thinking.  Look,  preaching and teaching doesn’t just take place in church auditoriums. It happens in a number of different environments, in numeous venues. But before one thinks that a Sunday morning assembly is “the” best place to minister, I would suggest such one takes a Sunday, stands behind a pulpit for 30 minutes, and speaks . What you might see might change your mind! Sleeping. Doodling. Texting. Reading the Bible but not following along with the minister. People looking around and watching what others are doing. All of this happens every Sunday all over the country.

So, for the time being, I am transitioning into something new. I will no longer be involved in full-time preaching work. Instead, my wife  and I have chosen to minister together in the lives of children at a nearby children’s home in Portales, NM.

I want something new. I need something new. The New Mexico Christian Children’s Home has stepped in to offer Tisha and I an opportunity to do something new.

It will be tough. We both know that. That is, in part, why we want to do it. We are concerned for the future of the church, and we long for Jesus and his church to be integral to the lives of today’s youth.

I ask that you will pray for us as we begin to transition, as well as keep us in your prayers as jump into this work with both feet!

I used to work under the impression that my God-given role gave as a husband and father was tantamount to iron-fist, dictatorial leadership. Obviously, and unfortunately, it manifested itself in the most unhealthy ways. I should have known better. I actually think I did, but I did very little to change it. After all, it was what I thought was expected and I didn’t want people to think I was soft.

Real leadership, though, takes others, especially one’s family, into consideration. Leadership isn’t synonymous with Dictatorship. God wants men to be leaders in the home, not dictators of the home.

This leads to the subject of spirituality. Sadly, it often seems that women are the more spiritual of the two in a lot of family units. My wife for years yearned for me to lead my family in our spiritual walk. It is amazing how easy it is to get wrapped up in others to the neglect of one’s own family. I was willing to try to lead my church in devotions, but not my family. But no more.

Moreover, I have friends who’ve sat in my office crying and wishing the same from their husbands. Ironically, we often don’t lead, not because we don’t necessarily know how, but rather because we are ashamed that we don’t as we should. It’s a trap, one from which we find it difficult to break free.

Below is a song by Sanctus Real that speaks to this very issue. It is an amazing song, with one of the most powerful messages that could be offered to husbands and fathers. It is an acoustic rendition and the singer/writer takes a few moments to elaborate on how the song came into being. If you are like me, or if you are a spouse who wishes for your husband to assume his place in your life, it will resonate with you. So take a deep breath and soak it in.

Yesterday, I wrote about the amazing potential in today’s youth. Lo and behold, this morning I read this that validates my thoughts. Simply amazing! Go there and see for yourself!

He did it. Jordan Romero did it. He climbed Mt. Everest! What’s so significant about Jordan Romero climbing a mountain that many others have already conquered? Jordan Romero is only 13. No, it’s not a typo on my part. He is 13 years old, the youngest person ever to climb to the highest point on the earth.

It was not without controversy, though. Romero’s desire to tackle Everest his first year into his teens launched no small stir in the climbing community. In fact, as this Outside Magazine article reveals, the controversy wasn’t necessarily confined to the climbing community.

People die every year in May as they make ascents into the thin air that hovers at Himalayan peaks like Everest. There was great concern about the outcry that might ensue should something have happened to Romero as he tried. That is completely understandable. Mountain climbing is dangerous any way you look at it. Climbers, whether they are climbing Mount Hood or Mount Everest, are taking a risk. But when there’s 1/3 the oxygen than there is at sea level at the peak, and people’s lives are in jeopardy even though they climb with supplemental oxygen, the dangers are magnified.

But Romero did it. He’s now climbed two (Kilimanjaro & Everest) of the seven summits on his bid of tackling them all. Any way you look at it, it’s impressive beyond belief.

This leads me to the point of this post. I think it might be time that we quit taking for granted this generation that so many look at with skepticism. There are those like Romero who are doing the unthinkable, and that is a good thing.

The tendency is to want to write off the younger generations because TV, video games, and soft parents are creating a worthless generation. But this isn’t necessarily so. Stories like that of Jordan Romero, as well as countless other stories of today’s youth that haven’t made national headlines, are sending ripples into the waters that are our gross over-generalizations of others. I suppose Paul point still rings true: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, ESV).

I don’t have a clue if there was a graduation ceremony for my class before we transitioned into 1st grade. I know this, though, it wasn’t up until a couple of years ago that I recall ever hearing of such a thing. Now, that could be because I either have a poor memory (I do at times!) or have simply been so out of touch that it doesn’t ring a bell (Too, a distinct possibility!). Nevertheless, in the last couple of years, because my children have been through the experience, I’ve witnessed kindergarten graduations.

The first thought might be to roll your eyes. After all, it is what I did Wednesday as I stood next to other parents who, too, were witnessing what might have been the most momentous occasion a six year-old could have. Right?

I had a lot to do. It was a Wednesday morning, after all. But such thoughts are the lingering baggage of… a horrible attitude. Sorry if all of you who were agreeing with me are now ticked off.

Kindergarten may not be a big deal to some of us, but on Wednesday it became apparent to me that it was to a bunch of six year-old boys and girls. Moreover, it was a big deal to several teachers, especially, my son’s teacher, Mrs. Aucutt. And I know it was a big deal for the music teacher, Tracy Tankersly, who coordinated a performance that I will never forget. My son’s kindergarten graduation was incredible!

It is amazing how seemingly silly moments can become monumental. Nor would I would never want to take away the joy in my son’s eyes as ran to me, grabbed my hand, and took me on the floor to dance the chicken dance with other parents and their kids. He would have been crushed had I said, “This is stupid. I’m not hanging around for this.” Reese wouldn’t get that moment back, and no matter how hard I might have tried, I would never be able to make up that moment. Sure, life would go on, and 12 years from now he will more than likely graduate high school, but I would hate to continue to live harboring guilt and shame because I had treated something like a kindergarten graduation as trivial. After all, it was anything but trivial.

One of my favorite stories in Scripture is when Jesus’ disciples tried to whisk away parents and little children that rushed to see Jesus. Jesus essentially told them to back off and let the little children come to him because such were the kingdom of God (Luke 18:15-17; Matthew 19:13-15). They were bringing infants to let them have the Messiah’s touch, and to let Him pray over them, and that was something important. The disciples thought otherwise. Jesus seemingly said, “You just don’t get it!” Too often, I am more like the disciples than I am the Messiah.

Every moment with our children can be a special gift of God’s grace. The more we embrace them, the more we become like Jesus. And that, my friends, is what discipleship is all about (Luke 6:40).

I frequently use the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) in my study and preaching. It is strikingly similar to the English Standard Version (ESV), a version that has become a favorite of many, myself included. There are few things about the HCSB I don’t care for, but the pros substantially outweigh the cons.

My favorite feature of the HCSB is how it emboldens New Testament texts that are direct quotations from the Old Testament. It may be a single line, like “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8), which is a quotation from Proverbs 10:12. In the case of 1 Peter 3:10-12, Psalm 34:12-16 is clearly quoted.

In 1 Peter 3:10-12, Peter gives no indication whatsoever that he is quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures. He makes no reference to Psalms or says nothing like, “It is written…” Paul was prone to doing this, but not Peter. He simply includes it in his epistle and if you didn’t know any better you’d think it was original to the New Testament text. But it isn’t.

What’s my point? The Hebrew Scriptures may be more germane to us than we’d ever imagined.  I love studying the Old Testament, but I’m not certain I’ve always given it a fair treatment as it relates to me. When you begin to see how much of it is weaved into the New Testament text, though, as the HCSB so ably does, it sure makes you think about what you might be missing. Moreover, it most certainly makes you contemplate what the New Testament penman might be suggesting by quoting it. It most certainly has caused me to reflect on these things.