I realize it has been a while since I have blogged, but for
the past couple of months I have been on a roof…literally! It’s hard work throwing a pack of 80lb
shingles on your shoulder and going up ladders, taking ‘rippers’ and ripping
opening up roofs day after day. It is
not for the faint of heart to throw down ripped shingles from two stories up
and hit the trailer, clean out troughs, nail down bundles of shingles while the
sun beats down on you, but air guns are cool though… The rain is cool too as long as you’ve got
everything water tight so we do a lot of map checking on the weather network
app!
Lessons I’ve learned since roofing!
1. Comraderie!
I have developed great friendships with the guys that I work with. I have a great respect for the guys and the
hard work put in day in and day out! We
also push each other to be better, it’s
great racing each other up a side of the roof.
However, just don’t let Jeremy lose..he’s a Ninaber and doesn’t take
losing easily. “It just doesn’t make
sense!!” I hear him say when he is
beaten… and yes, this speaks for me too,
but I’m a rookie so no great expectations there!
We do everything together, not just roof. There are challenges like doing 50 push ups
on our break just because and racing across the rafters in monkey bar style on
a new home. There is jumping off the Belwood bridge, taking vents
and hitting them golf style into the bin and everyone buying ball caps with ridiculous sayings! It’s all in or nothing! I feel like a youth pastor once again working
with guys half my age! But, I don’t back
down. It’s hard to do that when they
sing, “nobody’s tough as Jack!”
2. Water! I
have never drunk so much water in one day well other than a race, but everyone
is making sure we are all drinking high quality H2O. There are times when this is turned into a
race as well, but like the water cooler in the office, it brings us together to
sit down, rest and enter into conversation.
3. Laughter and Affirmation! We have a lot of fun together. The guys are quick to poke fun at each other,
we sing to each other songs that play on the radio and then there are ‘head
shots’! This happens when the plastic
wrap around the shingles is tightly tied into a ball and boom, someone is
nailed…good fun! However, there is also
good talk happening, guys challenging each other, affirming each other’s gifts,
encouraging each other.
I don’t know how long I will be roofing but
for right now, it has been the right tonic for me. It gives me time to think, to pray, to
focus. My ultimate goal is to be doing
pastoral ministry with church at the Manor full time. When I shared with Roger, the owner of the
Manor about what I’m up to now with my present work, he says, “Jack, you are a
pastor, you need to be ministering to the people, not on a roof!” So, inside my head, I’m thinking, wow, he’s
more convinced about this than I am. God
speaks in mysterious ways! So, I
continue to be bi-vocational, but it has given me a real appreciation for what
a lot of others do day in and day out.
I’ve been a pastor for over 20 years and I can honestly say I have learned
so much in this past few months since launching a church plant with my wife
Sharon in the most unexpected places I have ever been, but I wouldn’t change it
for the world. This past Sunday one of
the guys I have been building a friendship with walks into our service with a
brand new NIV study Bible. He is beaming
and I am thrilled because he is ready to go deeper with God and together we
will begin the first of many groups focused on life in Jesus!
So, back to the lessons I learned and a
spiritual lesson for the church. I
believe the church is best when it experiences these same three qualities. It is for that very reason that we will do
great exploits for the kingdom.
1.
Comraderie!
A few verses to consider…
Psalm 133:1 A Song of Ascents, of David.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in
unity! 2It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.…
It has a sweet perfume
about it, comparable to that precious ointment with which the first High Priest
was anointed at his ordination. It is a holy thing, and so again is like the
oil of consecration which was to be used only in the Lord's service. The Treasury of David
Nothing replaces unity and a common desire to see the same
vision accomplished. The people that
serve with us at the Manor Church know that it is not about what they are going
to get as much as what they give! We are
there to pour out the anointing of the Holy Spirit through prayer, worship and
listening and we do receive! Oh man, do
we ever receive. It is seen in the tears
of those who come for prayer and they experience the Father’s love. We said His love is relentless and that
message comes through every week. We
know our mission! It is Luke 4:18
"The Spirit of
the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free!!
2.
Water
Living water is all about the presence of the Holy Spirit in
us and on us and without the pouring in, there can be no pouring out! So we love to soak in the Holy Spirit and the
Spirit breathes life into our conversations and prayers when we listen to
Him!
John :38,39"He
who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow
rivers of living water.'" 39But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those
who believed in Him were to receive;
Luke 12:12 reminds us the
Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.
3.
Laughter and Affirmation
One afternoon one of our attendees was ready to walk out of
our church and walk across the street to the church gathered there to tell them
to “come over here, because we are having more fun!’ Don’t worry, Sharon stopped him. So Roger the owner has been on our side and
last week he showed up with a popcorn machine.
He thought what other church is serving up popcorn during the
service. He has also brought in coffee
as well for us. We sing and shout out
our praises every week and we ‘dance upon injustice’ because we believe God is
in the business of restoring what the enemy has stolen!
The town will be
rebuilt on its old foundations; the
mansions will be splendid again. Thanksgivings will pour out of the
windows; laughter will spill through the
doors. Jeremiah 30:19
Thanks to all those who are praying for us and partnering
with us in this ministry…you rock! We
are so excited about what God is doing, we have to shout it from the rooftops!
And if you need you
roof done, give me a call 226-979-0676!
I quote roofs too! It blesses our
ministry and supports us too and it’s a lot easier than shingling!!
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