Drew Boswell

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Short Ropes; The church and the gospel

In his book Total Church Life, [1] Darrell W. Robinson tells the following story;

“The next morning I sat across from Eddie’s father, Leroy Meek. He looked like a bum. His beard was long, his hair was matted, and his eyes were red. He had been fishing the bayou for his son’s body all night. Leroy began to tell me his story.

‘I am a foreman for a large construction company. I did not go to work yesterday due to the flooding. We have eight children. I told them not to go outside to play. But while I took a nap, three of the boys slipped out and made a raft of Styrofoam material and began to float down the bayou. The raft broke up. Two of the boys were able to get out, but Eddie could not get out. The other two raced home and awakened me. I jumped into the pickup truck and sped to the bayou. I tried to reach Eddie, but the concrete sides were steep and the water was rushing and I couldn’t get to him. He was screaming, ‘Daddy, help me! Help me, I can’t hold on much longer!’ ‘I ran back to the pickup truck and grabbed a rope. Eddie screamed, ‘Somebody help me! I can’t hold on much longer!’ I threw him the rope, but the rope was too short!’

As I listened to Leroy, a chill went down my spine. I chocked back tears as I visualized the scene he described. It was like God was speaking to me and showing me the multitudes of hurting people near our church. Like Eddie, they were clinging to whatever they could hold on to. They were crying, ‘Help me! Somebody help me! I can’t hold on much longer!’ And Christians and churches were throwing out ropes, but the ropes were too short to reach the world.

I made arrangements for the funeral and set an appointment to visit the family in their home that afternoon. Dan, our minister of music, and I were the first Christians to enter the Meek home. They had never allowed our bus ministry workers or others from the church in.  That afternoon the Meeks were open to Christ. All of the things they were confident in had failed. What Leroy wanted and needed from me was to know his Creator. Our best ministry at this point was to respond to their spiritual need for comfort from God.

Leroy said, ‘Pastor, I have done all kinds of things with my boys. I have taken them fishing, hunting, and camping out, but I have never sat with them in church.’

‘When the funeral is over, if it is OK, I would like to come back and visit with you about Christ,” I responded.’”

As Christians I am assuming that we are throwing ropes to help people (to ignore the plight of a drowning society would be monstrous), so what are the ropes that we are throwing? Are these ropes too short?  How would we know one way or the other? Do the cries of those being swept away saying, “I can’t hold on much longer!” keep us awake at night? Do tears of the Father and seeing him trying to help his loved ones stir us to want to help? Are we content with just doing funerals that may have been prevented?

We can change the world around us and make a difference right where we are by throwing a rope that saves – it is not too short. We have been given the “ministry of reconciliation”  where “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.[2]” Christ saved us from drowning in sin and despair, he lifted us onto a solid foundation – he saved us.  But he did not send us into the lighthouse to dry off and get warm. Instead he handed us a flotation circle, and a rope and said go and throw your rope.

As long as we throw out the gospel to people, it is the only means of salvation that will not fall short.  If we throw programs, buildings, fellowships, come as you are, health and wealth, faith healings, your best now, etc… we will continue to see hands slip below the surface.

[1] Darrell W. Robinson. Total Church Life (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman and Holman, 1997) 11,12

[2] 2 Corinthians 5:18

Life Lessons From the Elementary Field Day


Yesterday was Field of Day at Brunswick Elementary School and I volunteered as a station leader (the water sponge relay). Kids would line up in groups of three or four and stand behind water buckets as teams. The goal of the game is to take your team’s sponge (filled with water), run to a cup with a fill line on it, and wring all the water out of the sponge and run back. The team who filled their cup first won the game. Seeing kids do this for over two hours I noticed that in many ways this was a metaphor for life. So here are some “real life” observations.

1. Make every drop count. Many of the kids would loose most of the water in their sponge before they got there, or when they squeezed the sponge, they completely missed the cup altogether.

• In life we get so caught up in the game, running the race, that we lose focus of what life is really about. In the game ultimately nothing matters if the water is not in the cup. We work so hard, but if Christ is not the primary focus and source of strength, then it’s like running through life with an empty sponge – we are just going through worthless motions.

2. Take the hand off seriously. Many of the boys about half-way on their return run would throw the sponge to the next team mate. It would inevitably go flying off in a wrong direction and the second runner would have to go run after it, wasting precious time.

• How we relate to other people is so important. People are important. We tend to take people, relationships, and time with those people for granted. When we fail in our relationship “hand offs” become difficult and so much time is wasted. How many years are wasted when dads take their children for granted, and when he finally reaches out to them they resist and are “busy.” How many hand offs are fumbled because somebody thinks its funny to play around with other people.

3. Don’t take too long wringing the water out. Squeezing the water out of the sponge over the cup is a critical part of the game, but several students would stand over the cup and wring with all their might, and continue to do so, even when the pay off is a single drop of water. Other students could have returned with a full sponge of water.

• Wringing too long deals with obsessing. Do you tend to dwell too long on something even when it is obvious to others that it is time to move on? Do you have to always be right? There is a point in making decisions when to stay with something is no longer worth the pay off.

• Also, the student who squeezes too long doesn’t realize that there are other people on the team who can come after them with a full sponge of water. It is ok to let someone else to be next on the team. Run back to the line and quit working so hard. Trust your team.

4. Don’t kick the cup over. Twice during the games a kid in their excitement of playing the game would kick the cup over. This happened because they were more focused on getting the water in the cup, and would lose focus on where their feet where.

• I saw both of the students when they kicked over the cups, but you know what I noticed? The team didn’t get upset, they were content to put the cup back upright and keep playing the game. They knew they wouldn’t win, but they didn’t seem to care. When we kick the cup over in life, it’s because we have allowed our lives to get out of balance. We focus on one thing too long and with too much energy so that we are not aware of what the rest of our body is doing. Do you have systems, alarms, or people that will let you know if you are beginning to obsess?

5. Have fun! Life is not always about winning. You have friends on your team, play the game and have fun.

• The weather was beautiful on Field Day; the kids were excited to be outside and to play the games. The teachers were joyful to be outside with their students, and the parents enjoyed helping the school. Life has its’ difficulties and rainy days, but when the sun shines and the people are in your life whom you love – then smile, enjoy the sun, and play the game.

What Can Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Teach Us?

Have you ever wondered why Sesame Street has lasted so long as a top children’s television show? There is a Sesame Street clothing line, Sesame Street toys, computer games, and many other recognizable Sesame Street icons all throughout American culture.

Another famous and long lasting children’s television show was Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. Whereas Sesame Street is loud, past paced, and introduces new technology as it is developed, Mr. Roger’s neighborhood changed very little over the years proceeding Fred Roger’s death. Mr. Roger’s neighborhood used the same hand puppets that were first used when the show began. The show followed the same flow over the years, with the famous changing of the shoes and sweater, to the trolley going to the magical world of the neighborhood of Make-believe. It was slow and often a monotone monologue with Mr. Rogers. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood did not have the marketing arm as Sesame Street had yet there it was day after day for children and their families.

I believe that it was not flash, technology, or marketing that made these shows a success. Instead it was the laser focus on their purpose and goal of the two shows. For Sesame Street, their goal is to teach children the letters of the alphabet, and for the children to be able to count to twenty. (That’s it) They sought to appeal to the mind. Mr. Roger’s sought to appeal to the heart. He sought to show and tell children that he loved them, they are of great value, and that he wanted them to become apart of his world. He wanted to give them a world where things were quiet, predictable, and slow paced. And children loved him for it; they wanted “to be his neighbor.”

In comparison to the previous successful children’s organizations would be the decline and seeming failure of the U.S. government’s Head Start program.[1] From its inception in the 1960s, the founders conceived of Head Start as much more than an educational program. The health, nutrition, motivation, and self-confidence of poor children were deemed to be at least as important to their future well-being as their academic learning. Another feature present from the beginning was Head Start’s rule that parents be involved in running each local program. A rationale for that principle: building parent’s self-esteem would help develop their children’s.

In short, Head Start has not been primarily an academic program.[2] Instead of staying focused on teaching academic facts, they allowed this one admirable goal to be encroached by other goals and objectives. By allowing themselves to become sidetracked they are not reaching their ultimate and most important objective, the children’s ability to be successful in future educational excellence. Head Start believes that by helping children get a solid educational foundation, when they are young, they will be far more likely to do well in later schooling. However, instead of giving them the essential academic information needed, they have become side tracked with issues like self-esteem and nutrition.

If we are to make it over the long run, we must not allow ourselves to become sidetracked from our ultimate purpose as a church. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us the Great Commission of the church, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)” This is God’s instruction for what the church is to be doing. Every action taken by the church should be compared with this passage as the standard.

[1] Head Start is a Federal program for preschool children from low-income families. The Head Start program is operated by local non-profit organizations in almost every county in the country. Children who attend Head Start participate in a variety of educational activities. They also receive free medical and dental care, have healthy meals and snacks, and enjoy playing indoors and outdoors in a safe setting.
[2] E.D. Hirsch. The Schools We Need (New York, New York: Doubleday), 46.

A Defense of Pastoral Leadership In the Local Church


Words of John Bunyun in Bedford England are carved on a statue of him that state;
A very great person hung against the wall;
And this was the fashion:
Eyes lifted up to heaven,
the best of books in his hand,
the law of truth was written upon his lips,
the world was behind his back;
he stood as if he pleaded with men;
a crown of gold did hang above his head.

He describes the preacher as being God’s gift to the world. While I do not consider myself in the same high esteem, I do know many gracious men who I could say this about. The position of the pastor is of utmost importance to the church, as well as his role as leader and representative before God.

The preacher is sent on a heavenly mission (as are all Christians). He is to declare the message of God to the world, “Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear” (Ezekiel 2:5; 7; 3:11). Preaching was recognized as a gift from God in the Old Testament. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) by those whose testimony the primitive world was condemned (Hebrews 11:7). The psalmist and the prophets delivered their messages of truth in pleading, exhortation, prophecy, and promises from the Lord. The prophets were preachers of their day and the predecessors of the New Testament heralds of the gospel.

After the exile the reading and exposition of Scripture were from the beginning the chief feature of the synagogue service, and is frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus, “as his custom was,” went to the synagogue service on the Sabbath day and there delivered the wonderful message of hope recorded in Luke 4:17-22. In Acts 13:5, “after the reading of the law of prophets” the rulers of the synagogue invited the two preachers, Paul and Barnabas, to deliver this message of exhortation. In Acts 15:21, James the pastor of the church at Jerusalem and the presiding officer over the council in Jerusalem, spoke of the fact that “Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”

The New Testament church, likewise, moves on the feet of those who, “preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things (Romans 10:15). It was Paul that declared that faith in Jesus as Lord will save all who call upon him (v. 9), but “How . . . shall they call on him in whom they have believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (v. 14)” This preaching of salvation that Paul referred to is the proclamation of the Word of God recorded in the Holy Scriptures and centered in the redemptive work of Christ. It is a summons of men to repentance, faith, and obedience before the Lord Jesus. It is God’s appointed means for communicating the gospel of hope to the unbelieving world for communicating the gospel of hope to the unbelieving world and for the strengthening of the faith of those who have found refuge in our living Lord.

The apostolic message (kerygma), the preaching of the men who first heard the Great Commission of our Lord, consisted of these seven things:
1. It was a definite body of facts; it was “propositional truth.”
2. It was not speculative philosophy but an announcement of the intervention of God in human history for the salvation of those who would hear and accept.
3. It was centered on the redemptive work of Christ, in his cross and atonement, and glorious resurrection.
4. It was witnessed to and confirmed in the human heart by the Holy Spirit.
5. It was historically and organically related to the Old Testament.
6. It imposed a stern, ethical demand upon men.
7. It was a vast eschatological dimension. It looks forward to a triumphant forever in Christ.

In God’s plan, there is no such thing as the delivery of this glorious message of truth without a preacher. In the elective purpose of God his will and work are made known to us through a living personality. This is the essence of preaching and is the first, primary calling of a pastor. Each generation must experience falling in love, building a home, rearing children. So each congregation must have a living pastor. The truth of God must be made to live again and again.

That is the calling of a preacher-pastor. It is preaching the Word of God that people desperately need. And it is preaching that feeds the souls of Christians. Paul wrote about the services of public worship in Corinth, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).

The verse concludes a lengthy discussion of disorder that marred the meeting of the Corinthian Christians. The worship of God ought to be worthy of his glorious name. Therefore, the pastor has been called to preach God’s Word and to lead the church. He should be allowed to do this so that order and appropriate worship may take place, and the message of the gospel may be preached.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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