A letter to my BCF family

 
My Dear BCF Family,

More than once I have told Pastor Kenny that if I were independently wealthy I would stay on BCF staff doing the same things, only I’d do it for free. That’s how much I have enjoyed being your administrative/executive pastor. Serving you, my BCF family, has been a greater thrill than I could ever describe.

And because serving as your administrative and executive pastor has been such a thrill, stepping off staff is one of the most difficult and painful things I have ever experienced. The natural question then become, why do it? Well, that’s why I’m writing you, to share my heart with you and give you some insight into that answer.

It started last year when I got a personal invitation to go listen to a nationally known church leader. Only about 1,300 people were invited to that conference, and I was one of those men. None of my pastor friends got an invitation. Why me? I don’t know. How did it happen? I asked and tried to find the answer, but nobody could tell me. At the conference the church leader who invited us shared his heart, telling us about the huge need for pastors who have been trained to go train other pastors who have less training. At the end of the conference we were invited to stand and make a commitment to train someone else. I stood and told God, “Lord, I don’t know how you want to use me, but I’m here because you brought me here and I’m willing to do whatever You ask of me.” In less than a month God began putting things in place for me to begin teaching other pastors.

In May God worked it out for me to go to Peru to train church leaders, and then in July I helped lead a team where I oversaw the door-to-door evangelism teams. I didn’t plan or even try to put any of that together. God amazed me, working everything out so that I didn’t have to write a single letter or raise a single dollar of support. The team pastor who was scheduled to go couldn’t make the trip, and since I was taking his place the money which had been allocated for him was moved and used to cover my expenses.

The desire to continue training pastors grew, and I began thinking about how I could do more of it. I even began developing plans to do it. But all this time I was thinking I would stay on staff and do both. I thought I’d just train someone to fill in for me while I was away. But God had other plans. Slowly I began to recognize that God was doing the unexpected, and although I fought it, He won out. It became clear to both Pastor Kenny and me that God was moving me off of the BCF staff to go pour my life into training and teaching church leaders in foreign countries.

How will all of this work out? Honestly, I don’t know. Am I scared of stepping out into the unknown? No, I’m terrified! Most of you know that my training is in engineering, and engineers always overdesign to account for any unexpected circumstances, and then just in case something unexpected happens, we include a safety factor. I like that! When I get on an airplane it makes me feel good to know that guys like me designed and build those airplanes. We don’t like taking risks. We want to make sure all the bases are covered. God is stretching me way beyond my comfort zone. He is answering my prayer and teaching me to become a man of faith.

In the process of teaching me to become a man of faith I am seeing how God is teaching me to let go of security and trust Him for the impossible. In addition to training church leaders, God has given me a desire to start a company which will provide the income necessary for me to do this. I’m working on getting that company going, but the reality is that my dreams will fall flat and fail unless God steps in and makes it become a reality. I’m not smart enough, creative enough, influential enough, or educated enough to make this happen on my own. This dream is huge! There is no way I can pull this off! But God can. He is almighty God and with Him nothing is impossible!

But the dream keeps growing, and the desire has turned into a passion. I can’t just stay in my comfortable job and not do this! I’d rather fail trying then to never attempt it! In Matthew 16:25 Jesus said “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Jesus is saying is that if I try to live my life in safety and comfort then I’ll lose the very satisfaction and fulfillment I’m trying to find. But if I’ll risk it all for His name and for His kingdom then I’ll find a life that is worthwhile and fulfilling.

So what is the business dream? To start a greeting card business that will sell millions of greeting cards and support the entire ministry.

What is the ministry dream? To train a team of church leaders and help them train other church leaders, who will train yet other church leaders, who will train yet other church leaders, who… Just imagine, if one church leader were to train two men, and those two men train two men, and those two men train two men, and that progression were to keep going, then in one year a single leader will be impacting 63 other men. This is what Jesus did with His twelve apostles, and it’s what the Apostle Paul told Timothy to do. Just imagine what would happen if every mature Christian were training two other Christians.

Well, there you have it, the vision and passion that God’s given me.

So it is with mixed emotions that I step off the BCF staff. It seems like I have cried buckets of tears as I argued with God about this, but now I sense an excitement that God is going to bring to reality something I really only dreamed of doing.

To you, my BCF family, I say “Thank you!” My life is richer because of you. Serving you and being your pastor has been a real joy. I will always treasure the memories of living life with you.

At this point we have no plans to move. We love Brownsville. This is home. Three of our children were born here. But mostly, we love it because you are here. So please stay in touch and let me know if there is anything I can do to help. In the meantime I’ll try to keep this blog updated so that you can follow what God is doing in our lives.

I love you and pray God’s rich blessings on you.

Your friend and fellow servant,

Jim