The Guiding Principle of the Open Door

Most of us today are interested in the direction of our lives. We make plans and hope those plans work out. We generally want to do what God would have us do, but we also have our own desires and dreams to accomplish. Can there be an intersection between our desires and what we think will bring about the best for us and what will also be at the heart of what God desires as well? God as a will for our lives. I truly believe that. The NLT states it this way, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT, underline is mine) God has good things we are to do, and they were planned before we were born, maybe even before the world was made. So, God has plans for us, but so do we.

When thinking about your path in life; where to live, what to do and of course, how to live your life as God intended, we will have times of doubt and even confusion. The doubt comes in the form of trying to discover what we’re good at doing, what we enjoy and whether it is good for us and our families financially, physically, socially, and spiritually. The confusion comes when there are so many options.

In preparation for our associational annual meeting. I discovered a practical principle from Scripture which the Apostle Paul used for determining where he was going next, what he was to do and how long he would do it. I figure that if this principle was good enough for him in his important assignment as the apostle to the Gentiles, then it would be good for us as well. The principle I’m referring to is what I call “The Guiding Principle of the Open Door.”

If you did a Bible search on “open door” as a metaphor, you would find it used nine times. Once more, the same concept is used as an “open window” in Malachi 3:10 which refers to a blessing from God so huge that you cannot receive it. Access to this blessing would come if the people were faithful to give tithes and offerings. Of the nine biblical references to “open door”, eight of them are in the New Testament. On top of that, Jesus and Paul are the only ones to use it. The most uses of the metaphor “open door” in a single book is by Jesus and he uses it three times in the book of Revelation. I’ve developed a whole sermon in this with five things we can learn from “open doors” and takeaways for us today. Relax, I’m not unloading all that today. I’m just going to give you the basic principle as Paul used it.

We find Paul using this “open door” metaphor in his letter to the Corinthian church while he was still evangelizing and building up the church in Ephesus. This is the portion of the letter that is important for us here:

I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia—for I will be traveling through Macedonia—and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go. I don’t want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.

(1 Corinthians 16:5-9, CSB)

As I mentioned before, Paul was writing to the church in Corinth from Ephesus. He’d been in Ephesus for over two years. He saw his time there ending and was making plans for what was coming next.

Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was marvelous! You can read about it in the Book of Acts, chapter 19. Right from the beginning it was evident that God was at work. There were multiple salvations, miraculous healings, deliverances from evil spirits and a massive turning from witchcraft and black magic. But there was also great opposition. There is always opposition. But Paul could sense that his time there was going to end. So, he begins to formulate plans.

Notice the terminology he uses for his plans. “I intend to pass through Macedonia”, “perhaps I will stay with you”, “Wherever I may go”, “I hope to spend some time”, “If the Lord permits”. He made five tentative statements about what he wanted or intended, yet in verse 8 and 9 he made a definite statement of what he will do. And why is that? Because there was, as the NLT states it “a Wide-open door for a great work here”.

This “Open Door” was the thing that settled in Paul’s mind God’s will for his immediate future. This is what he did, knowing that these other things may or may not happen in the future. Right now, he knew that he would not get to those other “possible” things until he walked through the right door in front of him. Paul had situational and personal awareness.

An open door for Paul was divine providential direction from God. For Paul an open door is God saying to him, “This is where I want you to go, and this is what I want you to do to use your gifting and experience that will fulfill your calling to Christ and your vocation as an apostle to the Gentiles.”

What qualified as an “open door” for Paul was an opportunity given by God that matched his calling, vocation, gifting, experiences, and circumstances. Not every “open door” may be the “open door” for you. It wasn’t for Paul. There are qualifiers.

For Paul and for us calling is first. We are called by Jesus, to Jesus and for Jesus. We are as followers of Christ, to live, serve and share the gospel. That is our calling.

Our vocation is how we fulfill our calling. Paul’s vocation, when he was known as Saul, was a pharisee. When Jesus called him, his vocation was to serve as an Apostle to the Gentiles. He evaluates “open doors” by his ability to function in his calling and vocation. Your vocation may be as a business owner, a teacher or something else. But, back to Paul, on top of these things, he added his understanding of himself, how he is wired, what he was good at and his current circumstances. Paul’s circumstances could change therefore he wrote the Corinthians using contingent terminology.

God gives us “open doors”, but we also have the responsibility to look for them. God perfectly designed your circumstances to fit with how you are made and what you can do to walk through open doors he creates for you.

We have “open door” opportunities today that Jesus has given us. There is great opportunity for churches to partner with schools, particularly elementary schools. How wonderful it would be if every church in FBA adopts a school and asks them, “What they can do to serve you?” One suggestion is to approach them with READ Georgia.

A second opportunity is with public safety, and particularly with fire, EMS, police and 911 Call center. Your association is partnering with one of our own, Frank Mercer at 4Heroes. You and with the blessing of your leadership, your church may become involved in ministering to our first responders.

A third is with the mental health crisis, or rather disaster in our state and associational area. Church members can be equipped in resilience and wellness. We shouldn’t pretend to be okay when we’re not okay. Sometimes it’s okay not to be okay. We need to be able to talk about it and be able to just listen. You don’t have to solve another person’s problems, just listen, and pray.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the best and long-term answers for wellness and resilience. Your association is offering several equipping and engaging opportunities for ministers and church leaders to be informed and equipped on the issues of wellness this year and next. You can check out the events page and the resources page for more information.

Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

You just can’t lose when you choose to look for an open door, and then walk through it.

Smartphone Sanity

“…Let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.” (Hebrews 12:1b, CSB)

Most people have heard of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The 12 Steps have been adapted for all sorts of addictions. Step one generally, goes like this: We admitted that we were powerless over our problems-that our lives had become unmanageable.

Addictions don’t always come in the form of a chemical substance.

Imagine this: They can’t stop checking their phone. Every few minutes… Wait! Forget that. Every 60 seconds they’re wondering if anyone has emailed, texted, or put something on social media they need to see. They have a bad, very bad case of FOMO. Yeh, Fear Of Missing Out.

They go to bed at night, but their phone is in their hand. They lie there in the bed and scroll through one or several forms of social media and check their email one more time. Finally, after what seemed to be 5 minutes, but it was 45 minutes, they put the phone down and try to go to sleep. But sleep doesn’t come.

Do you know anyone like this? I do. We don’t have to name them because most of the time they self-confess their phone addiction. To be fair, it’s not the phone they’re addicted to but to the experience of being too connected or to the fear of being disconnected. It is normal to feel anxiety or fear when you are not connected. But with today’s mobile devices, we have become hyper-connected and thus become hyper-anxious at the thought of missing out.

According to the tech company Asurion, Americans check their phones about 100 times a day on average. This can be stifling if you are trying to concentrate on anything for any length of time.

As you can imagine, a hyper-connection with your smartphone can interfere with having a balanced and healthy life. I can’t cite the source, but I read one study that linked the overuse of smartphones and poor sleep, difficulty learning, and even feelings of loneliness. Some have claimed that overuse of smartphones is changing the way our brains are wired and that’s not a good thing.

Perhaps you have been thinking about how to get better control of your time and rest. There is a way to have your smartphone bring some sanity to your life. I’m referring primarily to setting your phone up to help you sleep. I’m going to give you some help.

If you have an iPhone, there is an app already loaded on your phone called the “Health app”. This app has a “sleep focus” setting. You can set this app to help you meet your sleep goals. What it basically does is put your phone on a "do not disturb" to filter out notifications and phone calls. It can even signal to others you’re not available. It will help you to even wind down by giving you time, depending how you want to do it, from 15 minutes to 3 hours before your bedtime.

When it’s time to wake up, the Sleep Focus allows you to select an alarm sound, vibration and a snooze option. I use it in conjunction with my Apple watch. My Apple watch starts shining very dimly 5 minutes before it’s time for me to wake up. By one minute before my wake-up time, it’s shining brightly enough that I’m awake before the alarm.

So if you are an iPhone user. Here is a link with description on how to set up your Sleep Focus in the Health app.

Setting Up Sleep Focus on iPhone

If you would rather view a video of how to do this. Check this one out.

For android users, here is a link with description on how to set up the “Bedtime mode” on an android smartphone.

Setting Up Bedtime Mode on Android

If you would rather view a video for setting up the android bedtime mode, check this one out. It is specific to Samsung, but should be helpful.

This is just one step in setting a boundary that may help you think better and sleep deeper. Just remember when the phone goes on Sleep or Bedtime mode, don’t override it. Put it down and let it do its job. You need the break from the screens. Read a book. Take a walk. Have a conversation. Go to sleep. You will find some freedom and you will feel better.

You’re welcome.

Minister Appreciation Month Go’s and No’s

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:16–17, ESV)

Fall is upon us and that means there are many things to celebrate. One of the things to celebrate this fall is minister appreciation month in October.

As a church member I’m sure you'd want the minister or ministers who serve at your church to know how much you appreciate their labors in the Lord. It’s better to show appreciation as early as possible.

So, to help you in showing appreciation to your pastor, and if you have more in your church, like an associate pastor, adult minister, student minister, etc. I have concocted a quick and easy guide to help.

This guide will help determine if an idea is a “go” or a “no”. Hopefully this will provide some clarity for how you express your appreciation. Often, from the church members point of view, an idea that they think is fantastic, could also be a flop from the perspective of the minister.

I’ll give you an example, one that has happened to me several times. A well-meaning church member will think to himself or herself:

• To express my appreciation to my pastor, I think I’ll give my minister a King James study Bible.

So, what do you think? Is a Bible generally a good gift? Yes. Does your minister already use a Bible and reference the Scriptures in his or her ministry? I hope you can say “Yes”. If you can’t say “Yes”, then perhaps the gift of a good Bible is in order. But otherwise, I’d say it is a “No”.

Think of it this way; a Bible, commentaries, ministry leadership books, a computer and even subscriptions to some ministry services are tools of a minister’s trade. Giving one of these to them in appreciation is like giving a cake pan to a baker or a wrench to a mechanic. It may help them do their job, but it doesn’t enrich them as a person.

Okay, you got the message.

So, with that, I’ll throw out a few more and you decide if they are “Go’s” or “No’s” for minister appreciation:

• To express my appreciation, I’ll buy a devotional by Oswald Chambers and put $20 in it to give to my minister.

Is this a “Go” or a “No”? Well, since it is a devotional, that would put it in the realm of commentary and since Chambers hasn’t written anything new for over 100 years, (died 105 years ago) it should be a very easy answer. The one caveat is the $20. However, it is only $20. If it were $100 or more, I’d say “Go.”

• To express my appreciation, I’ll invite my minister and his family over to our home to eat a fried chicken dinner with us.

Is this a “Go” or a “No”? Sorry, but I’m going to have to give this a hard “No”. Now don’t be offended. I’m sure that your minister and family would love to spend time with you and your family. You may even be very close to them.

You may have the best fried chicken this side of the Mississippi. But I promise you this, as much as they love you, this will keep your minister “on the clock”. It is simply because conversation will stray to “church” things. It is also another night away from home or taking away from their own rest and family time. Inviting them over for a meal is a great gesture and you should do that, but don’t assume that it is something that will be viewed with full appreciation. It will be appreciated but not as much as you might think.

• To express my appreciation, I’ll give my minister a $50 Starbucks gift card.

Is this a “Go” or a “No”? It depends. Does your minister love Starbucks coffee? If he or she does, then by all means, give them the gift card. This boils down to knowing what your minister likes and does not like. One pastor made the statement in a sermon how much he liked Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He received bags of Reese’s Halloween candy that October.

It’s important to know what your minister will like. Here’s another example; I know that Pastor Josh Saefkow of Flat Creek Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga really likes to collect neckties with biblical scenes on them: Noah and the Flood, David and Goliath, for example. Of course, he loves any tie that has a big cross on it with Bible verses. (Josh, no need to thank me, just being able to share what you like is enough thanks for me.) Just remember, the gift should match their taste and interests.

• To express my appreciation, I’ll write a note to my ministers to let them know how God has used them to bless my life.

Is this a “Go” or a “No”? This one also depends. If you write the note by hand and you mention something specific to them that has made a difference in your walk with God, then it is a “Go”. I believe that the more specific you make it, the better. Make it specific in how you have been blessed by them both in their actions and in your reception of it. If it was something they said, tell them what it was and how it made a difference in your life.

If you are going to buy a “Thank You” card and just sign it, then I’d have to give a “No”. You can put some cash in the card or a gift card and that can turn it into a “Go.” But I must say, the handwritten note with a specific appreciation is better than the gift card, but a gift card in a “Thank You” card is better than nothing at all.

The purpose of minister appreciation month is to remind us as church members the sacrificial nature of ministry and our gratitude to these special people in our lives. All of us have been through a tough, even very tough couple of years. When you bless your ministers, you really are doing yourself a favor. You are honoring God by honoring them.

Encouragement works both ways. When you encourage someone else, you are encouraged as well. The Lord Jesus sees it all and when you do good to His servants, you will not lose your reward.