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SABBATICAL DAY 15: THIS SABBATICAL’S MENTORS

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Yesterday was a day of relationship. I talked with my sister in The Netherlands for about an hour and a half. We talked about the calling and how it moves and shifts in our lives creating a never-ending journey that we sometimes flow with and other times struggle with.

Then I went to breakfast with my son-in-law James Franklin, who has helped me out during this sabbatical by preaching for me.

We talked about the word of prophecy for our church Cornerstone.

After that, My son and I took a walk around the greater block of the Vicarage. I told him the history I knew of the schools in town: Old Murdock, Streeter, Poland, Wheeler. As we walked I talked to him about the people I knew in each house: Jack Bowler, the Sweeney’s, the Knocks, The Blacks, Mr. Otto. We noted the dates on many of the historic homes: 1840, 1791. How different was life back then? How different from my life was the life of Capt. Murdock or Morton Converse?

I said before that I had trouble finding mentors to speak into my life for this sabbatical. Maybe I didn’t have trouble. Perhaps I was resisted by God because He had already chosen those individuals who would speak into my life and they were much closer to home than I was willing to look.

The conversations I am having are much more organic than traditional mentorship conversations, but perhaps this time around they are the more resonant for their organic nature. In these conversations I am hearing the echoes of my deepest thoughts, even some of those hidden from me by myself. There are things being called to the surface I was unaware of.

Things like: I am an escapist at heart always trying to distract myself with petty entertainments when questions of legacy and leadership arise; I procrastinate because I have been infected by the spirit of lack that is epidemic in our land; The call is not convenient and it is not comfortable, but it is good for me in my truest self; There is a price to pay for a deeper walk with God and I need to pay that price.

I entered this season a little disappointed, maybe even a little concerned, because I had not been able to find my mentor(s). I know now that God is the One who always had charge of the arrangements for this season and He has chosen His best for me.

HAS GOD EVER SURPRISED YOU WITH A BETTER BEST THAN WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS BEST?

A DEFINITELY DIFFERENT SABBATICAL

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Today I am thinking about how different this sabbatical is from my last one.

FIRST THE SEASON IS DIFFERENT.

My last sabbatical was in the summer…. August as I remember. I spent a lot of time sitting on my front porch and praying. I didn’t have a garden, so aside from mowing the lawn I did little yard work. This sabbatical is an autumn sabbatical. It has been too cold to sit on my front porch to pray, and the fall is a more busy season around the Vicarage anyway. I have a list as long as my arm to accomplish before winter: Gardens to harvest and clean, bulbs to get in the ground for next year’s flower garden, windows and doors to plastic, a chicken coop to winterize, herbs to dig up and move into the house for a window garden over the winter, and a house fall cleaning to finish up.

SECOND THE VICARAGE IS DIFFERENT

We were just at the tail end of construction on the Vicarage last time. I remember being frustrated that we had to have the outside pipes dug up because a root had grown through one of them and the deconstruction of the front porch exacerbated the problem causing our cellar to fill with waste. This time around the Vicarage is definitely more settled. We are in maintenance mode, not project mode.

The social atmosphere of the Vicarage is different too. Back in 2022 it was me, Amanda and Mom living in the house. Amanda was at work most of the time and Mom was just starting with Ibis Health a chronic care health agency. It was the beginning of our season of eye to eye caregiving. Mom could no longer be alone and we were just figuring out how to make all that happen. We had only just hired Sunday help so I used Sundays as my breakaway day instead of going to any church as it was really the only time I could get away from The Vicarage.

This year it is me Amanda, Joe, Kristine and Sevy. We are still grieving Mom’s passing last April. In some ways, I feel like with everything else going on this year, I haven’t really begun grieving her loss. Having a two year old in the house definitely changes the dynamic energy of the house, and just this month Joe and Kristine had a bid accepted on a condo so now we are in the throes of preparing for their move on November 1st.

THIRD THE PATHWAY IS DIFFERENT

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In my last sabbatical I had a list of questions to pray through and I met with a mentor twice to discuss and coach around my thinking about these questions. This time around as hard as I tried to find a coach or mentor none of those I approached were able to accommodate. Instead God has set up several conferences for me to attend through the month and instead of questions I have been a list of tasks I need to accomplish before I return to a “normal” ministry schedule. Some of these tasks are personal, some are professional but they all are causing me to think about what the future should look like from God’s perspective.

The world is changing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my methodology of visioning for that change also needs to change. But I have to admit I am a bit surprised.

ARE YOU SURPRISED BY CHANGES YOU ARE GOING THROUGH?

SABBATICAL DAY 5: CONFERENCING

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This sabbatical feels different from my last. During the last sabbatical my mother was just entering the most intensive part of her medical need. Travel was not really an option. Now Mom is gone. I guess I could go anywhere I want, but I don’t really have any desire to go anywhere.

I know many people think of sabbatical as a vacation. I don’t. I see it as a necessary change of life rhythm for the purpose of clarifying vision. I really need that. I feel more deeply than ever before that I need to see what is coming down the road. More than that I feel like I am commanded to it.

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One thing I did learn about sabbatical from last time was that the rhythm and events of sabbatical are only truly determined by God. I made intricate plans last time and God intervened heavily in my plans to change them. I didn’t get done all that was on my list, but I know now I did get done what I needed to do.

This time my plans are not as detailed, but I feel like I have come closer to matching God’s plans for this sabbatical. This first week of sabbatical was given to prayer and conferences. I attended several prayer services at TWR House of Prayer as they held their annual growth conference. Yesterday I was at Liberty Church in Shrewsbury MA for their L2L conference. Today I was at my own church for our Better Man Conference. I have pages of notes to pray through this next week as I seek vision from them for our church.

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This next week I am spending time in deep prayer, in working around the Vicarage, and in planning administratively for the church: I have budgets to do; missions job descriptions to update; and infrastructure plans to consider; I also think it is time to fill out the paperwork for the next step in my ministry licensing process.

My son and his wife are signing papers this week on a condo so I am beginning a big fall cleaning as they prepare to move at the end of the month. It feels like threads are coming together and I am beginning to see the tapestry, streams are blending in a divine confluence. I certainly am not the only one sensing this. I don’t even understand the bigger parts of it, but I am very clear on the fact that I need to understand my own small part of the stream. I think much depends on it.

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DO YOU FEEL THIS NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN THE LAST?

SABBATICAL DAY 2: WE NEED TO KNOW

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My son and I were talking about this sabbatical our church is on. I explained to him that sabbatical is not a vacation for the pastor or the church. It is a change of rhythm for the purpose of finding God’s direction and strength for next steps. The change of rhythm does involve rest, but it also involves other practices as well.

Today was all about the practice of flexibility. I set my plans to pray for at least two hours at the Worship Room House of Prayer this morning. I made it forty minutes and then… God showed up and I ended up taking a trip with my daughter to a town about an hour and a half away to pick up some equipment that had been wrongly shipped to another Cornerstone Church.

I was going to go by myself, but you know I am learning to be the DOING LIFE TOGETHER guy. It was good we went together, as it turned out. My leg has been bothering me the last few days and it cramped up pretty badly just as we were arriving at the other Cornerstone Church. Amanda had to drive home so I could stretch out.

Anyway, we made a morning of it. The drive was through some of the most beautiful autumn territory of the Quabbin Valley and we stopped for lunch at Herrick’s in Orange. So I actually accomplished one of my other goals for this month which was to take a leaf peeping drive.

There were a few other “divine interruptions” in my plans today. Some unplanned reorganization of schedules shortened my time to burn brush by about an hour and once again reoriented how I was going to pray. I think learning to be flexible with my prayer life is something God is trying to teach me.

In the midst of all the reorganization I got this thought. “As a people we need to know God’s plan for the next years. We do need a clearer vision of the future. We do need to understand what God is doing. That said, we don’t just need to know God’s plan or the future or what God is doing. We need something more. We need the church to also have a revelation of itself, a revelation of who we are to Christ, who we are to ourselves and who we are to our communities.

TELL ME WHO OR WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CHURCH IS?

SABBATICAL EVE

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I begin a month long sabbatical tomorrow. Yesterday was my last day in pulpit for five Sundays. I preached from Revelation 22 about THE INVITATION TO THE FUTURE.

YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE.

It was also a day of celebration. It was our church’s annual Crockpot Cookoff.

It was a great way to launch into this sabbatical. 130 people came out to try 17 different crockpot dishes. The prize went to BAGEND BEAM, one of the Sunday afternoon groups. All the crockpots were excellent.

And the community sharing life together was awesome!

This is my second sabbatical and it is shaping up to be very different from my last sabbatical. This month is a month of conferences. All this week I will be spending time in prayer at The Worship Room House of prayer as they hold their third annual growth conference. On Friday I will be heading out to Liberty Church in Shrewsbury MA for a leadership conference. Saturday I will be back at Cornerstone for our annual men’s conference. Next Wednesday I will be in Sturbridge MA for our network leadership tour. There is a prophetic conference in Springfield MA on October 17-20. I am still toying with the idea of going to that. Then at the end of the month I will be going to our fellowship’s Minister’s retreat in Plymouth MA.

Sabbatical is a time of rest, prayer and visioning for ministers. For me it is a time to find the next steps for our church and the prophetic message God would have me share in sermon form for the next few years.

I have asked all of our groups to pray for a word from God for 2025 and 2026. When I come back I will go to each group and listen to what God has told our church body about next steps.

I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEXT MONTH. I FEEL A STIRRING IN MY HEART TOWARDS ADVENTURE.

Artsy

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In my afternoon prayer time the Lord said, “You are beginning to slow down enough to become more consistently creative.”

It is true I have been attempting to be more creative on a more consistent basis. My goal, for the longest time, has been to create a piece of writing and a piece of art everyday.


A fellow artist began posting simple drawing techniques to play with when the stay at home order began. It was then I thought to myself. This time apart could help me establish some of the new habits I have been attempting this year. The dog above was drawn by first writing the number 61 on the page.

One of my problems artistically has always been my consistency. I tend to create in fits and starts. The idea of taking time…prioritizing time everyday has seemed nearly impossible.

That road block which has plagued me for so many years has been removed and I am finding that while I may be classified a beginner my heart is in this. I am having fun creating.

The other day I wrote a poem and I actually took time to rewrite it using a formal poetic form. It was so much fun!

I am finding the more I practice the better I get. I really like my cat.

The Lord is using art to help me keep my mind off of the worries of these present days. What is God laying at your feet to help you shift from worry to joy? If you haven’t found anything take out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen and try your hand at drawing.