I know I’ve been out of the loop for the past several weeks, and I hope to get back in my groove and get to a point where I am at least posting bi-weekly. During this season I’ve been very contemplative. With Twitter and Face Book I’ve been following so much in the community of Christ, that I am constantly inundated with challenges and thanksgiving for what God is doing today in America, and around the world.

As I said, I’ve been very contemplative. I’ve been re-evaluating mission…not the substance, because Christ remains the same, but the paradigm by which I live and minister. I’ve realized that most of my pastoral training, and even some of my missions training, both experiential and non-experiential, has both prepared me for where I am and hindered me in approaching where I am going.

I’ve been taught how to preach, I grew up preaching…Now I am having to transition into more teaching.

I’ve been taught how to counsel, I’ve enjoyed counselling…Now I have to take people by the hand and walk with them through their darkness. 

I used to preach to the churched…Now I am a part of the lives of the un-churched.

I used to fight against un-righteousness…Now I show righteous compassion when I hug the dealer, pray with the prostitute, weep with the addict and share hope with the hopeless…not ever compromising, but constantly striving to always live love.

I used to say prayers…Now I pray. Everything comes out of prayer. Every witness has first been prayed. Every encounter is first covered. The dealers and prostitutes don’t come to me asking for a sermon, they come asking for prayer because they know I pray, and I am helping them to pray. When they don’t pray I pray in their place, knowing Christ intercedes for us.

I used to just go to church. I used to pastor just a church. Now I seek the Kingdom, pastoring a community, being a part of the Body of Christ which is in constant motion, only at rest when the Head says to be still…I am hopefully the feet of the Bride, moving her closer to where the Bridegroom said to meet Him…among the least of these.

I look at this list and think “Wow I’ve come a long way”, but I know I’m only scratching the surface. There are deep issues within me that the Spirit is dealing with, deep issues in my community that need addressing, and seemingly bottomless issues within the congregation that have to be faced. If anything this list serves both as a reminder as well as a set of goals. Tomorrow the mission paradigm may change even more…I hope it will. Today though…well there’s much to be done.

I’m not there yet, but I’m on my way.

Sincerely,

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

Have you ever been so focused on something that you thought was important that you missed something more important? I think about all the times that I missed special events with my kids because I had a conference to attend or a meeting to facilitate. I just knew what I was doing was the right thing, but after missing some of those events with my sons I realized that I was putting more equity into an institution than I was into my own family.

In the same way, I have come to an eye opening understanding of what is important in God’s Kingdom and its contrast to the kingdom work I’ve been so busy doing.

Here is how it came about. I have been taught for decades that a successful pastor is a pastor of a large church. Somehow, if I am to really be a man of God, I have to pastor a church of over a hundred people, and then a church of over two hundred, and on and on until I am pastoring a church with more than 1000 people in attendance. That was the definition of success that was planted in me, and that has been my focus through the majority of my pastoral career. As long as I could show that I was bringing in the large harvest then I was on my way to being a success.

We all know to recognize the Kingdom of God in the harvest, and the Kingdom of God is constantly growing. However, I’ve recently begun to understand that the Kingdom of God is just as much in the seed as it is in the harvest, it is in the individual as well as in the masses! So while I’ve been focusing on the masses, I’ve been neglecting the seed. Which comes first, the harvest or the seed? Until the reapers overtake the sowers, it is the seed which comes first!

Jesus was once asked, “When are You going to show us Your Kingdom?” Jesus responded, “The Kingdom does not come with observation. Some will say it is here, others will say it is there, but in all reality, the Kingdom is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21 The Authorized DBjr Version).

Sometimes we become so focused on showing what the Kingdom looks like in mass that we stop building up the Kingdom within each other. Not to say we should stop building our churches and reaching the lost! But it serves very little purpose to win someone to Christ if we will not disciple them! How many Kingdom seeds sit in our seats and leave without having grown the Kingdom within themselves?

If the average pastorate in our churches is less than three years, then how are we as pastors really building the Kingdom when there is no relational equity put into the seed thus developing a Kingdom harvest that will outlive us?

The last church I pastored grew at a phenomenal rate. Had I stayed, there is no telling what it would be like today, (I would have had to pray the elders through or prayed them on into glory, but there is no telling where that church would be today.) After almost three years there, thinking the new blood in the church would keep it growing, I took the biggest challenge of my pastoral career and moved to WV. Unfortunately after we left, because the relational discipleship in the lives of the new converts was short term, they either found other churches or gave up on serving Christ all together.

So what is the point? Growing churches and reaching the harvest is a desired part of building God’s Kingdom, but more to be desired is the ability to build with relational discipleship. Remember, spreading the Gospel is only one half of the Great Commission, the other half is making disciples!

So if you are pastoring a large church, make sure you have enough small group leaders who can truly disciple; working to nurture that seed of the Kingdom inside.

If you are a small or medium size church pastor, nurture that Kingdom seed in your converts and pre-converts, because it is that seed which is intended to bring forth fruit, and you won’t have to be stressed out trying to force in the harvest. Know that God has put you where you are, and don’t leave it until He is done with you!

If you are a leader within a church organization, stop focusing on observing the Kingdom growth, and start empowering your pastors to make disciples. Help them to realize the Kingdom is not only about big churches and big budgets, but is about making disciples of all men.

Remember we are only stewards of His Kingdom, it is not our own. Sow, water, nurture, reap…but since its His Kingdom, it is ultimately His job to bring the increase.

Almost a year has gone by now since Engage21. I find myself looking back over this year and gauging both myself and my denomination.  Overall I am very encouraged.

• Encouraged by what I’ve learned through the networking over the net, as well as the direction our state offices have taken toward a more missional mindset of ministry.
• I’m encouraged by the new leadership that our denomination has received. 
• I’m encouraged by the refined vision that our local congregation is taking as we don’t settle for “good things” when we can have “God things”.  As I said, overall I am greatly encouraged.

However I still deal with frustrations.

• I’m frustrated with a denomination that promotes membership statistics to support pay scales, even though many of our members haven’t darkened the door of a CoG in ten years or more.
• I’m frustrated with the sharp decline in morality that has crept into many of our churches…not from sinners coming in, but from our members living in morally grey areas with no desire for a greater manifestation of grace.
• I’m frustrated that the CoG is not promoting internet communications as part of the listening tours for the sake of those of us who may not be able to attend, but have real questions we want to ask.
• I’m frustrated with a lack of communication regarding how the “re-alignment” of resources is really going to pan out.

But the best part of everything over the past year is the fact that I am expectant.

• I expect God to do great things in the CoG, especially at Tenth Avenue in Huntington, WV. It will continue to be hard work, but God is bringing us into a season of harvest. 
• I expect God to do great things in our state. Our prayer conference was great and portrayed a commitment to missional values without sacrificing our Pentecostal distinctives. Our Link conference was a plus…even though they’ve had to cancel the remaining conferences due to financial constraints…I’m glad I got to be a part of the one that took place.
• I expect God to open doors in our city to truly heal our land.
• Most of all I expect to win souls for Christ. Sometimes I get so busy with everything else on the pastor’s desk that I forget the real reason I am here…not to provide spiritual Hospice care, but to help build a Birthing Center.  I am looking forward to the drunk that I ministered to tonight to come to church sober and be an active part in our church’s future. I look forward to the addict down the street who sends her daughter to church to herself come to Christ.
• I expect all the seed that has been planted and the roots that have been growing, to begin to show new signs of life above the surface. New ministries, new wineskins, new wine…I expect that which is exceedingly abundantly beyond what I can ask or imagine.

I believe that on the two year anniversary of Engage21, I will look back with great thanksgiving for the relationships that continue to be built, the lessons that so many are sharing with me, and a level of marked victories that will have been attained in my own life, community, city, church and denomination.

Continuing to engage,

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

One of the drawbacks to the modern American church is our propensity for closing churches down instead of retooling them to be life giving and hopefully giving them a fresh start to grow from. The short answer to the question of “can a small church be life giving” should be “yes”, but it can be a relatively arduous task with little fruit over long periods of time.

Perhaps we should re-evaluate what constitutes “life giving churches” in regards to smaller congregations, but at the same time, we need to be honest about how to know when you’re beating a dead horse.

It goes without saying that if you have a small church in a small community that by simple ratio of membership to population you should be able to have a life giving small church. But what about smaller churches in those larger communities that have not been able to overcome church growth constraints such as facilities and parking?

I ask this because having pastored both of these types of churches over the past ten years, and having spent time gleaning from some of the best pastors inside and outside the Church of God, I have come to the conclusion that being a life giving church has nothing to do with the size of your congregation but everything to do with the size of your vision.

I don’t want to be a small church pastor…my church does not want to be a small church. As long as I can continue to cast a realistic over arching vision with tangible marks to attain, then my church will continue to be life giving both when it is small and as it grows. For small churches to be life giving, there may be seasons when winning souls causes an increase in other churches before it brings an increase to your own. The point is that you keep the vision in front of you and your congregation while celebrating every achievement along the way.

Vision does not have to include only property, attendance and finance. While vision should always include conversions, discipleship and assimilation, we should not limit the scope of our vision to just the tangibles of church growth. Our vision should go beyond us, and constantly be enlarging as our sphere of stewardship grows within the community.

For me, the vision that I continue to cast is one in which our entire city is impacted with the Gospel and presence of Christ. On the grand scale this is something with tangibles and intangibles. For our local congregation the tangibles include increased property, new services, new worship experiences, greater community involvement, and increased attendance through soul winning and discipleship. The area I am lacking the most in this vision is assimilation…an area I will continue to work toward.

In the midst of all of this, there is a heartfelt cry for revival that continues to rise. The renewed focus on prayer has been great. The citywide prayer and fasting has been awesome. God is doing things all around us, and prayer has been the key. I believe that as the vision continues to be saturated with prayer the church will continue to grow. Until the growth is obvious, we will continue doing our best to give life to the community around us. 

With this in mind, let me ask you to pray with us:

• Our new focus will be “Pray 75″, a prayer campaign designed to pray for and bring in 75 pre-Christians over the next year.
• We will be launching “Victory Celebrations” in May, a Saturday evening outreach to the urban sector around our church.
• I will continue working with the City of Huntington to try and be a part of the solution to the problems of drugs and violence within our community.
• Finally, it is time to dream big…I am going to be looking into the possibility of utilizing an old boarded up bowling alley, trusting God to supply enough finances to purchase the entire city block that the bowling alley is on as well as retrofit it for a church that will seat 400-500 with ample parking.

So as I cast this refined vision to a small land locked church with grossly inadequate facilities, I pray they will not only be receptive, but will take the vision and run with it…because even small churches can be life giving churches.

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

While I sit here and look at the snow piling up on the deck (again) I’m going over everything that’s gone on since my last post. So much has been taking place inside of me and all around me during the “Divine Experiment”. Here are just a few of the highlights that I will hopefully come back to in future posts:

1.) It was refreshing…like getting saved all over again. I dealt with so much junk that has been going on in me, my home and my ministry, that it is like a whole new me. God’s grace is so wonderful! At the same time I am so intensely aware of areas of my life that God is working on that I feel drawn to going through the process all over again.

2.) It was revolutionary…seven churches coming together daily for prayer. Testimonies of what God has done are continuing to come in. Healings, employment, deliverance, family restorations…awesome stuff. Now we are transitioning to weekly prayer times to keep the united nature of this movement going, and looking to invite other churches to join in.

3.) It was renovative…God took my plans and dreams and began to dismantle them so He could give me clearer vision for my life, family, ministry and church. As a result, our ministry team has a new focus. In May we will kick off a new service designed specifically for the un-churched within our community; not a program but a real mission.

4.) It was real…not just a “let’s pray” meeting but a “let’s get together with God and see what He does” encounter.

In addition to the awesome experiences of the experiment, there are so many other things taking place with the folks at Tenth Avenue CoG, and the community around us:

1.) Our youthdepartment is growing rapidly…and the community is responding. We are looking at sending several youth to Winterfest for the first time in six years. We are also hoping to send as many kids as possible from the neighborhood to youth camp, and our STAND OUT drama/dance team is beginning to move out from behind the church walls.

2.) While most churches in our area are showing declining finances our church is doing the best financially that is has done in at least five years…not yet enough to increase our payroll, but we are getting close. There is increasing momentum toward ministry.

3.) The Federal Weed and Seed program is moving forward. I met with the local director and one sub-committee today. 25 agencies and organizations came together to begin a network for supporting community improvement. A week from tomorrow I will have my first meeting as a part of the steering/oversight committee. $1 Million to help us turn the tide in the “war” on drugs…which isn’t anything like what Nancy Reagan used to tell us.

All in all there is an expectancy in the air. Something is shifting, and I’m shifting with it. The very atmosphere is changing and I’m getting so excited! I’m like a 5 year old on Christmas morning!

God is just so…wow…awesome!

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

Today I took part in my third annual Cabell County Drug Summit, combining numerous agencies and outreaches that are trying to tackle the problems of drug addiction and the violence associated with it.

Today’s primary focus was prescription drug abuse. We learned that the problem is huge in WV (5th largest in the nation) and we learned many of the reasons that perpetuate the problem. For instance keeping pain killers in a family medicine cabinet that is unlocked with children in the house. All in all it was very informative.

I was a little concerned that there was so little participation from the faith leaders in the community. Then when I began hearing the reports from each of the roundtable discussions, I was surprised that many of those at the tables brought up issues of faith and the involvement of churches.

Three years ago, the faith community was off to itself, disconnected from most of the forefront in the war on drugs. Now it seems that the faith community has become intertwined on several levels with the agencies that are leading in the fight. For this I am truly grateful. Yet, there were only a handful of churches that had official representation at the event. What surprised me more was that this years speakers didn’t seem to be real favorable toward churches…possibly because of the defensive attitude of one clergyman early on in the seminar.

I wonder if pastors are becoming dis-enchanted with the secular models of treatment and would much rather preach about the problem than get involved with being a part of the solution.

I wonder if I can retool some of my networks to address the problem.

I wonder if I’m really ready for the next level.

The challenge for everyone in attendance was great, but I feel that the challenge for faith communities is perhaps greatest. In this next year will we come together to help solve the problem, or will we continue our backwards slide into the abyss of apathy that has held the church back from really making a difference?

One thing that is for certain is I must one up my commitment level. I need to do more to help and do all I can to not hinder. I also need to find a way to bridge some obvious gaps in this exchange of ideas. Some of the faith community walked away from the table today, saying the separation between church and state was too great to continue. Not me. I believe that as the church continues to become involved in the various agencies that already exist and we begin to uplift each others outreaches while working in our own fields that God will honor our efforts and bless all levels of this conflict.

No matter what, we can’t give up. With 90% of my church’s youth being directly affected by illicit drugs I can ‘t give up. With my kids growing up in this community I can’t give up. For the sake of the Kingdom of God, I can’t give up…and I won’t.

DBjr

Well, it’s been a while since my last post. Christmas and the relaunch of our church web site took a lot more time than I thought. I still find myself having to catch up on things, and have not yet completely finished the church site, but we are getting there.

One of the things I’ve been struggling with is trying to blend content and style in our services to appeal to everyone. This last year, our single largest service leaned more “Southern Gospel” than anything. Our second largest service leaned very heavily “Urban Contemporary”. Between the two services this is what I observed: the largest number of “churched” individuals came to the southern gospel service while the largest number of “unchurched” came to the urban.

So while I am catching up, and preparing for the Divine Experiment, I am seriously wondering, should I keep trying to blend everything? I don’t particularly like blended foods and drinks unless the tastes are compatible, and so far blended services don’t seem to be working.

Should I focus on the southern gospel? This is not a good fit for me, but I could make do, and obviously the attendance and finance would be greater.

Should I focus on the urban contemporary? This is what I feel more comfortable with, even though my whiteness shines through. This is definitely the most Evangelistically appealling format.

Or, should I do both seperately, starting another service on Sunday for one or the other…or even a service on another day of the week? This is an idea uthpstrJ (youth pastor Jeremy) and I have been bouncing around for a couple months now.

I am hoping for guidance in this new year, and the 21 day prayer and fasting campaign that Huntington area churches are going through I believe will help me hear the leading of the Spirit more closely.

As a side note; our church lost a great Christian leader on Christmas day. Doyle B. Justice was one of the most outstanding Lay leaders the Church of God has ever had. When others bragged about their buildings and finances, I bragged about Doyle. He was the best clerk/treasurer that I have ever known of, and he was a great blessing not only to our church, but to myself and my family. He will be sorely missed, but I have no doubt where he is tonight. Please continue to keep his family in your prayers.

Blessings,

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

A week and a half ago we were finishing up our first real vacation in a long time. Chuck E Cheese, the Creation Museum (which was awesome), Newport Aquarium, Cheesecake Factory, and hours of indoor swim time had just about worn me out…aren’t vacations supposed to be restful and relaxing?

As we were beginning to pack up to come home to the city God has called me to, I began to become sick. My back began spasming, I got really light headed…it was awful.

As we began the journey homeward I thought about how much I just wanted to stay where I was. I thought about all the hard parts of pastoring an old church which is in transition. I thought about all the work that was piling up in the office. I had a phone call from the state office in the middle of my pity party, and it added to the tension (nothing bad…just business). I began thinking about all my personal financial woes. Before I knew it I said “God I’m ready to just give up…If you’ll let me, I’ll resign and go flip burgers at McDonald’s.”

Then we stopped at a Family Christian bookstore in Florence, KY. When I walked in the door I saw a framed print on the floor leaning against the wall. It was a portrait of Christ, badly beaten, bleeding, and falling under the weight of His cross. The Spirit nudged me, “What if I had given up?” He said, “Let this cup pass from Me…Remember? But I didn’t give up. I did what was required of Me.”

After a few minutes, we got in the van and began driving again. This time Monica was driving and I was riding shotgun. The kids had picked out A Horse and His Boy from the Chronicles of Narnia to listen to on the return trip, so I changed out CDs as necessary.

I kept remembering what the Lord had impressed upon me in the bookstore, but I still pitied myself.

Then we came to the parts on the CD where the young boy Shasta had his own pity parties. One in particular is while he is lost, riding a horse in a dense fog, not able to see where he is going, nor anything around him. He strikes up a conversation with another traveler who is walking beside him, even though he can’t see him. As he lists his complaints to the unseen companion, he speaks of the challenges of meeting lions, and declares himself to be unfortunate.

The unseen sojourner then begins to explain to Shasta that there were not “lions” but ”a lion”…and then tells Shasta that this unseen traveling companion is in fact that self same lion. He proceeds to explain that he was the lion who had carefully guided Shasta’s life through the hardships and into this very moment. When asked who this lion was, he simply replied, “Myself”. The lion knew who the boy really was, that he was not an unfortunate orphan raised as not much more than a slave, but in fact Shasta was Cor, a crowned prince and future king.

The lion, whom fans of Narnia know as Aslan, is a symbol of Christ and once again the Spirit began to nudge me using this simple allegory.

Here I am wishing I could give up in the fog, but Christ sees something I can not see…my life is not about where I’ve been, it is about where I am going.

My parents used to sing a song that says: Little is much, if God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown and you can win it, if you’ll go in Jesus name.

So when I get discouraged…when I just want to give up…I remember there is someone on this path Whom I can’t see yet. He knows where I’ve been, He knows where I am, but more importantly, He knows where I am going, and sometimes I just need to see myself through His eyes.

As Winston Churhill famously stated, “Never give up…Never give up.”

And so to you my friend I say as well, “Never give up”.

Blessings,

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

Lately I’ve been on perhaps the most difficult journey of my ministry, and it hasn’t been what I imagined the most difficult journey would be. I always thought the hard parts were building campaigns, church splits and new plants, but now I’ve become uncomfortably aware that all of these things are not really the hardest spots on this trek.

The hardest thing I have ever had to face in my ministry is when I and the congregation look in the mirror and see ourselves for who we truly are. Instead of hungering and thirsting after righteousness we hunger and thirst for programs that produce statistical growth. Instead of seeking first the Kingdom we seek first our own well being and hope the Kingdom will be added unto us. I spend 6 to 8 hours a week preparing for my sermons but spend only 3 to 4 hours a week preparing for God’s presence.

The alcoholic that comes through our doors leaves with a hug, a handshake and an invitation to a Christian 12 step program.

The cancer patient leaves with the odor of anointing oil and a promise we will continue to pray for them while they go through treatment.

The bound leave believing God helps those who help themselves, and the sick leave believing God will help them endure.

Something is wrong with this…and that something is me. I’ve been so wrapped up in growing a church that I haven’t been effectively bringing people into the Holy of Holies. I’ve been so afraid of wild fire that I’ve thrown water on the embers. I’ve been so focused on pleasing my superiors that I’ve neglected the Superior.

It’s been all about I, I, I…but that has to stop. Somehow this church, and all of our churches have to get back to being about HIM, HIM, HIM. The only way that happens is if it begins in me.

Yesterday I entered into covenant with ministers from a handful of churches. Four of those ministers were from my own denomination. Our covenant was to earnestly seek the face of God together, trusting in God’s divine guidance to lead us (and our congregations) to where He has always intended for us to be, and maintaining an expectant hope for what God will do as we welcome Him to be Lord of our lives, congregations, communities and region. Churches with 3000 members and churches with 30 members agreed together to stop trying to do the work of God for Him, and simply let Him do His work through us however He wants to do it.

As a result we will be fasting and praying together for 21 days after the first of the year. For this period of time we will be letting go of many of our programs, and instead taking time twice a day to pray corporately. We have felt convicted that most of our outreach has been ineffective at reaching the “lost” because the “found” are not dealing with their own stuff. How can we offer deliverance when we ourselves are bound up? We believe that this 21 day process, known as the “Divine Experiment” will help our churches to begin dealing with the spiritual matters of the heart which elude us in our post modern lifestyles. We then believe that as we maintain our covenant together that God will begin to birth new plans, and even renovate old programs, to help us reap the ever growing harvest.

So now I find myself parking the activity side of my missional model, and focusing on preparing myself for the presence of God. Having heard of a handful of other American communities who are also on this trek, I know that we are not alone in this process. Having heard of their struggles along the way, I also know this is probably the most difficult journey for the American church, perhaps even the Western church as a whole.

As a result of this journey, and since this blog has become an outflow of my heart, I am sure that the topics expressed over the next several months will be different in substance than my previous posts. I hope that you will wish me well on this journey, and that you might even check back in from time to time just to see what God is doing.

In Him,

Darrell Buttram, Jr.

I’ve gone head on into the conference season, and am beginning to feel conferenced out. Add on to that Josh’s recovery from his appendectomy and you have a stress filled powder keg.

I have about one more month of conferences and network meetings before things settle down, and juggling all my duties over this next month is a great challenge. Yet in spite of it all I am getting great ideas for our church and ministry while developing tremendous relationships with wonderful pastors and ministry leaders.

In the midst of all this busy-ness I keep reflecting on Dennis Adams Making a Difference post from a couple weeks ago. As this ministry becomes more and more hectic, I am wondering what others are doing to help combat the stress loads in their lives.

So what do you do during those seasons when there is a lot of stress but very few things you can really let go of?