Long time, a ton of change

Well, let's start with some good news.

1)  Dennis returned to work today.  He is on limited duty for 2 weeks but besides a scar above the eye, you can hardly tell he's been gone.  He's in good spirits and all there with a good sense of humor still.  It's good to see him and I look forward to working with him once again.

2)  Dianne's birthday was yesterday.  She got a Wii and a Wii Fit for her birthday so now my family is all into that.  It's cool.  More exercise for us (some exercise for me) will be good, especially if I ever plan on losing some weight.  I was able to do 2 pushups yesterday before I said I have to work up for this.  Not that I couldn't have pushed more out (probably another 3 or 4) but I looked silly :)  It's fun making new mii's though.  I got a Chuck Norris, Mr. T and Strong Bad now, as well as an ant guy.  The bull guy is coming next.  I'll figure out our wii number so we can be friends.

3)  The AWANA Art Auction was very good.  It was funny though.  The first 30 people through the door all have added First Baptist Church of Fontana as a fan group on Facebook.  (We have a facebook group now... go check it out.  I need to add more events.)  I guess the reminder helped.  We ended up raising about $160 after costs which makes for a pretty good night.  And the food was real good.

The bad:

1)  Dale has left the church.  It makes for some interesting dynamics starting to come into play.  I wonder if it won't be long until we get some splintering going on with people trying to make power plays -- but I hope and pray not.  Brian is doing a fantastic job behind the pulpit and not pulling any punches.  Good preaching.

2)  My family has been sick for most of the week.  I had to miss 2 days of work last week, my wife has been miserably sick (not to mention her toothache... oh, I mentioned it) and my son was sent home from school this morning shortly after being dropped off.  All too much fun.  I hate being sick.

The ugly:

1)  Well, there is only really one thing in here.
With Dale leaving, a new pulpit committee has to be created.  There has been some discussion on how this pulpit committee should be constructed.  With the way the by-laws are constructed and changed in the last 8 years, I pointed out that the Leadership team should be nominating the pulpit committee and then brought forward to the church for final approval.  This was voted on by the church in a business meeting, which disbanded the nominating committee as a separate committee and placed that responsibilty on the Leadership Team.
Let me say this:  This is not a power play on my part.  It is following church rules set by the church.  Someone said something incredibly stupid that got back to my parents and has made my mom quite upset:  They didn't want the Leadership Team to make the decisions on who is on the pulpit committee because there are too many Escarzaga's on the Team.
There are so many ways I can go with this.  If they don't want Escarzaga's doing so much work in the church, then they should volunteer and take some of our responsibilities.  Only one Escarzaga has ever been paid by the church (me) as being part of staff.  The rest of them (including myself now) are volunteer.  We are not trying to take over the church.  We do so much because so much is required.
There is a theory that 80% of everything done in the church, 80% of what is given, 80% of whatever is done by 20% of the people.  If they want the Escarzaga's to be less of the 20%, join it and diminish our rolls.  It's not a matter of ego -- it's ministry.
The idea that the Escarzaga's are trying to take over the church is ridiculous.  Running the children's ministry is not the place to take over a church.  Being the youth director is not the way to take over the church.  The library is not a strategic place of conquest.  AWANA is not a good staging ground.  The only position anyone has had that could be said to be a good place to begin the conquest is the chairman of the deacons, which my dad has done twice, and has gracefully turned over when his turn was over.  This is to the point now that he is not even a deacon anymore.  Church politics.  Some people play them.  Some people are involved from the outside by those who are playing while not wanting anything to do with them.  Some people just minister.  As far as I know, there has been no attempt to change the name of FBC Fontana to EBC Fontana (Escarzaga Baptist Church.)  If that ever comes, I for one won't be part of it.
This goes for Steve and I -- be careful what you say about those that God has put in the place where they are.  Case in point:  1 Samuel 26:

⁸ Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice."  ⁹ But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD's anointed and be guiltless? ¹⁰ As surely as the LORD lives," he said, "the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. ¹¹ But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go."

David was anointed to be the next king of Israel by Samuel and God in chapter 16 of Samuel.  He knew that God had given him the position of king.  He knew that Saul was going to have to die.  He knew no one would question him as Saul was on a manhunt to kill him and this would be seen as self defense.  But still, David had respect for the position that God had put Saul in.  In the same way, you may not like the person who is there.  You may not agree with everything they do.  But you best beware when attacking God's anointed.  God will do His work.  He will call those out when He does.  He will do what needs to be done to make changes when He feels fit.  In the end, it's not about you, your comfort, your preferences, or your feelings.  It is about God Almighty and His will, His pleasure, and His praise.  God has people in the places where they are because it is His call.  It is not that those who are called to ministry are untouchable.  We should be held accountable.  We should have to make account for our gifts and responsibilities not only to our God but to our church.  It is that when you go up against those called by the Lord, you better make sure you do so with prayer and humility because there is a reason they are in the position in the first place and if they need to be removed, the position MUST maintain the integrity of it's inherit respect.  If David would have killed Saul at this point, the position of king of Israel would have lost some integrity as something that is not from the Lord but could be taken by force -- i.e. killing the current king.  Too many positions of power are ill-gained and ill'er-lost.  Ministry is not a position of power to those in the ministry -- it is a spiritual responsibility given by God to work for His glory and if we, as ministers, are doing so for glory, power, or prestige, then we are in the wrong job.
Be careful how you attack the anointed of God.
I think I've gone on long enough on this (although there is a huge part of me who wants to preach this, but I better not because it's not the time or my place at this point.)