Dear John Letter

Well, you all know what that phrase, “Dear John Letter” means. In my short span of 4 weeks of filling out numerous on-line applications, I have received a few of these rejection letters. You know how it goes. “Sorry, but you are not qualified for the position available.” Or, “we have decided to fill the position, internally at this time.” Of course I have a slew of others who have only responded with, we have your resume or application and don’t call us, we will call you. (Italics mine; paraphrase mine)

That’s about par for the course on my job search; these are mostly small local retail or business related jobs of which I have very little if any experience. My job set skill is primarily church related–either in direct ministry or in para-church ministry. Honestly, I have checked into a few opportunities in the church world, but nothing has come of that route yet–but I need to give that time. Rome wasn’t built in a day ( I believe it took a few years, with very little union related work stoppages!)

But with so many eyes and ears that they are in this large internet world, if you know of an church related opening, let me know. Otherwise, continue to pray.

I have tried to keep up on some needed reading. I wish now, when I boxed up my office, that I had done a better job of cataloging what book was in what box–but I honestly didn’t think about that type of organization. I have frequented my local library enough that maybe someone will cut me a payroll check, since I’m hanging there often. I would rather be at Borders or the Christian Bookstore–but they insist on collecting payment for the books I try to check out of those businesses.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend ahead. Carol and I are hoping to worship at Woodland Camp this weekend for their Family Camp. We have some dear friends to connect with who will be at the camp this weekend. Keep praying–keep watching for employment opportunities and keep in touch.

The Last Day

Today is my last official day as Pastor of the Velocity Church. For me this process began years ago, when a group of men approached me to help change the church where they served. What can be done to make us a strong viable growing group of God’s children in this area. We prayed and I researched and studied and prayed some more. Suggestions were given and the men chose to follow the path of selling assets and putting all monies into a new church plant. A location was determined and I set about to make it happen. For over two years I have been at the helm of this transition and now have come to the end of my relationship with Velocity. They soon will have a new staff; a new direction and a renewed enthusiasm for the vision. The name might be different; but the aim will be the same–reaching people in the name of Jesus.

I have so many people of whom I owe a great debt of gratitude. I have served with fine elders and deacons over the few years in this community. The members of the church were always gracious and kind to both myself and Carol. I believe that even now, if I happen to run across someone in the community while shopping, that we can speak as friends, as fellow Christians and as concerned people for God’s greatest good to be accomplished.

I have no plans to sell my home and move. I will hopefully find employment in this area, so that I can stay in my home. I have opportunities being presented to me and I am praying for God’s will and my wisdom to recognize His will in making my choice for employment.

So, keep praying for Carol and I and my career moves. Keep Velocity in your prayers. They are going to attempt to stay together and meet once a month to fellowship and exchange updates on the progress of the staff search. Soon a new pastor will be on board and regular weekly gatherings will be resumed.

I was reminded on one occasion that it was Moses to whom God gave the chance to see into the promise land, but was not alowed himself to enter the land. I am not sure I am even close to be compared to Moses, but I thank the Lord for the opportunity to lead and take Velocity so very near and to some extent into the promise land of doing new church work. I cannot wait to hear of the wonderful blessings God will pour on Velocity in the future.

Sunday Night Mind Dump

Gave some thought to my Sunday Night Mind Dump. Here is what I came up with, after much consideration, contemplation and concentration.

1. Great services this morning at CCC in Sharpsburg.

2. Ed Martin brought the word powerfully and clearly.

3. Hope that next week, he will talk to others, beside me–I was convicted today for sure.

4. Still have unfinished office work upcoming for the transition of Velocity Church to the South Paulding Church Plant.

5. That would be VC to the SPCP.

6. Praying for this time of seeking God’s direction for Velocity and their future–God will deliver.

7. Some former Velocity friends are gathering at Taylor Farm Park on Wednesday at 7:00 pm for prayer walks. Awesome

8. My upcoming week includes an interview tomorrow morning (Monday). Pray, pray, pray.

9. Carol’s officially on the job at school tomorrow–BUT it is a mandatory furlough day, so she’s hitting the pool one last time.

10. I’ve been invited to play golf. But, I have to borrow or buy a golf bag. I left mine in Ohio. I have clubs–but tough to carry them without a bag or caddie who is multi-armed.

11. Let me explain–last visit north, my lovely wife and daughters hit the outlet malls; loading up the car, my clubs could be easily placed in various places, but the golf bag, remains behind in my father-in-law’s garage. What sacrifice it takes being a dad.

12. Hope your week goes well and that the rain slows down just a bit. What ever happened to the dog days of summer?

13. Speaking of dogs–I can’t wait till the dog pound and the Cleveland Browns start up; And I am also waiting on the OSU Buckeyes to hit the gridiron. Go Browns–go Bucks.

14. I be gone–see ya.

Sunday Night Mind Dump

What a great day in the Lord at Velocity.

1. We had a full band for worship in the park. God kept the breakers from shutting us down early.

2. No cops showed up–too bad, I thought that would have been interesting for sure.

3. Chase and the band did an awesome job considering our outdoor setting.

4. We have a rather good attendance–I was proud for so many who love the Lord enough to support us right up to the end.

5. I hugged a lot of people today. Everyone was hugging on necks, as we knew this was the last worship gathering for a few months.

6. I so appreciate those who have allowed me to lead them as pastor for the last 5 years. We have all gone through valleys and climbed mountain tops together. They are my family in Georgia.

7. I thank the Lord for those who are re-connecting with Velocity and with the Lord, even at this late date. God will bless them for decisions to return to the fold.

8. I thank those who have joined our body in Christ over the last few weeks or months. I am sorry we have to shut down, when a few have shown an excitement for the faith and the vision. God will carry them through our quiet time.

9. I am thankful for the management team, who has worked tirelesslly with me to create and build a stong foundation for the next steps. I am thankful to the new management team for their incite, wisdom and desire to continue the work of Velocity.

10. I really enjoyed eating out at Stevie B’s for lunch with some new and good friends. I ate too much. But, the visiting was great–thank God for good friends.

11. Can you believe it–I loaded  up the cooler, the carry box with supplies, the snacks left over, and a bunch of other stuff to take back to the office. When I got home, I realized I had left my Bible at the park. I drove back, but it was gone. If it was retrieved by a Velocity person–thanks. If it was retrieved by someone at the park, enjoy this book–it is the greatest book, and love story ever written.

12. I am sitting outside, writing this because of my wireless router set up. Thanks to David V. for his help and advice that talked me through the setup.

13. Next Sunday–not sure  where Carol and I will worship–that decision will be made later.

14. Let me correct an announcement about my future. I have a letter, promising me an interview in early August. But the interview has not been officially lined up as of yet. Still, pray that it will be lined up soon and that God opens the doors for this opportunity. (More on the opportunity later).

15. I also will be scheduling a lunch with a good pastor friend to talk about my next steps. I value his opinion and advice–well worth the cost of lunch for me.

Well, not much else to dump off my mind tonight. It was a bitter sweet day. And end of an era (ok, maybe that’s rather large term) and the beginning of a new day–for Velocity and for the Stebeltons.

A New Direction

Well, I have taken my blog space off on a new direction. My days with Velocity Church are about done. It has been an interesting 5 year run, since moving to Douglasville. I would rather not answer the question, “If you had to do it over again…?”  To answer that is to live in the past. I can’t change the past, so why worry about it. Yes, if the opportunity arises to make alterations to the past, I might sign up. But until Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine is a reality–what’s done is done. I would rather see life from out the front, than long for the view in the rear view mirror. So, with my upcoming change in employment status, comes a new name, a new aim and new claim.

Velocity Volume is not “On My Mind”. I hope to just share my thoughts on life, on church, on my pursuits and also on those elements of life which strike me as particularly funny. Maybe it the amateur ventriloquist in me, but sometimes even the most sanctimonious can be hilarious. Well, at least to me, so excuse my ‘ faux pas’ if they strike you as decadent or immature.

So, I travel a new road; hope to give you something worth reading and enjoying. Can’t promise you I will be blogging every day–a man’s got to eat and I will be fine tuning my resume; praying a lot; and hopefully riding my bicycle frequently. And, oh yeah, taking some pictures on occasoin to share with everyone. I am getting hooked on Facebook, so look for me there. And without a data phone, I am not certain my twitter updates will occur as frequently as before. I will sure miss my iPhone.

PS  This is Velocity Church’s last Sunday service for a while. We are at the Taylor Farm Park this weekend. I hope to see a good crowd at the shelter. Even if it rains, come out and join us under the Pavilion shelter at the back of the park.

That’s Where That Thing Got Off Too

OK, so as to not totally shock everyone who is in the dark, Velocity Church is closing down, temporarily. Hold your tears, for later. This was a planned shut down, in order to allow a new staff to be found, hired and allowed to do some fund raising, before big, new, exciting, re-launch later this year. Applause–thank you. It really is exciting to partner with Stadia Church planters, and use their experitise to guide our next phase of growth. Ok, now back to those tears–ready–I, as a result of this change, I am out of a job. Ok, tear machine, let her flow. Seriously, a new staff will be found and brought in to serve in the Velocity Plant and I am now on the hunt for God’s next challenge for me.

Having worked in the business community for 15 years, and worked as a minister for even more than that, well, I am entertaining all offers. (All one of them, and I turned it down.) I am trusting God, living on a small severance and counting down from 90 the number of days till I panic. So, with less than two weeks left in my office, I am cleaning out file cabinets, drawers (only two), shelves and others places (boxes) where my worldly goods are stashed. And guess what–I have found some things that I never knew I had or at least had forgotten. That’s good to some extent. Now I ask, “Do I really need them?” I have found some things that I thought were lost, gone, given away or raptured. I found things which were not mine, which some good friend ask to have it returned and I thought for sure, I had lost it.  Bill G. a CD is on it’s way later this week. By now, it is filled with golden oldies, but since you are a golden oldie, you can enjoy it again. (Touching Heaven Changing Earth, Hillside worship CD). Hope it works, it was buried beneath a lot of stuff.

I did not find any bearer bonds, cash money, or winning lottery tickets. I did find things I believe used to have another life–what is the half life for a french fry? Somewhere between coal and diamonds probably. And I found lots of stuff to throw away–two trash bags (white small ones) filled with history–good, bad and ugly.

It is good to take inventory of your life. Putting your hands on the plow and then looking back will gain you nothing. Living life in the past does not accomplish a thing, but only slows us down to a crawl, because we can’t see where we are going. I made a promise to move into this new office and de-clutter my life. I failed. So, in my next step, I will again renew my commitment to minimize my junk, keeping only what is useful and relevant at the moment. And maybe allow myself, one petrified french fry, but only one–really.

Walk and Chew Gum and Pray

Coordination for some people is a very tough challenge. You know the type. They can’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time. We all get caught up in habits, some of which are good and some of which are bad. I have my share of both kinds; and unfortunately for me, it’s the enjoyment of living in a rut that keeps me from changing, even the bad habits.

This Sunday, Velocity Church will hold worship gathering number 3 at the local park. God has allowed us a great service of quiet contemplative worship. With an acoustic guitar, some bongos, and no microphone, we have sung worship songs and heard a challenging devotion or message about the encounters of Jesus, around the sea of Galilee. This week we follow Jesus up into the mountains, where He sought solace and time alone with God. We are going to walk, talk and pray–all at the same time. Practice folks, please practice.

Jesus’ distractions were not all like ours. We find ourselves slaves to electronics such as TV’s, Computers, and Cell Phones. We fill our free time with family activities, recreational pursuits and yard chores. We stay up too late, get up too early and wonder why we are always too tired to read our Bibles or pray. What distractions of this magnitude did Jesus have? Well, His distractions were numbered in the thousands or millions or possibly billions. On His heart He carried the burden of every person created or yet to be created, because He came as the Savior of all. As a preacher, my greatest burden are those with whom I serve. I am frustrated by people being people–fickle, upset over little things, burnt out over nothing and just generally uninterested in growing in their faith. I am frustrated because I don’t know what the words are that will wake up a sleeping giant, the church.

With just a few weeks, till a planned shutdown of Velocity Church, while the new managment team assumes control and seeks a new staff, I actually in some wierd way, am looking forward to climbing the mountain to get away, to seek guidence, to go to God as I have never gone before–mostly because I never had took the time. I know the view from the mountain top is awesome, the air is clean and God speaks clearly, both silently and in volume. I need to listen.

This Sunday, the church is beginning this walk with me. We will praise God in song, we will take the emblems of the Lord’s Supper and we will walk and get alone with God. The body of Christ needs the time to connect with Him in a way that we have never connected before in our past. My days of leadership are numbered, but the influence must last through the season of waiting. Will that be one month or six months–only God knows for sure. But I am praying for both the church body and for my personal journey up the mountain top to hear afresh the words that I need.

Check out Psalm 20:1-5 and Psalm 37:1-7  Both of these came my way this week, via good and trusted friends who like me–seek meaning and purpose when it appears the future is filled with struggle and doubt.

Thanks to Bill Grandi for finding the video below. I found it on his web site, CycleGuy. Bill is a friend, a bike buddy and pastor.

A Slice of Life

It’s no secret–at least to those who know me. I enjoy foods that require a “slice”. A slice of pie–cherry please. A slice or two of pizza–sausage and green pepper. A slice of meatloaf–best the day after, cold and between two pieces of bread. You usually don’t slice cake, you cut cake, but it seems so similar to slicing, I will count it.

Life is filled with slices or portions that when put together make up the whole, but separate them and you have something to enjoy. The secret to contentment is to enable yourself to see the slices in life, and enjoy them.

As I look back over my life, the slices which stand out are many. Raising two beautiful girls certainly provided slices or moments that I will never forget. If you have children at home–take the time to seek slices in time to cherish–it don’t take long for those opportunities to pass.

I see difficulties faced as important slices in my life. At the time, it felt like I was being served the whole pie, not just a slice, but my perspective looking back sees it different. I can learn from that as current difficulites appear larger than they really are. I need to remember to balance them within the whole of my life experience, learn, grow and face them head on with trust.

I have slices of community among friends. Riding bikes with many over the years has shaped my life in more ways than I could count. These slices of time, enjoyed at the time, come back to me in ways I can not number. My life is different because of those moments. And still today, I look for those slices of fellowship on the two wheel track to gain perspective on life.

I also have many, many slices of experiences with my wife and partner in life. We have shared these slices together with family, friends, church and work. For 35 years the excitement and expectations are still just as real as the day we wed. I guess I should be glad she has kept me around for all those years.

As much as we learn by looking backwards, life is best lived, looking forward. There is so much that God wants to share with us on our journey. I am seeking that slice of life which will forever touch my life for good.

Paul

The Curve Ahead

For some reason, I both HATE and LOVE riding my bikes in mountains. Of course you would think so, for riding up is usually tough, but riding down is a breeze. Both I have mixed blessings of both directions. When descending a mountain, you need to watch carefully for obstructions in the road. Even the smallest size rock or hole can send a speeding bicycle to the road surface or off the road rather quickly. And if you encounter a curve; taking the inside track towards opposing traffic, well just a little left of center can spell doom, when a car decides to use the yellow line as well. In the battle between a bike and a car–cars win, hands down.

Even though I love the speed and the ease of coasting, for some reason, I also relish a challenge of achieving the mountain peak, to enable the coast to begin. Climbing is not my forte. I have never, ever been a good climber. I carry too much extra baggage on my body. My reserve muscle is what I call it. Everyone else knows it as fat. Also, I have chicken legs. My very thin calves, strain to power the pedals around and around, dragging my reserve muscle up the mountain. And then there is the switchback.

Here is my love–hate moments. I am pedaling, all of a swift 5 or 6 mph and see up ahead a curve in the road. Looking for inspiration to keep on riding, I begin to imagine what lies beyond the bend in the road. Behind me has been sweat, tears and struggles, but hope is just around the next curve. I hope for a softer grade; I hope for the sign of a downhill cruise; I dream of seeing Lance Armstrong waiting around the corner to take over my trek. OK, sometimes my imagination gets carried away. But anyway, the curve is an unknown, but it possesses hope.

Most switchbacks disappoint. You make the bend to find, more incline, more hill, more pain and struggle. But you also see–another curve–more hope.

I am not  one to say that my life has always been an uphill struggle. I have enjoyed many times of coasting freely down the slopes. In fact I on occasions have needed to tap breaks, ease the descent. Life is good and life is rewarding. But, honestly, there are times when you look back to see a period of time when the hill has gotten the best of you. You see struggles, frustrations, unfulfilled hopes and it seems rather bleak. But, all it takes, is that one longing glance up front to see the next curve.

As Velocity Church begins to change direction over the next few months, many will see this as a struggle which failed. But, too many lives have been touched by God’s grace for that to really be the case. The next few months will be an exciting time for the church. A new leadership team is being formed; a new staff is being gathered; all with tons of experience and know how of re-directing Velocity to a successful plant. The foundation is laid, now someone must come along and build up that solid foundation.

As for me, well, Velocity Volume will come to an end. The curve up ahead will take me and my ministry a different direction. I hope to continue to blog, to share my thoughts about God, His work, my place in that work, and my thoughts on His word and His will. He means too much for me, to stop expressing all that He provides, in both the challenges and with the wind in my face on those downhill runs.

The name of the blog will change; I will seek a new place to park it. In the future a new lead pastor will pick up the cause or vision and us this platform to encourage and lift those who serve and are concerned about Velocity Church.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share in the task of a transition of creating a new church out of an old church. Many, many people worked hard, prayed a lot and served faithfully over the last several years. And many of those same are on board for the next ride of Velocity’s future.

Please pray for my next steps. The curve up ahead could bring the next exciting downhill of my life or it could only mark more time to wait till God directs. In either case, I seek His will, not mine, so I am content with what comes. This doesn’t mean I am not out there knocking on doors of opportunity, which I am. God opens doors, but sometimes we must do some knocking!!

Velocity meets at the Taylor Farm Park this Sunday and next Sunday. We also have a special informational meeting on July 19th at 7:00 pm at the office for a question and answer period with the new leadership. You are invited to this meeting. Till then, I am still climbing and seeking what God has behind this curve that I see just ahead.

PWS

Having our Cake and Eating it Too

This Sunday, Velocity Church will be at the Taylor Farm Park on Pine Valley Rd. We meet at the large pavilion and begin around 10:00 AM. I hear we will have coffee this week, which will be brewed on the spot. We will bring cold drinks as well, since I am sure the Georgia heat is back with us on Sunday. And as a special treat, we will have an anniversary cake as well. It, according to my bride, will be a token cake, that is I am not to expect a piece the size of what I usually have when I eat cake. I like the corner pieces,with loads of icing. In fact, the cake is just a delivery means to get the icing to me. But, we will have plenty of cake and everyone can enjoy the celebration time after worship.

Of course, we don’t want to belittle that fact that we are at the park to celebrate Jesus as well. Every Sunday we celebrate the anniversary of His great sacrifice at Calvary, where He gave His life that we might know eternal life with Him. Hope to see another good number of people this week. Remember, to bring a guest adn bring a lawn chair if you wish. Picnic tables are available and I promise not to preach too long.

Here is a funny I ran across when I was ordering the cake for this weekend.

Some people that work here had a going away party the other day for a woman that is leaving.

One of the supervisors called a Walmart and ordered the cake. he told them to write: “best wishes Suzanne” and underneath that write “we will miss you”. here’s the cake that was delivered: