Had it not been for the simple click of a mouse button, I would never have bothered to send my resume to Seoul, Korea. But as I read the description of the international church seeking its first non-missionary pastor, something inside me stirred.
I was serving a church in North Georgia at the time, about an hour north of Atlanta. It had been twenty-four years since I left a career as a Financial Controller for a Fortune 500 company. The story behind that decision is worth sharing.
I was living in Orlando, Florida when my older brother - twelve years my senior - boarded a plane in Scotland and came to see me. Duane served as a pastor in the Church of Scotland. He had received a master’s degree in Scottish history from the University of Saint Andrews, where he met a lovely Scottish lass who became his wife.
One thing led to another, God directing his life in ways he could have never imagined, and after a few years, he received another degree from the University of Exeter and began serving a church in Udny Greene, a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
It was there that the Holy Spirit prompted Duane to visit his baby brother.
The truth is, I was at a crossroads and knew it. The same Spirit leading Duane was stirring in me. I had committed my life to Christ at the age of fifteen, but the distractions and temptations of college took their toll. I couldn’t remember the last time I attended church.
But God was at work deep inside. I knew I was at a crossroads. The choices I would make as a young man in his twenties would determine the course of my life for years to come.
Duane spent a few days with me in Orlando. During that time, he shared his story of how God led him to his church in Udny Greene. On his last night, he laid his hands on me and prayed. A good church and a godly wife were among the things Duane asked for in my life. The next morning Duane left.
It wasn’t a week later, maybe just a day or two; I can’t remember exactly. A friend from high school had accepted a job in Orlando. David and I played a lot of tennis together over the years, and we were on our way to the courts that day when he turned to me and said, “Hey Dan, you know what we ought to do?”
I can’t explain it, but before the words came out of David’s mouth, I knew what he was going to say. “We need to start going to church.”
Let me be clear about something. David’s suggestion had nothing to do with deepening our spiritual life. “I can’t think of a better place to meet girls and play team sports than a big church.” That was the motivation behind David’s suggestion.
But I knew there was more to it than that. God was up to something in my life.
Several weeks later, after multiple visits to churches in the Orlando area with no prospects for girls or sports, we pulled into a parking lot planning on attending a church we found in the Yellow Pages. (Some of you reading this may have to do an internet search at this point!)
Anyway, the church was small - a converted bank building. “No way,” David said. “This church isn’t worth our time.”
I was angry. Fishtailing out of that parking lot in my Camaro, I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and said, “We’re going to the next church we come to.” A quarter of a mile later, we pulled into the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Sweetwater, Florida. We were late. The church was packed, so we were escorted by an usher to a seat on the second row. You know, the one where you still have another pew in front of you.
I’ll never forget the sermon that morning. The pastor preached from the seventh chapter of John’s gospel. It was the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Jesus stood before the crowds and in a loud voice, said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink, and rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
I was thirsty. I needed that living water. And so, I returned to the church that evening. This time without David. His church hunting days were over.
Who could have imagined that a children’s musical would be the catalyst God would use to bring his prodigal son back home? And thank God for Patty, the godly middle-aged woman who approached me after the service. “The college and career class is having a fellowship tonight. Would you like to come?”
That evening I joined in a game of UNO. A pretty, young nurse was seated to my left. We engaged in an UNO war, which she won. She also won my heart. We were married eight months later, and three months after that, we packed up a U-Haul truck and drove to Fort Worth, Texas, where I earned my Master of Divinity while serving my first church.
I drank deeply from the Living Water of the Spirit in those days. Over two decades later, sitting in my office, spiritually dehydrated, mouse button in hand, I found myself longing once again for the spiritual rivers Jesus promised. Who could have imagined those rivers were waiting for me on the other side of the world in what I like to call the church on the edge?
To be continued.
If you missed my first post in this series, you can find it here.
In Christ,
Dan
My newest book, “Where is the God of Elijah? Overcoming Spiritual Drought.” can be purchased on Kindle, through Amazon.