I know that this series on Key people has been interrupted a few times and  there has been an obvious irregularity to the posts. I want to tell you that the reason for the sporadic postings is a personal issue that I will briefly address.

Truth be known I got discouraged.

I’m not proud to admit that, nor am I ashamed to tell you that I have been taking a long look at the Jude 3 Fellowship and why I started it and what has and hasn’t happened since its inception.

Originally my expectation was that once I completed my book,  Fatal Drift…Is The Church Losing Its Anchor? I would be traveling around the country doing interviews and book signings and most important of all…I would be speaking at churches.

Now I must say that I have spoken at some churches, and some para church groups but on the whole I just didn’t seem to get the message of the book out sufficiently to create some momentum.

Frankly the publishers gave me the impression that they would arrange for the book to get into bookstores and would arrange for signings and publicity. As it turned out they merely got it on distribution lists and did no marketing at all.

That being said, I can report that once I actually get in front of a congregation, there is is great interest in the topic. Since I don’t have a staff or and clerical support, it is left to me to administrate, and contact pastors, and to try and get interviewed on the radio.

So for now, I am going to try and be more regular in my posts in this venue and trust that the Lord will get me where He wants me to go.
Now back to the topic of “Key People”. So far, we have talked about the process of making a key:

  1. Present a blank
  2. Get “Locked in” for the entire process
  3. Keys are “Cut” not made
  4. The sharp edges have to go though the Grinding process to take off any rough edges
  5. Once the grinder has done its work then the key must be “buffeted

Now I put the word Buffeted in italics because when the man at the hardware store was giving me a tutorial on how keys are cut, he made mistake. I am sure he meant to say “Once the blank had been cut, and ground, it still need to be “BUFFED.”

When he said buffeted, I knew that I once heard that word used in the  Bible. It is used to describe someone who is being tossed about in a wind storm or pounded by the waves of a storm-tossed sea.

To become a Key person is to submit to a process and stay locked in to a regime that involves periodic seasons in which you and I are buffeted….storm-tossed….or generally caught up in a whirlwind. In seasons like these, the last vestiges of the sharp edges are literally blown away.

Job’s children were all killed when a strong wind knocked down the house in which they were celebrating. Yet it is also by means of the whirlwind that God Almighty eventually speaks to Job.

The office of the pastor/teacher involves preparing people for the inevitable storms of life

“And he gave… some to be pastors and teachers ‘to equip the saints for the work of the ministry…that we be no longer babes; tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine…by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming…” Ephesians 4:9-14

I don’t know about you but I feel like the church is in the midst of storms right now. I took great comfort from reading Psalm 107: 25-30. I hope you will too…

“For He spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ ends. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and He brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm and he guided them to their desired haven.”

Buffeting is not punishment. It’s necessary preparation. Going through a storm or being buffeted by the waves is not to prove your strength or bravery…it is to teach you and I dependence upon the One Who can calm any storm by the word of His mouth.

Calm me down Lord. I trust You that I will get to a safe haven. Amen.

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