Scott Fillmer » time

Ministering to the Church At the Expense of the Family

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:55:07 +0000

This is an old topic, but one that never goes away, for good reason. Below is basically an excerpt from an assignment in one of my evangelism classes on Servant-Leadership and innovations in the Church, and also serves as a very short review of the book InnovateChurch by Jonathan Falwell. In a three part discussion on leadership, this was topic number one, learning how to minister to the church, but not at the expense of your family.

There are four non-negotiable commitments presented by Jonathan Falwell in InnovateChurch that pastors (and I would add church staff) need to make to themselves, and to God, for effective leadership in the church. As an administrative staff member I will admit, the one I found most difficult to keep is number two: I will not minister to my church at the expense of my family. On the surface, this probably sounds like an easy one to keep, and when I entered into ministry work in 2008 I was committed to this very statement right from the start.

In fact, if your ministry is to be more successful, however that is quantified, it must start with managing your household well. (1 Tim 3.5) There are a few basic things that have kept me focused on the proper balance, or margin if you will. It doesn’t always work in ministry as something, or someone, can always quickly pull you right back in with an “important” issue, or something that needs to be completed right away if you are not diligent.

It is important to make our priorities line up properly, as stated in InnovateChurch

God should be first, our family second, and our ministry third.[1] Saying or writing this isn’t good enough. This actually has to be lived out, and as such, will be proof of its importance in our lives. How are we making God our first priority? How are we managing our household well, and where do we need to change or improve what we are doing day by day.

We have to learn how to manage our time well

This means learning how to say no without feeling guilty about saying no, even if it is something important. Often times in church ministry, everything is of the utmost importance, mainly because it is most important to the person asking. We cannot get into the habit of allowing our schedule or calendar to control our life in idol-like fashion.

We have to learn how to focus on a few things we do well, and let the others go

This means learning how to delegate without looking back. Learning how to give tasks away is hard, especially if they will not be done as well as if we did them ourselves. This includes learning how to enlist volunteers, and building teams of people who can accomplish what we can’t simply because we can’t work 24 hours a day. Rarely is one person only gifted with the ability to do only one task, but God has gifted us with the ability to do a few things very well. This strikes in the face of our multi-tasking 21^st century culture, but delegating allows us to focus on those things we can do very well, or are at least our highest priority.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means of course. I do know that when I have built in margin, giving time to my family, I am more productive, and better focused as a staff member. Sometimes that means the most important place I can be, especially in the evening, is in that chair next to Deborah (and Ebby) in our living room.

[1] Jonathan Falwell, ed., Innovate Church, ed. Jonathan Falwell (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2008), 14.

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I AM Lenten Reader, Bread of Life :: Lent Day 5

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:31:50 +0000

Today our reading comes from the common book of prayer. In case you are wondering why I am on day 5 and the reader is on day 6, I am just going by the traditional “40 days” of Lent, which does not include the Sunday’s of Lent. I did it this way because there is no reading for the day on that day, it’s in the service and I’m also not posting a blog post.

Day 5 :: Friday, March 14, 2011, Bread of Life

Gracious Father, Whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread, that He may live in us, and we in Him;
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer)

Read John 6:1-15. In this passage, Jesus is providing for a physical necessity of the people who are following Him. Begin this week by worshiping God for His provision in your life.

Contemplation Over Day 5

It’s amazing how we look to Jesus for our physical needs when ultimately he was there for our spiritual eternity. Just a little bit farther down in John’s gospel, in John 6:26, Jesus says “I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves”, and often that is what we need from Jesus, to be fed and have our physical needs met. But once those physical needs are met, Jesus offers us so much more.

Living in the United States has given us what many in other countries do not have, a security in our daily physical needs, but it isn’t the government or an employer that provides us with those physical needs, even if we are trained by our culture today to think so. While it’s wonderful our physical needs for the most part are met, it doesn’t leave much room for God, nor do I think it gives us much of a reason to give God thanks for our daily needs.

Today I try to recognize that all of our physical and spiritual needs are fulfilled by God alone.

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I AM Lenten Reader, Journaling :: Lent Day 4

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:48:21 +0000

Day 4 :: Friday, March 11, 2011, Journaling

Journaling has been a practice throughout the history of the church. Prophets, philosophers, theologians wrote down their thoughts as they sought to understand God and grow in their relationship with Him. Throughout scripture, God commanded people to write things down and keep a record of what He had done so that the coming generations would know what He had done.

Psalm 119:15-16 says, I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. Journaling is active meditation on the Word of God and what He is doing in your life.

When we make a practice of journaling, it not only allows us to remember what God has done in our life, but also gives us the opportunity to reflect upon what He has done. It reminds us of His faithfulness throughout our life and serves as a tool in the growth of our relationship with Him.

Journaling is a discipline, and it may take some time to get into a good habit. This reader is a tool for you to develop the practice of journaling. There is space throughout this book for you to write your thoughts, prayers, confessions and ideas.

Take time now to begin the practice of journaling.

Contemplation Over Day 4

Journaling is something I have tried to do for many years now, but it’s also something that takes effort, time, and discipline. Journaling is quite close to blogging so it’s something I talk about with people all the time and the biggest reason I hear why people don’t do this is (1) I have nothing to say anyone would want to read (or I just have nothing to say), and (2) I don’t have time to just sit and write. Both of those reasons are quite valid but I could probably make a pretty strong argument that neither of those reasons should keep you, or myself, from writing.

The first point is a misconception about journaling or blogging, and really the only difference between journaling and blogging is one is private and one is public. Even the most mundane points or details can and do become very interesting months down the road. One reason to write down your thoughts is to specifically go back after some time has passed and reflect on your own thoughts. You will be amazed at what details you found to be important enough to write down at the time. The only regret I have in my own journaling process (and it is a process to get into the habit of writing) is not writing more, and more often.

Besides the two points listed above, the words of the Lenten Reader today couldn’t be more accurate. For me, gradually over the years, writing down my questions and thoughts about my faith have become a wonderful way to better understand my own faith, and what God’s word has to say directly to me at any given point in time. Jonathan Edwards was a master at this, and I have learned quite a bit from Edwards on how to journal, but you don’t have to be Edwards to write.

Some suggestions I might make for getting started would be:

Start off slow, try to write a little each day
Write down raw thoughts and questions
Use whatever format is easiest and fastest (pen and paper or digital)
Don’t worry about grammar or spelling
Write for yourself, not filtered for what others might think

Journaling is certainly a slow, long, continuous process that takes effort to develop, but is so well worth the time it takes. I have been working on this habit for years and feel like I have only scratched the surface.

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Processing Life Like Watson on Jeopardy or World Community Grid

Scott Fillmer — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:38:41 +0000

This is sort of a quasi review slash life contemplation post, and really ended up just being a really random article, so stick with it, but I still don’t promise a coherent application at the end this time. The title could just as easily been “How Can We Harness our Power for God’s Glory”, so maybe this is just part 1 or maybe I’m just rambling today.

A while back when Watson won on Jeopardy! (video) I watched as each “person” explained a little about the charity they would donate their winnings to if they won. IBM was to donate 100% of their winnings to a group called World Community Grid (a “charity” actually run and sponsored by IBM, so in essence they gave their $1 million winnings to themselves, but that’s another post, see also their wiki-page).

Since Watson won I have been running a pseudo test-run on the World Community Grid (WCG) system, which helps non-profits process images to fight cancer, find water to drill a well, and so on, by using the unused processing power of an idle computer user. This is almost identical to the early SETI@home project that was so popular about 10 years ago and now processes things like FightAIDS@home and “Computing for Clean Water”.

It’s a fantastic idea. Use the unused and idle time on a computer’s processor to crunch gigantic data streams that single computers just can’t do and are extremely expensive to run on mainframe computers. After running their system on a few different computers for several weeks my short personal pros/cons for WCG are:

The system is unobtrusive
Runs in the background
Is customizable to your computer’s system requirements
Does help fight cancer etc but it’s “in the cloud” and impersonal
Uses a TON more system resources than normal use (more heat, wear and tear etc)

Can We Harness Our Time and Mind Like WCG?

I still think this is such a great idea for computers that are just sitting there doing nothing almost all of the time, but so is donating those computers to non-profits that REALLY need them? This reminded me of the Toomer’s Oaks when over $30,000 was raised in a few days and thousands and thousands rallied for a few trees. It came up during the the conversations that week as well. Can’t we somehow utilize or harness this pent up man-power or money for something REALLY productive like fighting the underage sex trade going on all over the world or helping people in our own state who need food?

That’s what brought me to WCG. They do this. So why can’t we as people, as followers of Christ, do what WCG is doing with computers? I quickly came to at least a few reasons why we can’t do this.

There is No Down Time at All – I really think this is something that we, especially as Christians, need to build into our life, margin. We can use all our extra spare unused processing brain power or time to do great things but that leaves no margin in our life whatsoever.
Eventually We Would Overheat – my test computers never overheated but they were averaging cpu temps around 175*F with cooling fans blowing at 2,000+ RPM’s continually, 24-7, heating up the casings, monitors, etc. Eventually we would overheat, or burn out. Burnout is something we should fight against all the time, it robs us of times we can be productive.
Just Because it Works on a Computer – I heard a podcast sermon recently that said one of the greatest tragedies in our culture today is our school teaching children they are just pieces of matter thrown together that happened to form a human being. As advanced as science is now, we are unique, individually special people, made in God’s image, we are not random pieces of matter or even computers.

So I guess my ultimate question is one I have asked myself for years now. How can we utilize the power of the Internet, social media, our spare time, to glorify God, and do so in a way that makes an impact on someone else’s life for Christ, so they will in turn do the same?

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What’s Saint Valentine’s Day Minus Commercialization?

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:45:12 +0000

So it’s Valentine’s Day again, and while I would like to say I go all out on Valentine’s Day, I usually do not. Not only that, but I am also not a gift buyer for this day, and much of it specifically has to do with how commercialized every single possible holiday day has become. There is no man alive in this country that has an excuse for forgetting this holiday, or any holiday, at this point, we have been bombarded since New Year’s that this day was coming. I hate force buying something that isn’t really asked for in the first place, and is usually something over-manufactured for cheap pennies overseas (made in China).

So if you take away the commercialization of Valentine’s Day, where did the day come from and why do we celebrate it? As is now standard in our post-mondern society, we have taken a day once commemorating a specific day on the Christian calendar and turned it into cheap plastic toys for lack of a better phrase.

Started in A.D. 496 by Pope Gelasius I (and then later deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI), it was originally placed on the calendar on February 14th to “celebrate” the martyrdom of Saint Valentine (or Valentinus in Latin) the Patron of Love, which was actually around 14 different martyrs, not one specific person or saint. The total number of martyred saints is not completely known, and the reasons for their deaths range as well. First written about in Nuremberg, Saint Valentine supposedly was caught marrying Christian couples who were being persecuted by under Emperor Claudius in Rome (which was a crime). He was then imprisoned, where he also gained almost 50 converts to Christianity before he was executed.

So there you have it. Nothing to do with a box of chocolates, stuffed animals from Walmart, or pajamas from TV mail order.

Some may call it cheap, but I will make a public “Happy Valentine’s Day” wish to the true love of my life, Deborah. I hope I can live out the remainder of our days together as the husband you expect me to be, always ready to show you the love you deserve. Even though I didn’t buy you a box of chocolates today, I still love you very much.

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Tick Tock Goes the Clock by Jacques Marciano :: Poem

Guest Author — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:37:23 +0000

Today I have a guest author, one of my nephews (published here under my given pen name for him), graciously offered one of his poems for this Saturday sidenote post. After reading several of his poems I realized that poetry is certainly not dependent on age for elegance and beauty. My first thought was, not bad at all for a 12 year old poet, but I am not sure age has anything to do with well written poetry. When Edgar Allan Poe wrote “To Helen” in 1831 he was only 14 years old, and it still to this day it is referred to by some as one of the greatest American lyrical poems ever written.

Tick Tock Goes the Clock was the first of several he offered, which will probably grace these pages for the next few Saturday’s. I am sure he would appreciate any comments you might want to leave.

Tick Tock Goes the Clock

Tick tock goes the clock,
Twenty-four hours in a day.
Tick tock goes the clock,
Little time do we have to play.
Tick tock goes the clock,
Working, toiling, and laboring.
Tick tock goes the clock,
Getting up in early this morning,
Tick tock goes the clock.
Every second just flies away,
Tick tock goes the clock
Watching the sun’s bright leaving rays,
Tick tock goes the clock.

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Photo-Video Year in Review for 2009

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:46:20 +0000

2009 was a busy year that saw a lot of changes in our household. Throughout each month of each year for the past 15-18 years or so I have taken photos every chance I get, but it has only been in the past several years where I have taken photos of just about everything my wife and I do as we go about the year. This puts a new perspective on the year when you look back at an entire year of photos and see what all we were able to do.

People often think you need special equipment or expertise to be a good photographer, and in some cases that is probably true, but for every day events, any picture is better than no picture. Most cell phones have cameras now and they are around the 2MP range which is certainly good enough to shoot a passing smile. In fact, a good majority of the photos you will see in the video below came right out of my iPhone camera. It has taken some practice but I have gotten very good results with just using my iPhone camera, and there are many photographers that have made a point to compose a gallery here and there using their iPhone camera.

This video below is a combination of about 1,200 photos over about a 5 minute period, hope you enjoy it, happy new year to everyone. If you want to watch the video in a larger window just click 2009 Year End Photo-Video.

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Getting Sick is a Waste of Time, Or is It?

Scott Fillmer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:27:19 +0000

I would say I hate getting sick, but so does everyone. I haven’t been sick to the point where I felt like I needed to stay home from work (or refrain from work, these days you can work from anywhere) for years. I say years because I really can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel well enough to go to work, until yesterday. It really only lasted a few hours in the morning and then the rest of the day was semi-productive but it got me thinking about what a waste of time it is to be sick, or is it God’s way of forcing us to slow down.

Being sick always seemed like a waste of time to me. All of a sudden you are sitting at home with time (which seems to be manufactured from some where, because if you weren’t sick you wouldn’t have the time) to do just about anything, except you can’t or don’t do anything because… you are sick.

Time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak. In a few weeks this part of the country will be in full bloom of Spring. The photo above is one of our very early bloomers in the front yard, and a reminder that one of the most beautiful times of year in the south is on its way, if we stop and take the time to look.

10 Things That Being Sick Brings to Mind

we are not in charge
those of us in generally good health often take it for granted, until we get sick
we have time, we just don’t make time
you take pleasure in little things, like silence
a cloudy rainy day is a great time to be sick
no one wants to be around you
your spouse is the greatest person ever
nothing tastes good
daytime programing hasn’t changed and the news is still annoying
the work you did’t get done, probably didn’t need to be done that day anyway

Of course this comes from being sick where I couldn’t move or do anything for about half a day. If I was laid up for several days in a row I am not sure what in the world I would do with myself.

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What is Faith Without Love

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:00:12 +0000

I have asked this question many times before, but happens when we have faith, but no love in our heart? Does it not become an empty faith, or is it just something we do to go through the motions, or is it actually possible to have faith without love for one another. Hard to deny this in the life of Christ, and the cliche we hear a lot is having the love of Christ in your heart, but isn’t it a command given to us in scripture.

I will be the first to say this is very, very, very, very hard sometimes, and may seem almost impossible other times, but it is still written out in many places, like John, Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians to name a few:

John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13:33-35 (in Context) John 13 (Whole Chapter)
John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-36 (in Context) John 13 (Whole Chapter)
Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:9-11 (in Context) Romans 12 (Whole Chapter)
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians 5:12-14 (in Context) Galatians 5 (Whole Chapter)
Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:1-3 (in Context) Ephesians 4 (Whole Chapter)

My question is always, how do we/you show that love to one another? Sometimes it is as simple as writing a thank you note to a fellow brother like this below.

Getting a hand written note is almost unheard of today, so to me, receiving a note in the mail from a brother was very special and showed his love for my family. There is something about having to take the time to write with an actual writing instrument like a pen or pencil (something I rarely do) and addressing an evelope and putting it in the mail. The love shown is of course time. I was told once by a pastor that kids translate love as time spent. I think we all do this. Some don’t recognize this as valueable, but any time anyone spends time for you or with you, they have just given you the most precious thing that they have the power to give you.

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Well It’s Full Speed Baby in the Wrong Direction

Scott Fillmer — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:56:47 +0000

Every have hours or weeks, or months you feel like this? To borrow a term from my wife and her knitting friends, they call it “frogging”. That refers to when you knit row after row after row and suddenly realize that you messed up 20 rows ago and have to rip all those bad rows out (can’t remember why they call it frogging but I am sure someone will let me know) and start over before the place that had the error.

Anyone else love reading lyrics? I could do a blog post centering around just about any song I like once I read the lyrics. It makes me wonder what the artist was thinking at the time, where they are in their own life, what meaning they wanted their listeners to take away from the song and so on. This line (well it’s full speed baby, in the wrong direction) came from a song called Mary Jane by Alanis Morisette. It got me thinking about many different things in my own life like my family, friends, work, faith… and what direction I am going in each. What areas do I neglect, and which ones am I just totally going in the wrong direction and how do I recognize those areas before to much damage has been done (i.e. time wasted).

Time wasted has to be the enemy’s biggest weapon. Occupying our time with worthless and meaningless things so we can accomplish nothing of significance is just what (to me) wastes the most precious resource God has given us. How much time do we spend doing things we don’t need to be doing, or that doesn’t make any difference? Unfortunately we can’t just spend our time doing nothing but meaningful things. We have to do the mundane and repetitions of life, but sometimes we can just feel time wasting away for no good reason.

The photo I took of Deb above is one where we spent time together creating a memory. I don’t remember what in the world I was doing before or after that, something on the computer I am sure, but spending time with your spouse is (usually, haha) never wasted time.