West Park Baptist Church Blog

Written by: Kay Thomas (Awana Volunteer)

About 35 years ago, we moved to west Knoxville. One of the first things we did was visit nearby churches. We visited several hoping to find one that had Awana (we worked in Awana at our previous church). We first visited West Park on a Wednesday night. When we walked into the auditorium Pastor Sam was there, he came and introduced himself. We had our three children with us and Pastor Sam asked if he could take them to Awana and I knew we were home.

I volunteered to work in Awana wherever needed and was told Cubbies always need leaders and I’ve worked in Cubbies since. It’s such a blessing to see teens and adults you taught in Cubbies serving the Lord. I hope I have played at least a small part in their lives. II Timothy 2:15 says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

My daughter Kelley and I taught a 3 yr old Sunday School class for many years and then we taught a 1st grade Sunday School class a few years. What a blessing it is to see eager young minds come in your class on Sunday morning to learn about Jesus and the Bible. If you ever need some extra blessings in your life just volunteer to work in kid’s ministry.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” May we never grow weary.

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13.

When I was presented with the opportunity to serve others by becoming a Certified Biblical Counselor, I was honestly unsure if it was God calling me, or if it was just my selfish way of finding a way to show off my biblical knowledge, or rather what I think I know. However, on the prompting of other godly people that I trust, and the Holy Spirit, with verses like the one above, I decided to at least complete the Fundamentals portion of the ACBC certification track. And then I would determine if it was God truly calling me to continue the pursuit of becoming certified. I was, at first, a bit hesitant (a huge understatement), as I had never considered this before, nor did I realize that this was an opportunity to be had until shortly before it came about. I had never given much thought to the existence of Biblical Counseling, much less that God would me into this role. 

I had never counseled in the past, nor been counseled, so I was unsure exactly what would be required of me. I had never had the opportunity to take part in any type of discipleship that would positively affect people’s lives in so great a manner(which I learned about through the process). So, I went into the process wondering if I was properly equipped to counsel others during some of their darkest days. Through verses such as Luke 12:12 and the teaching in the fundamentals portion, I soon realized that Biblical Counseling is simply one sinner listening to another sinner, then helping that person listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling them through God’s Word. When I realized this is what true Biblical Counseling is, God spoke to my heart and caused me to understand that it is not me doing the counseling, instead it is the Holy Spirit. All I must do is listen to Him and speak the words He gives me. The Biblical Counselor is simply the conduit who helps the one seeking counsel to hear what the Spirit has to say about their specific situation. After learning this, my feelings of inadequacy all but disappeared. 

As I progressed through the fundamentals, the observations, and the reading, I realized that becoming a Biblical Counselor was something for which I was developing a passion. Or, to put it more accurately, I found that God was working in my heart and giving me the passion to serve others by helping  guide them through some of their toughest times in life, as a Certified Biblical Counselor. One of the key verses ACBC uses as their guide for serving others is Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” I have found that in studying the Word to give proper counsel to others, I have been blessed with greater wisdom, knowledge, and confidence to share what the Spirit has given me with those who are sitting before me in the counseling room (Proverbs 1:2-6), conforming me more to the image of Christ as I am attempting to help others do the same. Many times, I have not experienced the situation for which the counselee is seeking help, but I am still able to offer the proper counsel as I rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide me in helping them.  

In the end, the answer to the question of why I wanted to pursue this certification lies in the commandment of God to “go therefore and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19). Becoming a Certified Biblical Counselor is simply the manner to which God has called me to allow me to follow this great commandment that He gives to all believers. No, becoming a Certified Biblical Counselor could not be counted as going to the “end of the earth,” (Acts 1:8) to accomplish this mission. However, it is going into one’s own Jerusalem – into my Jerusalem – to disciple other sinners, one person at a time, using the power of God’s Word to change lives for an eternal purpose. This, to me, is the true essence of why Biblical Counseling exists and why I chose to seek certification. So, if you are looking for somewhere to serve where you can directly affect other believers’ lives, that offers positive and eternal results, I would urge you to at least research and consider the Biblical Counseling Ministry at WPBC. It may be a good fit for you! You may be surprised, as I was, at how God works in your life and in your heart to give you a passion for helping other people.

Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023 – Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-38; John 12: 12-19

We thank you, Lord, as we approach this important Passion Week where you triumphantly rode on a colt into the Holy City not only as King of the Jews but as our coming King. Thank you that our King did not ride into the city on a stallion, but meek and lowly on a colt. Thank you for being compassionate towards hopeless people. The crowds in the Holy City were pleading for salvation from their earthly enemies. The real enemy is not flesh and blood, but it is the arch-enemy, the Devil. During this week, the Devil thought he would be the victor, but Jesus crushed his head. Glory and Honor to our King! We are so thankful that the King came not to be served, but to give His life as a ransom for many.

Monday, April 3, 2023 – Matthew 21:12-20; John 12:1-14; Mark 11:11-33

Hosanna in the highest! Just as the sweet perfume Mary used to anoint your feet filled the air of their home, may our prayer be a sweet aroma of praise to you as you sit at the right hand of the Father. In this solemn Resurrection season, unlike the barren fig tree that Jesus cursed, may our lives bear fruit that testifies to your indwelling Spirit in our lives. As we come together to worship you, may our church be a house of prayer that glorifies, honors, and pleases you.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023 – Matthew 21:20-27; Matthew 21:28-23:39; Mark 11:20-12:44

Thank you, Lord, that the Stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. There is no other name by which man can be saved. As we navigate in this fallen world, help us to look to you as the Cornerstone of our faith. May our hearts be aligned with yours, Jesus, so that by your grace, we possess a faith that can move mountains. We are humbled when we consider that you have authority over heaven and earth, and yet you choose us and call us your beloved. We praise you as we sing Hosanna to the King of Kings. You knew what awaited in Jerusalem, and yet you rode the donkey into town in obedience to the Father.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023 – Luke 22:3-6; Matthew 26:14-16

Forgive us, Lord Jesus, as we are so easily distracted from following you. Judas, your disciple, was possessed by Satan to betray you for 30 pieces of silver. The lure of money and other selfish desires can tempt us too. This fallen world beckons us every day to go astray. Help us to keep our focus on you and to realize our great need for you. Our personal relationship with you is far more valuable than silver or gold or anything this world could offer.

Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023 – John 13:12-17, 34; I John 3:16-19a

To the One who knew that he had come from God and was going to God; to Him who laid aside His garments and took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet; you alone are worthy to mandate, to command your followers to love in a self-sacrificing way. You gave us an example to live by during that Passover celebration. You want your followers to love not with lip-service but with action! Good Shepherd, help us to love one another in such a way that the world will know that we are members of Your flock.

Good Friday, April 7, 2023 – John 19; Psalm 22:1-24; Hebrews 10:19-25

Lord Jesus, God the Son, in whom the very essence of the Holy Trinity exists, you were born into this world as man so that in obedience to the Father, you could lay down your life for man. Your agony was far more than your physical suffering on the cross. You took upon yourself the wrath of God’s justice that our sins might be forgiven and our relationship with our Creator restored. We bless your name as you are the Way, the Truth and the Life for the world.

Saturday, April 8, 2023 – Matthew 27:57-65

Lord Jesus, we can’t begin to imagine what was taking place in the spiritual realm while the body you used in the physical realm lay cold and still behind the sealed stone. We believe that you were spreading the news of your final victory over sin and death among those who had been waiting centuries to hear that good word. While your earthly followers hid themselves out of fear and confusion, your heavenly followers had a joyful celebration because they knew what had taken place. May we, who also share that knowledge, celebrate it and declare it with like passion among those whose hearts are like that sealed stone.

Resurrection Sunday, April 9, 2023 – Mark 16:1-7; Matthew 28:1-20; John 20:1-21

Father, your gift to us has been opened, complete, and today we celebrate, in awe, the finished work of Jesus. By His resurrection, death was defeated. The grave lost its sting. We have hope and life because on this day, as the angels declared to stunned disciples and as He, himself, declared to Peter, Cleopas, Mary, Thomas, and all who gathered in a locked room, “Jesus is risen!” The debt has been paid. Thank you for the Spirit who inspired the writing of the Word and gives us understanding. Thank you that my shackles are gone. Thank you for an empty tomb. Thank you for the mission in the great Commission. May we shout it from the rooftops, declare it in the streets, and live it out in our lives! Christ is risen!! We praise you for this! And may our lives say, “He is risen, indeed!”

AMEN

April 4, 1968 and April 4, 2018 are two dates separated by exactly 50 years, but both of them are indelibly etched together on my mind. On that Spring day in 1968, as a 12-year-old boy, I recall watching flicker on the screen of our black and white television set the scenes of grief and rage across the nation in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. At that time I knew very little about Dr. King, and honestly, what I had heard about him, as interpreted by the completely white and southern culture in which my young life was formed, was not very good. He was a “trouble maker,” a “communist” and maybe even worse, “a liberal democrat.” Yes, I did hear many Christian people say they were sad for his wife and children, but some of them also expressed that they really believed the nation was better off without him.

After several years of growing up and growing into young manhood, I was converted to faith in Jesus in a church that faithfully preached the gospel and yet also firmly held to the racial view of “separate but equal.” After that, for 6 years I was provided an amazing education and preparation for ministry from godly faculty and staff in a university deeply rooted and stubbornly holding to a long history of racism and bigotry. Then, following graduation, my wife and I still in our early-20’s, moved to a beautiful, small Midwestern city, “Flag City USA” as it was called. There we served on the church staff of a congregation of the most loving, devout, lily-white and racially clueless people you could imagine…and I was right at home.

Of course, I could very confidently affirm that I was not a racist, but I was also most definitely, and quite contentedly, ignorant of the suffering, discrimination and injustice being experienced by fellow human beings, image-bearers of my God, whose skin happened to be a few shades darker than mine. Millions of these people were also clearly, according to the Bible that I firmly believed and preached, my brothers and sisters in the family of God. Yes, I knew that… but I didn’t know them…know their history, know their stories, know their experiences, and know their trials as my fellow disciples following Jesus. But, eventually, all that changed, and how I thank the Lord today for that change!

Early in my pastorate, faith-filled and love-motivated men of color, overcoming great discomfort to themselves, invaded my comfortable life. They were relentlessly intentional, relational and missional in seeking community with me. I was a pastor, their pastor, but they were my shepherds. They lovingly led me to a bigger, greener pasture of greater awareness and also the joyful enlightenment that God’s flock is massive, multi-ethnic and multi-colored. They opened my mind to recognize that the needless dividing of God’s flock over color is, in reality, the work of the enemy. And these beloved, brave, brother-shepherds walked with me to the mountaintop to help me see a vision of a church which is more ravishingly beautiful and radically powerful, when it is racially diverse.

On the afternoon of April 4, 2018, it was truly a mountaintop view that I shared with two of these beloved brothers in Memphis, Tennessee. We joined that day with thousands of brothers and sisters of every color, uniting in praise and worship of our one Lord, and one Master, Jesus Christ. For a moment we caught a glimpse and shared a brief experience of the dream of Dr. King, the dream which will one day be our eternal reality before the King of Kings. That is the dream which is His will…here, now, in us and on earth. May this dream of Dr. King, the will of the King of Kings, be our constant prayer and relentless pursuit.

“O, Lord, this is your Kingdom and your will done in heaven, help us to devote ourselves to seeing it come and done on earth. Amen.”

I have a hobby collecting the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King.  One of his most impactful writings is his 1963, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.   Of the many notable things Dr. King wrote, the following resonates often with me:

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

“Understanding vs. misunderstanding.” “Good will vs. ill will.” “People vs. people.”

I grew up in the Jim Crow era of institutionalized segregation in Louisiana.  I was nine years old when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.  It was not until 1998 that the last vestige of legalized segregation was finally struck down by the courts in my home state.  By that time I had transitioned to living in Tennessee, and in the most unpredictable of circumstances, I inexplicably became a member of West Park Baptist Church.

Since becoming a covenant member of WPBC, one of the things that I have come to love and appreciate deeply is this:  West Parkers are by far people of love, understanding and good will!

That makes all the difference in the world to me. Why?  Because of…

“Understanding vs. misunderstanding.”  You know what drives the gulf between these two extremes?  It’s not facts or a stronger position.  It’s much simpler than that.  It’s about “five seconds”.  That’s the amount of time it takes to make the choice to listen or not.  When you are in the right, and your brother (or sister) is wrong, the first step to helping them move to a better place is to demonstrate that you are willing to listen.  Listening enriches dialogue.  We desperately need more dialogue.

“Good will vs. ill will.”  How have we allowed this gulf to become so wide in the Church of Jesus Christ?  We must reclaim, and own, the sphere of good will.  Good will is a fruit of the love that Jesus declares is the greatest of all—that we would lay down our lives for one another.  I am afraid that if Jesus came back at this moment, he would declare how have you become people of ill will vs. good.  We must continue to fight to reclaim this space.

“People vs. people.” “Imago Dei” Made in the image of God.  First used in Gen. 1:27, this little phrase represents a powerful truth.  When people are divided because of sin, it stains the beauty of God’s design.  People of understanding and good will are resolute in their desire to stop pitting people against people.  When Jesus declared what does it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their soul, I think of the evil fruit of people vs. people. 

So as we think about Dr. King’s vision, we certainly have come a long way.  And while there is still a long way to go, if people, united by understanding and good will, resolve to live in the hope that we have in Jesus, progress will continue to the glory of God.  It’s a legacy Dr. King would appreciate.