Life’s Transitions

Last photo at Duke after 8 days, getting ready to go home!

As many of you know, I suffered a massive heart attack on September 9, 2023. This was my second heart attack in 2 years and it was much worse than the first. Here’s what happened: I had just concluded conducting the funeral service for one of our members, and was making my way to my office when my chest began to hurt. I thought it was another angina episode which I had experienced intermittently since my first heart attack on November 28, 2021. I decided to sit down in my office, catch my breath, and let if pass. Except the chest pain didn’t pass — it got worse. Much worse.

Debbie saw I was not feeling well and called 911. The rest is a blur of which I remember little. I do remember the EMTs saying they were taking me to Danville’s Sovah Health, our regional hospital in Danville, VA about 17-miles away. After that, I have no memory of the next 4-days.

When I regained consciousness, I was unable to speak because I was on a ventilator, and hooked up to a half-dozen drips of various kinds. I had no idea where I was, what had happened, what day it was, what my condition was, or if and when I would get better. Debbie and the doctors in the room began to tell me I was at Duke University Hospital, I had had a heart attack, I was very sick, I needed help breathing, and it was Tuesday, September 12. I had lost 4-days!

Eventually Debbie told me that I had coded in the emergency room. Later she told me I had also coded two more times in the cardiac catherization lab, too. My chest felt like someone had dropped a bowling ball on it, and I realized that someone had given me CPR more than once to restart my heart.

To make a long story a little shorter, I improved rapidly and was able to come home on Saturday, September 16. I was weak from the heart attack and 8 days in a hospital bed, sore, and still in pain from the chest compressions. But I was home! And I was alive! And very thankful to still be here.

It is now January 2, 2024. I have finished about 20-sessions of cardiac rehab and I have about 16 more sessions to go. Rehab is helping tremendously. My chest has healed from the chest compressions, my balance and stamina are much better, and I’m making progress in rehab. I still have persistent shortness of breath with exertion, but that may just be the way things are. Unlike my first heart attack, my heart muscle did sustain some permanent damage this time, so it’s not pumping quite like it should, which explains the shortness of breath, exhaustion and some other symptoms. However, my last EKG was normal, my heart rate is good, my blood pressure is excellent, cholesterol is amazingly low, and I’ve lost a few pounds to boot. All told, I’m doing pretty well.

I did retire as pastor of Chatham Baptist Church in Chatham, Virginia. We had served there over 19-years, and I have planned to retire in June, 2024, on our 20th anniversary there. However, my heart attack moved retirement up by about 9-months. The church has been wonderfully supportive during this entire experience, and we love the people and will miss serving the community with them.

So, I am in one of those transitions of life that came unexpectedly. I do realize that the outcome could have been much different and that I am fortunate to be alive and recovering. Had any one of a dozen things happened differently, I would not be writing this blog post. Two nurses and lots of other folks have told me my survival is a miracle. I don’t disagree with that, having read the odds of surviving 3 cardiac arrests, cardiogenic shock, being intubated, and a host of other medical interventions. I attribute my survival to Divine intervention and medical skill, and I appreciate the prayers of all, including my medical team.

So, that’s what’s going on with the Warnocks right now. In the next blog post tomorrow, I’ll tell you what Debbie and I will be doing in this life transition we’re navigating. Thanks for taking time to join me. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Rob Bell’s New Story Challenges Evangelicalism’s Party Line

Rob Bell’s newest book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived sits at number three today in Amazon’s book sales list.  Love Wins will no doubt hit the New York Times bestseller list this week.  Bell obviously has churned up tremendous interest in the Christian doctrines of heaven and hell, but is that what Bell intended?

If you read Bell’s book as doctrine you are missing the point Rob Bell is making.  In short, Bell is taking on the evangelical establishment.  And while Bell asserts ultimately that Love Wins, it remains to be seen if Rob Bell will.

Rob Bell’s hell book appearing here soon

Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived is already generating tons of controversy. Harper One is sending me a pre-publication copy to review. I also hope to snag an interview with Rob about the book. The book hits the stores on March 29 and I hope to have a review up before that. Until then, watch this promotional video and tell me what you think? Is Bell just teasing us, is he a heretic as some are saying, or is this just good PR for the book? Let me know what you think.

Simplifying my life: so long Twitter

I deactivated my Twitter account today.  I also deleted a couple of blogs, including my oldest, Amicus Dei, but it was time to pull the plug.  I’ll be closing down NewChurchReport.com soon.

Here at Confessions of a Small-Church Pastor, I’ll be focusing on small church life and ministry exclusively.  No more opinions about what Congress ought to do, or how to solve the problem of globalization.  I realized that nobody cares what my opinions are on those issues, and I’m not an expert.  Not that you have to be, but still I’m going to stick with what little I know, which is life and ministry here in my small town at our small church.

I’m simplifying my online life, which is an oxymoron in itself.  I’m still here, and on Facebook.  I’m on Facebook because I get to see my grandchildren, or I’d probably drop that, too.  Has anybody else done something similar?  Why, and did it help or not?

Bruce Feiler, Council of Dads author, speaks about his cancer, his kids and his plan for their future

Bruce Feiler, author of the book, The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me, talks about his diagnosis with bone cancer, and of his plan to provide his two daughters with a ‘council of dads’ in case he’s not around for them in the future. This is a great story for Father’s Day or any day. Watch it.

A Decision of the Feet

We often talk about spiritual decisions being either decisions of the heart or of the head, meaning those decisions are either based on feeling or thinking.  But when it comes to the decision to follow Jesus, what we’re really talking about is a decision of the feet.

Matthew 4:18-22 is the account of Jesus calling the first disciples — Peter and Andrew, and James and John — two sets of brothers, two families of fishermen.  Matthew records the action this way —

“As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting  a net into the sea — for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”  — Matthew 4:18-20 NRSV

The same scene repeats itself with James and John, the Sons of Thunder.  “Immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him.”

Decisions of the heart and head may be internal and individual.  But decisions of the feet are public, obvious, and practical.  When the Bible says, “They followed him” it literally means they not only felt and thought that Jesus was someone special, but their feet decided to go where Jesus went, and they followed him quickly, immediately, and irrevocably.  Decisions of the feet might be what we need more of today.

Bored? You’re Probably Good At What You Do

Do you ever get bored with ministry?  Doing the same stuff, making the same hospital visits, and preaching a sermon or two each week can blur into a kind of sleepwalking routine.  But, have you ever thought of boredom as the shadowside of competence?  By that I mean, if you get bored with what you’re doing occasionally, it could be you’re good at doing it.

Let me explain.  We get bored with the routine, with things that come easy to us, with the lack of challenge or sense of accomplishment.  The “impostor syndrome” is an extreme version of  a self-consciousness about the things we’re good at.  Boredom can be an indication that you’re competent, but no longer challenged by what you’re doing.

Of course, I’m not referring to the kind of boredom that results from lying on the couch watching TV when you should be writing your sermon.  Or the kind of boredom that results from sloth, laziness, depression, or other factors.  No, I’m just talking about the everyday kind of hum-drum of doing the same things over and over, on a kind of auto-pilot because you could do them in your sleep.

So, take hope.  If you’re bored in ministry, that may not be a bad thing.  But, you don’t want to stay bored either.  If the routine has gotten too routine, challenge yourself.  Take a course, write a book, rearrange your weekly schedule, meet some new people, and look at things differently.  Pastoring is as much about faithfulness as it is about vision, achievement and goals.  But, that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.

Of course, boredom can lead to what psychologists call “acting out.”  I remember a pastor in Nashville who was caught breaking into cars at the local health club.  Or church leaders who act out sexually, or financially.  Sometimes we try to cure boredom with an adrenaline rush just to help us feel we’re alive.  If you want an adrenaline rush, take up sky diving, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by doing something stupid.

Can ministry be boring?  Absolutely.  But when you find yourself going through the motions like a religious robot, do a quick self-intervention and remember:  If you’re bored, you’re probably good at what you do.

Are We Called To Be Technicians or Transformers?

I’m giving this devotional for our DMin seminar on Thursday morning, March 4, 2010 at Fuller Seminary.

In Matthew 14:13-21, we have the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.  This is an interesting story for several reasons, but I want us to focus on the disciples response to Jesus.  And, I want us to think about how we do ministry in light of this story.

Of course, the story goes that Jesus had just heard that John the Baptist had been killed.  He attempted to withdraw to a “solitary place” but the crowds followed him. The Bible says he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

As the day wore on and was nearing sundown, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place and it’s already late.  Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus response was first, “They don’t need to go away.”

And, secondly, he said, “You give them something to eat.”  In other words, you feed them.

The disciples did a quick inventory, and said, “We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.”  Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”

You know the story from that point on:  Jesus has the crowd seated, he blesses the bread, and then gives it to the disciples to hand out.  They hand it out, everyone eats, and then they take up 12 basketfuls after everyone has eaten and is satisfied.  One basketful for each disciple.  Keep that in mind.

A Personal Story

In the late 1980s I was in my first DMin program here at Fuller.  I was studying Church Growth with Peter Wagner, John Wimber, and Eddie Gibbs.   I was actually very good at  the technique of growing churches.  I had grown a small country church

Lenten meditation: Remembering the Journey

This is the meditation I am sharing tonight for our community Lenten service.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

1 When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket.

Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God.

5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.

8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;

10and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me.” Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. 11 And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.

God brings us down.

Jewish life is full of storytelling.  The Passover is the most well-known example, when the youngest child asks the question, “Why is this night different from all others?” Then, among other things, the story of the exodus from Egypt is told, very much like this telling we have just read.  But our passage tonight covers a lot of territory.

First, “My father was a wandering Aramean” probably refers to Abraham to connect the storyteller with the ancestry of all Jews.  Aram and Chaldea were closely connected, although we don’t have time to go into that here.  But this is probably an attempt to

Remembering Why You Said Yes

This article was first published in Neue Quarterly, Vol. 4, Summer 2009.

Remembering Why You Said Yes
by Chuck Warnock

The phone rang at 3 A. M. one Saturday morning.  “Pauline is dying,” her niece said, “Can you come?”  I dressed quickly, told my wife I didn’t know when I would return, and headed out the door.   I drove to the nursing home ten miles away where the oldest member of our congregation lay dying.  At 105, Pauline had outlived her husband, her nearest relatives, her friends, and her neighbors.  Now her time had come, too.  I was Pauline’s pastor.  It was my duty to be there with her as she crossed from this life into the next.  But I knew it was more than just my job, it was my calling.

If you are a pastor, you probably have had a similar experience.  In a time of crisis, you know why you go.  You represent God’s presence, God’s comfort, and God’s grace to those passing through their own dark night of the soul.  Sitting in a hospital with anxious parents whose child is in surgery; or, standing with a widow as she identifies the body of her husband, you know you make a difference.  In those times it is not difficult to remember why we said “Yes” to God’s call to pastoral ministry.  Unfortunately, there are other times in a pastor’s life when the clarity of our call fades, discouragement clouds our memory, and we wonder “why did I ever want to be a pastor?”

I experienced a period of doubt and discouragement in 1990, and I forgot why I had become a pastor.  And when I forgot why I had become a pastor, the next question I asked myself was, “Why don’t you quit?”  And I did.  I resigned the church I started and left pastoral ministry.  I thought I had nothing more to say.  I thought my years of ministry hadn’t made a difference.  I was tired emotionally and spiritually, and I quit because I couldn’t remember why I had begun.  Fortunately, my story doesn’t end there.  In 2003, I stood in the pulpit for the first time in thirteen years.  I had remembered again why I said “Yes.”

The Myths of Ministry

Looking back on my own struggle with God’s call, I realized that three “myths of ministry” contributed to my difficulty.  This is not an exhaustive list, but these myths played a key role in my experience: