Pastor Clegguart Mitchell

Hairbrush Hero

The Crisis: I was sitting quietly at my computer enjoying a cup of coffee and contemplating the deep things of God when Lydia approached me with sadness and fear. “Daddy,” she said, “Have you seen my little pink hairbrush?” Do you have any idea how much hair-brushing is required in a house that contains four females? Wow.

Initial response: I admit it. I was not very gallant in my response to the hairbrush crisis. In fact I was rather brutish. “Sweetheart,” I said, “Daddy doesn’t use your brush and daddy did not have your hairbrush. Now you go find it like mommy said.”

The interruption: Grace tapping my arm, waiting, tapping, waiting, “daddy,” waiting, tapping. Lydia walks away head down, disheartened, and unable to solve the mystery of the missing hairbrush. I finally looked at Grace and said, “Yes Grace. What is it?” “Umm. Daddy,” she says, tilting her sweet little face to one side. “Yes Grace. I’m busy. What do you need?” Grace, “Umm. Do I look pretty daddy?” Sigh. “Yes sweetie. You look pretty.”

The Hunt for Red October: OK, so I didn’t really organize the entire Russian fleet of nuclear submarines to find the hairbrush. Actually, I didn’t even get up from my coffee and computer. About an hour later I happen to be walking down the hall and saw the little brush underneath a chair against the wall. I have to be honest, I walked on by shaking my head and leaving it lay.

An opportunity lost, recovered: Another thirty minutes past and I overheard the troubled voice of little Lydia trying to explain that the little pink hairbrush was gone. Jenny, being much more considerate than I had been, responded with encouragement and counsel. In that moment I remembered seeing the hairbrush!

The moment: I leapt from my seat (not really), swept little Lydia into my arms (yes I did), whisked her to the top of the stairs like a knight in shining armor (in my head), crawled on my hands and knees under the chair, recovered the brush, and on one knee held forth the little pink brush to my now elated little girl. Hero.

You don’t have to defeat all of the host of Mordor in order to be a blessing to your family. You don’t have to be a Jedi Knight to be a hero to your wife and kids. You just need to give them your time, attention, and affection. You know, act like you like them.

Points to ponder: Psalm 127:3; Deuteronomy 6:7-9; Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 3:7

Got Issues?

It just so happens that I was standing in the perfect position to overhear myself talking the other day. What I heard was shocking! I still can’t believe it. It sounded just like, gulp, whining! Whining? Me? Whining? Yes. What’s worse I was whining about something from a situation so long ago, I’m certain few if any of the people involved would even remember it. Incredibly I discovered myself indulging in our modern self-justifying rabble of: “You must excuse my current sour attitude. My personal issues provide me with a much needed pass on responsibility.”

Is this not the attitude that so many people have today? We find it easy to complain, easy to express self-pity, easy to self-justify. So many people today see their life as full of loss, hurt, or betrayal that they honestly believe they have the right to whine. Like some kind of spiritual entitlement that says, “You don’t get to hold me accountable because someone hurt me.” It’s amazing how many people are held prisoner by the memory of those who may (or may not) have sinned against them. What’s more incredible are how many people who sincerely believe that their issue(s) free them from fulfilling basic personal duties.

It should be no surprise that the antidote for our narcissistic sour-grapes is not personal therapy. What is needed most is sound Theology. Seriously, what makes more sense to you, focusing time and attention on you and your own “issues”? Or concentrating on something, Someone, who is Himself far greater than you? I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the single most theologically sound reasoning that I can offer. Whether you have experienced mom-issues, dad-issues, sibling issues, financial issues, abuse issues, neglect issues, whatever your issues, past or even present. The single most theologically sound response I can muster is this: So what? Get in line.

My lovely wife and I have seven wonderful little children. We would not trade any of them for anything in the world. I’ve seen firsthand that each one of our children, adorable as they are, was born just like every other human being on the planet. They are selfish, mean, depraved little sinners. My point is this: people do dumb things because people are sinners. It’s in their very nature to do dumb. Whenever we do dumb things, others are affected and others feel the impact of our sin. In other words, you and I can cause others to have personal “issues” as well. (If you are uncertain at this point, just ask your wife or your kids.)

What we need most is a good healthy dose of humility. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. Was it not for the grace of God we would be utterly consumed with our own selfish desires and eagerly satisfying our fleshly lusts. And every time we do that, other people feel the devastating effects. Remember Achan?

Let’s be brutally honest here, it is time for Christian people to realize that there is no place for a victim mentality in the church. Our circumstances, however hard they may be, do not compare to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and the wrath He bore there. The cross of Christ forever stands at the center of all things crying out: “We are all guilty.” “We are all bad people.” “Get over yourself.” “You can do nothing to improve you or others.” But “God, in Christ, can!”

Remember friends, it is the preaching of the cross that is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). When your emotions need to be reminded of what you know is true – preach the Gospel to your own heart! Don’t allow your heart to feed the Me-Monster. Don’t listen to the wisdom of the world (which is foolishness). Unleash the power of God in your own life. Like David remind your emotions of what you know is true (Psalm 27). Get over yourself and confess with Paul, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, (or issue, or church member, or whatever) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 italics added).

(Originally published in a recent edition of IFCA NEWS)

Joy, Despair & Gratitude

I have often said that the greatest potential for joy is very often the greatest potential for despair. That’s what our children are, are they not? Every child comes with the greatest potential for joy and the greatest potential for despair.

There really is nothing like holding a newborn baby in your arms. There is nothing like wrestling around with your little ones on the living room floor. There is nothing like watching your sons and daughters as they begin to discover God’s design for manhood and womanhood. Joy.

There is nothing as troubling as hearing the doctor say, “We need to admit your baby to the hospital for observation.” There is nothing as frightening as hearing the doctor say, “I’ve called for an ambulance because your baby’s oxygen levels are dangerously low.” There is nothing as fearful as watching your infant, unconscious, intubated, and unable to respond to the sound of your voice. Despair.

In February of this year we heard and saw all of this the day before our little Caleb Michael turned two-months old. He was diagnosed with RSV (Really Stupid Virus) and another “bug” (virus) that caused his blood oxygen levels to drop dangerously low. He could not breathe… and neither could we. Honestly, I have never felt so helpless in all of my life.

The question is: Where do you go when your tiny two-month old baby is hit with a life threatening double virus? How do you respond when his little body is struggling for oxygen and thus, so are you?

Before answering those two questions I must pause here in order to say “Thank you.” To the Doctors and Nurses and Hospital Staff (so professional and passionate) – THANK YOU! To our Leon Bible Church family (What a joy and blessing you are to us. It is an absolute delight to be a part of what God is doing here.) – THANK YOU! If you were one of the many people praying for Caleb and for us, THANK YOU!

So, where do you go when your child is hurting in ways that you cannot prevent or stop? How about to the Author of life Himself! Here are a few great places to start:

Psalm 94:17-19 “If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Psalm 62:5-7 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Today we continue to praise God for His kindness to our son and His blessings upon our family! Little Caleb is doing really well, gaining strength, growing stronger, and beginning to reveal his own delightful personality.

Pastor: Man of God

A dear friend of mine and a man I considered a personal tutor, missionary Bob Cooper (now with the Lord), shared the following quote with me several years ago.

Fling him into his office. Tear the “Office” sign from the door and nail on the sign, “Study.” Take him off the mailing list. Lock him up with his books and his typewriter and his Bible. Slam him down on his knees before texts and broken hearts and the flock of lives of a superficial flock and a holy God.

Force him to be the one man in our surfeited communities who knows about God. Throw him into the ring to box with God until he learns how short his arms are. Engage him to wrestle with God all the night through. And let him come out only when he’s bruised and beaten into being a blessing.

Shut his mouth forever spouting remarks, and stop his tongue forever tripping lightly, over every nonessential. Require him to have something to say before he dares break the silence. Bend his knees in the lonesome valley.

Burn his eyes with weary study. Wreck his emotional poise with worry for God. And make him exchange his pious stance for a humble walk with God and man. Make him spend and be spent for the glory of God. Rip out his telephone. Burn up his ecclesiastical success sheets.

Put water in his gas tank. Give him a Bible and tie him to the pulpit. And make him preach the Word of the living God!

Test him. Quiz him. Examine him. Humiliate him for his ignorance of things divine. Shame him for his good comprehension of finances, batting averages, and political in-fighting. Laugh at his frustrated effort to play psychiatrist. Form a choir and raise a chant and haunt him with it night and day -“Sir, we would see Jesus.”

When at long last he dares assay the pulpit, ask him if he has a word from God. If he does not, then dismiss him. Tell him you can read the morning paper and digest the television commentaries, and think through the day’s superficial problems, and manage the community’s weary drives, and bless the sordid baked potatoes and green beans, ad infinitum, better than he can.

Command him not to come back until he’s read and reread, written and rewritten, until he can stand up, worn and forlorn, and say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Break him across the board of his ill-gotten popularity. Smack him hard with his own prestige. Corner him with questions about God. Cover him with demands for celestial wisdom. And give him no escape until he’s back against the wall of the Word.

And sit down before him and listen to the only word he has left-God’s Word. Let him be totally ignorant of the down-street gossip, but give him a chapter and order him to walk around it, camp on it, sup with it, and come at last to speak it backward and forward, until all he says about it rings with the truth of eternity.

And when he’s burned out by the flaming Word, when he’s consumed at last by the fiery grace blazing through him, and when he’s privileged to translate the truth of God to man, finally transferred from earth to heaven, then bear him away gently and blow a muted trumpet and lay him down softly. Place a two-edged sword in his coffin, and raise the tomb triumphant. For he was a brave soldier of the Word… and ere he died, he had become a man of God.”

(Author Unknown)

If those who hear me preach are more impressed with me than they are with Christ – I have failed.

Whether preaching, praying, singing, parenting, or fulfilling my role as a husband – God is the audience. So the only question that matters is: Is He pleased? If I do any of, or all of, those things for anyone else or anything less – then I am wasting my time and squandering the vapor that is my life.

Clegguart Mitchell

Stick with your work

Stick with your work.
Do not flinch because the lion roars.
Do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs.
Do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits.

Do your work.

Let liars lie.
Let sectarians quarrel.
Let critics malign.
Let enemies accuse.
Let the devil do his worst.

See to it nothing hinders you from fulfilling with joy the work God has given you.

He has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed.
He has never bidden you defend your character.
He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself) which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation.

If you do these things, you will do nothing else.
You will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.

Keep at your work.
Let your aim be as steady as a star.

You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted,
slandered, wounded and rejected,
misunderstood, or assigned impure motives.
You may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends,
and despised and rejected of men.

But see to it with steadfast determination,
with unfaltering zeal,
that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being
until at last you can say:
“I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”

Anonymous

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver…

At 9:36PM, Wednesday, December 5th: Caleb Michael was born!!

Jenny & I are praising the Lord for His great kindness in bestowing such a wonderful blessing upon our family!

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127

“Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!” Psalm 128

‘Tis the Season

It was a wonderfully snowy Sunday Morning in early December a few years ago when the Sunday school teacher asked her students, “Does anyone know what Season this is?” Several children eagerly raised their hands to answer the question. Our oldest daughter Hannah must have seemed extra enthusiastic as she was called upon to give her answer. Smiling from ear to ear she proclaimed, “It’s deer season!”

It’s true. Like so many Southern Iowa natives our house over the years becomes a hunting lodge between the September’s Youth Season and the January High-Power Season. I must say that I am so blessed to have a wife who does not mind living in a meat locker / butcher shop for a while every year. Fortunately, in more recent hunts, our friends have allowed us to use their “shop” and things haven’t been so messy around our house.

Some of the men I know would argue that the hunting season is the “most wonderful time of the year.” While I would agree that it is indeed wonderful I would argue that every event or evening spent with your family is the “most wonderful.” I have never heard any parents say, “Oh how I wish I would have spent more time at work while the kids were growing up.” Or, “I really wish we would have had fewer meals together as a family.” No one in their right mind would ever say, “While my children were young, we played way to many games together.” Or, “My kids always got in the way of my hunting.”

There are several things that I enjoy about the hunting season. I love being out in the woods with my children. I love teaching them, walking with them, helping them understand safety, the elements, and just being amazed by God’s creation all around us, together. I want them to understand how to properly handle firearms, clean whatever game they get, provide for the family, and just what it means to “have dominion” over the earth, as Genesis 1:26, 28 instruct.

This is a wonderful time of the year – for many reasons. The holidays are a terrific time because they tend to be focused times for the family. I want to encourage you not to wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day! Make plans to spend a few evenings at home, together, as a family. If you are a hunter, include your family, teach your children, and take advantage of the limited opportunities you have to influence them for God’s glory and their own good!

Clegguart Mitchell

Elevate Your Christmas Focus

Let the chaos begin. Do you remember the good-ole-days when we used to spend Thanksgiving Day together with our family? Everyone would gather at grandma’s house, we would share in a turkey feast, watch a little football, take a nap, and then completely lose our minds. The sun would go down and normal people would be transformed into shopping monsters to be unleashed at midnight.

For the record, I only did that once. I will never do that again. The so called “black Friday” shopping part that is. As for turkey and football – who am I to mess with tradition?!

The times have changed though. The shopping monsters couldn’t wait until midnight this year. They were loosed, restrained, re-loosed, and re-restrained on Thursday and then re-re-loosed at midnight for Friday’s blackness. Honestly, just thinking about it is making me tired and dizzy.

I want to make a radical suggestion. Take a few moments and stop the Christmas chaos in your life. Breathe. Now elevate your focus and yield your attention in worship and adoration as you consider this:

“He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20)

“Though he (Jesus Christ) was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11).

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (Romans 8:31-34).

Merry Christmas!

“They’re Birds!”

The month of August is a great time to head out into the timber and check your Deer stand, shooting lanes, and game trails. On one particularly warm day my oldest son Nathan, youngest son Josiah, and myself decided we needed to head to grandpa’s farm in order to do just that! On the way there Josiah asked four or five times “Daddy, can we stop by grandpa’s apple tree?” I guess you can’t check your stand without a few apples to munch along the way.

As we made our way across the field I was in teaching mode. I wanted the boys to notice everything; the direction of the wind, the sounds we could hear, any trails, and any wildlife we could spot on the way in. As we made our way down the hill and across a little hay-field Nathan said, “Dad. Look at all those geese!” I looked up at the sky just in time to see what Nathan was now pointing at. I said, “Wow, there sure are a lot of ‘em up there. But I don’t think they’re geese.” Nathan asked, “What are they?” and I responded, “I don’t know.” At this point Josiah who was working his way through his third apple and had not even raised his head to look up at the sky said, “They’re birds.”

Sometimes the simplicity and complexity of children is just the right dose of reality! Thinking about that day still brings a smile to my face. We knew they were not geese and thanks to Josiah we knew for certain that they were absolutely birds. What a joy and great blessing our children really are to us!

In a study conducted several years ago, sociologists Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck of Harvard University tried to identify the crucial factors in Juvenile Delinquency. They developed a test by which they could predict the future delinquency of children five or six-years-old. Their follow-up tests, four years later, proved to be ninety percent accurate. They determined that the four necessary factors to prevent delinquency are:

The Father’s Discipline: Discipline must be firm, fair, and consistent.
The Mother’s Supervision: A mother must know where her children are and what they’re doing at all times, and be with them as much as possible.
The Father and Mother’s Affection: Children need to see love demonstrated between the father and mother, and have it physically demonstrated to them.
The Family’s Cohesiveness: The family must spend time together.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Notice that this practice is an imperative: YOU SHALL TEACH THEM. Second, the process is simple: TALK. Not preach, scold, cajole, pound it into them, or dump on them. This is to be a natural a part of our daily life, natural and unforced, it is to just flow into every part of life. The key to this is really whether or not you can see God in every part of life. If you do, so will your children. If God stays at church or when you prepare a lecture, they will compartmentalize Him right out of their social life, private life, sports life, dressing life, recreation life and every other part of their lives. As one great old saint said, ‘There’s no difference between the sacred in the secular’. That’s basically what Moses is saying: Just let God flow into all of life.

Are you praying for your children? Are you teaching them the Word of God? Do you pray with your children? Do you model good choices? How much time and attention do you give to your children?

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4

Clegguart Mitchell

Not Always Easy

I love my wife and I am not ashamed to say it! She is my best friend and I am her best friend. We will be happily married for nineteen years this August and I can honestly say that we have grown closer to one another with each passing year. She is my sunshine, my delight, and my treasure. My name is Clegguart Mitchell and I approve this message.

God has been so kind to bless us with six children; and a new baby due in December! The children range from almost three up to fourteen years. We love to go golfing, fishing, hunting, and playing all sorts of games together. Yes, each child is different and has his or her own personality, preferences, and problems. But I can honestly say, I love every one of them in their own personal uniqueness and I would not trade any one of them for anything in the world!

As a husband I have no problem loving and honoring my wife. As a dad my chest puffs up with the best of them when thinking and speaking of my children. As a man accountable to God for leading in my home and shepherding my family, well, life is not always easy. I am so thankful that God’s Word spells out so simply and so clearly what God’s design and desire are for me! Now, you may be single, a single parent, childless, or even a grandparent. God has written down His design and desire for you no matter where you are in life!

Parenting is not always easy. A young pastor fresh out of Seminary and newly married preached a sermon that he called “The Ten Commandments of Child Rearing.” A couple years and one child later he changed the title to “Five Biblical Principles for Parenting”. A few years and another child later he re-titled again to “Three Suggestions for Parents”. As you may have guessed after ten years and three children he was no longer in the ministry, he was selling used cars.

Sometimes raising children is just hard. In one bookstore I counted over sixty titles on “Family” and most of them did not agree! Mark Twain had an interesting idea about parenting. When you are faced with one of those hard moments consider what Mr. Twain said. His philosophy was: “When a kid turns thirteen, stick him in a barrel, nail the lid on top and feed him through the knothole. When he turns 16, plug up the hole!”

It is almost Father’s Day. Did you know that God actually spells out the stages of personal growth for us Dad’s? In Psalm 127:1-2 we need a godly foundation; v3-5 we need to trust God for blessed fruitfulness; Ps 128:1-4 we can enjoy a happy family life; and v5-6 we get to reap the joys of a satisfying family when we get older. God really does have a plan, and friend, He wants to help you! Read His Word, the Holy Bible, and you will be amazed by all that you discover!

Clegguart Mitchell