Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

I’ve been getting some emails and messages about the blog lately.  This is the longest I’ve gone without updating my blog in the since I started it quite a few years ago.  I just want to assure everyone that I’m alive and kicking.  I recently made the conscious decision not to shut down “Whirled Views” when I renewed my domain names, so the blog will be around in some form for the next couple of years, I guess.

I’m not one to “pretend” that I, nor any other Christian, lives a carefree life that’s always rainbows and buttercups.  In all honesty, 2010 has been a rough year and a series of rough years.  I had the worst employment experience in my life last year — something I’ll write about later when I have enough perspective to let me be rational and objective.  As a result, we lost our house in South Florida — thankfully, we secured a short sale right before foreclosure hit, but we lost our entire lifetime of home equity in the process.  We have relocated to what was to have been our “retirement home” in Lake Lure until we decide where the Lord would have us settle next.  I have a pretty narrow range of employment fields I am considering after my more recent experiences and let’s face it, in this economy there just isn’t a lot available of any kind of jobs.  I’m thankful for the adjunct professorship work I’ve been able to snag which has kept us afloat since January.

But I’m not losing my perspective either — I have a long-time friend who is fighting a debilitating disease at the age of 51 and he has 3 small children, our dear friend and my personal assistant for 17 years just finished chemo a few months ago after a serious cancer diagnosis, a sweet young lady and mother barely in her 30’s that used to call me Pastor is fighting off a recurrence of an aggressive form of cancer and a dozen more similar stories remind me that the consequences of man’s fall are no respecter of persons and it’s only God’s grace that can give us hope in any circumstance.

But in all honesty, I just haven’t felt like writing at length lately.  The reasons are to some extent probably personal and to another extent just a phase.  I’ve often joked that if I didn’t write, I’d simply explode — but for now, the muse seems to have taken a break and so better to be silent than write something that is nonsensical.  If the mood does hit me to write or stir something up, I often throw an impolitic bomb on my status on Facebook and enjoy the brief tempest that such an action often causes.

So, for now, that’s the latest….we’re all doing fine.  The two older kids are at Liberty University sharing an apartment and working their jobs and going to classes.  The younger two are adjusting to a life where the nearest WalMart is 45 minutes away and we haven’t been able to find a church with a youth group within driving distance.  They started homeschool today.  We love the Blue Ridge Mountains and Western North Carolina and this is a wonderful time of the year.

If you know of anyone who needs someone to do some teacher training in a school or church setting, a missions speaker, a family or marriage conference speaker, etc… — give them my name as I’m doing quite a bit of that ministry these days.  I have nearly a hundred popular workshops, speeches and sermons for those occasions and I’d love to share them with groups.

Keep checking in here and who knows….maybe inspiration will strike sooner rather than later! 

I had a wonderful brief trip to C uba two weeks ago.  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been there, but I believe it’s been between eight and ten times over the last eight years.  The Lord is blessing His work there in spite of difficult circumstances.

I cannot give many details in my blog as it is just not advisable considering the nature of what our brothers in Christ are doing for the sake of the Gospel.  I can tell you that I was able to visit with multiple leaders and believers and they church there is strong and growing.  They have a vision for the Lord’s work and a love for their country and her citizens.  They are not discouraged and see opposition as part of the job description there.  They are incredibly resilient and innovative.

Because some of you send assistance to me in advance, I was able to take a variety of tools that they are now already using in their places of worship.  I was able to secure mp3 players and tambourines for several of the pastors which are used enthusiastically in services.  Daily needs — food, clothing, shelter — we also met during my trip there.

Always, the Body there sends words of thanks, appreciation and concern.  They desire to hear what the Lord is doing in the States and they are so grateful to hear that they have brothers and sisters who remember them in prayer and concern.  Their lives are very difficult in many ways, but they do not complain and they are incredibly generous and concerned for others.

I do have a more detailed and specific report available.  If you would like to receive a copy of this via email, please drop me a note at WPBDoc@aol.com and I’ll send you a file report with much more detail.

A special thanks to all of you who sent love gifts.  All them were taken and safely distributed.  What you provided is already making a BIG difference in the lives of others.  I wish you could be there as I do my small part in extending your blessings.

If you have questions about what the Lord is doing in our island nation to our South, please contact me.  The needs are tremendous and the blessings even greater!

I wanted to give everyone an update on my ongoing project in C uba.  I have been trying to get back over there to meet with some over our team since mid-January.  Obviously, the loss of my job in Miami proved to be a set-back, but thankfully, I have been able to put what I needed together and am ready to return the first week of April.  I have tapped into my savings a bit, made my reservations, have my itinerary and I’m ready to go!

Some of you have given to make it possible for me to help equip the planters there with necessary training and supplies and it never ceases to amaze me to see how God provides.  I received two wonderful financial gifts from a reader of this blog who is planting a church in the Philadelphia area.  I got a gift from some former church members that was a real blessing.  Today, I had lunch with a dear senior adult lady who said she wanted to give me a “little bit” for my C uban ministry and then proceeded to write out a check for $5,000!  The cool thing was that this was the exact amount I had asked God for in the previous 24 hours to complete one phase of the project we have going on.  The government paperwork is in progress to make all of this legal and we look forward to seeing this next project completed.  God is doing incredible things across this island nation.

I am taking two suitcases full of supplies and I want to list a couple of items I still need in case someone out there has the ability to help me with some items.  I need an electronic blood pressure kit (that would work on a child) for one of the pastors, a decent electric guitar with a small amp, any small musical instruments (tambourine, latin instruments, violin, flute, clarinet), small DVD player, and a decent laptop computer.   If you can provide one of those items, just drop me an email at dlburrell@liberty.edu and I’ll give you instructions on where to send it.

Please pray that I will have an effective and “uneventful” trip and that the brothers and their families in this wonderful country will be blessed and equipped for ministry as I meet with them.

I was saddened last week to hear that one of the young men who had been in my church in Charlotte had been killed on duty in Afghanistan last week.  Noah Pier came from a wonderful family that was just the typical, all-American, kind of people everyone would love to have as their next door neighbors.  Ten children, active in church and ministry, home-schooled, hard-working dad, loving and devoted mother, a rolling dust-storm of laughter, crises, enthusiasm, drama and excitement.  Every interaction I had with them over my years as their pastor, I watched them work to see God’s hand in their life, seek God’s direction in their situation and want God’s best for their family.

Noah was a typical teenage guy in many ways.  Tall and lanky, trying to “find himself”, struggling with the typical adolescent demons, but driven by something deep within him that wanted to make a difference.  At times he could be shy and deferential.  At other times, he’d be in your face and on a mission.  The Marine Corp was a place that could be both a destination and a necessary instructor in his life and I wasn’t surprised to hear that he had joined.

When I heard that Noah had been killed by an IED in the Marjuh offensive, I lost my breath.  Just the Saturday before, the family had called a prayer meeting at 3:00 p.m. and I had stopped to pray for him with many others.  I thought of his mother, an incredible mother with a passion for her kids to turn out right that is exemplary and just grieved for her.  His dad’s face came to my mind — a man of the kind of work ethic that made this country great.  Quiet and strong.  Then I thought of the siblings — Tara — a young mom who would deliver a premature baby just hours later as the stress of her loss hit her — she has always been one of my favorite former teens and I am so proud of the fine wife and mother she has become.  Luke — who struggles with a horrific illness with bravery and the demeanor of his dad.  Shawn — an independent and deeply sensitive sister.  Kate — the older sister with a sweet family.  Mark — the young man who is now the oldest male sibling.  Each kid’s face came to my mind.  And I know I joined a thousand others who cried out to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord — why Noah?  Why THIS family?”  No answers come now of course — we don’t have the privilege of time and perspective and knowledge of God’s master plan and schedule.  And even if we did, would anyone be less heartbroken for this dear family?

The story of Noah’s death and journey home can be found HERE.  Read it and then pray for the thousands of other grieving families who have also paid this price and pray again, for the Piers.  Then hug your sons — regardless of their age.  Thank God for the men and women who are in uniform today so that we can sit in our comfy recliners watching mindless TV while stuffing our faces with junk food and griping about Washington politicians.  When you see a soldier in uniform in the airport or on the street, thank them.  When you hear someone speak of Islam as a religion of “peace” and who think the best way to engage these animals is through sanctions and endless ‘dialogues’ and who thinks that terrorists are people on whom reason will work — think of three letters — I. E. D.

Mark, Vickie and family — you are loved and we are praying for you during these difficult times.

It’s time for a brief update.  As you can tell, I’ve been silent for a while on this blog.  No, I haven’t given up blogging.  There are just seasons in life when it is better to be still and listen quietly for God.

Scripture asks the question, “How can two walk together unless they are in agreement?”  It is that principle that has led to a discontinuation of my ministry at New Testament Baptist Church and Dade Christian School.  As the Executive Pastor and Vice-President, I knew when the Senior Pastor resigned last fall that I would either need to be a candidate for the Senior Pastor’s position or would need to be looking for a new position.  Within a few weeks, it became abundantly clear to me that I would not make an appropriate candidate to be the new Senior Pastor there due to significant differences in philosophy and theology.  I began looking for new opportunities while being willing to stay until a new Senior Pastor was called, but a few weeks later, it became necessary to go ahead and leave the ministry now rather than later.

We do not have a place to go, but we are seeking the Lord’s direction as to our future.  I’m very grateful to have my work with Liberty University to help us financially during this transition and while it does not cover nearly all of our needs, it is more than many have who are in the same position as are we.  In fact, the Lord blessed with a promotion at LU last week and I am now a faculty mentor for their online team.  We are exploring several other options and we look forward with faith and confidence in the Lord.  When men let you down, the Lord never does.  Sometimes we preach about living by faith; other times God asks us to actually do it.

In the meantime, I’ve picked up a few speaking opportunities, will continue my works as an adjunct professor at a couple of schools and am occupying myself with other interests and pursuits.  If your church or school needs a pulpit fill, a marriage or training conference or someone to do some in-service training for your school faculty or education ministry, feel free to contact me at dlburrell@liberty.edu.   I’ve got tons of fun and exciting workshops that I’ve done all over the country and I’d be happy to send you a list of them.

There will be plenty of time to write about what I’ve learned and perspectives on ministry that I’ve personally experienced over the last year or so, but now is not the time for that.  For now, I’m going to recharge my batteries and excitedly look for a place of ministry where I fit and where there is an unflinching commitment to a Biblical worldview, philosophy, and theology.

….well, not me, but our project in C uba.  It kills me not to be able to tell you everything that the Lord is doing in the island nation off our southern shores, but I simply can’t put the incredible national pastors there in danger of scrutiny or worse.  The picture at the left is one of the nicer houses that is used for a house church.  Imagine over 40 such “projects” with which we are involved.

I don’t cry “wolf” and I don’t constantly beg for funds to continue the work that the Lord has dropped in our laps there, but from time to time I like to remind folks that they can be part of what is happening in churches in this difficult country.  The Lord has given us incredible resources to do what we are doing from the most unexpected sources over the years and several of the readers of this blog have been very instrumental in what God is doing there through their participation in giving.

I have a special license that allows me to travel there and I plan on going again in about 7 weeks.  I also have government permission to provide special “humanitarian” assistance.  Both of these permissions expire in late March, so I need to take advantage of the opportunity now.

Right now, I’m in need of around $10,000 to complete one major project and to take care of some of the personal/family needs of which I am aware among various leaders.  Because we’re just a few hours away from the end of 2009, I realize that some may be looking for ways to “even up” their charitable giving for the year.  If you would be interested in helping, you can send a tax-deductible gift to:

Grace Baptist Church
Attn: C uba Project
533 East Rollins Street
Moberly, MO 65270

Gifts must be postmarked by midnight, December 31st for credit against this year’s taxes.  You will receive a tax statement for your donation.  100% of your donation goes directly to the needs.  I don’t ask others to help when I don’t personally help — I give thousands each year and I’m sending another $1,000 personally for this project need.

If you can’t give, please pray.  God is doing great things there and it’s one of the highlights of my ministry to be partners with the national leaders there in the Lord’s work.  The picture to the right is a group of new believers who are walking down to a river to be baptized during one of my trips to C uba in 2009.  None of the pastors or leaders have their face toward the camera, but you are seeing a “shadow” of some of the most incredible men I’ve ever known.   If you want private details, give me a call or drop me an email and I’ll be glad to give you more specific information.  If you can give, be assured that every single dollar makes a difference in a country where $1 a day takes care of a family and what we spend on a single meal for our family at a fast food restaurant would care for an entire pastor’s family for a month.  I hope you will prayerfully consider doing whatever the Lord lays on your heart to encourage these dear friends.

Thanks for loving our brothers and sisters “down south”!

Dan

Last Sunday was interesting for me as in a cosmically-sovereign way (what in the world does cosmically-sovereign even mean?) when two of my worlds - past and present - intersected with transitions.

First, at New Testament Baptist Church in Miami and Broward County, FL, where I serve as the Executive Pastor and Vice-President of our schools, we said goodbye to our Senior Pastor, Dr. Dino Pedrone.  He is relocating to Binghamton, NY where he will assume the presidency of Davis College full-time after a year and a half of commuting each week.  Dr. Pedrone is only the 4th pastor in the 55-year history of this fellowship and followed the founder, Dr. Al Janney, the late Dr. E.G. Roberson and Kirk Nowery (who is currently the COO of Samaritan’s Purse).

In his final sermon, Dr. Pedrone gave us a charge and recommendation on what the next Pastor of New Testament should bring to this ministry which I thought was sound counsel.

A. Strong understanding, history, support and involvement in the Christian school movement.

Dade Christian Schools has been one of the highest profile Christian schools in the nation for over 40 years.  Our thousands of graduates cover the globe.  Hundreds are in vocational ministry who received their education at DCS and worshipped at NTBC.  DCS was the founding place of movements such as the American Association of Christian Schools and the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.  All three Presidents of FACCS (Janney, me and Pedrone) have had affiliation with DCS and our second school, The Master’s Academy.  Ministries which have significant Christian schools need to call pastors who care for and love Christian education or they will be viewed as more trouble than they are worth or will allowed to become a drain on the ministry.  This was good counsel.

B. Leader of Leaders

Any pastor knows that leadership is an essential element to shepherding a flock of God’s people.  Today’s pastor must be part theologian, part attorney, part counselor, part educator, part accountant, part motivator, part scholar, part humanitarian — just to handle the myriad problems that will cross his desk.  No one man can do that.  Thus, he needs to be a leader of leaders, wise enough to surround himself with people smarter than he is and willing to let them exercise their spiritual gifts without being threatened by them.  Churches are filled with strong personalities and the occasional challenge from someone with a personal agenda.  A good pastor must be able to lead leaders.

C. Strong Expositor of the Scriptures

Today, many pulpits are filled with motivational speakers who understand story-telling, comedy, crowd manipulation and charisma — but who do not know orthodox doctrine and how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.  Being committed to keeping the preaching of the Word of God central to the mission of the local church is essential in a pastor.

D. Evangelism Gift with Discipleship Oversight

I once read a sign on a church wall that said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  If we aren’t reaching souls with the Gospel and we aren’t seeing them discipled in the Word of God, then why are we doing what we are doing?  Evangelism is more than seeing someone make a “decision”.  It is about seeing the Holy Spirit convert people to new life in Christ, seeing them following Christ in Biblical baptism and then watching them grow through purposeful and systematic discipleship. Those that neglect discipleship are, in my opinion, guilty of spiritual child abuse.

E. Multi-Cultural Oversight

Our particular congregation has over 70 different ethniticies, nationalities and people groups represented on a typical week-end.  Probably half of our congregation is bilingual — perhaps more.  South Florida is one of the most diverse areas of the nation.  There is no room in ministry anywhere — but particularly in South Florida — for a narrow view of the Body of Christ when it comes to reaching the community.  There is a need to respect, enjoy, celebrate and participate in the cultural melting pot that is our community and to encourage others to break down the walls that divide us unBiblically.

I hope you will pray for the leadership of this church in the coming days as the search for our next Senior Pastor begins in earnest.

My role remains as the Executive Pastor and Vice-President and in the absence of a Senior Pastor, that puts me at the helm.  We are not calling an “Interim Pastor”, but maintaining the current organizational structure.  I will be preaching each Sunday at our Broward Campus at 8:30 a.m. and at our Dade Campus at 10:00 a.m..  I will also be conducting our mid-week Bible studies at the Dade Campus on Wednesday evenings at 7:00.  Pastor Brian Burkholder will remain as the campus pastor at our Broward branch and will be preaching on Saturday evenings to our Spanish congregation and at the 11:30 service at Broward.  He will also teach the mid-week Bible studies at Broward on Wednesday evenings.  Both of us will keep our respective Bible Fellowship Classes on Sunday mornings as well.  Once a month, we will swap service schedules and he will preach at Dade and I will preach at the late service at Broward.

The other facet of last week-end was the welcome news that my former church, Northside Baptist Church, in Charlotte, NC has called their 4th pastor in their 55-year history.  Brian Boyles, who formerly served on the pastoral staff of the great Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be assuming the Senior Pastor’s office on December 7th after receiving the call from the congregation this past Sunday.  As the fourth pastor, he follows the founder, the late Dr. Jack Hudson, Dr. Bradley Price and me.  Northside has been without a pastor for 29 months and I know they have to be enthusiastic about finding their new pastor and are anxious to welcome him and his young family into their new home.  I know Pastor Boyles will be blessed by the many wonderful and generous people who make up NBC and I have already begun praying for him as he takes the leadership of this historic church.

Transitions in life are often when God reminds us that He is always in control and that He has a specific plan for us.  I hope you’ll be praying for both of these churches in the coming weeks as these transitions unfold.

From Warren Cole Smith; Charlotte, NC, Evangelical Press News:

Time for another update in life’s journey.  I haven’t written much in the last few weeks as my responsibilities in my place of ministry have been increased dramatically recently.  We moved to South Florida 16 months ago from North Carolina to minister at New Testament Baptist Church in Miami and Broward County, FL.  I have been serving as the Executive Pastor of our multi-site church ministry and the Vice-President of our various schools.  The economy in South Florida remains extremely challenging (that’s polite code for, “IT STINKS!”) and on-going organizational shifting has had to occur where I serve as is the case in most every other ministry of which I’m aware.

Thus, I was recently given the responsibility of taking on the roles of CFO (temporarily) and COO (longer term) within our ministries.  This means, I have multiple additional departments that now answer directly to me rather than through the CFO and COO which was previously the case.  In addition, we have had to adopt some rather challenging budget reductions as well.  I’m not complaining — I’m thankful to have my ministry position — it just means that my available “free time” to write and so on, has become a bit more rare.  I still Twitter a bit and Facebook, but that often happens while I’m multi-tasking (like sitting in a meeting or talking on the phone or worse yet, driving.)

Then last Saturday, (I had know this was coming for about 10 days), our Senior Pastor, Dr. Dino Pedrone, announced to our congregation that he has been lead to assume the presidency of Davis College in Binghamton, NY full time.  For the last year, he has been commuting each Sunday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.  How he has kept up that schedule and the workload is beyond my comprehension, but he has done so with grace and good spirits.  But he has determined that for the benefit of both ministries, he needed to choose one for his focus and he believes that the Lord would have him spend his remaining ministry training young people for serving the Lord.  He has just completed his 14th year in Miami and obviously, this was a difficult decision for him and his wife, Bobbi.

So, for only the fifth time in its 55-year history, New Testament Baptist Church will begin the search for a Senior Pastor.  The church is strong and there is a good spirit as we prepare to say “good-bye” to Dr. Pedrone.  At the same time, we are all also keenly aware that this is a vitally important time in our church’s history as new pastors mean changes in direction, priorities and style.  The deacons of our church are very committed to using this time to prayerfully seek God’s best for our ministry and I hope you will pray for them.

On a personal note, of course this also has the potential for changes for many of us in leadership.  It is always the perrogative of a new pastor to select their leadership team and closest staff and we do not know what the Lord has in mind for any of us.  In the meantime, I intend on serving this church and its various ministries to the very best of my abilities as I know that this does not catch the Lord by surprise one bit and that obviously He ordained that we would be here during this time.

South Florida is an exciting, yet challenging place to minister.  As the gateway to South, Latin and Central America, we have an amazingly diverse community even within our church and schools.  I have every confidence that we have nearly 100 different nationalities and ethnic groups represented in our congregation and ministry family.  As an anglo of European descent myself, I am well experienced in being part of a “minority” group as we are probably represented to the extent of about 10% of our ministry family.  But, the Lord has generally erased divisions which might be accentuated in other parts of the country with a realization that we are truly missionaries to a very needy and important part of the country.  This is as close as one can get to being on a foreign mission field without actually moving to a foreign country.  We love that aspect of living in South Florida and we love the people of this church.

Please join us in praying that the Lord’s will would be revealed in a clear and unmistakeable way for our church family in the coming months.

Hi Whirled Views Readers,

I apologize that this site has been down for some time.  I let the domain expire and even gave some thought to retirement for a few days.  However, I heard from enough of you to convince me to hang in there a little while longer.

Because I am no longer an “independent agent” (Meaning, I have a boss), I have to be a bit more selective on what I write about on this blog.  In addition, I try to be sensitive that my former ministry is still without a leader after nearly 2 1/2 years and I’m always concerned that something I might write could be misinterpreted as interference there and so I sit on a bit of a logjam of observations and articles that I would have otherwise posted by now.  The combination of those two issues has somewhat diminished my ability to put voice to my myriad opinions, diatribes and ventings.

My work here in South Florida is rather consuming at the moment.  I am also trying to provide resources and leadership to our work in Cuba that has struggled due to financial pressures in the States and attacks that one would expected to find in a movement that God is blessing.  In addition, I teach a full load of courses for Liberty University every eight weeks which takes another 20+ hours a week of my time and I’m just starting a course for Davis College in Miami in 2 weeks on “Philosophy, Worldview and Ethics” which I’m looking forward to presenting.

But, I have decided to keep the domain active for now and will post from time to time.  Thanks to those of you who have emailed me privately urging me to keep my pencil sharpened.

Blessings….Dan