{"id":4560,"date":"2017-08-13T19:41:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T19:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&p=4560"},"modified":"2017-08-16T19:52:29","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T19:52:29","slug":"church-divas-and-doers","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/church-divas-and-doers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p>

This sermon is available on video on our Facebook page:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/balboaunion\/videos\/1613268202050982\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Church Divas and Doers<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Jesus, who certainly was a Doer<\/strong>, not a Diva<\/strong>, had this simple rule for church-building: follow the Gospel:<\/p>\n

[easy-image-collage id=4561]<\/p>\n

The Wise and Foolish Builders<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>Cualquiera pues que me oye estas palabras, y las hace, le comparar\u00e9 \u00e1 un hombre prudente, que edific\u00f3 su casa sobre la pe\u00f1a:
\n<\/em>Y descendi\u00f3 lluvia, y vinieron rios, y soplaron vientos, y combatieron aquella casa: y no cay\u00f3; porque estaba fundada sobre la pe\u00f1a.
\n<\/em>Y cualquiera que me oye estas palabras, y no las hace, le comparar\u00e9 \u00e1 un hombre insensato, que edific\u00f3 su casa sobre la arena;
\n<\/em>Y descendi\u00f3 lluvia, y vinieron rios, y soplaron vientos, \u00e9 hicieron \u00edmpetu en aquella casa; y cay\u00f3, y fu\u00e9 grande su ruina.<\/em> (Mateo<\/em> 7: 24<\/em>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus taught us that a church is more than bricks and mortars.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s people who are faith-inspired Doers<\/strong>: Humble souls who work for free, give, rather than take, and think of others first.<\/p>\n

Divas<\/strong> are quite the opposite. Jesus calls them self-absorbed, hypocrites:<\/p>\n

How can you say to your brother, \u2018Let me take the speck out of your eye,\u2019 when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother\u2019s eye (Matthew 7: 4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Divas<\/strong> seek prestige, without earning it, want power, but won\u2019t share it with others. They promise results, but only produce excuses, and worst of all, they only see the church as a cow to be milked for money or other benefits.<\/p>\n

Balboa Union Church is 103 years old. Created by an Act of Congress thanks to President Theodore Roosevelt, the church is built on a rock that is solid enough to have withstood revolution, invasion, several recessions, Ricardo Martinelli, and its share of Divas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Divas<\/strong> don\u2019t stay around long. After creating disunity, they usually run out when their benefits run out. Then, the faithful Doers<\/strong>, the Lord\u2019s true servants, return to pick up the pieces and rebuild the congregation. Call it: \u201cEvangelical Evolution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Our church\u2019s congregation has had a rocky conservative past.<\/p>\n

When I walked through these doors in 1961, I was a young Army Medic from the streets of Washington D. C. That Sunday, I saw a beautiful building filled with hundreds of white faces and in a large part of the back section were Panamanian, Afro-Antilleans, and African-American worshippers. They had been told where to sit. Not out of love, but out of what the ante-bellum<\/em> South called our \u201cunique institution\u201d. Remember, the Canal Zone was filled with American soldiers and engineers, many who were brought up in the South and embraced that military legacy and social values.<\/p>\n

I walked out.<\/p>\n

In the late \u201860s the church, through Reverend Payne and others, ditched the \u2018reserved\u2019 seating for minorities and withstood tons of criticism for it. More black-and brown-skinned members came on board. But, soon after the Canal Zone reverted back to Panama, the church became a ghost.<\/p>\n

Yet, black and brown and some white \u2018Zonians\u2019 remained. One Zonian woman bequeathed over $120,000 to the church, which purchased a decade ago, the land we are praying on. By the way, our church rarely mentions her name. Sad.<\/p>\n

Times changed, people of any race sat where they wanted, elected to Council whomever they wanted and softened the Protestant doxology to be more ecumenical. It was money from this new multi-racial Baptist, Methodist, and Protestant minority that also saved the church.<\/p>\n

It was a time of optimism. Panama\u2019s new American ambassador, Jack Vaughn arrived three months after the January 9th <\/sup>1961 protests for Panama sovereignty. Vaughn was an ambassador\u2019s ambassador. An ex-boxer, Peace Corps Director, and President of Planned Parenthood, Vaughn and the BUC congregation were inspired by President Kennedy\u2019s 1961 injunction:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>My fellow Americans, <\/em>ask<\/em> not what your country can do for you, <\/em>ask<\/em> what you can do for your country.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BUC\u2019s ecumenical destiny was recast.<\/p>\n

With only a couple of hundred members, BUC became a church of Doers<\/strong>. They organized weekly English language classes, periodic visits to local prisons, and assistance to medical missions in visits (giras) to the interior. The church founded 5 outreach missions serving seniors, children and the hungry, from Panama City, to Chilibri, to Santiago.<\/p>\n

Most of the Divas <\/strong>disapperared, either by going back to the States, staying away from church, or joining evangelical groups.<\/p>\n

The Doers<\/strong> have returned and I promise to, again, work hard with them. Here are some changes we should consider:<\/p>\n

Abandon the entitlement mentality.<\/strong>\u00a0Your church is not a country club where you pay dues to get your perks and privileges. It is a gospel outpost where you are to put yourself last. Don’t seek to get your way with the music, temperature and length of sermons (Source: Thom Rainier, ministrytodaymag.com\/leadership\/administration\/23690-9-urgent-changes-churches-must-make-or-die-out<\/em>).<\/p>\n

No one receiving pecuniary benefits from the church can hold an elected church position. <\/strong>The church must never be an ATM machine from which a charismatic pastor, or unaccountable administration can siphon members\u2019 offerings.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Stop wasting time in unproductive meetings, committees and business sessions.<\/strong>\u00a0Wouldn’t it be nice if every church member could only ask one question or make one comment in a meeting for every time he or she has shared his or her faith the past week?<\/p>\n

Stop focusing on incidentals.\u00a0<\/strong>Satan must delight when a church spends six months wrangling over a bylaw change. That’s six months of gospel negligence.<\/p>\n

Stop shooting our own.<\/strong>\u00a0This tragedy is related to the entitlement mentality. If we don’t get our way, we go after the pastor, the staff member or the church member who has a different perspective than our own. Don’t let bullies and perpetual critics control the church. Don’t shoot our own. It’s not friendly fire.<\/p>\n

Are all the above changes an \u201cImpossible Dream\u201d? No, we have taken this voyage before, we will do it again, and we shall win again. It\u2019s a trip that sharpens our skills and enhances our Christianity.<\/p>\n

Take inspiration from Man of La Mancha<\/em> (www.redteatral.net\/noticias-el-sue-o-imposible<\/em>):<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00f1ar lo imposible so\u00f1ar.
\nVencer al invicto rival,
\nSufrir el dolor insufrible,
\nMorir por un noble ideal.
\nSaber enmendar el error,
\nAmar con pureza y bondad.
\nQuerer, en un sue\u00f1o imposible,
\nCon fe, una estrella alcanzar.
\n\u00c9se es mi af\u00e1n
\nY lo he de lograr,
\nNo importa el esfuerzo,
\nNo importa el lugar.
\nSaldr\u00e9 a combatir y mi lema ser\u00e1
\nDefender la virtud aunque deba
\nEl infierno pisar.
\nPorque s\u00e9 que si logro ser fiel
\nA tan noble ideal,
\nDormir\u00e1 mi alma en paz al llegar
\nEl instante final.
\nY ser\u00e1 este, mundo mejor,
\nPorque yo, sin rendirme jam\u00e1s,
\nBusqu\u00e9, en mi sue\u00f1o imposible,
\nPoder una estrella alcanzar.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u00f1ar lo imposible significa llevar la contraria al mundo, mantener un idealismo en su estado m\u00e1s extremo, pero puro a su vez. Don Quijote decide luchar por su ideal. Don Quijote tiene fe en lo que hace, cree en ello con fuerza, por eso no nos cabe duda en ning\u00fan momento de que vaya a ser capaz de alcanzar cualquier estrella que se le antoje.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Former United States President Barack Obama summarized Quijote\u2019s soliloquy with two simple words: \u201cSi, podemos<\/em><\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Phil Edmonston<\/p>\n

Member, Balboa Union Church<\/p>\n

August 13, 2017<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disculpa, pero esta entrada est\u00e1 disponible s\u00f3lo en English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.This sermon is available on video on our Facebook page:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/balboaunion\/videos\/1613268202050982\/ Church Divas and Doers Jesus, who certainly was a Doer, not a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[41,47],"ctc_sermon_series":[],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[349],"ctc_sermon_tag":[484,475,479,488,471,481,482,483,470,469,489,456,485,486,474,477,472,478,213,43,476,490,487,480,458,473],"class_list":["post-4560","ctc_sermon","type-ctc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ctc_sermon_book-matthew","ctc_sermon_book-romans","ctc_sermon_speaker-phil-edmonston","ctc_sermon_tag-benefits","ctc_sermon_tag-bricks","ctc_sermon_tag-brother","ctc_sermon_tag-build","ctc_sermon_tag-church-building","ctc_sermon_tag-congregation","ctc_sermon_tag-conservative","ctc_sermon_tag-disunity","ctc_sermon_tag-diva","ctc_sermon_tag-doer","ctc_sermon_tag-ecumenical","ctc_sermon_tag-english-speaking","ctc_sermon_tag-evangelical","ctc_sermon_tag-evolution","ctc_sermon_tag-foolish-builder","ctc_sermon_tag-give","ctc_sermon_tag-gospel","ctc_sermon_tag-hypocrites","ctc_sermon_tag-jesus","ctc_sermon_tag-missions-2","ctc_sermon_tag-mortar","ctc_sermon_tag-outreach","ctc_sermon_tag-rebuild","ctc_sermon_tag-speck","ctc_sermon_tag-sunday-service","ctc_sermon_tag-wise-builder","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4562,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/4560\/revisions\/4562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balboaunionchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=4560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}