FINALLY DONE! GLASS HOUSES by Carl Lenz

Fifteen years ago I was facing a dilemma. How do you serve as pastor to a group of folks who on one side of the house are either fighting or looking for something to fight about; and on the other side of the house are active in the KKK? It didn’t take long to identify the need as the willingness to be reconciled to one another. This is accomplished through forgiveness.

This need caused me to start a study on forgiveness as it is taught in Scripture. It didn’t take long to realize that the way it was taught is a far-sight from the way it is practiced. The more I studied, the more I found. The more I found the more burdened I became. It is not unusual for me to attempt to write it out when I’m trying to sort through a lot of information. That’s what happened here; I started writing.

Fast forward 15 years. It is a peculiar feeling to be holding the book “Glass Houses: The Practice of Biblical Forgiveness”. It has been a long trail with a number of bumps, detours, and ambushes along the way. It is an humbling experience as I remember the many “discussions” I had to attempt to untangle. In the real world it called an “argument”, when it’s about church doings, it’s called a “discussion.”

If you feel led to read what finally washed out as the final product, I would be interested in hearing what you think. Let me know.

Fleecing

I’ve spent a large portion of the past ten years attempting to bring the story of Jesus Christ to the firing line at Cowboy Action shooting events. Guiding this effort is the premise that we must accept folks where they are, as they are. Changing anything is not in my job description. It is for me to tell the story. Any life changing taking place is up to the Lord. Only God can change lives.

We view this effort as our ministry. It troubles me that with over 80,000 members in SASS there is no organized effort to reach the participants. What is it that makes 80,000 + souls invisible or insignificant to those who lead in the work conducted in the vineyard of the Lord?

I’ve learned a few things during this time of effort and my time enjoying the sport. First, I’ve learned there is a large portion of the cowboys in our part of the country are EX-church people. They’ve been there, done that, and have the scares to remind them of the experience. For various reasons these have been ostracized from organized churches and are finding their acceptance among the ranks of cowboy shooters. Why is it that the very place where acceptance and welcome should be foremost demonstrated in every venue is the very place creating so many psychological scars?

I recently experienced firsthand that common courtesy is not so common. I received an inquiry for a cowboy church seeking a pastor. I struggled for a while trying to determine if the Lord was calling me to return to active ministry. It came to me to practice fleecing similar to the actions taken by Gideon in the Old Testament. I had a long telephone conversation with a part of the church leadership and provided him the information he requested. I followed that up by mailing him four copies of my book, “Ridin’ for the Brand.” This was in October, 2009. It is now the middle of February, 2010 and I have not received any reply from the church. No acknowledgement of my providing them the information they requested or receipt of the copies of the book. I can only conclude that they consider themselves exempt from the rules of common courtesy.

The lesson the Lord has given me is that whenever you engage in a little fleecing, you must be prepared for the fleece to be wet from the dew!