Pastor's Blog

26 May

Pastor's Note - May 26

Aaron Halvorsen

On Monday, I got the chance to drive over to St. Louis and watch an NHL playoff game between the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche. It was interesting to note the difference between the live viewing experience, and watching a game on television. I particularly noticed how my perspective was actually limited by the live experience. When you watch a game on television, you get multiple replays and angles of each play. And if it’s a national broadcast, there will be an effort made to be unbiased in presentation. That is not the case when you are live in the arena. Not only are you not shown replays of all the events of the game, but the replays that are shown will tend to paint the home team in a more favorable light. There were multiple offenses from the home team that weren’t shown in a replay on the screens in the arena, while offenses from the away team were shown repeatedly. If you only watched the game from the perspective of the home team, you would get the impression that the away team was far “dirtier” and “cheaper” in their play – because that was what your carefully filtered arena presentation showed you. It was a good illustration of how we can be led astray by the information we take in. If we only watch one news station, or take in news from one source, our very perception of reality may be shifted. If we only talk to one party in a dispute, our perception of the fight will be skewed by that lens. This kind of bias is incredibly difficult to avoid – to the extent that trusting in what is true can at times be difficult. It provokes me to make sure I seek multiple perspectives in many matters. And I am encouraged that we have an infallible source of truth in Scripture. When so much is shaped by perspective, what a gift we have in the firm foundation of truth in God’s Word. It is a comfort to be able to go back to a word that we know is true, and we know will provide reality and a proper perspective at all times. When we feel lost and confused, may we learn to lean on Scripture and find comfort, and our bearings, in its truth.

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26 May

Pastor's Note - May 26

Aaron Halvorsen

This week I want to give a special thank you to the CBC Church Plant Pastor search committee. Led by Kirk Carlson, and featuring Jolene Bunch, Gene Carlisle, Eldwin Dunn, Kathy King, Josh Lewis, and Cole Younger, they formed a year ago and have been diligent in their work of selecting a plant pastor candidate. I know it has not been easy work to formulate an approach, get the word out, sift through candidates, and do the work of discernment required to eventually recommend a man for the role. As you now know, they recommended a man by the name of Shaun LePage, and the elders have affirmed their recommendation. The search team, as well as elders, deacons, and staff, have all gotten to know Shaun and his family to some degree or another, and I think we are all excited about the prospect of having him on board. And to be quite honest, Shaun is different than what I was first anticipating or envisioning. At first, I assumed we’d find a younger candidate, possibly right out of seminary, who had little experience, but was willing to take a risk on this church-planting adventure. And then maybe we could mold this person into our image, while he energized us. Shaun is a different kind of candidate. He has a great deal of pastoral experience, teaches at a Christian college, and has spent a great deal of his life thinking about how the church is going to fulfill its call to go out, proclaim the name of Jesus, and make disciples. Over the past couple of months, and especially at the church planting town hall a few weeks back, I’ve heard from you all at CBC that one of our great needs right now is to grow in our efforts of evangelism and discipleship – that we would be taught and learn how to do this better. I think in God’s providence, Shaun just might be the right person for us at this time. I think even more than planting one church, his desire (and our desire) is that we would become the kind of church that disciples and evangelizes, which inevitably must lead to multiple church plants over years and years. Shaun will be with us June 10-11th for a “candidate weekend,” and I hope you will all be here for that, if possible. For some, this will feel very sudden. For others (maybe especially those on the search team), this has been a long time coming. For all of us, I hope we are in prayer for this season. As we get to know Shaun and his family, let us be in prayer, as it is our goal not that we would hire who we want, but rather that God through His Holy Spirit would give us all discernment to see if Shaun is the right fit for us at this time. As always, let us know if you have questions – and you can especially ask your designated elder or even those on the search team!

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