In the spring of 2005, I left my position as a Resident Director at Eastern Nazarene College. The time had come. In fact, it was probably past time. I started the job search for another position in student affairs. There were no real hits for a while, and then I received an email from the Director of Student Activities at Emerson College about a new position they were hiring for there. I knew three things about Emerson. 1) It is a Communication Arts school. 2) My cousin attended there. 3) It was a very liberal college- even for Boston. And for some reason, I knew immediately that I was going to be offered the position. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't nonchalant about the interview process, but I believed that if God was in the business of placing His people in learning situations, this was the learning situation for me.
I remember about a month after taking the position walking along the street with the president of the Student Government Association. She was (and I assume still is) a hard-core Democrat. (TANGENT ALERT!!! I found a "type" of person I didn't know existed while I was at Emerson- gay conservatives. It took me a while to understand how that was possible.) I think we were talking about Bush's defeat of Kerry. She began to get a bit angry as she spoke about Bush. I remember telling her that one reason I had difficulty listening to Democrats was because they were always so angry. I tried to express to her that it would be easier for people like me to listen to people like her if they didn't get so angry all the time. After a while it sounded like whining.) I'm sure she's glad I shared my wisdom with her.
Indeed Emerson College was a learning experience for me. I'm glad that I spent a short year-and-a-half there. I consider myself a moderate now, but if I'm honest, I think I'd have to admit to leaning further to the left politically. I finally began to hear and understand why liberals got so angry, and you know what? I find myself getting angry a lot now. My latest issue- "Obama is the Antichrist." My brother played the role of a sounding board yesterday and convinced me NOT to blog about it. I'm glad he did. My last blog was about as negative as I want to be. In fact, it was probably too negative. I kinda wish I hadn't written it. But it's out there now. A couple of weeks ago I blogged about homosexuality. I wasn't angry for that one, but the topic was important to me. The blog was heartfelt. My brother said he was proud of me, a comment for which I was grateful. I felt that I had made myself pretty vulnerable. There was kind of a pride for me for "putting it all on the line" so to speak. Whatever...
Yesterday my brother shared with me that he preached a difficult sermon this past Sunday. He expressed that some 
of his parishioners may have struggled a bit with what he said. I realized something then. Preachers are in the habit of making themselves vulnerable on a weekly basis. Sometimes more. I know this because there is not a Sunday that goes by that I don't critique almost every word that comes out of my pastors mouth when he's preaching. It simply comes with the territory. I usually keep my critical thoughts between my wife and me. I'm not one to tell my pastor how or what to preach. That's up to God. Fortunately, I believe my pastor really understands the gospel and preaches it well. He doesn't know it, but it's even worse for my brother when I'm listening to him preach. I mean hey, he's my little brother, I've been judging his every move his whole life. I mean, it's my God-given right as the older brother to guide and teach him the correct way to do things! It's a hard habit to break. So when he's preaching, I'm not only critiquing his sermon, I'm critiquing his delivery, his hair, his motions, etc... Alright, I'm not that bad, but simply said, I critique my brother differently than other preachers.
of his parishioners may have struggled a bit with what he said. I realized something then. Preachers are in the habit of making themselves vulnerable on a weekly basis. Sometimes more. I know this because there is not a Sunday that goes by that I don't critique almost every word that comes out of my pastors mouth when he's preaching. It simply comes with the territory. I usually keep my critical thoughts between my wife and me. I'm not one to tell my pastor how or what to preach. That's up to God. Fortunately, I believe my pastor really understands the gospel and preaches it well. He doesn't know it, but it's even worse for my brother when I'm listening to him preach. I mean hey, he's my little brother, I've been judging his every move his whole life. I mean, it's my God-given right as the older brother to guide and teach him the correct way to do things! It's a hard habit to break. So when he's preaching, I'm not only critiquing his sermon, I'm critiquing his delivery, his hair, his motions, etc... Alright, I'm not that bad, but simply said, I critique my brother differently than other preachers.He sent me the link to the podcast of his sermon. Everyone is doing that now. I'm not just bragging on my bro when I say that it's one of the best messages I've heard in a l
ong time. My brother is not an orator, so I'm not talking about the delivery, nor do I really care about the delivery. My brother is an unashamed and humble disciple of Christ and that is all he wants to be. He believes God called him into the ministry, and that's the only reason he's done it. Apparently the people in his church believe God has called him too, because they voted him into the pulpit. As a preachers kid, I understand that most sermons are "run of the mill" with a message from God, but nothing earth shattering or too difficult to hear. But there are also sermons that God lays on a pastors heart which are more difficult to deliver and more difficult to hear. It seems that these are the Sundays where the pastor "just doesn't have it" or was too "judgmental". I imagine these Sundays are very difficult for pastors. But they have to preach those messages! They are God's mouthpiece to their congregation. To ignore the direction of the Holy Spirit would place the minister in a state of sin. You all remember the Jonah story. It's a different setting and message, but Jonah wanted to avoid delivering it.
ong time. My brother is not an orator, so I'm not talking about the delivery, nor do I really care about the delivery. My brother is an unashamed and humble disciple of Christ and that is all he wants to be. He believes God called him into the ministry, and that's the only reason he's done it. Apparently the people in his church believe God has called him too, because they voted him into the pulpit. As a preachers kid, I understand that most sermons are "run of the mill" with a message from God, but nothing earth shattering or too difficult to hear. But there are also sermons that God lays on a pastors heart which are more difficult to deliver and more difficult to hear. It seems that these are the Sundays where the pastor "just doesn't have it" or was too "judgmental". I imagine these Sundays are very difficult for pastors. But they have to preach those messages! They are God's mouthpiece to their congregation. To ignore the direction of the Holy Spirit would place the minister in a state of sin. You all remember the Jonah story. It's a different setting and message, but Jonah wanted to avoid delivering it.Jeremy's message this past Sunday was about the Christian perspective on life. Politics was mentioned several times. It really hit home for me because I'm afraid I've been guilty of focusing on the negative in this race. Actually, it wasn't even that I was focusing on the negative aspects of the candidates, but I've been very negative towards my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Simply put, as a disciple of Christ, he simply commands my obedience. He does not command that I offer my opinion on everything. This sermon is worth listening to. I hope you do. It's about half an hour long with a very important message for followers of Christ. In fact, I'm begging you...
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