From Allentown, Pennsylvania to Greeley, Colordo, our senior staffer of the week Zachary Turnbull has seen the blue collar work ethic modeled from steel to beef. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University in 2002, Zach spent a year on staff at PSU before coming to the University of Northern Colorado where he has been since 2003.
One current thing I cling to is that God is the One at work and I get to join Him while He alone causes growth. It's freeing when I don't see immediate results.--Zach Turnbull
UNC Campus Team
Along with his many hobbies and interests that you can read in the profile section Zach also likes hanging with celebrities- shown pictured below with the kid "Ralph" from A Christmas Story and the claymation sensation Gumby.
From decoding campuses to movement management one of the big challenges of launching a ministry is getting the right people on the bus. Imagine this missionary's nightmare who was trying to start a movement or church plant with these potential "leaders" and their sordid profiles:
Elder number one was a man of wealth and means who did extensive traveling about the country. He was well grounded in his faith and had once established himself as a military hero. However at two different times he "used" his wife to gain favor with state officials. It was also public knowledge that his wife could be a nag and manipulator, which may well have contributed to his having sex with an employee leading to a not so legitimate son. He also had a close nephew who was a business and political leader in a thriving gay community and became involved in incestuous practices. But other than occasional business deals gone awry and making "deals" with God, the man was a pillar of stability, strength, and faith.
Leader number two was not quite National Enquirer material but did come short of some of the standards laid out in the pastoral epistles for an elder in the church. He was married to his cousin but at least was faithful to her. He also incurred some bad publicity concerning a couple of sour real estate deals. He was guilty of the ultimate sin a parent can make, having a favorite son, whom he never confronted enough. So it was no surprise when this son married out of the faith, not once, but twice. Their homefront was known for unceasing power struggles between the children and eventually the lesser favored boy ran away. But other than that everything was just fine.
Candidate number three's reputation for swindling and panhandling would rival that of a Mafia leader. Even family members were fair game when it came to making a profit or gaining power and influence. More than once he had to leave town for fear of his life due to men who felt they had been bilked by his scheming and conniving. You would think a guy with thirteen kids was a great family man, but he still had two wives and a couple of "affairs" on the side that made the home life anything but great. One of his daughters was raped, inciting two of his sons to murder all those in the offending family while another son ended up in prison for years, after being sold out by his brothers no less.
One can hardly imagine men with these blemished backgrounds in a religious order, being set as standards and models for the hope and inspiration of a local community, let alone future generations. What kind of leader would consider them as anything more than a drain on resources and an embarrassment to the God of the Bible. Yet amidst their baggage and sordidness, they were used to impact whole nations for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob --- for they were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
-Bert
No comments:
Post a Comment