Sunday, September 21, 2014

What About Your Book?



What About Your Book?
 
   Just recently I was asked; "Are you still working on your book?" I replied in the affirmative but that
 sometimes progress is slow because, "I have to be in the mood to write." As I contemplate my retirement
 which is now less than a year away I say to myself; "I will have more time to write when I am retired." 
However, I hear many people say that when you are retired that you often find yourself busier than ever
before! So, I don't want to wait for retirement to continue my writing I must set aside time now to write. 
I have a story that I want to share with people. I hope my story will encourage some, cause others to laugh, 
some to shed a tear and a few to take warning. Encouragement, laughter and tears are all part of a story but
what do I mean by, "take warning."
   Someone told me while I was still in training for the ministry; "John, just because someday you will be a 
minister that does not mean that everyone will like you." I thought that was strange but then again I was young 
and naive Doesn't everyone like ministers? Almost ready for retirement the answer comes back to haunt me 
and it is a definite NO. The fact that not everyone likes ministers would be more easily understood if those who
 disliked you came primarily from outside the church but such is not the case. In my almost forty years in
 ministry I have found that my greatest hurt has come from those "inside the church" those who claim to be
 Christians and strangely enough those who occupy positions of leadership within the church. Please don't 
misunderstand me, the majority were certainly loving and accepting of me even with all my faults. Neither do I
mean by being hurt that people simply didn't appreciate my sermons! No, I mean by being hurt that some
would phone immigration authorities and report me for working unlawfully. Some would write you nasty little
notes and tell you and your wife to"go home." Perhaps the greatest hurt came from those who said; "We knew
 you were conservative before you came to us but we thought we could change you." Then, there was one of 
my peers who said; "John, they are a lynch mob and they are out to get you." My peer who warned me of the
 lynch mob refused to share his insight with others who belonged to the same church court as he and I were
 members of. I am not going into any details here but will save that for my book! My greatest comfort in all of
 this came from those who did support me including a 16 year old youth. Nothing of what I was accused of
 pertained in any way to my moral conduct but rather to the gospel I proclaimed. It was because of this that
 I received my greatest support from the Scriptures in John 15:18-19. 
 
Rev. John Fraser