Jim Martin's Resources and Reflections
Resources and reflections for leaders, ministers, and anyone who might find these helpful and even encouraging.
This month, I am making a change to this newsletter. Since March 2020, I have been publishing “Jim Martin’s Encouragement Note” twice per month. I will now publish this “Encouragement Note”once per month. However, in addition, I will begin publishing “Jim Martin’s Resources and Reflections.” Subscribers to the “Encouragement Notes” will receive this once per month.
Hopefully, you will find these resources or reflections, helpful, inspirational, and encouraging.
Today’s 10: Resources and Reflections
(Medium)
“21 Powerful Life Lessons From My Mentor, George Raveling” by Ryan Holiday. Raveling is the former basketball coach for Washington State, the University of Iowa, and the University of Southern California. He had a Hall of Fame career and has served as a mentor to many basketball coaches.
This is particularly interesting to me as I have gained much from being mentored at various times in my life. At the same time, many of us have the opportunity to invest in other people as mentors.
I mentioned in Encouragement Note #126 that one of my mentors was Charles Coil, my father-in-law. A few days after this was published, a friend of mine from church told me how much his preaching had impacted him. His preaching also impacted me. Particularly, it was his tone, content, and passion that were so significant.
One night, I drove to a church in Lauderdale County, Alabama where he was to preach that evening. The church was in a rural part of the county. Just as the service was about to begin, I saw a man sitting on a pew near the back whom Charlie Coil had known for many years. This man had made choices which destroyed his marriage and disappointed many people. He had just moved back to the area after having lived in another state for a few years.
My father-in law preached. The service was over and people gradually began to leave. My father-in-law stood on the parking lot with this man and talked for about fifteen minutes. I waited nearby.
Finally, the man left and my father-in-law walked over to where I was standing. He said, “I’m glad John came tonight. At one time, he did a lot of good and had a lot of influence in this area. I tried to encourage him.”
So many people need a word of encouragement. A word spoken. A text sent. A kind gesture. Maybe someone needs to hear from you today.
Historian Sarah C. Williams has written When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women. I have looked forward to this book since I became aware of Josephine Butler several years ago (1828 - 1906).
Her work in Great Britain was significant. She campaigned for the right of women to better education, the abolishment of child prostitution and an end to human trafficking of young women and children into European prostitution.
Sarah Williams is an Oxford professor who has also served on the faculty at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. See her comments on Josephine Butler here and a lecture on Josephine Butler here.
Ministers and other church leaders might enjoy Cary Nieuwhof’s interview with Glenn Packiam. See “Weary or Wounded? The Real Reason Pastors Are Struggling.” You can watch the video here or listen to the podcast here. I appreciate these words from Packiam below:
That's the only way I know to build trust, because I'm not going to borrow it from the institution or from the position or from my education. It's only going to be won through transparency and authenticity and proximity.
A nine year old boy invites a special needs group to his birthday party. I’m always blessed to see these Steve Hartman stories.
The following quote by John W. Garner is worth considering. In particular, this might be helpful to church leaders:
You come to understand that most people are neither for you nor against you, they are thinking about themselves. You learn that no matter how hard you try to please, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling and then really quite relaxing.
When I read this, I thought about a conversation I once had with my friend and mentor Charles Siburt. At one point in my ministry, I was very irritated with a particular elder in our congregation. I expressed this to Charles Siburt one evening, in a phone conversation. He reminded me that some people with whom I am having difficulty may not even be thinking about me. He then said the following:
Jim, do you know what this elder (“Dan”) is doing tonight? (Of course, I had no idea.) Dan is eating donuts. In fact he is eating a dozen! Then, he is going to bed and will sleep like a baby. Do you know what is not thinking about? YOU!
His point was that I was obsessed with this man while this man was giving me very little thought. In the meantime, this man was sleeping well and going on with his life. Sometimes, we can be so obsessed with someone that we forget that they may not even be thinking about us. They are thinking about themselves, their own lives, and their own problems.
This was a dose of reality I needed to hear.
Recently, I heard an excellent interview. Steve Cuss interviewed Dr. Kathleen Smith (family systems therapist in the Washington D.C. area.) See the interview here and her Substack newsletter here
On April 6, Jay North, the original “Dennis the Menace” died of cancer. He was 73 years old. This is a reminder that as you and I age, we may continue to picture the people of our past as being the age in which we first saw them. “Dennis” (as I remember him on the left, below) was someone I watched on television throughout elementary school.
Who are the children who were significant to you as a child but whom you have not seen since then? What do you know about their lives? Did they turn out in ways that surprise you? Or, are you not surprised by how this person turned out?
Someone once asked, longtime minister Carlyle Marney, “Where is the Garden of Eden?”
Marney replied, “Two-fifteen Elm Street, Knoxville, Tennessee.”
“You’re lying,” the person said. “It’s supposed to be someplace in Asia.”
“Well, you couldn’t prove it by me,” Marney said. “For there on Elm Street, when I was but a boy, I stole a quarter out of my mama’s purse and when down to the store and bought me some candy. I ate it and then I was so ashamed that I came back and hid in the closet. It was there she found me and asked, “Where are you? Why are you hiding? What have you done?”
Video resources you might enjoy:
See the Lanier Theological Library (Houston) and the many, many video resources available here.
There are a number of videos by Old Testament scholar Christopher J.H. Wright available.
Likewise, there are numerous videos available by New Testament scholar Michael Bird.
I formerly served as Vice President of Harding School of Theology, Memphis, Tennessee. Prior to this, I served as a minister in various congregations for 36 years.
I am a husband, father, and grandfather. One of my favorite things to do is to come alongside another person and encourage her or him.
Every other Monday morning, I publish this “Encouragement Note.” You can subscribe at jimmartin.substack.com. You can also find me on Facebook - @jim.martin or Instagram - @jimmartin.jm. My e-mail address is: jmartin9669@gmail.com. Feel free to write. I would love to hear what is encouraging. — Jim Martin
Thank you. Sydney Wagner