This blog has officially moved. (I learned today that this is called "migrating" in the blogosphere.) Why? It's easier to remember the web address, has more functions, and is easier to use than this one.
Come on over to www.barrywingfield.com and reset your "favorites" or sign up to receive emails of every post or set your RSS feed to it!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Stirring Passion #5
Not an accident. I'm convinced that God does not equip and impassion his people for no particular reason. On the contrary he gifts and stirs the hearts of his people because he has a plan for when they get out of their seats and off the bench and into the real battle for the planet.
Not an accident. God's people at Cornerstone didn't wake up one Sunday and give over $46,000 for local and world wide mission work by accident. God's stirring in the hearts of his people was evident in over 46,000 ways on Seed Sunday.
Not an accident. Witnessing God grow our church into a local-to-world-impacting kingdom extension of himself is exactly what he wants us to see and experience.
Not an accident. New CBFers aren't staying around for no reason. Quote from a very new Cornerstonian facebook post from April 29: "I am so grateful to God for finally placing us in a church where we fit that is on fire, passionately pursuing Christ and really actively being his hands and feet in the community and around the world." Me too!!!
Not an accident. It's absolutely amazing to me that by June 12, Cornerstone will have sent 14 members to western China to lay the groundwork for long-term missions. At least 13 of whom had absolutely no idea they would be called to do anything like that just 18 months ago! These unexpected missionaries were not surprising to God. I wonder how many other unsuspecting international mission workers we have in our church?
Not an accident. From inner-city mentoring through STEP, to international mentoring through IFO, to Clinton Elem, to Our House, to Church Under the Bridge, to the AR Bapt Childrens home, to city-wide service on Be The Church Sunday, to.... whatever's next on God's agenda for us! This city is being transformed by the power of God at work in his people. (It's not an accident that God gifted you for ministry and then put you in a church like Cornerstone!)
I've never been more proud, excited, thankful, and spiritually stirred to be a part of a church community.
Cornerstone, your passionate pursuit of Christ is showing!
It stirs my faith!
2 Cor 9:2
Not an accident. God's people at Cornerstone didn't wake up one Sunday and give over $46,000 for local and world wide mission work by accident. God's stirring in the hearts of his people was evident in over 46,000 ways on Seed Sunday.
Not an accident. Witnessing God grow our church into a local-to-world-impacting kingdom extension of himself is exactly what he wants us to see and experience.
Not an accident. New CBFers aren't staying around for no reason. Quote from a very new Cornerstonian facebook post from April 29: "I am so grateful to God for finally placing us in a church where we fit that is on fire, passionately pursuing Christ and really actively being his hands and feet in the community and around the world." Me too!!!
Not an accident. It's absolutely amazing to me that by June 12, Cornerstone will have sent 14 members to western China to lay the groundwork for long-term missions. At least 13 of whom had absolutely no idea they would be called to do anything like that just 18 months ago! These unexpected missionaries were not surprising to God. I wonder how many other unsuspecting international mission workers we have in our church?
Not an accident. From inner-city mentoring through STEP, to international mentoring through IFO, to Clinton Elem, to Our House, to Church Under the Bridge, to the AR Bapt Childrens home, to city-wide service on Be The Church Sunday, to.... whatever's next on God's agenda for us! This city is being transformed by the power of God at work in his people. (It's not an accident that God gifted you for ministry and then put you in a church like Cornerstone!)
I've never been more proud, excited, thankful, and spiritually stirred to be a part of a church community.
Cornerstone, your passionate pursuit of Christ is showing!
It stirs my faith!
2 Cor 9:2
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Stirring Passion #4
(This ended up being a long one. Pour your favorite beverage, find a comfortable chair, put your feet up, and then after your can't-read-this-whole-thing-without-falling-asleep nap, read the second half of this somewhat self-indulgent dad post...)
George Bernard Shaw is attributed with the quote: "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children" (although some believe he simply reworded a quote from Oscar Wilde) (http://www.bartleby.com/73/2097.html). Here's my own rewording: "I wish I could have the maturity of my 40's combined with the passion and energy of my 20's." I'm sure the quote works at any age simply by halving the first number (i.e."...maturity of my 60's...passion and energy of my 30's.").
Physical energy, at least for now, is regulated by my exercise, eating, and sleeping choices. For me, these are disciplines I have to monitor and re-engage with on a regular basis or I can get out of sorts with any of them.
Passion, I believe, has elements of spiritual conviction and relational engagement to it. I think it's impossible to be passionate without conviction. I think it's difficult to be passionate without meaningful human relationships. And meaningful human relationships with people of similar conviction may be the most passion producing combination.
It has been and continues to be a passion stirring thing for me to get to know my oldest son Daniel at this wonderfully exciting time in his life. In two weeks he'll marry Katherine Sneed of Flippin, Arkansas under a canopy of pecan trees in Keo, Arkansas. His mom and I couldn't be more thrilled to add Katherine as our daughter. She graduates from UCA on Saturday with not only a degree but with deep and lasting spiritual friendships and experiences. We are proud of her and love her and look forward to loving her more and more. We know that she would have never given Daniel a second look if he weren't more passionate about his relationship with God than his relationship with her. That's just one of the many reasons we thank God for her.
The last 2 years have been very impacting in Daniel's life and watching it has been impacting for Alicia and I. It's difficult learning to treat your grown son like a man instead of like a boy. After all, the dad-boy relationship has been around a while.
I (and his mom some too) definitely treated (spoiled?) him like many young, 1st time parents do. If he cried, we jumped (and danced, and sang, and fed, and walked, and drove, and bounced, and anything else we thought would end this horrible unbearable thing called "crying".) He slept on my chest in the recliner for the first two weeks of his life when he wasn't feeding with mom. I was perfectly happy continuing this indefinitely but his mom thought a 16 year old sleeping on his dad's chest in a recliner might make other people uncomfortable. So we finally agreed to start the transition of training him to sleep in his own bed in his own room. We completed this transition about 6 years that felt like 60 years later. (Mikaila was in her own room and own bed by day 2. Yes, we were young and dumb, but we could learn. She and we were much happier and slept much better than did Daniel and his overprotective young parents. When Jeremiah cries we don't even hear it.)
I could write a book about everything we learned about Daniel between ages 2 weeks and 21 years but for now I'll spare my blog readers all the details of homeschooling, camping, kindergarten, moving, friends, fights, surgeries, football, basketball, summer camp, sleep overs, garage bands, drama awards, choir trips, spiritual awakening, temptation struggles, heartbreaks, and many other failures and triumphs in between. It was tough. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Off to college proved to be time of soul searching and struggle for Daniel in year 1. Then toward the end of his freshman year God got his attention in some major ways. (Many of those "ways" will be groomsmen on his wedding day.) When God got his attention (this is what we theologians like to call "worship") he became Daniel's number one passionate pursuit. His pursuit of God has led him to the African continent twice, to worship ministry positions for three churches (1st Baptist Church Conway, Chi Alpha Campus Ministry @ UCA, a United Methodist Church in Cabot, and currently he leads the worship team each Sunday at Christ Church, Cabot), to leading a discipleship group of his peers, to deep relationships with men and peers of similar conviction, and to a life dedicated to serving him wherever in the world it takes him.
And it has led him to the heart and affection of a Godly woman (who reminds me a lot of his mom) and to the second most important decision he's ever made. On May 11, he will with conviction and passion, vow to God and to Katherine to continue his pursuit of them both for the rest of his life.
Chills.
Tears.
Stirred passion!
George Bernard Shaw is attributed with the quote: "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children" (although some believe he simply reworded a quote from Oscar Wilde) (http://www.bartleby.com/73/2097.html). Here's my own rewording: "I wish I could have the maturity of my 40's combined with the passion and energy of my 20's." I'm sure the quote works at any age simply by halving the first number (i.e."...maturity of my 60's...passion and energy of my 30's.").
Physical energy, at least for now, is regulated by my exercise, eating, and sleeping choices. For me, these are disciplines I have to monitor and re-engage with on a regular basis or I can get out of sorts with any of them.
Passion, I believe, has elements of spiritual conviction and relational engagement to it. I think it's impossible to be passionate without conviction. I think it's difficult to be passionate without meaningful human relationships. And meaningful human relationships with people of similar conviction may be the most passion producing combination.
It has been and continues to be a passion stirring thing for me to get to know my oldest son Daniel at this wonderfully exciting time in his life. In two weeks he'll marry Katherine Sneed of Flippin, Arkansas under a canopy of pecan trees in Keo, Arkansas. His mom and I couldn't be more thrilled to add Katherine as our daughter. She graduates from UCA on Saturday with not only a degree but with deep and lasting spiritual friendships and experiences. We are proud of her and love her and look forward to loving her more and more. We know that she would have never given Daniel a second look if he weren't more passionate about his relationship with God than his relationship with her. That's just one of the many reasons we thank God for her.
The last 2 years have been very impacting in Daniel's life and watching it has been impacting for Alicia and I. It's difficult learning to treat your grown son like a man instead of like a boy. After all, the dad-boy relationship has been around a while.
I (and his mom some too) definitely treated (spoiled?) him like many young, 1st time parents do. If he cried, we jumped (and danced, and sang, and fed, and walked, and drove, and bounced, and anything else we thought would end this horrible unbearable thing called "crying".) He slept on my chest in the recliner for the first two weeks of his life when he wasn't feeding with mom. I was perfectly happy continuing this indefinitely but his mom thought a 16 year old sleeping on his dad's chest in a recliner might make other people uncomfortable. So we finally agreed to start the transition of training him to sleep in his own bed in his own room. We completed this transition about 6 years that felt like 60 years later. (Mikaila was in her own room and own bed by day 2. Yes, we were young and dumb, but we could learn. She and we were much happier and slept much better than did Daniel and his overprotective young parents. When Jeremiah cries we don't even hear it.)
I could write a book about everything we learned about Daniel between ages 2 weeks and 21 years but for now I'll spare my blog readers all the details of homeschooling, camping, kindergarten, moving, friends, fights, surgeries, football, basketball, summer camp, sleep overs, garage bands, drama awards, choir trips, spiritual awakening, temptation struggles, heartbreaks, and many other failures and triumphs in between. It was tough. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Off to college proved to be time of soul searching and struggle for Daniel in year 1. Then toward the end of his freshman year God got his attention in some major ways. (Many of those "ways" will be groomsmen on his wedding day.) When God got his attention (this is what we theologians like to call "worship") he became Daniel's number one passionate pursuit. His pursuit of God has led him to the African continent twice, to worship ministry positions for three churches (1st Baptist Church Conway, Chi Alpha Campus Ministry @ UCA, a United Methodist Church in Cabot, and currently he leads the worship team each Sunday at Christ Church, Cabot), to leading a discipleship group of his peers, to deep relationships with men and peers of similar conviction, and to a life dedicated to serving him wherever in the world it takes him.
And it has led him to the heart and affection of a Godly woman (who reminds me a lot of his mom) and to the second most important decision he's ever made. On May 11, he will with conviction and passion, vow to God and to Katherine to continue his pursuit of them both for the rest of his life.
Chills.
Tears.
Stirred passion!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Stirring Passion #3
It's exactly two weeks until our oldest child becomes a husband. (I'll write more on this next week.) You might think that his mom would be wringing her hands over the final preparations for the wedding and quietly crying over the unavoidable evidence that her first baby is now starting his own family.
Well, she ain't. (Don't misunderstand, there may be some hand wringing and flowing tears in the next two weeks, but so far we're good...)
God is doing something really cool in my wife's life right now. It's been obvious to me and to those who know her that He's been at work in her for a long time. In the last 12-18 months though, he has been moving and preparing her for something brand new. A new journey of her own.
Alicia's first calling was to be a wife and a mother. She's been a gift in both roles. And while she continues to honor God in these two areas, about 18 months ago she felt that God was leading her to go back to school. When Daniel came along over 21 years ago, she suspended her full-time school work to be a full-time mom. Her work in this area speaks for itself. She has taken a class here and there as she followed me through Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, and finally back to Arkansas. But only recently felt the time and opportunity were right to complete her degree.
Her current goal is to graduate with her BA in Social Work in 2013, and her MSW in Social Work in May of 2014. How's she doing? Let's just say her undergraduate GPA will far exceed my own. As a "Chancellor's List" student with a 4.0 almost every semester so far, she is making quite a reputation in the SW department.
In the fall she'll begin her senior year which will include an internship. I can just tell you right now, wherever it is won't want to let her go when the year is over. She is pursuing her school work as if God is expecting her to do her very best and to represent him in every interaction. There are many students and professors in her department with very different views on faith, lifestyle, and politics than hers. She's made friends of them all and they all respect her greatly. (Calling her at all hours for help on an assignment or general life advice is not uncommon at our house at all.)
She is an example to me of passionate pursuit of God's will. She wants to be a greater force for God in the world as well as help our family financially. Her degrees will open opportunities for both.
She will be embarrassed that I wrote this. But it's my blog.
She's worked non-stop, straight through last summer, to be at this point. She'll have another 24 straight months of school when we return in August. She's ready for this semester to end so she can enjoy Daniel's and Katherine's wedding and our church tour together in the summer. Pray that she is able to fully enjoy our family's time together this summer. I'm looking forward to not sharing her with UALR this July and August! :)
Well, she ain't. (Don't misunderstand, there may be some hand wringing and flowing tears in the next two weeks, but so far we're good...)
God is doing something really cool in my wife's life right now. It's been obvious to me and to those who know her that He's been at work in her for a long time. In the last 12-18 months though, he has been moving and preparing her for something brand new. A new journey of her own.
Alicia's first calling was to be a wife and a mother. She's been a gift in both roles. And while she continues to honor God in these two areas, about 18 months ago she felt that God was leading her to go back to school. When Daniel came along over 21 years ago, she suspended her full-time school work to be a full-time mom. Her work in this area speaks for itself. She has taken a class here and there as she followed me through Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, and finally back to Arkansas. But only recently felt the time and opportunity were right to complete her degree.
Her current goal is to graduate with her BA in Social Work in 2013, and her MSW in Social Work in May of 2014. How's she doing? Let's just say her undergraduate GPA will far exceed my own. As a "Chancellor's List" student with a 4.0 almost every semester so far, she is making quite a reputation in the SW department.
In the fall she'll begin her senior year which will include an internship. I can just tell you right now, wherever it is won't want to let her go when the year is over. She is pursuing her school work as if God is expecting her to do her very best and to represent him in every interaction. There are many students and professors in her department with very different views on faith, lifestyle, and politics than hers. She's made friends of them all and they all respect her greatly. (Calling her at all hours for help on an assignment or general life advice is not uncommon at our house at all.)
She is an example to me of passionate pursuit of God's will. She wants to be a greater force for God in the world as well as help our family financially. Her degrees will open opportunities for both.
She will be embarrassed that I wrote this. But it's my blog.
She's worked non-stop, straight through last summer, to be at this point. She'll have another 24 straight months of school when we return in August. She's ready for this semester to end so she can enjoy Daniel's and Katherine's wedding and our church tour together in the summer. Pray that she is able to fully enjoy our family's time together this summer. I'm looking forward to not sharing her with UALR this July and August! :)
Monday, April 23, 2012
Stirring Passion #2
Preaching through Philippians 3 is a passion stirring thing for me.
To be transparent, I have to be careful to not let the opposite happen. When I read 3:7-8, I have to fight off feeling embarrassed and even ashamed at what I haven't lost for the sake of Christ. I am blessed with a beautiful wife and family, have all my physical needs met, am surrounded by friends, and live in a country with more freedoms than most people in the rest of the world combined.
Because of these blessings, I have to constantly remind myself that I must be willing to lose them all in my own passionate pursuit of Christ. I don't want to lose any of them. I pray constantly that I will willingly give them up if called to.
Maybe it's because I've allowed myself to be blinded by blessings that I was compelled yesterday to confess to being guilty of each of these signs that my own passionate pursuit of Christ was fading at one time or another:
Paul, (as the verses in parenthesis clearly indicate), teaches and demonstrates that passionately pursuing Christ is the opposite of these things. In one sense, I know I must pursue pursuing Christ when my passion for him is beginning to fade. I have a long way to go and this side of Heaven will never fully arrive. But I desire the passion that Paul describes in 3:10-14.
I too want:
to know Christ - more fully and deeply than I've ever known him before
to live in the power of the resurrection - unyielding to anything death and his master throw at me
to experience full fellowship with Christ - to the point of suffering as he suffered if called to
to die having given my life to the will of God - confident of the resurrection he's guaranteed
to press on, straining forward - focusing on the future, forgetting the past, finishing strong to the end
"God, grant me the grace to think and live this way. Teach me to correct wrong thinking and wrong living."
To be transparent, I have to be careful to not let the opposite happen. When I read 3:7-8, I have to fight off feeling embarrassed and even ashamed at what I haven't lost for the sake of Christ. I am blessed with a beautiful wife and family, have all my physical needs met, am surrounded by friends, and live in a country with more freedoms than most people in the rest of the world combined.
Because of these blessings, I have to constantly remind myself that I must be willing to lose them all in my own passionate pursuit of Christ. I don't want to lose any of them. I pray constantly that I will willingly give them up if called to.
Maybe it's because I've allowed myself to be blinded by blessings that I was compelled yesterday to confess to being guilty of each of these signs that my own passionate pursuit of Christ was fading at one time or another:
1. Studying God’s word is drudgery to you. (1:9-10)
2. You don’t want non-believers around you to know you’re a Christian. (1:12-13)
3. Lost people don’t matter to you. (1:18)
4. You are afraid of those who oppose the faith. (1:28)
5. Physically suffering for Christ is unthinkable to you. (1:29)
6. You often complain that “church” isn’t more like you want it to be. (2:1-2, 14)
7. You feel you’ve done way more for Christ than others and it’s time they step up and you step down. (2:3)
8. When other Christians aren’t around, your obedience to Christ disappears too. (2:12)
9. You feel that you’re not gifted enough to be useful in God’s kingdom so you don’t apply yourself to any spiritual challenge. (2:13)
10. You feel tithing is going to really hurt you financially. (3:7-8)
Paul, (as the verses in parenthesis clearly indicate), teaches and demonstrates that passionately pursuing Christ is the opposite of these things. In one sense, I know I must pursue pursuing Christ when my passion for him is beginning to fade. I have a long way to go and this side of Heaven will never fully arrive. But I desire the passion that Paul describes in 3:10-14.
I too want:
to know Christ - more fully and deeply than I've ever known him before
to live in the power of the resurrection - unyielding to anything death and his master throw at me
to experience full fellowship with Christ - to the point of suffering as he suffered if called to
to die having given my life to the will of God - confident of the resurrection he's guaranteed
to press on, straining forward - focusing on the future, forgetting the past, finishing strong to the end
"God, grant me the grace to think and live this way. Teach me to correct wrong thinking and wrong living."
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Stirring Passion
I sometimes need my passion for Christ stirred up!
I am tempted
at times to become spiritually cynical, lethargic, self-pitying, and discouraged.
I can also be self-blinded enough to not even recognize that I’m being pulled
into one of these wretched spiritual places.
I am at times so passionate for Christ that I’m stirred up!
At these times I can’t read God’s word enough, I carve out more study time, I see
ways the church can be the true body of Christ everywhere I turn, I see the
fruits of my labors, and I’m encouraged at how God is using an average
bald-headed guy to make a real difference in his kingdom.
I pray for more passion stirring!
There are several things that God is bringing together in my
life right now that are stirring up my passion for Christ. I couldn’t be more
thankful for them! Here’s the list. (It's not in a particular order and it's not exhaustive.) I’ll write about each in turn in the coming
days:
1. Preaching through Philippians 3 (along with Dave Reynolds, my co-teaching pastor).
2. Watching God use my wife to impact a very secular
university department for Christ as a student (while making straight A’s!)
3. Anticipating the marriage of my oldest child (who’s now a
man) to a very Godly and beautiful woman (who has already become my 2nd daughter).
4. Witnessing God grow our church into a local-to-world-impacting
kingdom extension of himself.
5. Being submerged into the living, breathing, 3-D, HD,
1080p, Hi-Fidelity experience of God’s own historical account of his own actions
in the world (and I haven’t even gotten on the plane yet).
God is stirring my passion for himself. Sometimes it scares
me. Because these are all happening somewhat simultaneously, I get a little
dizzy at times. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
As I said, this list is not exhaustive, but I want to tell you about
each of them in turn in the coming days
God continues to cross lines in my life. I can easily
default into seeing areas of my life as distinct and unconnected and God
regularly reminds me that all the lines in my life cross one another. Like a
movie that begins in 5 different places with 5 different people doing 5
unrelated things and then proceeds to reveal how in reality they are all connected
to one another in ways no one knew by the end, God is showing me how he is directing the
lines of my life to cross at this unique point in my life (probably in more
ways than I’ll ever see). I can be a pretty slow learner, but he’s patient with
me.
It’s a new journey in many ways…
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Next 7 Years: Pt 4
As promised in part 3, here is a FAQ of my upcoming sabbatical and a list of ways that CBFers (and anyone interested) can participate. Thanks to all who have read through all 4 parts of this introductory series of blog posts! My goal is to make future entries shorter and more readable. Please post your comments! I'd love your feedback and to dialogue with you!
Sabbatical FAQ’s
1. How long will Barry’s sabbatical last?
Approximately 10 weeks, from approximately June 4 through around
August 15.
2. Who will pay for the sabbatical?
There are no budgeted church funds paying for any sabbatical
expenses. Barry will bear or raise the funds to cover all costs. Church members
can contribute to the cost of the sabbatical through the church and the elders
encourage this. (Giving to this
sabbatical should be above both the regular tithe and any other special giving
already committed to Cornerstone.)
3. Will Barry’s family go with him?
No & Yes. Barry will travel to Israel alone but be joined by
his family for all other plans. The summer time frame provides a unique window
for the four Wingfields to connect, discover, and grow together. To ensure they
are ready to fully engage in this journey, they will plan a few days of
vacation between each major sabbatical activity.
4. How will we be in contact with Barry?
While an important part of any sabbatical is to make a complete break from normal activity,
Barry will post a weekly blog as a means of recording his experiences and
thoughts for his own benefit and to allow the church to participate with him.
He will not reply to personal emails during this time. An emergency contact process
will be set up by the office staff. The only emergency for which they will
return early would be a life threatening illness in their immediate family.
5.
What
are some of the ways Cornerstone will benefit from Barry taking this
sabbatical?
a. Teaching
from a refreshed and re-inspired pastor.
b. Teaching
from hands on experience in the Holy Lands and in foreign missions.
c. Leadership
enthused with a fresh & long-term perspective.
d. Hearing
from the Wingfields in LifeGroups, student groups, children’s groups and
congregation-wide sharing sessions as well as a written summary of experiences
presented to the elders and available to the church
e. Future
Cornerstone-led Holy Land travel opportunities for Cornerstonians.
How can I participate in this?
1. Pray that all
plans, (travel, activities, and funding) will be finalized with minimal
problems.
2. Encourage Barry
and his family to fully embrace the experience and to enter into it with the
full support of their Cornerstone family.
3. Follow the
sabbatical journey from start to finish by connecting to the sabbatical blog: www.barrywingfield.blogspot.com
4. Ask
questions before and after the sabbatical. Invite the Wingfields to your
LifeGroup to report upon their return.
5. Give
financial support to help make it all possible. Deductible contributions can be
made to Cornerstone Bible Fellowship, Memo: “Sabbatical”. (Giving to this sabbatical should be above both the regular tithe and
any other special
giving already committed to Cornerstone.)
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