The View from Chester

A seasoned pastor’s musings on life.

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  • What’s in a Name? More Than I Thought

    I’m learning that the names and labels we use do more than identify things. They shape how we think about them. That realization has been following me around lately, especially when it comes to something close to home. I find myself using the phrase “quiet time” less often and saying “pondering” instead.

    A little context may help. In Christian circles, “quiet time” usually means the daily time a person sets aside to read the Bible or other devotional material, think about what they’ve read, and pray. I suppose we landed on the term because the volume level in that time and place is supposed to be low.

    So far, so good. But “quiet time” has always carried a little baggage for me. It tends to remind me of how seldom I actually get quiet enough to notice what God may be saying. And what about the mornings when I read and pray in a noisy room, or in a parked car, or with life happening all around me? Do those still count? Laugh if you want, but I have spent real time thinking about this.

    There is also this small complication: if I read and pray silently, or even in a soft voice, I can get very relaxed. Then I really do have a quiet time. Unless I snore.

    That is why I have grown fond of “pondering.” It better describes what I hope is actually happening. Luke uses the word in a beautiful way when he writes, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). In that scene, pondering carries the idea of deep, reflective thought.

    But there is more texture to the word than that. Other uses point toward things like meeting, encountering, conversing, and even debating. That sounds a lot like what I need each day. When I go a-pondering, I am not simply checking off a spiritual habit. I am coming to a meeting where I encounter the Master of the universe. I speak to him with my words, and he speaks to me through his Word. And, from time to time, I find myself debating him over something he wants me to do and I do not want to do. Pro tip: don’t. I’m trying to do it less.

    Replacing “quiet time” with “pondering” has brought some freshness back to the practice for me. It reminds me that no two meetings between friends are exactly alike. Some days are peaceful. Some are searching. Some are full of questions. Some are full of silence. Pondering leaves room for all of that.

    So there you have it, the view from Chester on daily Bible reading and prayer. Your view may be different. You may not like my term at all, and you may already have several better ones lined up. That is fine. Use whatever term helps you show up. The name matters, but not as much as the meeting itself. My hope is that you are having those moments with the Lord, whatever you call them. And if there is anything I can do to help, I would be glad to.

  • Shepherd In the Street

    My grandson, Samuel, enjoys pulling this empty wagon down the street. I’m not sure why he does this, but I just go with it.

    As we walk, I stay close, always scanning in all directions for danger. When I see danger coming in the form of a car or truck, I quickly move us to the side until it passes. I’m also teaching him to wave and say, “Thank you for letting us move out of your way.” It’s nice when people wave back.

    As Samuel and I walked along the other day, it struck me how little he sees of the danger around him. He doesn’t notice cars the way I do. He doesn’t think about how quickly trouble can come. He just pulls his wagon and enjoys the walk while I keep watch.

    The Bible talks a lot about Jesus being our Shepherd. A familiar verse on this is John 10:11, where Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Sheep are not especially good at spotting danger. They need someone watching over them. So do we.

    As Samuel and I walked along, I thought of the many times Jesus has protected me from danger I wasn’t even aware of. Just as I can see danger long before that little boy can, so Jesus knows what’s coming my way when I don’t have a clue. I may get a late-night phone call next week telling me devastating news about a loved one. I hope I don’t. But if the call comes, Jesus will not be caught off guard. He will already be there, preparing me for that moment as only he can.

    The Bible also says our enemy “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). There are dangers in this life that I do not see coming, and some of them are spiritual. But Jesus sees them all. He is not surprised, distracted, or late. Peter goes on to say in verse 9 that we can resist him by standing firm in our faith. The apostle John wrote, “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

    I’m glad that I am never out there all by myself. Neither are you, if you belong to Christ. He doesn’t send his sheep out into a dangerous world and then leave them to fend for themselves. He sees what we do not. He knows what is coming before we do. He watches over his own far better than I watch over that little boy out in the street.

    Samuel loves pulling this empty wagon, not sure why.

  • Winners and Losers

    In a little less than a week, Southern Baptists will be in Orlando for our Annual Meeting. It looks like the big issue will be over a proposed amendment that will further define what women can and cannot do in the local church. (The “cannot” list is longer, but I digress.)

    My take on what’s coming is shaped mostly by social media, especially Twitter. (I know, X. But this “seasoned” Southern Baptist is still adjusting, cut me some slack.) From what I see there, there’s quite a difference in the overall tenor of posts and comments.

    Those in favor of the amendment are mostly caustic and passive aggressive. Folks opposed appear to be more measured, thoughtful, and analytical. Of course, I’m only one of many, and the algorithms that generate my feed may be very different from others.

    But IF the way I’m seeing this is indeed the way it is, one could easily conclude that those in favor are on the wrong side of…well, many things. The sad thing is, this is a battle of brothers. The agreements among us far outnumber the disagreements. Furthermore, most of our disagreements are rooted in biblical interpretation, not biblical authority.

    I hope I’m wrong about this next part: this Annual Meeting will be very contentious. The contest will end with a losing side and a winning side. The winning side’s victory celebration may be gloating ridicule or conciliatory affirmation.

    Regardless of all that, the biggest loser will be us-all of us. No matter how all this plays out, a watching world will walk away shaking their heads and chuckling. I can almost hear one of them saying, “Yup. Count on the SBC Annual Meeting to put on some good, mindless entertainment — pure WWE‑style theater.”

  • The SBC Keeps Picking the Wrong Fight

    (AI was used to edit and refine this post.)

    As Southern Baptists approach another annual meeting, a familiar debate has returned: whether the role of women in ministry should be a defining test of cooperation. This comes despite the Law Amendment’s failure in 2024—a result that reflected real disagreement and a deliberate choice not to make this issue a constitutional standard.

    That vote didn’t end the debate. But it does raise a more pressing question: Is this the right fight for this moment?

    What Makes a Fight Worth Having?

    Not every disagreement carries the same weight. Faithfulness requires more than being right—it requires judgment about proportion, timing, and consequence.

    For many, this issue is a matter of genuine conviction. That deserves acknowledgment. But sincerity does not settle priority. The question is whether this debate warrants the level of attention and institutional energy it continues to receive.

    A Question of Proportion

    To question prioritization is not to dismiss the issue. It is to ask whether it has become disproportionately central.

    Since the Law Amendment failed, there has been little evidence that its absence has produced widespread theological decline. At the same time, challenges more closely tied to our credibility remain unresolved.

    The concern is not that we address this issue, but that we allow it to dominate our agenda while more urgent work goes unfinished.

    The Urgency We Risk Neglecting

    The SBC’s handling of sexual abuse has exposed failures spanning decades. Messengers have called for reform, transparency, and accountability. Some steps have been taken, but serious questions remain about whether those efforts are sufficient or sustained.

    This is not simply another issue. It is a test of our moral credibility—our willingness to protect the vulnerable and confront our failures honestly.

    At a moment when trust must be rebuilt, our priorities send a message. If we appear more focused on boundary disputes than on repentance and reform, we should not be surprised when confidence erodes.

    This is not about choosing one issue to the exclusion of all others. It is about whether our emphasis reflects what matters most.

    The Risk of Narrowing Cooperation

    There is also a broader concern. When a convention defines cooperation through increasingly specific boundaries, it becomes easier to keep doing so.

    Today it is this issue. Tomorrow it could be others—pre-millennial vs. post, open communion vs. closed are only two examples. Whether this actually happens is anyone’s guess, but the possibility is certainly there.

    A convention centered on shared mission can sustain disagreement. One that continually narrows its boundaries risks becoming smaller, more fragmented, and less effective.

    Learning from Experience

    I write this as someone who was deeply invested in earlier conservative efforts within the SBC. Sometime in the early 1990s, an older, wiser pastor told me, “When conservatives are done driving away liberals, they will turn on each other.” I dismissed that at the time. It is harder to dismiss now. I’m seeing passionate disagreements unfold with a majority of conservatives on all sides. God, help us!

    Today’s disagreements are often not about biblical authority, but about interpretation. That should encourage humility—and some restraint—before turning disagreements into tests of fellowship.

    Choosing Better Priorities

    Doctrinal clarity matters. So does wise judgment about where to focus our shared energy.

    At this moment, a healthier path would include:

    • Sustained, visible progress on abuse reform
    • Greater transparency about past failures
    • A lower temperature on secondary disputes
    • Renewed focus on the mission that unites our churches

    A Better Way Forward

    Southern Baptists will not eliminate disagreement. The question is how we handle it—and which issues we elevate.

    If we continue turning secondary matters into dividing lines, we should not be surprised when our fellowship narrows and our voice weakens. But if we prioritize wisely and keep our focus on shared mission, we may yet hold conviction and cooperation together.

    We do not need fewer convictions. We need better judgment about which battles to fight—and how much they should cost us.

  • AI: Panacea, Poison, or Something In Between?

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock far away from civilization, you’ve heard of artificial intelligence (AI). If you’re like most people, you probably have strong opinions about it. What fascinates me is how people who are similar in many ways can hold wildly different views on AI. Those differences are reflected in the title of this article—and, until recently, I was firmly on the skeptical end of the spectrum.

    My own opinion on AI has been changing from very negative toward cautiously positive. That shift didn’t come from theory or hype, but from actually using AI. It doesn’t do my thinking for me, but it has sped the process up in noticeable and often helpful ways.

    Before the computer age, research was painfully tedious. (Raise your hand if your only way to find library books was a card catalog.) With the arrival of computers in the latter half of the last century, the time it took to chase down facts shrank from weeks to days, then to hours, then minutes. AI represents the next step in that progression. It’s essentially a search engine on steroids, reducing the time needed to locate information to fractions of a second.

    That speed matters because it changes how we spend our mental energy. Instead of hunting for information, we can devote more effort to evaluating it, understanding it, and connecting it to real‑world situations. Used well, AI makes research faster and less painful, allowing us to focus on judgment rather than retrieval.

    Someone with the gift of understatement might say that AI is a revolutionary invention. About six hundred years ago, there was another invention that reshaped how people accessed information: the printing press. The parallels—and the differences—are worth considering. In preparing to write this article, I asked Microsoft’s Copilot to compare and contrast the printing press and AI. Within seconds, it produced a thoughtful, multi‑page response. What impressed me wasn’t originality or insight, but speed, organization, and clarity. The thinking still had to be mine; the tool simply accelerated the process.

    That distinction is important. However advanced AI becomes, it will never be a thinking, feeling, or sentient being. It does not understand truth, wisdom, or meaning. It processes patterns and probabilities, nothing more. When people talk about AI as if it “knows,” “believes,” or “decides,” they are assigning human qualities to a tool—and that’s where misuse begins.

    Used wisely, AI can sharpen our thinking. Used carelessly, it can dull it. The responsibility rests entirely with us. As with every powerful invention before it, AI demands discernment. Be careful out there—and above all, keep thinking.

    Disclaimer: This article was enhanced with AI.

    The aforementioned article from Copilot can be found here.

  • Freed By Death

    During my quiet time This morning, I was reading God’s instructions to Moses and the nation on how to deal with someone who’d committed manslaughter. Someone who had accidently killed another could flee to a “city of refuge” where he or she would have protection from the family and friends of the one who had died. The downside of this was the manslayer had to stay put, possibly for years:

    Num. 35:28 For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession (ESV).

    If the manslayer tried to relocate before the death of the high priest, he or she would be fair game for anyone wanting to get revenge. But what did the high priest’s death have to do with all of this? With the help of a few study resources, I think I might have an answer.

    This regulation is something of a preview of what would come centuries later. Jesus is our great high priest. His sacrifice of himself was, and is, full payment for all our sin. This ancient law, then, foreshadows a release from debt by the death of God’s high priest. (Heb. 9:11-14)

    I was also taken by the short verse that comes a little later in the text:

    Num. 35:32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest (ESV).

    So even if the manslayer had plenty of money, it couldn’t be used to buy freedom before the death of the high priest. In the same way, we can’t do anything to earn or buy our way out of the debt our many sins incurred against us. Only Jesus was capable of paying that debt by his death. God announced his acceptance of payment by raising him from the dead three days later.

    Thank you, Jesus, for loving us! Thank you for letting that love lead you to the cross! Thank you for paying the debt you did not owe, because I could never have paid that debt on my own!

  • In Memory of My Mentor

    Today, Feb. 8, is the 92nd anniversary of the birth of a wonderful man, Franklin D. R. Hall (1934-2019). His two middle names were actually Delano Roosevelt. His dear mother thought the President walked on water, so she gave his name to her newborn son. (The funny thing is, Franklin grew up to be a staunch Republican.) Nine days after he was born, Franklin’s mother passed away.

    Frankin spent his early years with his maternal grandmother. After she died, he went to live with his uncle and aunt in Newport News Virginia. For the rest of his life, Franklin honored them as his parents.

    Franklin Hall (L) and me at my ordination service, June, 1990

    He surrendered his life to God through Christ as a teenager. Sensing that God was calling him to preach, he attended and graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Then he came back home where he earned a bachelor’s degree at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

    Our paths crossed in 1986 when Franklin interviewed Yvonne and me for a staff position at the church where he was pastor. As a result, in October of 1986 I became the first full-time minister of music in the history of Bethel Baptist Church, Yorktown, Va. Franklin and I served together there until 1999. Looking back, I fondly recall some of his characteristics:

    His zeal for God

    Franklin was quick to tell anyone that God alone deserved all the credit for any good thing in his life. His love of God led him to promote missions in a big way. Under his leadership, Bethel continually set and broke records for their giving to denominational missions causes. His zeal was obvious in his preaching. He truly was a dying man preaching to dying men; a beggar telling other beggars where to find bread.

    His folksy wisdom

    Ecclesiastes 3 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (ESV); the following verses give a dozen examples. Franklin usually had a good grasp on what to do, and what not to do most of the time. He also had a lot of quips that laid things out in a clear way. A few of my favorites are:

    • Everybody has friends.
    • You can’t unscramble eggs.
    • Don’t let the camel’s nose in the tent.

    These, along with many others probably weren’t original to him, but I’d never heard them before meeting him. Now, I can’t forget them.

    His patience

    Being a young man in my 20’s, I already knew that I already knew everything about, well, everything. I couldn’t have been more wrong! (He often “joked” about me giving him grey hairs.)

    Franklin’s tenure at Bethel ended when he retired. My service ended a week later with an unpleasant resignation. At the time, I blamed him for the circumstances leading to my departure. Since then, however, I believe I was wrong about much of it. The fact is, only God knows everything about that time.

    But I, armed with all my “knowledge” at the time, gave myself over to all kinds of hateful, hurtful thoughts and words. For over a year I was in a prison of my own making by my refusal to forgive a number of people, including my former pastor. I don’t know the date, but I vividly remember the early morning moment when I tearfully confessed my sin of withholding forgiveness. After that I had peace and joy in my life, I’d nearly forgotten what that felt like!

    In the months that followed, Franklin and I renewed our friendship. Since he’d moved out of the area, most of our time together was on the phone. When I heard that he’d “graduated to glory,” as he liked to put it, I wept tears of sadness and joy. I was happy for him going to heaven but sad that he was no longer here. In that moment, I thanked God that he’d led me to forgive, seek forgiveness, and restore a relationship. Is there someone you need to forgive? Why not do that now?