I am often amused and intrigued by how we commemorate certain days, weeks and months in America.  Some are declared to be so by the President.  Others are by declaration of any level of civic leader.  With all of that in mind, did you know that today — June 4, 2010 — is National Doughnut Day?

Most commemorated days don’t register for me, but this one caught my eye — rather it caused me to begin salivating.  Who thought of this day?  We usually assume that Hallmark has a hand in many of these days, but not this one.  It actually has origins in WWI and The Salvation Army.  The Salvation Army sent women to set up huts amongst the US soldiers in France.  Among other items, the doughnuts became a big hit.  Then in 1938 the Chicago branch of The Salvation Army set aside June 4th as a fundraiser to honor these WWI women of mercy with Doughnut Day.

The day continues each year with doughnut makers offering specials to commemorate the day.  For example, Dunkin’ Donuts is offering a free donut with a beverage purchase.  Krispy Kreme is giving away a free donut to each person without regard to a purchase.

Did you notice the switch from doughnut to donut?  That’s what we do in the English language.

Personally, I have fond memories of making a late night stop to Krispy Kreme on Bardstown Road in Louisville, Kentucky.  Getting a few donuts hot off of the assembly line is an incredible experience in tasty satisfaction.  Alas, it is a guilty pleasure.  For a diabetic, donuts offer a double-whammy.  Dough plus sugar is not a great combination for a diabetic.  According to Krispy Kreme’s website, the key nutritional values for a single glazed donut are 200 calories, 12 grams of fat and 22 grams of carbs.  That would be okay, but who can eat only 1 Krispy Kreme donut?

How does all of this play into a blog like Pulpit 2 Pew?  Apart from the stereotypical police officer, Sunday School classes must be the primary source of consumption for donuts.  This was confirmed this Sunday, when a young lady carried a box of donuts past me as she entered church.  I confess that I was momentarily distracted from my preparation to worship as I wondered where this young lady might be sitting and if she really wanted to take all of the leftover donuts home with her.

So when you eat your next donut, think of those women from The Salvation Army providing treats for our soldiers in 1917 France.

In the early 1990′s, W.A. Criswell was the guest preacher in the church which I served as pastor — West Rock Baptist  Church (Little Rock, AR).  I was honored and privileged to share the pulpit with this great preacher.

Criswell was pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas for 50 years.  He was considered the patriarch of Baptist life by many.  Criswell preached straight through from Genesis to Revelation during his ministry in Dallas.  Members would often introduce themselves as having joined the church during Isaiah (or whatever book he was in at the time).

Criswell was amiable and preached to a much smaller crowed than he was accustomed.  Yet he still proclaimed the Word of God preaching with power and enthusiasm.

I remember picking him up at the airport with my cousin, Duane Gantz.  Criswell arrived with 1 piece of luggage that was only slightly larger than a fanny pack.  I still don’t know how he did it.  He preached in a suit in our church on Sunday night and then to a group of pastors in another suit on Monday morning.  I don’t know where he had the suits, but he obviously was an experienced traveler and packer.

Criswell went to heaven in 2002.  His sermons have recently been made available online at www.wacriswell.com.  His autobiography is called, Standing on the Promises: The Autobiography of W. A. Criswell

This article is the fifth and final installment of my lists of five aspects related to John Calvin.  These articles are in conjunction with the 500th birthday of Calvin which was on July 10th.  The previous four lists include:

• 5 Criticisms of Martin Luther by John Calvin
• 5 Thoughts on Society by John Calvin
• 5 Qualities John Calvin Desired in a Wife
• 5 Teachings of John Calvin on Church Music

Since the use or abstinence of alcohol is again a front line issue for Christians, I am including 5 thoughts of Calvin on the subject.

1. Drunkenness is a shameful abuse of a “noble and most precious gift of God.”
2. Wine is a “very healthy food.”
3. Men become drunk “to bury reflection.”
4. Drunkenness clouds the mind and stupefies the senses.
5. Drunkenness can lead to other sins.

To celebrate the 5ooth birthday of John Calvin (July 10th), I am posting a few lists of 5′s that will shed some light on this important reformer.  Previous articles include:

• 5 Criticisms of Martin Luther by John Calvin
• 5 Thoughts on Society by John Calvin
• 5 Qualities John Calvin Desired in a Wife

Calvin systematically established an order of worship for the evangelical church.  Music and singing were vital elements for him.  Here are 5 teachings of his on church music:

1. Congregational singing is a foundational element of the worship service.
2. Cheerfulness should characterize this singing.
3. The Psalms are the best songs.
4. In singing the Christian stands in the presence of God and the angels.
5. The result of singing is “like a spur to incite us to pray to and to praise God, to meditate on his works, that we may love, fear, honour, and glorify him.”

In honor of John Calvin’s 500th birthday on July 10th, this is the 3rd list of 5 aspects of Calvin’s life and works.  These lists are intended to acquaint readers with this important figure in the history of the church and civilization.

Previous lists:

• 5 Criticisms of Martin Luther by John Calvin
• 5 Thoughts on Society by John Calvin

At the age of 30, Calvin’s friends strongly encouraged him to get married.  He rejected the 1st suggested wife because she did not speak French and her noble background might cause her to put on “airs.”  He commented that he would never marry her “unless the Lord had entirely bereft me of my wits.”  He rejected a second candidate due to her blemished past.  He would marry Idelette de Bure at the age of 31.  She was a widow with two children.

The qualities he desired in a wife (physical beauty was not a concern) were that she be:

1. Chaste
2. Sensible
3. Economical
4. Patient
5. Willing to take care of his health.

* These are taken from John Calvin–A Biography

In honor of the 500th birthday of John Calvin (July 10th), I am presenting some short 5-part lists related to Calvin.  Hopefully these lists will shed a little light on this important man and encourage readers to further study his life and works.

John Calvin and Martin Luther were the two principle figures of the Protestant Reformation.  While they had much in common, Calvin was critical of Luther in these 5 areas.  The first four are mentioned in a letter that Calvin wrote to Martin Bucer in 1538.

1. Calvin thought Luther to have a craving for victory.
2. Calvin did not like Luther’s haughty manner and abusive language.
3. Calvin thought that Luther demonstrated ignorance and most gross delusions.
4. Calvin did not favor Luther’s insolent fury.
5. Calvin criticized Luther’s scholarship as careless about propriety of expression or historical context.

It is interesting (at least to me) that you can hear these same criticisms tossed about today amongst Christian leaders.  One could almost insert the name John MacArthur for Calvin and Mark Driscoll for Luther and keep the list intact.

I am grateful for both Luther and Calvin — even in the midst of criticisms.  Likewise I am grateful for both MacArthur and Driscoll.

* Info taken from John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait

On July 10th, 1509, John Calvin was born.  Calvin became the leader of the Protestant Reformation while preaching, teaching and writing in Geneva, Switzerland.

One would be hard pressed to find an individual with more influence on the history of Christianity and on western civilization than Calvin.  Still today much discussion exists on Calvin and the theology known as Calvinism.  I am grateful for his life and work.  I gladly call myself a Calvinist.

Calvin penned one of the most influential works of theology, Institutes of the Christian Religion.  Here is the opening sentence of the first chapter of the book,

Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

I recommend the following books for your continued study:

Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (2 Volume Set)

John Calvin–A Biography

The previous 4 articles of my autobiography:

• Autobiography (part 1): The Early Years
• Autobiography (part 2): Early Manhood
• Autobiography (part 3): The Pastoral Years
• Autobiography (part 4): The Dark, Scarlet Letter Years

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At the age of 40 I had experienced a wonderful life as a husband, father pastor and scholar.  I had also experienced the shameful loss of marriage, ministry and educational pursuits.  My relationship with my children had been severely damaged.  Almost all of my Christian friends either ran away from me or considered that I had run away from them.

This article is about my journey following a winding road that sometimes veered near where I should have been.  At other times the road steered far awy from the path on which I should have been.

Divorce

After the latest episode, we again started meeting with Dr. Eric Johnson from Southern Seminary.  He had counseled with us after the adultery a few years previously.  After a few weeks of this, my wife decided that she could not continue in the marriage.  She filed for divorce.  I did not want this, but shoulder all the responsibility for it happening.  To this day I hope that she receives good for the evil which I brought her.

My Children

I love my four children very much.  I hurt each of them deeply.  My relationship was strained with all four of them.  I had betrayed their mother.  Cameron, the oldest, became his mother’s protector.  All of them rallied around her in her pain.  For this I am extremely grateful and proud of them.  They did what they should have.

They did not push me away, but there was clearly a distance between them and me.  My youngest, Bethany, was effected the most.  As a young girl she had to grow up with Mom and Dad living separate lives.  I did not do a good job of being there for her.

As the years have unfolded, all four of the kids have demonstrated a tremendous level of grace toward their fallen father.  I count them as the dearest of my relations, my friends and my fellow followers of Jesus.  When I see them or talk to them, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God for restoring my relationship with them.

My Church

The church that I had served as pastor took a different path than did my children.  In effect, they divorced themselves from me.  I so wanted to be strengthened by them and build my life back as a part of the church.  I am willing to grant that my perceptions could be skewed, but it seemed that it was their wish that I simply go away.

Within a matter of days of my separation from my wife (well before the divorce), the men of the church organized a work day at the house that was still in my name.  I still had hopes of being back home soon.  The problem with the work day was that nobody asked me.  Not only did they not ask, nobody told me.  They simply pushed me aside.

A bit later the church was creating a members directory complete with pictures.  Guess who was not listed?  I showed up for church early one Sunday and received a print out of the members with my name omitted.

I responded with anger and a growing bitterness.  I met with the elders but we were clearly on different pages.  Actually we were in different books.  The senior pastor told me that the elders didn’t have time to deal with me.  As the founding pastor, this was enough for me and I finally left.  The church later merged with another church and relocated.  I attended one of the early services after the merger and was alone amongst a crowd of people.  I never went back.

The response at the seminary was a mirror of the church.  I attended a chapel service.  I was nearby a number of men that knew me well, yet all of them ignored me.  Only recently have I stepped foot back on the campus.

The Exception

The lone exception during this time was Brian Vickers.  Brian had become an elder at the church and is now a professor at the seminary.  Brian asked me to meet him for coffee one morning.  We continued meeting for a long time.  After my 3 year hiatus in Florida, Brian and I have picked back up our weekly coffee meetings.

He would meet with me, listen to me, challenge me and encourage me.  Had it not been for Brian I don’t know if I would ever have returned to church.

Away from the Church

For the next few years, I attended church little if at all.  I met a young woman and dated her for almost two years.  Our backgrounds were so opposite.  She was a vegetarian, feminist social worker more in tune with an earth goddess religion.  Our time together was at times exciting but at other times destructive.  As we neared the end of our relationship, she encouraged me to return to the church.  She was not a Christian, but knew that I was probably a better man if I was living as a Christian man.

About the time she was encouraging me to return to my Christian roots, Brian encouraged me to talk to Daniel Montgomery.  Daniel was and is the pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville.

So I met with Daniel at Highland Coffee.  I was not going to make it easy for him.  I now had a few years of bitterness piled on top of my own sinful actions.  Part of my hoped that the meeting would go well.  I was tired of being angry.  I was tired of being bitter.  I was tired of crying at night.  I was tired of feeling estranged.

I unloaded my whole pitiful story on Daniel.  I painted an ugly picture without much hope.  Daniel listened.  He then said to me (words that I won’t soon forget), “Frank, it seems that you still have a desire for God.”

I sat back and thought, “How did he get that out of all that I had just told him?”  Yet, he was right.  More than anything I wanted to be close to God.  I wanted to really know that God could forgive and restore me.

I wish that I could say that the rest of the story was all rosy.  I drew near…I pulled away.  This was a pattern that I kept repeating.  Yet, each time I was drawing a little closer and each time I was pulling away a little less.

Suzie

One night I met Suzette (Suzie).  On our first meeting I informed her of the shameful way my marriage had ended.  (I don’t recommend this strategy for those seeking a wife).  We began dating and in 2004, we were married.

Suzie was not a Christian when we met (Again, I don’t recommend this, but God was gracious).  Early last year Suzie did become a Christian.  We were attending First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach.  Suzie was baptized in the Atlantic Ocean and my heart rejoiced.

This past summer (2008), Dr. Jimmy Scroggins came to West Palm Beach to pastor our church.  Guess from where he came?  The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Jimmy provided wonderful care and biblical teaching to our lives.  He helped heal the wounds that I have had with the seminary and with the church in Louisville.  He helped Suzie in the early days of her Christian journey.

We have recently moved back to Louisville.  I miss the sunshine and the beach of South Florida, but I love being back where my life fell apart.  I love being around my children and my two grandchildren.  I hope to see my life flourish in the city in which it was nearly destroyed.

This is my story.  It is still ongoing.  Here is what I know:

1. I have a growing relationship with Jesus.
2. I have a great wife in Suzie whom I love deeply.
3. I have 4 wonderful children and 2 children-in-law.
4. I have 2 fantastic grandsons.

I am a blessed man who has been given another opportunity by God’s grace.

Previous articles in my autobiography series:

• Autobiography (part 1): The Early Years
• Autobiography (part 2): Early Manhood
• Autobiography (part 3): The Pastoral Years

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* Preface: This article is frank and forthright.  My purposes in writing it are twofold.  First, it is my story.  Secondly, I hope that others will learn from my folly and avoid the temptations that bring nothing but pain and sorrow.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

At the beginning of 1996, I was now in Louisville, KY.  I had moved from Little Rock, AR to work on a PhD at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  My area of study was Church History and my faculty adviser was Dr. Marvin Anderson.

During the first few months of study, I was doing guest preaching at churches in Kentucky and Indiana.  I believe that my first doctoral seminar was on the subject of Martin Luther with Dr. Anderson teaching.  I loved learning on this level and being a part of the seminary family.  When Ben Mitchell arrived on faculty to teach Ethics, I became his teaching fellow/grader.

Trinity Baptist Church

Soon after my studies began, I began working on planting a new church in Louisville.  With the help of some great men and their families, we launched Trinity Baptist Church.  We met in several locations until we settled on a school near Bowman Field.  Trinity Baptist Church eventually merged with Clifton Baptist Church.

The Fall

All was great.  Then my world came crashing down.  Rather, I crashed my world.  To avoid being too graphic, I committed adultery.  For a period of time, I lived a duplicitous life.  Finally, I called off the relationship.  I thought I had escaped being found out.

The next day, I made a phone call to check on the other woman.  My oldest son heard the phone conversation.  He confronted me with words that pierced me, “Twenty years of respect are gone.”  After initially denying all, I came clean (or rather dirty).

I resigned my position as pastor.  I left my seminary studies.  I resigned my job as the night librarian at the seminary.  Years of preparation, experience and work were flushed down the drain.

In my arrogance I hurt a very good woman who had been my wife since we were both 16, my 4 kids, my parents, my church, the seminary and the cause of Christ.  I sinned against all of them.  Yet, as David prayed when he confessed his sin, I had sinned chiefly against God.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

– Psalm 51:4

Rebuilding

I went through a public church discipline process with the church.  The church and the seminary arranged for good counseling with a faculty member at the seminary.  I began working on trying to rebuild trust with those whom I had hurt.

The months ahead were difficult, but my family worked hard to come back together.  We made wonderful progress.  I sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door for awhile.  During my college and early seminary days, I had worked at hotels.  So I found a job as a supervisor at a hotel.

A couple of years passed.  I was doing some teaching in small groups at church.  I made myself accountable and tried hard to rebuild my broken relationships.  At this point, Dr. Anderson encouraged me to return to my PhD studies.  After some thought and prayer, I had a strong desire to do so.  I began seeking other counsel.  My desire was to be able to teach history at some level.  I had already completed most of my course work for the degree.  I only had a few minor requirements and the writing of my dissertation to fulfill the degree requirements.  After getting all green lights, I contacted the seminary about the possibility.

The dean told me that if the church approved my return, then I could return.  Our church was now being pastored by my successor, Dr. Tom Schreiner, and had a number of seminary leaders involved in the church.  The church endorsed my return to my studies and provided a letter of support for the seminary.

I received a letter from the seminary welcoming me back.  I began getting prepared to return.  Then I was again contacted by the seminary and was told that the letter they had sent me was premature.  I was told that I would have to appear before a faculty review board.  With their approval, I would then be able to return.

So, I met with the faculty.  Most of these men knew me well.  Some were members of the church that had endorsed me.  Through this time of rebuilding, my life had been an open book.  We had a frank but good discussion as I honestly answered all of their questions.  They thanked me for being so forthright and for the rebuilding in my life.  I was dismissed so that they could discuss the matter and vote on my return.

Disappointment

I fully expected to be approved based on all of the feedback that I had been receiving.  After a few days of not hearing anything, I contacted the chairman of that faculty committee.  He indicated that he could not provide any information to me in person, but that he would send a letter to my home.  I thought this kind of strange, but thought it was just part of the red tape.

One day I returned home to an empty house.  I checked the mail and went inside.  The letter from the seminary had arrived.  I went to my desk, opened the letter and sat stunned as I read that I had been rejected.

I was crushed.  All of the hard work, the church endorsement, my adviser’s encouragement, and the previous letter of approval from the seminary had not prepared me for this.  I was even more unprepared for the reasoning stated in the letter.  I probably could have more readily accepted a rationale of protecting the integrity of the seminary, etc.  Instead the reason given was that the committee thought it would be difficult for me to find a job at a Christian school because of the adultery or at state school with a seminary degree.

I contacted a friend who was a Vice President of the seminary to see if I had any options for further consideration.  He told me that the President of the seminary had put the brakes on my reinstatement and therefore I had no other options.

Another Fall

I did not respond to this in a godly manner.  One day at my computer, I responded to an e-mail that I should not have and visited a web site that I should not have.  I soon repented of this computer activity.  However, a few weeks later a family member notified the same Vice President of my computer activities.  He confronted and challenged me to make things right with God (which I had) and to inform my wife of my sin.

I did.  She told me to move out because she could not go through any further hurt.  I do not blame her.  I had hurt her deeply and had reopened the wounds with my latest actions.

The following months were very contentious.  I was hostile towards the seminary and towards the elders in the church.  They were put into a difficult position, but did some things that hindered another reconciliation.  Finally, my wife filed for divorce.

In the next and final article in this series, I will detail the depths of despair and the rebuilding after a final severance from my marriage, my church and the seminary.  I had tagged myself with the Scarlet Letter – an Adulterer.  My hope would rest on the verse from the prophet:

Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow.

– Isaiah 1:18

David had this similar hope after his adultery as evidenced by his prayer in Psalm 51:

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

– Psalm 51:7

If you would like to keep up with one who has found grace for his adulterous sin and read articles intended to help recover from such an ugly sin, then please subscribe to this blog using either the RSS button at the top right hand of the page or by entering your e-mail address just below the RSS button.