Join host Pastor Dave Schultz as he welcomes Christian blogger George Spicer for a spirited discussion on how social media messages can augment the practice of religion in a modern world. "There's no substitute for meeting one-to-one," Spicer says, "but the blog is a good way to keep in touch in light of the pandemic."

The following program is sponsored by evangelical life ministries.

Welcome to engaging truth, the manifestation of God's word and the lives of people around us. Join us each week. As we explore the impact of his message of spiritual renewal from the lesson of forgiveness forged in the crucible of divorce, to the message of salvation learned by an executioner from a condemned killer to the gift of freedom found in the rescue of victims of human trafficking. This is God's truth in action.

Welcome to engaging truth. This is Dave Schultz, your host for this particular program. And we have a special guest who I've known for more than six months, more than almost 50 years. Welcome George Pfizer to the mic tonight.

Thank you. And if you don't mind, I'll call you pastor because, uh, we have known each other that long. And, uh, for me, you are still my pastor, although, um, I guess we could say we're colleagues as well. Uh, I remember the great days when you let our church in Mesa, Arizona, and, uh, growing up under your tutelage was, uh, real blessing for me. And, and I think one of the reasons why, um, I gravitated toward parish ministry, just watching your example of how you treated and touched people with the gospel.

Would you give kind of a summary, a brief summary about how we met and if you recall those days, I recall them, but I think it'd be more beautiful if you would share them.

Well, what I recall is, uh, coming home one day from high school, uh, after a basketball practice and walking into our house and finding this, uh, person I'd never met, uh, looked pretty young and my parents introduced you as the new pastor in town. And, uh, at that point, my perception of the clergy were older guys and, um, not particularly active in sports, not, not up on current events and so forth. And instead I found, uh, in a, in a guy, uh, an outstanding athlete and somebody who seemed to be able to relate to me. And, uh, I remember thinking this is a pretty cool pastor here. I think I can like this guy.

Well, George, since that particular time, uh, you've gone into seminary and, uh, graduated from the seminary and you've had many different ministry settings. Let's talk about that little bit

Coming out of the seminary. I was, uh, ordained and installed at to church in fetus, Missouri. I served there about four years. It was a great group of, of, uh, people. We were, uh, ineffective mission church and there was great spirit about reaching the neighborhood, uh, with the gospel. Um, then after about four years, I received a call to island Lutheran church in Hilton head island, South Carolina, which was quite a, a change of pace from what I'd experienced in feta us. Uh, we were there almost four years, uh, when I received a call to come to life in Christ Lutheran church in Peoria, that was kind of a homecoming for my wife and I, uh, our three kids had already moved back to the Phoenix area, cuz this is where they were born and, and grew up and, uh, spent 17 years at life in Christ retiring this past October

Was life in Christ, just a small mission church when you were called there.

I think what I've learned over years in ministry is that you can speak an awful lot, but the way we behave is oftentimes the winning product when it comes to people coming back to worship with us. And I think your humble, joyous, thankful nature can easily be seen. And I think that the Lord used to drop people to life in church.

Yeah. I, I think, um,

When, when you come to church on a Sunday and a stranger that you don't know, hugs you and welcomes you and tells, tells you that they're glad that you're there. Um, most people don't run away. They're actually excited. And I'm sure, you know, probably one of the most difficult things to do for anyone on a Sunday morning is go to a place where they don't know a soul and have no idea how they're going to be welcomed and churches who throw the doors open, throw their people who throw their arms open. Um, I I think, uh, can really reach people. Uh, folks, folks are looking for acceptance these days.

Well, the message for you and for me has always been the same go and tell. And there's only one message in a that's Jesus, you know, without that there is no church without that there is no eternity, you know, and I just thank God that you picked up on that so early in life, even as a young man, as I remember. And, um, and it drove you eventually to, to wanna seek a time in seminary to, to become prepared, to, to learn how to do this, uh, in quotes, outta quotes professionally. And so George, I'm sure proud that God has used you in so many different ways and that God used me in a small way to, to just be a, a had surrogate dad for youth for all those years. I got a, a question that I'm curious about, and I did not know about this really until I went to your retirement party, where did the Beatles come into this whole thing?

Um, well, growing up in Tucson, Arizona, I was, I think, 12 years old when I heard my first Beatles song on the radio and became a fan of their music. Not necessarily all of the things that they, they, uh, upheld. Um, I just liked the music a lot and, um, uh, I, I like all kind of music really, but, um, the congregation there at life in Christ, know of my, my love for the Beatles. And, um, they certainly did up my retirement, um, with lots of decorations and things like that. I wasn't expecting it, but, um, that was part of a great time that day during the retirement ceremony.

Well, early on in life, I can remember my dear mother, who you knew from the past said that thing, Elvis Presley, don't you ever go to one of his movies because that would be living in absolute sin. I remember, but she said something about the Beatles too, but it wasn't so hard, but anyway, Um,

What,

What did you want ministry to look like when you first came to life in Christ? Um, I guess you've given an expression of it so far, but what did you want that thing to look like after you've been there a year or 2, 5, 10 years?

Well, I, I wanted, it was important to me that we not lose sight of why God had placed this there in the first place. And that was to keep loving people, to keep welcoming people, uh, to help them to grow in their love for the Lord. And, and, uh, and, uh, discipleship was a very important part of that. Um, it, it's just exciting and I know you've this, uh, when you watch people, um, who are touched by the gospel and how that gospel can, can change them. And as they get excited about Jesus and what he has done for them, it motivates people, uh, to want to share that good news with others. And, uh, um, we did a lot of different things to canvas neighborhoods. Uh, we took the words of acts one eight, uh, go to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria into the most parts of the world.

We divided up our, our five mile radius of neighborhood and we created, uh, the immediate neighborhood around the church is Jerusalem. And then we expanded the circle and that became our Judea and Samaria. And then we expanded the circle even more, and that became our, um, the rest of the world, so to speak. And so we just focused on each one of those areas. Uh, we did lots of door knob hang and, uh, trying to engage people, um, where they were at. And, um, God just kept growing our church. He just kept bringing more and more people who, um, were hungry for some good news, uh, some encouragement, um, a word of peace, a word of hope. And, um, you know, I, I have tons of books on my shelf about how to grow to church, but I've never found any of them as, uh, effective as just, um, witnessing to people. Uh, the great love of Jesus Christ for them.

I guess one of the most beautiful things in many industry is all of a sudden someone who you have not seen for years have not heard from for years, all of a sudden they appear back in front of you and say, I just wanna thank God for you because of what you did to help me to see Jesus more clearly. And, and I think that's the blessing of men, isn't it? I mean, we don't look forward to that. We don't wait for people to come, but when it happens, it's beautiful.

Uh, Luther taught in the catechism. I, I believe that, uh, you know, God, the holy spirit works when and where he pleases. And so we don't always know how the spirit is going to work through that word to, to change a person's heart. But it, it certainly is exciting when, um, as you say, someone who you thought had no interest in the gospel, no interest in being a member of the church to suddenly return and say, you know, I've really been thinking about what you shared with me. And, um, I want to know more about this. Jesus,

That's the most beautiful thing that I think of as I think back upon my many years in ministry is the, the sudden appearance of someone whom you have maybe forgotten about. Maybe you have not given a lot of prayer time to, but all of a sudden reappears and says, thank you for what you meant to me as you share Jesus with me.

Uh, let me share one story very quickly, cuz it relates to you. If you remember. One of the things we did at Pilgrim Lutheran was to get these, uh, small, new testaments. And we put, uh, what some people call the Roman way, uh, in the front of them, the, the Bible verses that, uh, uh, lead a person to recognize their need for Jesus. And, and to confess that, that faith, uh, I had had an instance when I was in the radio business where a fellow came to me, moved to Phoenix, struggled to find a job. We gave him a little part-time job. And uh, one day I witnessed to him, I used that new Testament to show him God's love and Jesus Christ. And he said to me, you know, um, I've heard all this before. I've, I've tried it before. I just don't think this is for me.

And I was very disappointed because I thought, well, gee, I, I shared these verses properly. And, and um, he should have said, yeah, I wanna be a Christian. Um, didn't see him for about a month. He walked in one day and told me that he was Lee had gotten a job back in Oklahoma. And then as an aside said, by the way, I really thought a lot about what you said to me and my wife and I have gone back to church. Didn't see that coming and only the holy spirit, uh, could receive the credit for that.

One of the things I just thinking about as you were talking about that was going to the radio station one night, a couple, two, three years ago. And the guest that was coming from a different state never showed up and here it was one minute to seven and we had a brand new guy at the monitor that that day never seen him before. And I knew that I had to produce 24 minutes. Uh, and I had not been prepared to do this. And when I did and the 24 minutes was finished, he dropped his earphones and he looked at me and said, that was the clearest message of Jesus I have ever heard. And he'd been on radio for years. So maybe that's why God uses us George, but now in retirement, you've got lots of other things to do. Let's talk about the blog that you write every day of the year.

And, um, I found it to be a blessing in a number of different ways. One, it's a great communication tool. Um, you know, from your own parish ministry that, uh, on Sunday you get a chance to touch a lot of lives, but during the week we can sometimes feel disconnected from our members. I, I found the blog to be a good way to who stay in touch with those who wanted to read it. Um, it became a teaching tool. I would post Bible studies up there and, um, it, it was, um, a tool that I could use to bring a word and encouragement to people. I like to write, um, not a great writer at all, but, um, I found it fun to be able to, uh, uh, write about various things that were happening in our society and relate those back to the gospel.

It just became a, a way for me to, to reach people that, um, maybe I wouldn't have been able to connect with otherwise. And I, I, and I would say this, a blog is no substitute for meeting people one on one. Um, that that is the best way, but, um, nowadays you can't, you can't see people regularly, um, in this day and age, not everyone answers their phone. Uh, not everyone is excited when you come to the door to a visit. So something like a blog turned out to be a great way for me to stay connected with the people in our church.

How has the pandemic affected the blog if anyway?

Oh, it, it, um, probably only increased its importance. Um, our church went on, uh, hiatus for three or four months. Um, we were videotaping a service, but we had no connection with anyone. And, uh, again, the blog turned out to be a great way of, of, uh, communicating with members, letting 'em know that, uh, even though we weren't meeting as a church, um, you know, uh, I'd not forgotten about them and we still cared about them. And, uh, we used the blog to, uh, to share, uh, uh, the word of God to, to be in an encouragement to people. Uh, you know, lots of folks were afraid. They're still afraid, um, with, with regard to, uh, the pandemic and COVID 19 and all that. And to be able to point them to scripture where Jesus says, um, you know, I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you, Isaiah, uh, uh, telling us in, in chapter 55, that, that we're, we're God's children that God loves and cares for us. And to, for people to know that, uh, God had not forgotten them in something that, uh, was as difficult in trying as the pandemic, uh, really blessed a lot of people. And I noticed the number of hits. I, I got on my blog, uh, increased greatly during that period of time.

How do people, how do people get back to you when you write the blog? Is there an opportunity for them to write back to email, back to text back? How do they do that?

Yeah, I, I had, uh, when I started the blog, I just able the comments, um, uh, tool mostly because I've been advised by people that, um, if you're going to solicit comments, then you really have to keep an eye on that blog. And, um, I didn't wanna become one of those pastors that said it, his desk all day on his computer. Uh, so I, I disabled that, but, uh, through that people have contacted me, um, via email. They've called it the church. Uh, people have reached out to me via Facebook messenger. So I do get some feedback on, on what we're posting. And, um, that's given me some thoughts and ideas about future posts. Uh, I guess just the good ideas to how well the blog is working for me.

My secretary for the media team, uh, wrote me the other day, or she texted me and said, oh, I read that every day. He's a friend of yours. I said, only for 50 years,

George,

Now that you're in retirement, what is, what does retirement look like for you in, in terms of how the Lord is going to use you?

I had some good advice from a seminary professor who recently retired. He's a friend of ours. And, uh, he said to me, George, you need to learn to say one word and don't be afraid to say it often. And that word is no, because lots of people are going to have lots of different ideas for what you should be doing in retirement. And he said, something find you, um, and, uh, you know, God will, God will see that, that that happens. Um, so I'm gonna be doing some, uh, preaching at the church where my wife and I are presently attending. I'm gonna continue to work with the blog. Uh, I've written probably 500 over the course of, uh, 17 years of ministry here at life in Christ. Uh, I may start to dig through those and publish them in a book form. Um, and we'll see what else God has in mind. Uh, I guess right now, uh, everything is on the table and, and, uh, we're open to see what might come next.

Well, I can guarantee you that having retired twice and maybe a third time, uh, that, uh, the time fills up very quickly, if you let it and exactly the big word you have to have in your vocabulary is no.

George

Sh we only have a couple minutes left. What, what does ministry look like around the corner? Not just your ministry, but our ministry in the world.

I, I am so pleased that, uh, a dream that you had for so many years, um, to, uh, have an effective radio outreach media reach, uh, has come to fruition with, uh, what you're doing there in Texas. It's exciting to see that that dream has come alive and the impact that, uh, this program is having on other people. Uh, I think, uh, the, the church needs to learn every way that it can, uh, to utilize social ministry, uh, to use radio, to use television. Um, I think is people become more and more insulated. Um, these are gonna be the tools that we'll need to, to master and to be able to use, uh, so that we keep on fulfilling the great commission that God has given to us.

I love that passage in Matthew, 24 14, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world as a witness to many, and then show the income George we're down to the last minute. And, um, I'd like to ask you to take 45 seconds of that in prayer. Would you do that right now?

Surely we pray gracious God, heavenly father. We thank you for friendship for the friendship that, uh, Dave and I have had for over 50 years. Thank you for the example that he set for me to, to show how the gospel can truly penetrate the lives of people and change them, and to give them a hope and a future Lord, we pray your continued blessings on this radio ministry, that it would continue to touch many lives and that you would show owes Lord, how to be effective in spending out this message. Uh, so that more and more people come to know that Jesus Christ is their savior. That nothing can separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, their Lord and savior. We pray all of this today in Jesus name.

Thank you for being with us on engaging truth. Come back next Sunday night. Good night.

Thank you for listening to this broadcast of engaging truth. Be sure to join us each week at this time, to help support our ministry, contact evangelical life ministries, post office box 5 6 8, Cypress Texas 7 7 4 1 0, or visit our, our website@elmhouston.org, or find us on Facebook at evangelical life ministries. Thank you.