Sean Rheaume

Our New Adventure

Since the pastor blogged about me on the church website I guess it is ok to let you all know what our new adventure is. After what seems like an eternity we will be going back into Family ministry. I have accepted the position of Pastor to Family Ministries at The Church at Riverland Terrace (James Island Baptist Church). I have had several meetings with the staff, pastor and my wife and I had the pleasure of having dinner with Pastor Tom and his wife. They got to know our hearts and we got to know theirs.

At the time I accepted the call, we were praying over several possibilities. A Church Plant, A restoration project as Senior Pastor and this position as Family Pastor. After getting to know the pastor, the church and their DNA, I felt that this was the best and healthiest choice for me and my family.

The Church at Riverland Terrace has a great heart for ministry and does incredible things for James Island. The church is a foreign mission unto itself. They host an Hispanic Church, a Chinese Church and have a halfway house for women. This is a church that simply wants to be Jesus to James Island. I dig that and love them already.

Their current Youth Pastor Brent is moving to Baltimore to plant a church and will stay on as I transition on. This will be the first time in my 20 year career that I will be walking into a healthy situation! Brent is a great guy and I look forward to doing ministry with him and supporting him in his next adventure.

We will be moving to James Island in the summer and Audra will need to find a teaching gig in Charleston County so pray for her. The kids are a bit timid about moving again but the prospect of being a few minutes from the beach solved that problem real quick.

Thank you for your prayers, this has been a difficult time for me…patience is not my strong suit. However, I am now rested and have never been so ready to reach teens for Christ in my life. There is going to be a Tsunami of God’s work overwhelming James Island!

Vulnerabilities during the job hunt

It has been a long time since I was working. Even longer since I was working in the church and even longer still since I had to seriously interview. Last time I had to seriously interview for a ministry position was 13 years ago.

These last months I have networked, searched, googled and prayed looking for ministry openings. I have sent out 24 resumes. Interviewed with a few and now it looks like I have a few opportunities that look promising. One I have my eyes locked in on.

During this process I have learned a few things about the interview but more about myself.

1) Don’t be too eager. I am not a patient man and I get excited easily. However, it can come across as desperation and who wants to hire the guy nobody wants.

2) Be honest. Let them know the real you. Be confident. We all have yucky stuff in our lives, they may as well hear it from you.

3) Ask questions. There have been times I wanted a job so bad that I turned a blind eye. I saw areas that would be trouble but I did not ask questions. I simply assumed it would work out. You know what they say about Assume don’t you?

4) Pray and Wait. Did I mention that I was impatient. This process has taught me 2 things. 1. God is in control and 2. He is always on time.

Is it ok not to know.

Now that we are settled back in the metropolis of Moncks Corner I see a lot of old friends and folk from the church I served in for 6 years in this town. I love seeing everyone but I dread the inevitable question. It is not a bad question, it is a benign question that anyone would ask. “So, what are you guys doing?”

I hate it because I just don’t know. My wife is teaching at Berkeley High School and I am continuing my education. That’s it. When people press wanting to know what I want to do, I answer with shallow answers of some things that MAY be on the horizon but I don’t know.

Is that ok? Is it ok that I don’t know what is next? I mean none of us do anyway but most have an idea what tomorrow holds. Me. Nothing.

Do I look for a position in Youth Ministry, Senior Pastor role, Plant a church?

Now before you hit me with the seek God and look for HIS will thing. I seek God. Hard. I don’t get a definite vibe either way. My educated guess is that in the silence God is telling me to wait. To sit this one out. That doesn’t work out too well for me. But he didn’t ask.

So, I wait…because I don’t know.

Christians Christmas Insecurities.

Tell me if you have heard this before?

“They are putting stuff out for Christmas earlier every year!”

“The commercialization of Christmas is stealing the true meaning of Christmas!”

“Satan is trying to distract us from the meaning of Christmas!”

Can I just ask everyone to relax? Christians can be the most insecure human beings on the planet. This coming from a man that lived in Canada…and THEY are insecure! You know how many devoted followers of Christ will keep the focus on Jesus this Christmas…ALL OF THEM.

You know how many devoted followers of Christ kept the focus on Jesus last Christmas …ALL OF THEM!

The day of Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. My family reads the Christmas story in Luke. We sing Happy Birthday. We thank God for sending his son. That is what WE do.

The Christmas season however, is not sacred…and trying to make it that way will only lead to frustration. We expect a secular world to treat an entire month sacred. Tis not realistic. I love the SEASON of Christmas. There is nothing sacred about Frosty the Snowman, Santa, Elf, The Grinch, Peppermint Mocha Coffee or for that matter Christmas trees and lights. But I like them. I like to play. I like the fun around it…but it isn’t sacred.

Choose not to play if you don’t want to. Preach against Black Friday (retailers won’t like you) if you want. Don’t participate in giving gifts. That is fine. (However, some of you that blog about the commercialization of Christmas love to share on Dec 26th your new Apple product) Don’t participate in the decorations or the egg nog. That is fine. Just don’t hyper spiritualize an entire season and mess it up for the rest of us.

Relax, drink the good Egg Nog and enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas!

Born Again

John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

The term Born Again is no longer en vogue (actually en vogue is no longer en vogue). However, when I first entered the ministry in the Baptist faith Born Again was common vernacular. The idea is simple…when you surrender your life to Jesus, God gives you new life through the regenerative nature of the Holy Spirit. He makes you new…white as snow…pure in Christ.

This idea can seem difficult when dealing with people. They come to church, sing the song, listen to the preacher, get convicted, pray the prayer at the end, sign the card and then go home having been “Born Again”. However, the struggle is still there. The pain of life is still there. The life seems…well the same.

That is where it is important to understand the idea of Discipleship. Not leading Bible Studies…Discipleship. Making disciples (followers) of Christ. Think about it…you were Born. Again. How much do you remember about your birth? Do you remember your first bottle? Your first diaper change? Your first bath? No. Why? You were an infant.

There are pastors that I adore and respect that feel that the idea of discipleship or growing closer to Jesus is old fashioned and gone the way of flannel graph. However, I think Jesus gives this analogy for a reason. We are as Christians like babies or sheep we need guidance. We need someone in our lives to gently nudge us closer to Jesus. We need someone to answer the phone when a new Christian has a question. Discipleship is more than just a study…it is a lifestyle.

I don’t do it enough. Why? I don’t know. Maybe cause I am lazy? Maybe cause I don’t care enough? Maybe cause I am too busy?

Whatever the reason I (we) need to step it up! The Church is full of malnourished babies out there. They are encouraged. They are inspired but they are not discipled.

God help me to help others.

A few answers about the move

A lot of people have had questions about our decision to move back to the Charleston area. Quite honestly I don’t have a lot of answers. On the surface what we are doing looks reckless. However we are following 2 Cor 5:7 and walking by Faith and not by Sight. Audra and I have a love for the lowcountry and we miss our friends dearly. That is in essence why we are moving back. I know it seems over simplistic but that is it.

Neither of us have jobs lined up. I have something exciting in the works but it is not firmed up yet. Audra is currently looking and has several leads. We have savings to live on until we are blessed with a job. But, quite frankly I can’t find a job here in Georgia and Audra has to drive 3 counties away to teach in a crappy school so it is not like we have a lot here anyway.

I believe if all things are equal surround yourself with friends and go where you are happy.

So, in a week we will pull our UHaul to our rental house in Moncks Corner and begin a new chapter in this journey. We are scared but hopeful. We are excited yet guarded.

We are also ready.

I hope that clears it up.

Thanks

Jesus, since we have this day to celebrate giving thanks, I thought I’d thank you for a few things…

Thank you for a wife that is strong, beautiful, loves you and is my best friend (making her a great kisser was a bonus)
Thank you for 3 great kids that challenge me and trip me out.
Thank you for mom, pop, brothers, sisters in all their glory.
Thank you for my friends.
Thank you for a year of challenges that have crystalized my calling and vision.
Thank you for the pain that life brings that made me stronger.
Thank you for the ability to go back to College.
Thank you for the courage to step out in faith and move…again.
Thank you for your word that encourages me.
Thank you for saving me.
Thank you.

The little things

There is a great story in the bible where Jesus was at a wedding. Actually his mother was at the wedding and it kinda seems like Jesus and his buddies crashed the party (man I love Jesus). Anyway, at this particular wedding Mary came to Jesus and informed him that the guest was running out of wine and HE needed to do something. Jesus tried to argue but it was mom, so what are you gonna do?

So, Jesus’ first public miracle was turning water into wine. Not only wine but the good stuff. A nice Noire Valley if you will? It made quite an impression on the guests.

So what? You may ask. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine making sure people got their buzz on in style (again I LOVE Jesus).

That isn’t the point. Not to me anyway. We don’t know the wedding party but we know that Mary was invited and Jesus and his friends were there. What do we know about them? They were blue collar folk…you know rednecks. It was a disgrace to run out of wine at a celebration. It spoke loudly to the community and was humiliating. It was that feeling/situation that Mary and Jesus had pity. Is running out of wine going to kill anyone? No. Is being picked on in the community that big of a deal in the grand scheme of eternity? No. Yet, Jesus cared.

You see, Jesus cares about things that you care about. Things that others seem trivial, but to you are major…Jesus has got that. I have a friend who has cats. Her cat died. She was devastated. Me, I was like dude…they give em away for free? However, you know who cared about her cat? Jesus.

You know who cares about your big problems like addiction, pain, sickness? Jesus.

You know who cares about your desire to lose 10 pounds? Jesus.

You know who cares about your little things in life? Jesus.

Man I love Jesus.

Operation R2C

Operation R2C stands for Rheaumes to Charleston. In 1996 I transfered from Columbus State University to Charleston Southern University to study youth ministry. I didn’t know much about Charleston back then except they started the civil war…well that’s what my History professor told me. I did poorly at school but I ended up leading a youth ministry at a little baptist church in Hanahan. It was there I fell in love with the low country. I served in 3 churches over 13 years.

I love the low country…the ocean, the wetlands, the high school football, Hyman’s Seafood, Tinder Box, The Market and some of the best churches in the country.

Since right now I am not serving anywhere but am finishing my school at Luther Rice Seminary and my wife isn’t exactly loving her job we have decided to go back to the land we love.

Prayer Needs:

We have to sell our home

Find a house in the charleston area

Audra has to secure a job in Charleston (MS Science or Math teacher)

Process the kids for the change

Please pray for us…once again we are jumping without a net…but that is the way we like it.

Lucky number 13

Thirteen years ago I married Audra Little…aside from following Christ it was the single greatest decision I have ever made. Audra is the most amazing woman I have ever known. She is my best friend and my favorite times in life are the ones where we sit and talk for hours. A little while back I was speaking to someone about what Audra could do for our church and the pastors response was, “Sean, I swear you think Audra could land an airplane in the parking lot!” I retorted with, “Give her an hour to prepare and she probably could.”

She is the most talented, amazing, funny person I have ever known. She is the woman that I am glad is raising my kids. She is the woman I can’t wait to spend my days with when the kids are gone.

She is the love of my life…I don’t tell her enough….I don’t show her enough…but I thank God for her daily.

Happy anniversary Audi.