Fran Trascritti Family, ministry

The Need for Rest

Hebrews 4:9, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

Ironically, I am writing this as I am heading on a plane for a much needed vacation. Yet as I tried to sleep on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic with my internal time clock already out of sync, I couldn’t help but think about this passage and its application and just had to write.

Let me admit that going on vacation this time around was not an easy thing for me. I avoided telling people about it out of guilt. I even hesitated telling people where I was going in fear that some might think that I wouldn’t be able to be around in the event of an emergency. I also didn’t want to give fuel to the fire for those who consistently spew hateful, negative things. On top of that, I used to pride myself on not taking vacations, days off, or by working all hours of the day and night. “No one can out work me,” I used to think to myself with pride in my heart. A man who took time off was lazy, even soft, and I didn’t want to be one of those guys who were just flat out weak. That certainly has something to do with my struggle to take time to rest.

Well, let me be even more frank: that thinking is completely man centered, sinful garbage. True, God values work. He has shown this by His six days of creation. He has worked throughout history, interacting with His people and leading them to great testimonies of faith in Him. He even did the greatest work of all on the cross willingly and unselfishly. He is a God who works.

However, God also rested. He also wants His servants to rest. In fact, His creation wasn’t complete without that seventh day of rest. Even Jesus took time to rest, going off to refresh and renew Himself with people, places of solitude, and time with His Father. Rest isn’t weak, lazy, or soft- rest, properly done, is a good thing and will make us more effective for Christ’s service.

I look forward to this time with my wife. We are going to enjoy this great creation that God made, taking time to rest and getting revived so we can serve Christ even more as we head into a busy season. Please pray for us, and learn from my own confession: take some time to rest!

Pastor Fran

P.S.: see you after my vacation  😉

Fran Trascritti discipline, ministry

A Word on the Transgender Issue…

On Friday, the U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King, stated, “No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus” (source). Out of this sentiment, a call for change in the use of restrooms has come from the Federal executive branch to all educational institutions in one fell swoop. Also in line with this thinking, both governments and businesses have begun to allow transgender individuals to use any restroom that they feel comfortable with using.

Of course, this has unleashed reaction like a tidal wave. Parents, churches, and community leaders have protested that such a policy would create an unsafe atmosphere in the most private of places. In essence, they claim, this practice would literally open the door to anyone who wishes to enter any restroom, even if there are nefarious reasons. Safety and security are issues, to be sure.

Both sides of this issue offer arguments with both logic and emotional considerations. The media is having a field day, grabbing clicks with emotionally charged headlines to get readers to state their opinions and stir up debate. Yet all of the arguments fall short of the main issue at hand. While the assumption in almost every discussion here is that restroom choice is the problem, the truth is, we are missing the main point.

What is the main point? To answer this, we have to return to God’s creation. When God created the universe, He created it as a proclamation of His glory. He made men and women to be equal in value, image bearers of Him, willingly fellowshipping with His presence, following His commands without burden. He intended a perfect paradise, a place where love and truth share an equal coexistence, unopposed to one another in contrast to some of the thoughts of today. His created order is a perfect order.

Unfortunately, we as a people have fallen. Because of sin and death, we live in a broken world. We rebel and squeal and scream, we try to find our own path instead of what God wants best for our lives and our world. We struggle with our lives and we pridefully seek our own ways and our own lives and we miss God’s way. We and others struggle with alcoholism, drug abuse, gluttony, pornography, or anything else which mars and scars us. As we see today, our minds come into conflict with our bodies, often because we fail to see God’s sovereignty even in our struggles. As such, we miss the joy and pleasure of turning our lives and struggles to a powerful God who can get glory in the victory over these things.

And this is the underlying issue behind the transgender bathroom debate. The conflicts of our desires with God’s desires are as old as the temptation of sin in the Garden. Whether it’s gender identity or anger management or sins of the heart, the truth in love is found in the perfection of Christ. Our conflicts will happen if we turn from God and His Word, and anything contrary to God’s created order in the beginning is going to create problems, even chaos in our present world. We should know what it means as to what biblical manhood is and on what biblical womanhood is. In other words, our struggles are resolved if we think and act and behave as Scripture teaches vs. what the culture claims.

So what is a Christian to do? I respectfully disagree with this decision, and I call for the church to focus on showing our children, youth, and adults that being a man or a woman is more about following Christ and His Bible than biology. We must love boldly in reaching out to those who are hurting and confused, and yet be the voice of safety and security for our children. But most of all, we as believers must be a voice to share the Scriptural teachings on men, women, and God’s sovereignty. That said, let’s remember that our witness to the world should have both love and truth- today, even in the face of yet another societal controversy, we have the opportunity to do both.

Love boldly. Share Biblically. Live blamelessly.

Pastor Fran

Fran Trascritti discipline, Family, Jesus, ministry

Five Reasons Why Families Should Worship Together

Whether called Kid’s Own Worship, Kid’s Church, or just simply children’s church, a great12888757_10153621814759611_556307441460214700_o many churches have a separate worship option for children apart from their families. Having this time of worship separate from the children offers mom and dad a chance to worship, grow, and focus on the message without distraction. And though we currently have a Kid’s Own Worship at First Baptist, I see the need for our church family to have a more integrated approach to have worship together.

There are some very, very good reasons to for a family to worship together. For example, though there are some benefits in having children’s church, it’s also vitally important for children to see, hear, and experience worship with their family. And, with the right planning and attitude towards worship, mom and dad can manage their children and benefit from a dedicated time of worship with them. Of course, it’s not easy, but it can indeed be done, and I believe that it will provide fruit in the long run.

That said, here are some reasons families should worship together regularly:

  1. The children will see their parents worship. Worship is caught more than taught. We cannot delegate this responsibility. In fact, when a parent takes worship seriously, the children will follow. When they don’t, well…
  2. The children will hear their pastor’s message. Most pastors study, prepare, and pray over the message for many hours prior to the Sunday service. A life long diet of God’s Word is encouraged from the pulpit as the Word is taught and applied to their lives as well as to others.
  3. The children will see the response to the Word. For those churches that offer a time of response to the Word (or invitation), I see this as a treasured, precious moment for people to pray, seek, and connect with Christ after the Word has been preached. What better time, then, for the children to see faith and life intersecting as people share their victories, struggles, tears, and joys with their church family?
  4. The children will gain insights and have questions. Children have the opportunity to ask questions and receive insights on a pastor’s message or other aspects of the worship service. A family experiencing this time together can easily have these conversations on the way home, at lunch after church, or even during family worship times. Almost a Deut 6:7 moment, right?
  5. The children will be stretched in their spiritual walk. We have been guilty in the past of setting the bar too low for our children, thinking that they can’t handle sitting still for a period of time or unable to handle conversations.  In some cases, this is possible, yet it is up to the parents to help them to grow into this period of worship and learning. It’s not going to be easy, but in the long run, they can and will grow.

These are some of the reasons, and I think, very good ones. Our hope is always that we will see the fruit over the long run in our children, and this is but one of the ways to accomplish that.

Any additional reasons or thoughts on this topic?

In Him,

Pastor Fran

Fran Trascritti culture, Devotional, ministry

Why Fast?

This weekend, our church on the hill here in Cincinnati is going to pray and fast for 48 hours. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for our church to do this, as we are at a major crossroads in the 60 year history of our church.

You see, our community has been changing for quite some time. Families have moved north and east of our area. Poverty has been on the rise. Single parents have become the largest demographic in our area. Add in the state of our postmodern nation and it’s easy to see the challenges that our church has faced.

logochurchBut, wow, how God has blessed us! He’s led our church to adapt and become a multiethnic, multi-generational church. He’s connected our church family with the community through many of our outreach efforts and events. He’s opened doors for the gospel through a revitalized Passion Play, through our new Food Pantry, and through the faithful sharing of the Good News at every opportunity. And the worship services have been nothing short of inspiring and life changing as new believers have come to Christ and several have recommitted their lives to serve Christ more fully in our response time to the Word!

So why fast and pray? We do this to seek the Lord to do something beyond what we can do naturally. You see, if we only operate within the confines of what we can do naturally, there’s no faith in that! After all, how does God get the glory when we make plans that we can do and do work that we can do, when we have all the power and strength of what God can do?!? For this reason, I am eager and excited to have us enter in this time of fasting and prayer.

That said, here are some things to pray for:

  • Our vision and our vision team- we are awaiting a report from a consultant and going through a process of evaluating and innovating our church ministries. Nothing is off the table, and most importantly, everything needs to be before the Lord!
  • Our staff and our search team- in our need to fully staff our church, we have a search team looking to fill a position related to the children and family ministry. We need to have Spirit led wisdom and direction for the team.
  • Our love for the gospel and community- our community is desperate for the love and truth of Jesus Christ! Please pray and seek how God might shape our hearts to share the life changing gospel with all we see.

I hope and pray that you will be a participant in this emphasis. We will be starting the fast at 9:15 am Friday and finishing at our Sunday 9:15 am Bible Study, where EVERYONE (men, women, and children) will be eating, fellowshipping, and participating in a Bible study together. I am expecting that God will continue to do spectacular things at our church, so let’s see what else He has in store that will magnify His name!

Pastor Fran

Fran Trascritti ministry

Signs That the Frog is Beginning to Boil…

Many of us have heard of the illustration of the Frog and the kettle. If you haven’t the basic idea of this illustration is something like this: whenever a frog is tossed in a boiling pot of water, it’s almost certain that he will struggle and fight and try to jump out. However, if you put the frog in a pot of warm water, he’ll be a happy frog- even when the heat is turned up slowly to the point of boiling!

What a perfect illustration for the church and their devotion to principles. In fact, there are temptations everywhere for churches to compromise God centered practices for man centered pragmatism. And while it’s true that “all truth is God’s truth,” not all that is being done in the name of the church is either God centered or God focused.

But how do you know if the frog’s beginning to boil? Here are some signs:

  • Fear overrules faithful teaching. Too often, we see a compromise of biblical teaching because teachers and pastors are afraid of hurting people’s feelings. Even worse, specific doctrines and principles are never mentioned in fear of losing members or potential members. Eph 4:15 tells us that we can and should share the truth in love.
  • The great comfort overrules the Great Commission. Church members are part of the church to relate to one another, without a doubt. However, being the church also means to be obedient to Christ. As we grow in our love for one another, we must radically love the world with the gospel…and take meaningful action to show it.
  • Democracy overrules theocracy. For some reason the rugged American independence has dominated much of the thinking when it comes to church polity. This is not to say that the church shouldn’t be involved in decision-making, it’s just that not every decision needs to go up for a vote.
  • Gossip overrules the Gospel. Gossip is fatal in a church. It is a cancer in a church when supposed believers talk about and discredit others. Gossip isolates, denigrates, and asphyxiates people who are image bearers of God- the complete opposite of what the gospel is supposed to look like.
  • Man-centeredness overrules God-centeredness. Although it can be argued that this is true for all of this list, what I mean is about practice in the church. Too often, the methodologies borrowed from corporate America (or even from other churches) are utilized hook, line, and sinker – without even trying to see if the methodology is biblical or not.

That’s a short list, but I know that it can be expanded. Any other thoughts?

Fran Trascritti discipline, ministry

How to Destress…and Stay that Way

I have always worked.

Once, as a nine-year old boy I went door to door with my dad’s old shoeshine kit, looking for neighbors who would pay me to shine their shoes a quarter per pair. 2012-01-09 14.58.22As I got older, I mowed lawns, worked in my parent’s restaurant, you name it, I did it! Needless to say, I have always worked. 

This didn’t change as I became an adult. For a long time, I made myself be “that guy” who was the first to come to work and the last to leave. I never took vacations. I never got sick. I worked, and I worked hard, and there was no that anyone was going to out work me!

But this pace caught up with me. Stress began to show. I began to develop symptoms like involuntary eyelid twitches and short bouts of depression. I would get pretty sick with colds because of a decreased immune system. And I gained weight. Oh boy, did I gain weight!

Thankfully, as I got older, I knew that I had to do something, and that to be able to serve Christ fully, I needed to watch my stress levels and take better care of myself. That said, here are some ways that I destressed- maybe this can help you as well:

  1. Be devoted. Spend dedicated, focused time with the Lord. Allow your prayer life to be a time to escape the worries of today as you trust the Lord of tomorrow.
  2. Be physical. Exercise with some intensity 3-5 days per week. I workout at an awesome place, but when I’m not there, I’m running or doing some other kind of exercise. Exercise will help you to destress, without a doubt.
  3. Be sleepy. Get enough sleep- go to sleep earlier and wake up a bit later. It’s that easy! If you have trouble falling asleep, find out if you had any caffeine intake during the day. Sometimes I have found that even having a Coke Zero at 2 pm will affect my sleep that night.
  4. Be fun-loving. For crying out loud, get out and do something once in a while! Take your spouse on a date, catch a ball game (Go Reds!), or do something different that you normally wouldn’t do. And yes, take vacations!
  5. Be smelly. In other words, smell the roses. Stop and thank God for what you have. Enjoy life and appreciate your family. Most of all, love them while they are close.

I have been practicing these things and have had lots of long-term success and have been more effective with less stress. Let me ask you to share- are there any other ways that you destress?

Pastor Fran

Fran Trascritti culture, discipline, ministry

But I just want to be happy, right?!?

On a recent episode of a cooking competition show, one of the contestants spoke about how he has recently made a major life choice for his own happiness. He explained that in this quest to be happy, he left his wife, then brought his three children together with his partner’s three children, thus creating what he called the “gay Brady Bunch.” On the same show, another contestant had just lost his wife to cancer, but was urged on by his children to enter the cooking competition in her honor. There were plenty of moments during this episode where tears streamed down his face as he grieved and remembered his wife. Both men were excellent cooks, and both men seemed like genuinely nice guys. Yet I was amazed at the contrast: while one man willingly left his wife, maintaining that he just wanted to “be happy,” the other man, still obviously in grief, probably would have given anything to touch, hold, even speak to his wife one more time.

Our culture is full of people who are happy addicts. People say all the time that they simply they just want to be happy, that they deserve to be happy, and that they should be able to live any way that they want so that they can be happy.  It’s in our Declaration of Independence, it’s been in popular songs by Pharell, Bobby McFerrin, and others, and it’s used in popular commercial slogans- heck, even McDonald’s has a Happy Meal for kids, right? Well, sure. It’s pretty loud and clear that we should and can be happy. After all, just do the right thing or buy the right thing or act a certain way and you too, can be happy.

And so, we have a culture of people who are obsessed with “being happy.” With the attention span of the length of a Tweet, happy addicts are constantly trying to hook onto something new to find a way to get and stay happy. After all, happiness comes and goes, and these things don’t last, so when the feelings of happiness leave (and they always do), these addicts desperately seek another way to be happy. They do things like purchase something new, or find a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or coyly seek attention on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumbler. In other words, they are miserably happy, but never satisfied.

Beyond this, these happy addicts fail to see how harmful their happiness addiction can be. For example, in the case of the contestant who left his wife, I wonder if his wife was happy about his turning her world upside down in the name of “being happy.” Or what about the endless job seeker, working in one place for a short period of time until the honeymoon period disappears, then looks for another job so he or she can be happy- doesn’t this harm the family that they support? Of course, these examples aren’t something that matters to the happy addict, and for this reason, I would argue that the happy addict is often nothing more than a selfish, rebellious, and idolatrous narcissist.

This should not be so. The selfish quest for “being happy” is no different from the lies told in the Garden of Eden: the temptation to be like God is in itself a grab for power, eternity, and self-seeking happiness. While of course, God wants us to be happy, we are first to be happy in Him, since He alone is the source of all joy, happiness, and peace. Being happy will not harm others with the consequences of selfishness. Being happy can and won’t ever conflict with being moral, or being godly, or being a follower of Jesus. It is also infinitely more satisfying than anything we have here on earth, because when we follow Him, we have a joy that is supernatural.  1 Peter 3:10–12 (NLT) says:

“If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

In other words, “being happy” is going to go beyond the temporary. Being happy is not going to be good, moral, and show an unselfish love. It is an eternal happiness that is directed at God.

Are you a happy addict? You can change that! Turn from that and taste the real joy found in Jesus Christ- look to God and live happily for Him, as He is our joy and our strength!

Pastor Fran

Fran Trascritti ministry

What Pastors can learn from Brian Williams

The whole Brian Williams fib-telling fiasco is really, really sad to me. He seemed human, even a likeable guy, and it was tough to hear the whole story play out. Williams claimed that he misremembered traumatic events while on assignment, and the one most discussed is the one that got him suspended: his claim that he was on a helicopter that was shot at and forced down. Well, we all now know that he was not in the helicopter that was shot down, but instead was in another helicopter far 14236788114686_700behind- like 45 minutes behind. In other words, he was literally barely on the radar. No doubt, Brian Williams was caught and called out on a lie, and in the process, became an instant celebrity in some very funny internet memes.

Williams was at the top of his game: he had the coveted anchor chair, the role of managing editor, and nationwide fame as one of the most trusted in the country. Now, his endless retelling of a false story over a period of several years has caused him to sink to the 835th position, according to a recent poll by the NY Times. Actually, I am surprised that he didn’t fall even further down the list.

All in all, I hate this for Brian Williams and I hope that he is indeed repentant as some have reported. Even more, I’m not sure of his spiritual condition, but I hope that the gospel of Christ is eminent in his life.  Yet there is always something that we can learn from these sort of events. Specifically, what can pastors learn from this? Let me give a few thoughts:

  • Credibility matters. Communicators of a message must be credible. For pastors, the communication of the true Truth of God’s Word is horribly tainted when exaggerations and even lies spew from the pulpit. This means that the preaching of truth mixed with the telling of fake stories or personal exaggerations does a severe disservice to the advancement of the gospel. Preachers who use unverifiable illustrations found on the internet or in books need to stop. 
  • Humanity matters. I believe that personal stories that make you seem almost superhuman to your church hurts your message too. Please don’t read this wrong: absolutely be the example of how others should walk, yet have a healthy realization that you are not a “Super Christian.” Hopefully your church knows that, and appreciates even more the grace that is displayed when God uses an imperfect messenger such as yourself. In other words, be human.
  • Humility matters. This relates to the first two thoughts above. The issue with lying is that it is always about the self. A person usually lies to puff themselves up before others. Apparently, it was almost a joke in the NBC Newsroom that William’s continued his lie-telling to beef up his bio. This Hemmingwayesque attempt to look tough seemed ridiculous, but this is what an egotistical narrative does: it lifts up the self and pride runs rampant. Pastors especially have to watch for this issue, and pride unchecked is a disastrous thing.
  • Repentance matters. One of the worst parts of the Williams saga is his non-apology apology. He took out time to make an apology that to many didn’t seem to own up to that fact that he lied. Not misremembered, but lied. Okay, we have all lied, yet, nothing changes the course of things like repentance. True repentance from the heart to a God who forgives all sins begins the process of healing. Pastors who blow it (whether it’s a lie or anything else) need to quickly repent, apologize, and move on to restoration.
  • Christ matters. The truth of the gospel is not about you. The truth of the gospel is about Jesus. As John the Baptist famously said in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” When Christ is elevated and you are lowered, He is presented as who He should be: the Savior of the world, who is coming again to redeem His creation in glory. Remember that as you conduct yourself.

There’s some of my thoughts. Are there any other principles that you might add?

Fran Trascritti ministry

Ten Things a Pastor Should Do: #5- Exercise three times a week.

Over 18 months ago, my wife found a Groupon deal for this crazy sounding idea- we could go to a thing called “Boot Camp” and pay only $35 for twenty sessions. When she told me about it, my ears perked up- it was cheap, yes, but it sounded, well scary. Memories of my young adulthood and Army basic training immediately sprang up: frightening men in brown hats with deep yet shrill voices growling in my face as I “pushed the earth” countless times all day, every day. Reluctantly, I told her that I would do it and we bought the Groupon deal for the two of us.

Fran T3_
https://www.facebook.com/T3FitnessAndTraining

A short time later we did our first Boot Camp. I looked around and saw no big, ugly drill sergeants, no brown hats, no yelling, not even intimidation. Nope, none of that. I saw instead support, encouragement, and even (gulp!) smiles on the faces of the trainers. The one hour session was rough (real rough) but the supportive atmosphere helped me to want to come back. 18 months later, I am still going to Boot Camp. My Groupon deal has long since been used up, and I have gladly paid the regular price for exercising at T3 Fitness. While my wife also enjoyed her experience there, my son has grabbed on to it most of all, being greatly been changed in losing 62+ pounds and counting!

It is true that we should all stay in shape, but for pastors who often care about other areas of their lives but neglect the physical, exercise should be a priority. In 3 John 2, the Apostle John encouraged his readers when he wrote, “I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” Paul wrote to “glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:20). Many a pastor (this guy included) has spent hours of sitting, studying, visiting, and inactivity. Oftentimes, meals are quickly gulped down in the car while heading to another appointment. This lifestyle is obviously stressful, but add to this routine a lack of a dedicated time of exercise and disaster is bound to happen.

Ultimately, I was convicted to lose weight and get healthy as a testimony to others of discipline. It was my conviction that I was hypocritical in preaching discipline (of all sorts) when I wasn’t being disciplined myself. I could barely go up the steps to my office without being winded. I was out of shape, overweight, and had begun feeling a lack of energy. Once I began exercising regularly, my energy increased and I became more effective. I try to exercise at least three times a week, sometimes more, and I purposely schedule the time to do this along with my other appointments. It’s a physical life changer, as I have maintained a nearly 50 lb weight loss for over six months now and I can go up steps with no issues. Most of all, I feel as if I am being a good steward of the body that God has given me, and because of this care, I hope to enjoy a longer, healthier life of service to Him while here on His earth. 🙂

I’m not quite there yet, but I’m a work in progress. However, let me ask: How are you exercising on a regular basis? What has worked for you? 

Pastor Fran