Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

Well, this has been an interesting year to say the least.  God has taught me so much about His will and provision.  Last year “I” decided that we weren’t going to move.  That decision has been met with many challenges.  I rationalized it by saying I didn’t want to uproot my children, we were tired of moving, etc…. God even opened up a door for ministry right here in Charlotte.  I’m grateful for being able to serve at North Point Charlotte.  We have seen many people give their lives to Christ and I am grateful for Pastor Don and his friendship.

But it became apparent that the church was not going to be able to bring me on full-time, as was planned by the first of 2009.  In fact, I don’t know how much longer they could financially support me at all.  The church is growing, just not enough to support another full-time staff member. We believed in what God was doing so much that I took out some of my retirement money and have been working a 2nd job in order to minister here.  But the strain has become too much for all involved.

My favorite ministry job was while I was planting a church in Atlanta.  It was a part-time ministry as a Corporate Chaplain.  I would drive all over Atlanta and minister in the workplace to employees of the companies that had signed on with the chaplain company I ministered for.  I looked into going full-time with them, but unfortunately they don’t hire full-time chaplains, only part time. 

Recently, I was approached by another ministry called Corporate Chaplains of America about becoming an Area Director. They were looking for unique individuals that met their three requirements: 1) Business degree 2) Masters in Divinity 3) Church Planting Experience.  I meet all three of those requirements.  They talked to me about moving West to start CCA in a frontier area.  I won’t say where because I don’t want to offend anyone for not going to your city, but it was West of the South.

I met with one of the VP’s and we hit it off immediately.  He is a former church planter and this Area Director position was his idea.  He desires for guys to go into an area and start this ministry like they would with a church plant. He then talked with Cassandra and told her where they were talking about moving us if we felt called to this position.  I could see the tears in her eyes as he talked about the position, not because she didn’t like the Corporate Chaplaincy, but because of moving, yet again.  

They asked me to write out a potential launch plan in an area that I was passionate about and I was told Charlotte was not an option.  I couldn’t narrow it down to one, so I chose Atlanta and Birmingham.  We loved living in Atlanta and I know lots of people there.  Birmingham is probably my favorite city.  Cassandra and I went to college at Samford University and the University of Alabama @ Birmingham.  I also grew up in nearby Tuscaloosa (Roll Tide #2 in the AP Poll).  I then drove up to Wake Forest, NC for a set of interviews with the founder/president and all of the leadership of CCA. Wow, was I impressed. Just this last year with 100 full-time chaplains they have led 1600 people to Christ.

Cassandra and I prayed all week and when the VP called back a few days later and I told him that we had concerns about moving across the world and were still struggling with the decison.  He provided us with one more state as an option, but this still concerned us.  However, during the weekend God was working on Cassandra and by Sunday she said we needed to go to “X” city for certain reasons.  We then told our son Jacob about the possibility and he took it as well as could be expected.

The next day I talked with our pastor about life and it became apparent after our conversation that it would be best for us and the financial strain on the church for me to move on.  God was confirming our decision. I was not going to be Jonah anymore. I had told God we weren’t moving to Ft. Worth in 1991 and God had a way of kicking my tail and we ended up in Ft. Worth in 1992.

I called the VP later that day and told him we had prayed, made a decision and if they still wanted us, we were willing to move to “X” city and begin the ministry there.  He said what if an opportunity opened up in Atlanta or Birmingham?  I thought, don’t toy with me.  Anyway, he called me back 2 days later and said they wanted to have us move to Birmingham as an Area Director.  A few months ago (some may remember) I wrote a post where I wrote out a check to God for “Whatever.”  When we are willing to do whatever God desires, He gives us the desires of our hearts.  

So what will I be doing?  Look at the video below

Here’s what I’m up to right now.  The position will require me to raise $10K before November, CCA will raise $25K from some of their companies they presently serve.  Thankfully I am up to $6K as of this posting. I need to raise $4K more in the next few weeks but will not have to ask for money again because the companies I serve will pay my salary.  My ministry will involve being a chaplain to 500 employees and seeking new businesses for our ministry, to serve in Alabama.  We are excited about the ministry but sad to be leaving Charlotte.  Is it OK to be excited and sad at the same time? 

We told our children this weekend and it was hard, but they are accepting it.  Jacob and I were playing PS2 NCAA 08 football and he created his own player “Jacob Bussey”.  He typed in the hometown of “Birmingham” and looked over at me and smiled.  It hit me in the gut pretty good. Hope is one that internalizes everything, so we shall see how she does.  I will be leaving for training in Wake Forest by Nov. 1 for 6 weeks, and that will be hard.  Plus, we have to sell a home in a strange market.

I appreciate your prayers and if you know of any businesses in Alabama that might be interested in CCA, let me know. If you would like to help support me and reach the $4K I have left to raise, email me at bamabusman@yahoo.com and I’ll give you the details.