Climbing Mountains in South Alabama

By Jabe Fincher, Jr

This book expounds on the challenges and hardships of one minister in the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. It details the roadblocks and difficulties one conference has for ministers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jabe Fincher, Jr
• Release date: Jul 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005866938

Jabe Fincher, Jr

I retired from the United Methodist Church after 28 years as a minister. I have numerous skill sets such as church administration, community assistance, develop and deliver public speeches, training, and counseling. I graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2014 with a Masters of Divinity degree, and I graduated from Newburgh Theological Seminary in 2015 with a Ph.D. in Christian Counseling. In 2019 I earned the designation of Certified Crisis Chaplain from the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. At present i am serving as a Hospice Chaplain in Enterprise, Alabama.I am an avid angler and have been fishing for over 50 years. I have fished in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

Book preview

Climbing Mountains in South Alabama

By Jabe J. Fincher, Jr.

Copyright 2022

Jabe Fincher, Jr.

Smashwords Edition

Discover other titles by Jabe Fincher:

Quadrilateral: A New Look https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1147265

A Minister’s Guide to Planning a Funeral Service https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1158235

The Hidden Truth About Being A United Methodist Minister

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1150058

CONTENTS

Introduction

Preparation for the Climb

Gathering Supplies

Facing the chasm

Up and Down

Ascending

Another Route

Treacherous Climbing

The Great Gulf

Slippery Slope

Relocating Camp again

Hard Rock

Mount Nebo

This or That

Exiled

Wandering

Inadequate records

Look No Touch

Covid19

Nearing the End

Lessons and Insights

Misdirection

Getting off the mountain

Climbing Mountains In South Alabama

Introduction

The stories, settings, analogies, and circumstances depicted in this book may or may not be actual events and circumstances. It is entirely up to the reader to learn and discern the truth. This may be a work of fiction or it may not be.

As you probably well know, there are no actual physical mountains in south Alabama. In some places, there are some steep hills, but no physical mountains. At times though, various circumstances in life can seem like mountains that must be climbed to get to the other side. Circumstances in life can cause you to have emotional, psychological, and spiritual mountains to climb. Of course, if there are mountains, there are also valleys. These are the types of mountains that I had to climb in south Alabama. Many times these mountains were imposed by other Christians. I began these non-physical mountain climbing events before I ever moved to Alabama in 1982. It was then that I experienced an issue with my hands. My brain would be telling my hands to direct a fork to my mouth but it would end up poking me in the face or chin. If I tried to hold a Styrofoam cup I would either smash it or drop it. I went to a doctor and they sent me to another doctor and they ran a multitude of tests on me. I do not remember the names of the test but I do remember one test that was called evoked potential. Another test measured the time it took my eyes to register in my brain the differences as a black and white checkerboard changed to a white and black checkerboard. Another For connected wires to my toes and feet and measured how long it took the signal to reach my brain when a small electrical charge was applied. Finally, they performed a spinal tap on me to check the spinal fluid for any abnormalities. That is when they discovered I had multiple sclerosis. In my opinion, another name for MS is a disease from Hades! This exacerbation (attack) of MS lasted a little over a month and abated upon my own.

I am no angel and I am not God junior. I am not saying that I am Spiderman either, but then again no one has ever seen Spiderman and myself in the same room at the same time. With God, all things are possible. The opinions and beliefs expressed within this book are mine and mine alone (unless indicated otherwise). I gained these beliefs and sentiments after 27 years in the ministry of the AWF conference of the United Methodist Church. I am no saint. I am no great greater. But then again, none of us are perfect. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards.

I am merely a sinner saved by God’s grace whom I strongly believe God has called me to preach. I had been arrested (1978) and charged with attempting to possess marijuana (yes, I did inhale!). As I said, I am no angel and I am not perfect. Like whoever reads this, is a sinner. I am a sinner saved by God’s wonderful grace. But now, perfection is my goal. Also, at this time (1978) I had not accepted Christ as my Savior. This was a time of pre-justification.

Preparation for the Climb

Mount Ararat, in the Bible, is a place of uncertainty. The Bible states that the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. The actual location is unknown and is much debated, even to this day. That is the way it was when I first started in ministry. I knew that God was calling me to the ministry and I knew that God doesn’t make mistakes, but Lord, are you sure it’s me you are calling? You want me to be a minister? When I was growing up I cannot ever remember thinking that I wanted to be a minister—a firefighter or maybe a police officer, but a minister? But, yet, here I am. God works in very strange and mysterious ways!

I accepted Christ as my Savior late in life. I was 34 years old when I accepted Him as my personal Lord and Savior. I was born again in January 1994. I realized all the bad and wrong things I had done in my life and I asked for God to forgive me. This was my point of justification. I sensed God calling me into the ministry in September 1994. At that time, I did not realize what that expedition would entail. If I knew then what I know now I am certain I would not have chosen this path in the United Methodist Church.

By that December (1994), I was the supply pastor for three churches. I was in the South Clarke Circuit. I didn’t realize what torment and spiritual and emotional anguish that would ultimately mean. God would lead me to numerous mountain top experience mountain top experiences in the valley and a few where it seemed as if I had fallen off the mountain. Most of these instances of falling off the mountains were caused by people who claimed they were Christians and who were leaders within this AWF conference. On top of all of that, God had also allowed me to have Multiple Sclerosis, as previously stated. I have repeatedly witnessed an erosion of proper denomination governance within this conference.

If you have ever been mountain climbing or even hiking up a long, steep incline you have realized it is difficult and exhausting. Multiple Sclerosis causes a person to feel that way often. Many times people with MS do not have the same symptoms but two general symptoms that many with MS have is heat intolerance and chronic fatigue. In some persons with MS, such as myself, cognitive lapses may occur. I liken these cognitive lapses to having a metal file cabinet with a lock on it. You have the information right there in the file cabinet, easily within reach, but sometimes you misplace the key to open the file cabinet to access the information. MS sometimes affects short-term memory. You still have the information, you merely temporarily misplace the key and cannot access the information. This does affect my ministry at times, but I usually tell the people At this time, I cannot recall that information, but if you would give me some time I will get back to you with an answer of which I do get back to them. I take copto notes throughout the day and that is also the reason why I have a complete manuscript of my sermon with me in the pulpit. If I did not have a manuscript to keep me on track I would sometimes take off chasing rabbits down a trail. God allowed me to learn long ago that I need to adapt to whatever situation I am in and this is how I have adapted to the condition of MS.

I served churches in the Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church. I have served churches in Alabama and Florida. This area covers an imaginary rectangular area from near Clanton, Alabama south to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Mississippi state line to the Georgia state line. It, therefore, covers the northwest Florida area also. Geographically, there are no mountains in this area; there are some rolling hills, but no physical or geographic mountains.

My first appointment was when I was a