Lessons From the Lord's Loving Discipline - Mack Tomlinson

Could you describe a time in your life

in which the Lord disciplined you?

And you look back on that time

with utter thankfulness for the fruit

it yielded in your life?

Mack: Well, the one thing
that comes to my mind

is what I kind of alluded to earlier.

In about 1990,

the church we were in had a split -

a big division -

and I was so discouraged in it.

I was one of the pastors.

And I was so discouraged
in that experience

that I withdrew.

I did not take a stand
of confronting people

in a right way, in a loving way,

but still confronting.

I didn't know what to do.

I was afraid.

I had the fear of man,

so I didn't respond right.

And it caused me to
move in discouragement.

And I didn't realize at the time -

I honestly didn't -

but I think for ten years,

the Lord kind of let that
wilderness experience -

I wasn't pastoring.

We weren't even settled really.

I worked.

We had twins come along in 1992.

And it was a very difficult time,

because I couldn't
get any clear direction.

What does God want of me?

And it was a refining time

of loving discipline.

And I don't fully know
why it took ten years.

Maybe it wasn't even ten years,

but that was a time I was
truly disciplined by the Lord.

Discipline is loving correction

to make us more fruitful.

It's not punishment, right?

So, I learned huge lessons

in retrospect that I should have done this

as a pastor.

If I would have done this,

I would have protected
those believers more.

If I had been courageous to say,

"Brother, I disagree,

and what you're doing is wrong

because it's affecting others

and you're being selfish in this."

Saying things like that
when I should have,

but I didn't have the courage to,

I learned so much through that

as a discipline from the Lord.

And it's borne fruit in my life

to take a stand when I need to;

to see truth is on trial here,

and people are going
to be affected by this

if I don't respond in love,

but still respond,

so I've got to.

And that was a big hard discipline,

but that's the biggest one I can remember

in my own life.

Now, for the present,

discipline is not joyful.

It's grievous.

It's hard to go through it.

But, it's John 15 -

He disciplines and prunes us

because we are bearing fruit.

Then we'll bear more fruit.

James: So after that season of ten years,

is that when you ended up back in Denton

and the church started up again?

Mack: Well, not the same church,

but yes, we moved back to Denton in 1998.

So it wasn't a full ten years,

but it seemed like an eternity almost.

So we came back because

what came to me clearly was

it was like God had shown me in my heart,

I left where I was

out of discouragement without direction

to go to something positive

and clear and specific.

And so, it's always wrong

to make decisions and choices

out of discouragement.

You'll almost always make a mistake.

It's like marrying on the rebound

four months later,

and you realize,

oh man, what did I do?

You know people who do that.

So we came back to Denton in 1998.

(Incomplete thought)

I truly had matured

I honestly feel like.

And I had been preaching since 1975,

and now it was '98.

I honestly believe I was now

prepared enough to truly preach

and help somebody.

I mean, I don't know how to
say it any more than that.

My spirit had matured.

God had developed patience in me.

He had given me a pastor's heart.

He let me learn how to view issues

in a right and wrong way.

How to give answers about assurance
of salvation when somebody comes.

How to help them analyze it.

He gave me a pastor's heart.

But if I hadn't been through
what I'd gone through

in those years in the 1990's,

I wouldn't have been near as equipped.

So I praise God now for the fruit of it.

I wouldn't want to go through it again.

It's like open heart surgery.

Praise God for that surgery!

Lord, may it never be again.

But when you can have it,

you've got to have it to save your life.

You're thankful for it

and you're thankful for the surgeon.