Quick Update

Just a quick update on the Pastor's Appreciation dinner hosted by the people from our church. If you're short on time here's the quick version: It was great! Details you say? Well, we arrived and the doors of the sanctuary were closed with two casual but smartly dressed ushers were waiting to greet us. They opened the doors and sanctuary was filled with our church people (and quite a number who don't attend often)! We were seated by one of our older, very encouraging couples, the wife went through breast cancer and surgery with the best attitude I've ever seen from someone whose endured something this tough.. After being seated were served out choice of Chinese or Mexican food. An unusual combo for sure but they are our favorites! Some kids from the church put on a skit that was really touching. It was great to have all our people there. It made me remember why we do what we do. God bless our church!

The Responsbility of a Pastor

Someone from our church put an invitation on my front door this morning inviting my wife and I to a Pastor's Appreciation Dinner! As of this writing we haven't attended yet so I can't tell you how it turned out, but I'm sure we will enjoy it. It did spur my thinking about the role and responsibility of a pastor. Most pastors do not choose to be pastors, the calling chooses them. Only after accepting such a challenge do we start to realize the gravity of our position.

Look at the word pastor, only translated once in the New Testament as pastor: It is literally the same Greek word that is translated in the English word “shepherd”. The Enhanced Strongs Lexicon defines a shepherd as “committing themselves to the care and control of the herd”. I'm sure my church doesn't like being a called a "herd", I do feel the analogy applies.

The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were: 1) to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep; 2) to defend the sheep from attackers; 3) to heal the wounded and sick sheep; 4) to find and save lost or trapped sheep; 5) to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.

In World War II, a shepherd was a pilot who guided another pilot whose plane was partially disabled back to base or carrier by flying along side him to maintain visual contact.

So as I ponder my calling, I pledge to honor God with my service and ask His guidance for the future and forgiveness for my shortcomings.

When All Men Speak Well Of You...

I like this! Tell me what you think of Francis:

4 Things Pastors Wish There Congregations Knew

I read these in article by a respected church consultant. I thought they were worth sharing with you. Tell me what you think:

Please don’t ask me to do something or respond to something right before I preach. After spending hours preparing for and praying about this sermon, I am focused. Please don’t criticize me right now. Let it wait a day. Please don’t ask me to make any announcements. And please ask someone else to get toilet tissue for the restroom.

Please don’t criticize me until you have prayed and thought through your criticism. Do you know I receive three or four criticisms a week? That’s around 200 a year. Those verbal jabs take their toll on me. I know I make mistakes and I’m not above criticisms. But please be prayerful before you’re critical.

Please don’t expect me to be everywhere. Many people in our church have a priority about where I should be: meetings, dinners, church events, hospital visits, home visits, and many more. The problem is that everyone has a different priority. And sometimes church members forget that I have my own family. Please understand my limitations on being in so many places.

Please don’t treat my family members like church employees. My family already lives in a glass house. The expectations on them are already high. My wife and children will be faithful to the ministries of the congregation, but they have activities outside the church. Please don’t tell me that they should be every place I am at the church.

Dreams or Dreamer?

I used to think of myself as a person that had dreams for the future. I still have dreams but far fewer. Want to know why? It takes a lot of work for a dream to become a realization. It's impossible for me (or anyone else) to actually see my dreams come to pass because of the personal effort required. I would simply be a Dreamer instead of an "accomplisher" with dreams. For all of you that have dreams, by all means continue having them. But realize this: All dreams require work. Hard work. Too many dreams are lying dead on the highway of completion because the dreamer  failed to harness this truth. What dreams are you working hard at?

From Great To Mediocrity

I read an article by a former pastor who is now a church consultant / statistician. He states in his article that years ago he wrote about some great churches. As he looks at some of those churches today he sees mediocrity. Oh, how I loathe that word! Yet, when I look at areas in my life and ministry that word can be an accurate description. So, how did theses churches go from greatness to mediocrity? He sums it up in three words. Hubris - Denial - Nostalgia. Yikes! How easy it is to fall into these traps! How's your life and ministry? Do these terms describe you and yours?

More Haiku

Life Has Big Problems
God Has All Of My Answers
I Must Listen More