Month: August 2013

This article has been making the rounds. While I find much of it interesting I am also very glad that it doesn’t reflect my experience. I now that it does reflect some minister’s experience.

Here is his list in italics with my quick response in non-italicized type:

1. Our greatest fear is irrelevance. My great fear? Bears
2. We are mama’s boys. I think my dad would be offended by this. I read like my mom (no where near as fast) and I fish like my dad. A decent mix I think.
3. S/he sees you when you’re sleeping. Yep if you sleep during the service I see it but I usually think that you must have had a hard week and therefore need a nap. I am glad my sermon helps you sleep in such cases.
4. We think about quitting a lot. Not really. Yes I have thought of quitting but really not very often. I love what I get to do.
5. We envy people who can be themselves. I’m pretty sure I usually am myself and I have rarely felt like I couldn’t be myself because I am a pastor.
6. We are often spiritually starving. Not usually. If anything I feel like ministry energizes me spiritually.
7. We are sinful, no different than you. Yep this one is true.
8. We are lonely, because it’s hard to trust. Not really. Yes trusting is hard but it is worth it.
9. Ministry is a hard job. Yes and no.
10. We are more sensitive than you probably think. Maybe.
11. We care about you more than you can imagine. Yep this one hit the nail on the head. I hurt for and celebrate with all the people that come into my life as a part of the ministry I get to be a part of. Sometimes it is very hard to shake the hurts.

Basically, while I have been through some tough times during my not quite 25 years of ministerial tenure I have to say that I have loved most of it. So if I were going to make a list of things you might not know about your pastor (me if you are a thread) this would be it.

1. I love what I get to do.

Yes, I have dealt with things, events, and people that I never could have received enough training to be able to handle, they are nothing compared to the  joys and amazing people, events, and things that I get to be a part of. There can be a lot of pain in my typical day but I also get to see God do some amazing things in lots of people’s lives. That is worth any amount pin associated with being in the pit with people during the darkest moments of their lives. I don’t love the hurt that people I love and care about have to go through but I am honored that I get to be a part of God showing people that there is hope in the midst of the worst pain.

2. Yes pastoring can be time consuming but it is also very flexible.

I live out an odd schedule. The day I started writing this post I received a ministry related phone call at 4 am and since it was on the Google Voice phone number I use for ministry purposes the call went to both my cell phone and our house land-line. You want to see two parents of teenagers freak out, be in the house when the phone rings this early and both teens are spending the night camping and at friends. Both Pam and my hearts nearly exploded. Anyhow, Pam will tell you that phone calls at unusual hours are typical. These phones calls are almost always emergencies. I have been awoken at 2 am by a phone call from someone who is threatening to kill himself and needs to be talked down and at 5 am by a desperate wife who just found her husband dead in his recliner. Ministry is 24/7 365 days a year. It can take a great deal of time but it can also be incredibly flexible. I have been able to do things with my family that many people never have the opportunity to do because they work an 8 to 5 job. I have taken the boys to doctor’s appointment and sporting events that Pam wasn’t able to do because she had to be at a set location during her work hours. Once and a while I will hear a pastor complain about how much he/she works (In fact I once heard a pastor say in front of the church “I’ll compare my calendar with anyone here and prove I am busier than you”) and I always thing one of two things: 1) well that’s your own fault, or 2)  you need to work a normal job at least once in your life.

3. it is a joy to serve you not a burden.

Thankfully I don’t hear this much but every now and then some one will start talking to me and say “I don’t want to take up all your time but …” I know they are worried that I might be too busy and they are just trying to be nice, but really I believe God called me into ministry to help people. If I am too busy for you then I am simply too busy and I need to correct that. I am honored when people allow me to be a part of God doing things in their lives.

  I’m not going to do a list of eleven things. Hopefully the above three adequately convey the fact that it is a blessing to minister to and with people.

50 years ago today. I wonder what he would praise today as being a part of his dream and what he would say we have not reached yet.

I love this blog post from Marko. It is short but great. Here’s the first part.

Let me be blunt to get things going here: the Bible is mysterious.

I’m not suggesting that the Bible is unknowable, or that God is unknowable. What I’m suggesting is that there is always more to learn and understand about God; there is always more to learn and understand about the Bible. And we’ll never understand it all (at least not on this side of heaven). This is a wonderful and beautiful reality! Isn’t it fantastic that we can’t completely know God?

We know God through His revealing of Himself in Christ but He is still beyond all we can understand. We can know God in the relational sense but not like mathematical problem. I know Pam but she is still gloriously mysterious to me. I know Pam better than I know anyone else in the world and she still surprises and confuses me all the time. For example, how can a woman who loves competition and fights as much as she does not like sports other than hockey and that’s just for the fighting. I don’t know Pam like I know 2+2. I’m sure some mathematician can prove that there is great mystery to 2+2 but basically I am pretty sure I have a rather extensive knowledge of it. God and His revelation of Himself are still beyond me, even though He gives me enough that I might know Him personally. He is knowable and unknowable at the same time.

Anyhow Marko’s post is short but good. You should go read it.

I mentioned pretty frequently at Tapestry that the best love stories aren’t the ones about the dramatic beginning but the ones that are made up of years of dedication, sacrifice, and love. Fred Stobaugh‘s song to Lorraine, his wife of 73 years, is a pretty decent example. You should go watch this now. Really.

I know I haven’t posted in a while, sorry, but I just want to quickly say that I love the small group that Pam and I are a part of. Tuesdays are a long day for me but I still look forward to going over the Holtes for conversation that every now and then is on topic but is always refreshing. If you aren’t in a small group that meets each week and read the Bible or a book of faith I would encourage you to join one. Tapestry has a few that you would fit in with and we are always looking to form another. You can also start your own small group. I usually recommend a modify version of Neil Cole’s Life Transformation Group. It goes like this.

What Is A Group?

A Life Together Group that is 2-3 same gender people who are trying to help each other walk with CHRIST. They meet once a week, bi-weekly,. etc.

What To Do In A Group?

• Hold each other accountable to following CHRIST in a mutual, accountable, and safe group relationship. Ask the Questions.
• Read scripture repetitively in context throughout the week. (10-30 chapters). You pick the book.
• Pray for each other strategically, specifically, and continuously.

The QUESTIONS To Ask In A Group

• In what ways have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of JESUS CHRIST with both your words and actions?
• How have you experienced GOD in your life this week?
• How are you responding to HIS promptings?
• Do you have a need to confess any sin?
• How did you do with your reading last week?