What they may not have told you about pastoring

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I hate to see a young pastor get disillusioned by his first experience or two.  But it happens, sad to say.

Those of us who have been in the field throughout all our adult years could wish someone had told us a few things about this work.  So, assuming we are speaking to beginning pastors, here are a few things we’d love to share…

One.  They might not have told you how much fun pastoring can be.   

The redeemed of God are among the greatest people in the world (most of them) and they can enjoy life to the fullest.  As pastor, you sometimes get to be in the thick of the fun.  They love to laugh, to have adventures, and to encourage each other.

As pastor, you get to dream up programs and ideas that will affect your community, touch lives, transform homes, and reach the future–and then put it into effect with a huge corps of sweet-spirited workers as your team.  How cool is that!

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Laying aside the earthly. You might want to get ready for this.

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“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  (2 Corinthians 5:1)

“We do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:4)

My wife gets attached to cars. I do not.  Recently, I gave my 2015 Camry to my oldest granddaughter.  I’ve done that several times before–starting with the ’96 Camry to my son many years back, later the ’05 to a granddaughter, the ’09 to our twin granddaughters, the ’13 Honda C-RV to my son, and now this one.  I’m happy to pass them along, and as one might expect, they enjoy getting them.

To me a car is a thing, an instrument we use.  My oldest granddaughter names them.  The ’05 is Sandy and this ’15 is Pearl (names based on their colors).  Like most cowboys in the old west, I don’t name my mounts.  I take good care of them and have them serviced by the dealer on the recommended schedule, and thus have almost no trouble from the car.  But when it’s time to replace it with a newer version, I’m happy to let it go.

Think of that as a parable.  We let things go so they can be replaced by something better.

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My granddaughter, the waitress, is learning the hard way

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“It’s not about you, honey.  Some people will love you more than you deserve, and some will despise you without ever giving you a chance.  You must not take it personally.”  –My advice to my Granddaughter

Erin just turned 21 and earns a living waiting tables at a nice up-scale restaurant in the Mobile area.  The other day, she came home in tears.

The restaurant had been crowded, with long lines of people waiting to get inside.  The kitchen was running behind and diners had to wait an unusually long time for their order.  Erin ran herself ragged all evening.  She specifically thanked people for their patience and apologized for the slow service.  She didn’t have a moment to catch her breath.

This particular table had two young men and a middle-aged guy.  They seemed nice enough.  Since the kitchen was running slow and they had ordered pizzas which had to be made from scratch, requiring at least a 30 minute time frame, several times Erin stopped by to thank them for their kindness and patience and to assure them the pizzas would be out soon.

Then, when they paid their tab, she found out a different side of them.

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My New Year’s gift to you….and to myself

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“What scriptures mean the most to you?”

I’m glad you asked.

Last night somewhere between sleep and consciousness, I went over what was going to be “my top ten favorite scriptures.”  That quickly went by the wayside as I realized that I probably have ten favorite texts for every subject you can name!  So, even though this list will be incomplete–since it’s an ongoing part of my daily walk with the Lord, and He’s not through here, not by a long shot!–here is my list of favorite scriptures that define my understanding of the Christian faith, guide my actions as a follower of Jesus Christ, and comfort me when tempted to vary, stray, or weaken.

On the subject of Jesus Christ Himself:

–“I am willing.”  (Mark 1:41).  If you’re looking for three words to sum up the earthly ministry of Jesus, look no further.  Not willing that any should perish, He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a servant and…..  He was so willing to bless and help, to love and give and forgive.  Why, in Mark 2, He forgives a man his sin who hadn’t even asked for it!  He was so eager to bless.

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The question of questions for Christians with political convictions

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Now that the critical elections of 2017 are behind us–and quickly, before some new ones pop up!–perhaps we can discuss this dispassionately.

You are a serious follower of Jesus Christ.  You take Scriptures seriously and believe God’s people have an obligation to be salt and light in this world.  As a result, you exercise your right to vote and you try to influence others to do the right thing.

So far, so good.

Can we talk?

I have a question for those who take their discipleship to Jesus Christ seriously and as a result have strong political views:

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Bogged down in minutiae: The occupational hazard of the pastor’s daily existence

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“I feel like I’m being eaten alive by a school of minnows.”

“I felt like I was being stoned to death by popcorn.”

Ask any pastor.

The size of his congregation is immaterial, but my observation is it’s the minister of the medium-sized flock who has it hardest.

The pastor of the tiny church has one well-defined set of jobs and the leader of the mega-congregation another entirely.  The first has a few well-defined roles while the latter may have a vast team of helpers so he can put his focus where his gifts are.

It’s the poor pastor in the middle who has little say-so about what he will do today.

The pastor-in-the-middle, that is the shepherd of the church running a 150 up to four or five hundred or more, depending on a thousand things including resources and available helpers, will always have more on his plate than he can get to.

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Was Jesus God? Or God, Junior? Is the Trinity a made-up doctrine?

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“The Word was God…..The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14).

“No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:22.)

Try explaining God.

We’ll wait.  Let us know when you’re ready.

Oh, when you’re done with that, tell us how Jesus is both fully man and fully God.  And how God is One, but He’s also Father, Son, and Spirit.

If you decide to punt–and simply dismiss the entire discussion as man’s futile attempt to define an unknowable God–then the discussion ends there.  God’s people who love the Word and believe it want to understand how it all fits together, what each piece is saying about our Lord, and thus to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

We never go wrong trying to understand God’s Word.  And the best commentary on the Word of God is the rest of the Word of God.

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Unless you are (fill in the blank), you cannot be saved.

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“And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1).

Here’s an interesting exercise for you.  You might wish to try it with your Bible study group.

Write out the above verse and leave two blanks in it.  It will read: “Unless you are _________ according to ____________, you cannot be saved.”

Then, see how many ways the group can fill those blanks based on the way people pile up obstacles to salvation.

UNLESS YOU ARE…

–baptized you cannot be saved

–using the KJV Bible, you cannot be saved.

–old enough and mature enough to understand everything, you cannot be saved

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Pastors’ wives: How Cissa and Sonya did it well

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First, love the congregation, every single one of them, particularly the hard-to-love.  And second, never underestimate the power of your presence.

Two stories of two great ladies.

Cissa Richardson went to Heaven this week.  She was the beloved widow of Pastor James Richardson who served two great churches in our state for some forty years.  James died over 10 years ago.  We were neighboring pastors for years and great friends since the first day we met.

James and Cissa left quite a legacy.  Their three sons–twins Gary and Jay, and younger brother Ian–are all in the Lord’s work.  The twins have been pastors for decades and Ian was first a worship leader and musician and for years has headed the audio-visual department for our state Baptist convention.

This week at Cissa’s funeral. Son Gary told something about his mother I’d never heard.

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Misleading God’s people: A national pasttime?

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“See to it that no one misleads you….. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many” (24:4,11).

Our Lord knew His people.  He knew that there was something about their makeup which would make them susceptible to being misled.  By “being misled,” we mean being conned, scammed, hoodwinked, deceived, tricked, lied to, fooled, and abused.

In Old Testament days false prophets came through the land, preaching half-truths and whole lies and filling God’s people with false expectations and pagan ways.  The New Testament church, just beginning to find its way and choose its methods, quickly became the target of these scammers and con-artists.

In Matthew 24, our Lord cautions His people to keep their guard up concerning prophecies about end times: His return, signs of the end, fulfilment of certain prophecies, apostasies, portents and omens.

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