I think it takes, though, ten or twenty years to begin to feel at home in preaching. You realize that's only my opinion and it could be that I have been extremely slow in catching on. It could be that some don't believe me when I say I feel I am in kindergarten in preaching/ministering. Here are some key things I've learned just in the last five years:
- Church health does not revolve around the preacher and his sermons. It revolves around the Holy Spirit of Christ.
- God will show up in so many assorted ways in our assemblies all a leader can do is watch for Him to make His move......and enjoy it.
- My wisdom is so shallow that if I project much of it onto the church as necessity, it interferes with stable, productive progress.
- There is immeasurable joy in the fact that there is so much good going on all around. Preach about it. Teach about it. Praise about it.
- We are free/encouraged to anticipate God's surprising and mysterious moves. He's got the knack of abundant life and, finally, the church is beginning to believe it!
Too sit back and let the younger guys arise is not a problem for me/us. I'm not old; I am older. It is a right move to be training younger men. One of my main roles in this is to sit down and shut up. Simple enough; yet, oh so needed to give Jason and Bobby and others down the road the room to develop in God's aggressive style. They won't turn out like me. They'll turn out like Jesus because that's Who runs the church.
How exciting to get it that decreasing is, in reality, increasing under His graceful terms. I have liked yesterdays in the church and the tomorrows coming are packed with hope. But my biggest thrill in learning to take my seat is......I simply like right now.
4 comments:
Excellent post. One that speaks volumes of your maturity in Christ. It also shows your confidence in your place of service. Would to God that more pastors would develop such a healthy attitude toward the up and coming ministers w/in their ranks.
yep
I come here often recently. Your joy and hopefulness are seriously contagious. Jesus' joy and hopefulness shine right through your blog all the way to Canada! Thanks for letting your light shine. In JOY, Celeste (Herndon) Dvorak
That's a healthy attitude. In the past, though, I've sat down and wished I hadn't ... but God is in control of those awkward situations as well. To me the key word is RELAX.
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