- Realize rough times are the signature of the kingdom. Yet, they are merely a part of the overall fabric. The real icon of Christianity is the empty grave, but we don't know how to wear empty graves around our necks nor do we know how to attach empty graves to church steeples. The rough is only the road. The glory is the assumed destination.
- Determine to see the hand of God in all settings. Our God is at work. He'll show up in the oddest places at the oddest times. Jesus' delay in going to Lazarus is pregnant with "God will deliver" expectation. We have the privilege of such anticipation in our work. God let me sit in my own misery for a long time as I tried to organize and fix one event after another crisis. I learned this truth: I can't fix squat. If it is to be it is up to Him....Rom. 9:16.
- Do your work believing in the good people. A mistake I made in my early years is I gave too much attention to the naysayers when there were so many believers vying for my participation. They hungered for good news while I fed them a steady diet of wormy debate. I decided to preach, teach, and reach to those who indicated they just might want to know about the Living, Breathing God. I was robbing the church by continually addressing the critics from the pulpit. When I quit preaching brotherhood issues and began sharing the hope found in Christ, many peeled away. Some of those I desperately loved. But, the more I preached believing in believers it seemed God was doing His thing with those who struggled in doubt and even they began to take on the Spirit of Jesus.
- Trust Him more than you trust yourself. I began as very little and, to my surprise, discovered that the way to grow up in Christ is to grow down. As was true for John the Baptist, it is true of us: we must decrease that He might increase. My ministry remains embarrassing that so much of me continues to run to the front of the line. Yet, I will not give up. Jesus is the thriller. I am not. Jesus is the giver and the hoper and the promiser.....we are not.
Several wise and aged believers read this blog, I feel certain. Would you make yourself vulnerable, perhaps, by sharing your insights as to what you discovered in trying to get ministry to live....and what eventually helped you turn a corner?
2 comments:
I am not among the wiser nor the older, so I won't try to add to what you've written. Last Sunday I officially left ministry in a ceremony where we welcomed the new minister and his family to Long Beach. My daughter, wife, and I prayed over his children, his wife, and over him. In my final comments to this church I love and served 14-1/2 years, I said for years I'd preached issues, trying to straighten out people's thinking. Then I discovered the marvel and beauty and power of preaching Jesus. Spent two and half years in Luke, as if we'd never read the stories and had no idea how they ended. I also accepted your challenge of doing my study and waiting on God to give me the message (and that was an awesome experience of trusting God). I saw the spirit of our church completely change. When the new preacher came, he asked where the land mines were. I told him in all honesty, I don't think there are any ... the focus on Jesus changed the heart and spirit of our church.
Terry, Thanks as always for your amazing ability to put all your worth at Christ's feet. As many times as you have said it, I need to remind myself daily that the symbol of our faith is the empty grave - not the cross. SK
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