Christmas

This is my favorite time of the year. It has such tremendous meaning.

I want to encourage each of you not to forget the meaning of the holiday season. Parents please, teach your children that this time of year is not about gifts. I realize there is a lot of pressure from our society concerning gifts, but there is so much more to this celebration than giving gifts to our children.

Here's a thought that might help some parents balance their gift giving. You're desire to give gifts to your children is not bad. It's actually the way God made us. It is inbred in us to love our children and give them gifts. Simply put, it is a reflection of God's image. God loves us deeply and he desires to give us gifts. So, put away the condemnation that it's not okay to give gifts to your children.

Balance is the key word. If our entire Christmas season is built around gifts and shopping, it is then that we have lost our focus. Christmas is about Jesus choosing to come to earth in the form of a child and then ultimately giving his life on a cross some 30 years later. Keep your focus on Jesus and the pressures of our society won't seem near as heavy. That peer pressure to buy your kids all the best will dim greatly in the light of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Food for thought...

Absolutes--Standards--Convictions

Let's look at an example of each of these:

Absolute--Stealing is wrong because the bible says it is.

Standard--I am to live a "holy" life because "God is Holy"

Conviction--I don't go to pg-13 or above movies. Too much language and/or nudity. (For that matter I don't go to PG movies without screening them first!)

Here's the catch in this simple little lesson. We must make sure our personal convictions as Pastors or even Christians don't become absolutes that we "preach" to our congregations or friends. Just because I'm not okay going to a particular movie, that doesn't mean that everyone else can't go to it either. That would make my conviction an absolute.

Who makes Absolutes? God. And since last time I checked, I wasn't God, (I know it's hard to believe, but don't let this crush your world!!) :-) I can't make absolutes. The absolutes that are created by God are what sets standards for us and leads to personal convictions. Consider the examples above. In order to live what I consider a "Holy" life, I don't attend movies that I believe influence me in a negative way. Therefore, my personal convictions, help me achieve the standards I believe God would have me live up to.

The key here is understanding that convictions and standards are personal between God and an individual. Absolutes are between God and His creation. Absolutes never change. Standards and convictions vary across the globe.

Team Ministry

Today we attended class for Church Administration, Finance, and Law. (Sounds incredibly interesting doesn't it?) Our instructor, Bro. Tim Rickman, spent some time discussing staffing the church (which falls under Administration) and I had a revelation how blessed my husband and I are. The concept he was relating was how we as ministers should focus on our strengths, not our weaknesses. I quickly realized how blessed Patrick and I are because of the way God has shaped us in our ministry style.

During the years that God was training us, shaping and molding our viewpoint He did this for us individually. Patrick was involved in the boys program, a musician, audio/visual, Trustee, etc.... I was involved in youth ministries, vocal music, audio/visual (at a different time, and a different aspect), clerical, etc.... But when God was ready for us to step into His plan, we stepped together. This step was the beginning stages of our ministry style. Little did we know almost 20 years later we would be thriving on the principles God instilled in us.

From the beginning Patrick has been bi-vocational, I on the other had have only been bi-vocational for a short 4 years during the time we have been in ministry. Because of this we have always worked as a team. Today in class I realized what a huge blessing that was. Our instructor was emphasizing how disastrous it would be to have two ministers (for example, Sr. Pastor and Assoc. Pastor) with the same strengths at the same church. He explained how & why this would lead to constant conflict and both parties would end up frustrated.

He went on to explain how important it is for us as ministers to operate in our strengths and surround ourselves with people/staff that can take care of the areas we are weak in. Then there was a discussion about searching for that staff and how important that process was. In the midst of this I realized that God had strategically place Patrick & I together as a team. Here's a statement I have made many times, "His strengths are my weaknesses, and my strengths are his weaknesses." It has been very easy for us to operate in ministry because he completes me and I complete him.

Sometimes he needs a huge push to get going, and other times I need some one to put the brakes on because we're getting ready to crash! He stinks at organization, I thrive on it. I stink at being diplomatic, he's an expert! His skills regarding the details aren't so hot, I'm not sure the last time a detail was able to slip past me. My skills in the public speaking could use some work, he flows beautifully. This list could continue, but I think you get the idea!

We are so blessed that we are opposite! Don't get me wrong, this blessing hasn't come without it's obstacles, but we are still blessed regardless of the bumps in the road. So, for that wife that is just sitting back doing nothing, hanging on your husbands arm, looking pretty and being the perfect pastors wife, but deep down you have so much more to offer, and yet you hold back. May I recommend you let go, stop holding back, and allow God to use you however He wants. Team ministry is an incredible thing. Try it sometime, you might find out you thrive on it!!!

Revival

That's a loaded word if I've ever heard one! There are so many different definitions of revival. Actually I'm not so sure that the word is actually defined differently, it's just applied in many, many different ways.

And that's what I would like to explore today. We recently had a discussion with a missionary where one of the subjects we hit on was revival. In that discussion I realized that revival to us as Americans is not revival to those over seas. What this missionary brought to light was that in each different people group, the response to the move of the Holy Spirit is different.

And although that's what I call a "duh" comment, it just had never occurred to me. I know that is because I have been raised in church, and not just in church but in the bible belt as well. "Church" is all I know. I can be incredibly naive when it comes to anything outside of bible belt church! (Sometimes that's good, sometimes, that's very bad!) But, back to revival and the "duh" comment. We (the church) get so wrapped up in our own ideas of what revival is and how we experience God, that we forget not everyone experiences God the same we do.

What this leads us to, is this, revival is a cultural experience. Depending on where you live in the United States, or if you even live in the US, "revival" will show itself many, many ways. I have decided we can't "measure" a move of God by what happened at the church down the road, much less by the church in a different country, or even the church in a different time period.

God will move when we seek His face (sorry, more church words) but how He moves is entirely up to him and not us. If we go after Him with everything we have, you can guarantee we will find Him.

Stabbed in the back...

Any one who's experienced life has experienced this...it's the age old concept of betrayal. How do we handle this as Pastor's?

I recently spent some time thinking about this..."What good does it do to invest in people and love them unconditionally when in the end it doesn't matter what you've done with them and for them, you still get trashed for non-legitimate complaints?"

Pretty harsh, huh? But seriously, if you've been in the ministry any time at all you've experienced this. Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about. The young musician that you invested in and yet they were angry with you because you were just too hard on them. The youth pastor who "just couldn't handle the pressure" and ran home to mommy. An up & coming leader in your group gets led astray and suddenly sees you as the enemy. The list could go on & on...

The funny thing is, for the most part, we are innocent. No we're not perfect, but our heart was genuine in our correction and guidance. We truly loved them and overlooked they're faults, because "Hey, who's perfect?" And besides that, we could see their potential, even through all the junk. You might say we could see the diamond through all the coal! Even in spite of the coal, we continued to love them and attempted to motivate them in their walk with the Lord.

And then the betrayal comes. They quit church, they cause dissension in the members, they avoid you like the plague. And talking to you about it? No way that will ever happen, you're the enemy! You sit back and wonder, "What happened? Where did I go wrong?"

This is what I've been pondering, after all this, is it really worth it? Wouldn't it just be easier to distance yourself and not risk the pain? Why bother investing in people at all, you just end up getting burned regardless of what you do?

Can you hear the negative words? Are grasping on to the gloom and doom of this thought process? You see, it doesn't really matter whether or not we receive love back, we still must choose to give it. It doesn't matter if we never see that person become the shining diamond that we could see, it only matters that we did the best we could do with what God has given us. We must choose to invest in our people regardless of what's in it for us. Even if in the end we lose it all. Like Job we must serve God regardless of the circumstances around us. And like Jesus, knowing what our fate may be, we still choose God's will and not our own.

Sometimes it may feel like we are walking alone on this path, but Jesus is always with us. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Give yourself permission...

God gave me this as a small rabbit trail for a sermon I had prepared recently and I wanted to elaborate a little more about this topic.

It has been my experience that there is a whole lot of guilt associated with following God and leaving your family behind. When I first started pondering this, I assumed it was mostly female oriented, but as I have continued to look around and think back to what I have experienced, I have also seen men struggle with this topic as well. So based on what I have experienced, today's blog is for both men & women in the ministry.

It is okay to leave your family behind to follow after God!

I believe the enemy of our souls (a.k.a Satan) twists this biblical truth and uses it against us to make us feel guilty. Let me prove it to you in the word. Go to the book of Luke. Here we find numerous occasions where Jesus tells people to leave their families and follow him.

• Luke 8:1-3--several women are mentioned, one is the wife of Chuza, Herod's business manager. Joannna leaves her family and her duties to follow Jesus.

• Luke 9:24--Jesus is talking about giving up our lives to follow him and by doing so we find true life. This scripture will have multiple meaning to many of us. Here's why, if our lives are wrapped up in sports, then we need to give up sports. If our lives are wrapped up in our jobs then we may need to change professions. If our lives are wrapped up in our children, then we may need to give them up. Whatever it is in our lives that is consuming us, that is what we have to give up. Whether it's money, family, career, "church", position. Whatever it is, we must give it up.

• Luke 9:57-62--Here we find two examples of people who want to follow Christ, but first they want to take care of their father who has just died, or they want to return home and say good-bye to their family and Jesus tells both of them no!

• Luke 14:25-35--Once again the scriptures elaborate on the cost of following Jesus. Here we find Jesus saying we must love him more than our mother, father, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even ourselves.

So let's summarize, Luke tells us repeatedly that following Jesus is going to require sacrifice. That sacrifice may show itself in many forms, but the concept is still the same. I find that pastors are unwilling to sacrifice their families to follow Jesus because they are so guilt ridden that they are a bad mother, or a bad father. Or they've heard how other pastor's have neglected their family taking care of the "church". And they've determined that they will never be guilty of making that same mistake.

Here is where the truth comes to the forefront and Satan's lies are exposed. You see, God loves our families more than we do. He is much more concerned with their well-being than we could ever think about being. And somehow Satan has convinced us that if we surrender our lives to God and give our family to Him that somehow our children and our spouses will be damaged by allowing God to take care of them. Can you see how Satan manipulates our circumstances to make us feel guilty? In the end if we allow Satan to control this area of our lives we are ultimately telling God that He is not capable of caring for our families like we can and therefore we will not allow him to care for them at all. It then becomes our sole responsibility.

This is where the lie comes to it's full potential. This is when our families begin to be damaged. It is because we have taken the God ordained plan for our lives and put the reigns in our own hands. We now bear the weight of trying to take care of the people God has called us to as well as taking care of our families. This a burden that is much too heavy for us to bear alone bear.

It is at this point we can begin to realize that we have told God He is not big enough and we are bigger than He is, and our choices were better than His. It is at this point we must admit our smallness and the failure of our choices. When we let go of the reigns that truly belong to God and Him alone, we begin to feel the freedom all of us have received through the sacrifice of God's only son, Jesus Christ.

You see it's not about putting the church before your family or children. It's about putting God before your church and your family. When God becomes the reason you breathe, the reason you get up in the morning, the reason you exist. When you come to point that you can't possibly continue living unless you have Him, only then will your family (and your church) truly know the depth of the love and compassion Jesus has for them. And in turn, because of the relationship you now have with Him, you will also reflect that same love and compassion of your Lord & Savior, which is felt by your wife, your children, your mother, your father and everyone else you come in contact with!

So, going back to the beginning.... Give yourself permission to follow after God. The only thing that can come from it is good. If you give yourself completely and wholly to Him, you can guarantee He will take care of you and those you love.

Burnout is Hogwash!

Let's explore this topic a little deeper...

First, I think taking a moment to define "burnout" would be beneficial. Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines burnout as "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration."

So let's talk about this in relationship to being in the ministry. It is so easy to put everything we have into what we are doing. We give and give and work and work and run here and run there and before we know it we are in burnout. Oops! Did I say that? You mean we can get burnout? I thought we established that burnout is hogwash?

Well here is a more in depth look at my thoughts regarding burnout. I have had friends who have called me worn out, depressed, and sounding like they have been drug through the ringer. Then while spilling their guts to me I hear those forbidden words "I'm just burnt out." Going back to the definition, we find this means they are exhausted and have no emotional strength left much less physical strength. Nor do they have the motivation to continue because they are completely frustrated and totally stressed out.

Do you hear the words that are being spoken? Exhausted. Frustrated. Stressed. Are these characteristics we see in Jesus? Jesus is the ultimate and greatest Example. When we question what we are supposed to be doing, we can turn to the Scriptures and look at what Jesus did while in ministry.

So my question to you is this, can you find one example in the Scriptures that shows us where Jesus exampled frustration, exhaustion, and stress? Did Jesus experience burnout? Now some may argue that when Jesus separated himself from the crowds it was because he was experiencing burnout. But, my friend, isn't it more likely that he was simply exampling for us how to avoid burnout? Let me explain...

When Jesus seperated himself out, he fasted and prayed during those times. The only way to arrive at the point of burnout is when we give in to the enemy and allow him to drag us there. We are victorious over Satan! We do not have to live in constant frustration. We do not have to live being completely exhausted after every service and/or board meeting. Stress does not have to be a way of life. These three words frustration, exhaustion and stress should be the exception and not the rule.

If you find you are living in these words weekly or even daily then you need to get in the Word. The Word says that if we will wait on him he will renew our strength. We also find it is the anointing that breaks the yoke, and our despair can be traded for joy. You see, the Word is bursting with words of encouragement for us to turn to when we begin to feel the weight of ministry on our shoulders. We only need to seek God's face and take our worries and concerns and lay them at His feet. Spend some time fasting until we get a breakthrough. He is more than capable of handling our problems.

You see, when we apply biblical principles to our problems they begin to diminish and life becomes not just bearable, but enjoyable, even exciting. We find pleasure in serving our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. We find our emotional needs are being met, simply because we are serving; we are walking in obedience. There may be twists in the road and bumps here and there, but nothing can take away the peace we have in Christ Jesus.

He is truly our all in all....