Now what?

Last month was Pastor Appreciation Month and people all over the country celebrated their pastors! It was an awesome month for me for two reasons. First, as a part-time pastor myself I felt a great surge of appreciation from the people I serve. Second, as a person devoted to encouraging and equipping pastors, it was great having other people joining me in this work for the whole month!

The cards have been read and the gifts have been received.

Now what?

I can't get this article out of my mind:

Suicide: When Pastor's Silent Suffering Turns Tragic

In my work I interact with many pastors that are suffering silently. The expectations placed upon their work are, in a word, unattainable! Few if any are fully equipped for the tremendous breadth of professional skills and spiritual gifts needed for the job! This reality is exacerbated by the fact that most hurting pastors feel they can't ask for help and resign themselves to keeping silent!

The result is beat up, stressed out, and frustrated pastors. Seems to be a far cry from this scriptural directive:

1Timothy 5:17
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

I love Pastor Appreciation Month, AND there must be more we can do! I'd love to hear your thoughts! And, I'll start rolling out some of my own as well.

What can we do to change the cultures, systems, and habits that produce these outcomes?

Now what?
Lon

Ask, and You Will Receive

A strange pairing of the kid's show "Handy Manny" and an Oswald Chambers piece inspired this post.

While waking my children this morning a scene from "Handy Manny" caught my eye. Mr. Lopart had (once again) gotten himself in trouble. You see, he never asks for, or accepts, help from others. This causes him to get in lots of trouble. Today he had gotten his arm stuck in a door he'd installed for his cat.

Oswald Chambers teaches that the purpose of prayer is to allow Christ to grow in us. The more we look to Jesus for help, the more Christ grows in us. When we try to do life on our own, we stifle Christ's growth in us.

God wants to be a part of every aspect of our life. It follows that He wants to support us in our difficulties, too! Don't be a Mr. Lopart! Turn over to Jesus all your troubles and God will engage in them. In the meantime, our willingness to seek Christ's help will allow Jesus to grow in us.

"Ask, and you will receive..." John 16:24

Don't be a Mr. Lopart!
Lon

Details, by Rachel Smith

Are you a crisis prayer-er? You know when things are going bad we throw a prayer up for some help. I did this for many years. Part of it was because I felt God was really too busy to hear about every little detail of every persons life and I know I was too busy when things were going good to stop and chat with God.

Then I reread Exodus. There are all these very detailed directions on how to do things. God is most certainly concerned with the details of our lives. He cares so much about how we do every little thing.

My prayers have turned more into daily worship. Praise to God.

Exodus 25:10-16
“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.

I will help you, by Rachel Smith

Writing is a funny thing. Sometimes I think I have something great to say and then it comes out all gibberish. Other times I have nothing to say and then I get all this great feedback that it helped someone.

I think that's how I know if I have prayed enough before I write. Come to think of it, that's how I know if I have prayed enough before any decision or action in my life. If it goes well (not necessarily easy mind you) and I feel at peace, then to me this is a sign God is in it.

Ironically, I tend to fight this. I want to rush in and decide, move, get it done. In my defense I am a leader and normally these qualities are seen as positive. But God is the ultimate leader. And when I lead under His guidance things go so much better. Today I will learn to follow and trust in the one that created me.

Moses had these same troubles.

Exodus 4:10-12

Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Immediacy of God, by Lon Alderman

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

It might be an attempt to manage the overflow of information that swamps my mind. It might be the inability to handle more than five or six thoughts at one time. Or, it might just be laziness. Regardless of the reason, I tend to compartmentalize my life.

There is family time, work time, time to eat, and time to relax. There is time to be serious, time to have fun, and time to zone out. Oh ya, and there is time for God. I "give" Him 30-45 minutes each morning and a couple of hours on Sunday. I give Him a short nod before eating and, depending on the meeting, I give Him 90 seconds before we start.

Do you see the problem? The vast, and I mean VAST, majority of my time is not focused on Jesus! God is always with us - He promised! (Hebrews 13:5) As a matter of fact, we can't escape His presence even if we tried! (Psalm 139:7-12)

Today, let's be aware of the immediacy of God. Then in each moment we can prayerfully, joyously, and thankfully experience His presence.

Lon

Unite and Pray, by Rachel Smith

I was reading in the old testament today the story of Jehoshaphat defeating Moab. (2 Chronicles 20) I would encourage you to read it.

We are often in battles where there is no possible way we can win. The numbers tell the story. The other side has more people to fight and appear to be in better condition to advance their position. This was the case for Jehoshaphat.

But, instead of hanging his head low and giving up he did a very interesting thing. He gathered all the people to fast and pray. They praised God. He even prays, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." (vs12).

When you don't know what to do- gather the troops. Unite in praise and prayer and fix your eyes on God.

2 Chronicles 20:12-13
O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.

What if...?, by Rachel Smith

We all wonder this sometimes. What if...and the dot dot dot is usually some concern for the future or our health or our finances or even our children. While those concerns may all be very real and valid just wondering and worrying won't change anything.
Prayer changes things.

We are to be told not to be anxious, about anything. This includes all of those what ifs. But rather be thankful and prayerful.

Just for today try to pray rather than worry. Anytime your brain says, "well, what are you going to do about that" answer by praying. Instead of coming up with solutions or worrying about not having any, let God be in charge. Go to Him with everything today.


Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Email woes - part 1, by Rachel Smith

Email woes- part 1

I recently sent Lon an email that said, “I think there is a problem with my email account and I haven’t been sending/receiving emails properly, please respond.” In hindsight that was a pretty silly request. How can I expect Lon to respond to something I’m not entirely sure he is receiving?

Do we do this with God? Do we send up prayers just in case He might respond? Is prayer a way of hedging your bet? Of course we want to submit to God’s will, but His word tells us to ask in a way in which we believe we will receive.

While email may be unreliable, you can be confident that God’s mail system always works.

Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Build UP: On the road

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

I am leaving in the morning (Friday) for Manchester, Iowa. I will be leading a two-day visioning retreat for a church there. Together, we will be discerning God's plan for this church over the next 4-5 years.

Please pray that God will give me the wisdom, courage, and strength needed to accomplish this task. And, that the Lord will keep me safe during the long drive (5 hours one-way) with winter road conditions.

In advance, thank you!
Lon

Build UP: Who me?

Who me?

Colossians 4:2-4
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ...Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

I know that the leaders in my church are under a great deal of pressure. And, I realize that they don't get much positive reinforcement. And yes, their job is tough. But what can I do? After all, I don't have any power in the church.

The truth is that we have incredible power at our disposal. The challenge is accessing it, but it's really not that tricky. God holds all the power the universe can muster. All we have to do is ask Him to send some of it to our church leaders. We do this through prayer.

Please consider adding your church leaders to your daily prayers.
Lon