A punch in the gut

Dear Pastor,

I know you know what I’m talking about. As soon as you read the title of this post your mind may have already jumped to the last time life or ministry dealt you a blow. The truth is we all have experienced them and likely will experience more in the future. In this post, I want to talk about what to do when that happens.

Life and ministry are full of obstacles, hindrances, and difficulties. Some of the trouble comes because of our own choices. Some because we live in a fallen world. Some because of the people around us.

The pain and suddenness of taking a punch to the gut can knock the wind out of us, cause us to stagger and reel and even get ready to head for the door. Sometimes the blow comes from the people who offer us “constructive” (or less than constructive) criticism. Sometimes it is the diagnosis from the doctor. It might be a car accident or job layoff. In ministry, the fact that people are leaving the church/ministry you lead can be one of the harshest blows.

So what do we do when we take the blow?

  • At first, it seems like all we can do is just stand there stunned, hurt and trying to catch our breath.
  • After a few moments as we begin to breathe a little easier and slow our heart rate down then we start asking questions and rethinking everything we thought we knew about life and ministry up to that point
    • “Did I miss something?”
    • “Should I have seen this coming?”
    • “Why is this happening to me?”
    • “How will I make it through this?”
  • Once the initial shock begins to wear off and we realize we are still alive, it then becomes time to assess ourselves and the situation:
    • “What now?”
    • “What do I need to learn from this?”
    • “How should I respond to this?”
    • “How can I make sure this never happens again?” (Good luck!)
  • After much thought and prayer (and plenty of second-guessing) we finally begin to see through the fog and pain and realize that a new normal can emerge and that we can indeed press on in Jesus’ name and by His Spirit and in a way that is honoring to Him:
    • “With God’s help, I am going to make it through”
    • “I need to admit my sin and failing in this”
    • “Lord help me also to know what part of this is helpful and what part may simply be the Enemy trying to steal/kill/destroy me”
    • “Thank you God for helping me through this and redeeming this for your glory and my good”
    • “I will respond to this person/situation with grace, holiness, truth, and love”
    • “With God’s help I will be more like Jesus and the kingdom of God can/will advance even through this pain”

There is so much here that I could probably write a book on the subject (there are many good ones out there I’m sure) but let me conclude this brief article with these thoughts:

  1. Don’t lash out and react in an unChristlike manner when you are punched in the gut
  2. Make sure to seek godly counsel from wise and holy people of God around you
  3. Pray and seek the face/will/healing/calm/wisdom/power/presence of God
  4. Read God’s Word and look for His promises, commands, and warnings that will uphold you and guide you as you respond
  5. Respond in grace, holiness, truth, and love, seeking God’s glory, the upbuilding of the kingdom, and the salvation/redemption/sanctification of the person(s) to whom you are responding

Remember that Christ is for you, with you and in you.

Grace and peace!

Mike

A world without pastors?

Where would the church be, where would the world be, where would you be, without pastors?

This is a sad and scary thought: in some circles, it seems that there are fewer men and women receiving the call into ministry. And where exactly would the church be without pastors? 

Of course, we can all name the evidences of the frailty and imperfections of pastors, and yet pastors, as the called-out under-shepherds of God, share His mysteries, represent His holiness, declare His praises, serve as watchmen on the walls, join Jesus and His Spirit in interceding for the people. 

  • Without pastors, I personally would not know all that I know of Jesus Christ and His beautiful plan of salvation.
  • Without pastors, I would not know all that I know about grace, mercy, and love.
  • Without pastors, I would not know all that I know about prayer and God’s rich mercy in answering our cries for help.

I thank God for the millions of often nameless and faceless, forgotten, ignored, overlooked, underappreciated, many times maligned, suffering servants called pastors. 

I thank God that He is my Good Shepherd, but I also thank God for you.

May you and I, as shepherds of God’s people, humbly accept this calling from God, let us faithfully discharge our duties, let us love people as we are ambassadors of God’s love. May we keep on in the knowledge that God is working for the salvation of humanity and we are somehow privileged to be on the front lines of rescuing the perishing, comforting the weary, encouraging the downtrodden and bringing people to our great God!

Practicing the Presence of God

Dear follower of Christ, may these words be a prayer and a commitment that you and I make to honor God and to acknowledge His presence in our midst and in our very souls. Let us practice the presence of God daily and thereby revere Him and avail ourselves to Him for His purposes:

Here I am
By the grace of God

He has placed me here for His purposes
He is here with me
I am not alone

God is with me and for me
As a born-again child of God, He is in me

One of the greatest things I can do for other people
Is to be happy in Jesus Christ

After all ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever’

I pray that I will learn Godly contentment
Peace and rest: from the Lord and guided by His Spirit

God is with me and helps me even when I am not aware
God is with me and helps me when I am not enough

When I am not smart enough, good enough, caring enough, holy enough.
Even then God is for me

God is with me when others are against me
God is with me when I don’t like myself
God is with me when my words and my actions don’t agree

God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Savior of mankind, of all who will believe
Is for me, working that I may be holy as He is holy

Let me rest in His work, His promises, His sufficiency
My salvation comes from God
May I rest in Him

 

I have chosen you

Dear Pastor, please take time to slowly and carefully read through these comments that I wrote down after my devotion time today. I believe these words represent the heart of God as revealed in His Word and His activity in the world. Remember that these words are for you and the flock that you shepherd.

I thank God for you. Remember to celebrate that Christ is with us and Christ is in us!

Mike

I have chosen you

Thus saith the Lord: I have chosen you.

I have chosen you to be my child.

I have chosen you to be my servant. 

I have chosen you, my Beloved, because I love you and desire to be with you.

Remember this: I am for you. 

You are not alone, nor do you have to live only according to what you have.

You will live according to what I give to you. 

And I will give you rest. I will give you mercy. I will give you my Spirit. 

Dear Church, I have given you my Spirit, I have chosen you to be with me and so that you will go and make disciples.

Dear __________ (your name here), I have given you my Spirit, I have chosen you to be with me and so that you will go and make disciples. 

I have chosen you because I know all that I have already planned and prepared for you. 

I have chosen you because I love you and desire to be with you and in you for all eternity. 

I have chosen you because there are people in your life that I desire to share my love and gospel with. You are the conduit through whom I have chosen to flow.

You are mine, I have paid the full price for your rescue.

You are mine, and I now offer to you all that you need to enjoy the fullness of life I intend for you to have.

You are mine, and I now appoint you to go and bear fruit. I designate you as my apostles. 

You are my ekklesia (called out ones) and my ambassadors. Go therefore and make disciples. Go therefore and share my truth by my Spirit within you and bring others from their brokenness and despair and chains into the freedom of life and salvation in me. 

 

Graciously speaking and living truth in a mixed-up world

This world is full of sin. And shame. And sadness. And brokenness.

And the list goes on. 

God took on flesh and stepped into this world. Jesus came and lived a sinless life as a perfect example and demonstration of the holy love of the Father. Jesus died a sinless death, taking our sin and its consequences upon Himself. The decrees against humanity were nailed to the cross. The brokenness of humanity was offered a cure in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

The children of God who have been born again are the carriers of His Spirit and His gospel into a world that is a mixed-up mess.

And what we bring to the world is to be the eternal truth of God Himself. 

We are to bring God’s eternal truth by how we live and in what we say. We are to embody the love of Christ and we are to declare the Word of the Lord.

This world that is so topsy-turvy and not even aware of its own lostness not only needs a Savior but also needs the church to share Jesus with them. 

This world doesn’t know what is right or wrong nor the consequences for their behaviors (whether in this life or the next). It is our calling from God Himself to manifest His gospel.

Of course, this must be done with grace. The gospel isn’t the gospel without grace. Jesus would not have been faithful to the character and the will of the Father if He hadn’t lived and died with grace. 

But nonetheless Jesus told the world of sin and we must do the same. We cannot shy away from the warnings that sin is real, it is destructive and yet there is hope for all who have sinned. 

So please, Christians, do not call sin something less than sin. Do not call evil good. Do not change the message of sin, grace, and holiness in order for our message to be more palatable. Let us declare fearlessly the full gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Let us declare what we have received from the Lord. Let us live and declare that all people everywhere need to repent and call on the name of the Lord and be saved. Let us live and declare that immorality and idolatry and contentiousness and selfishness will bring destruction. Let us live and declare that God’s grace and mercy and His Holy Spirit make it possible to be forgiven and delivered from any behavior that cannot be taken in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let us graciously live and declare that whatever the Bible declares to be true must be received and obeyed.

There is sadly a trend in western Christianity these days to ignore the Bible in favor of more culturally “appropriate” designations of sin and holiness and yet the Bible remains quite clear that we cannot keep on sinning and yet call ourselves Christians and neither can Christians claim to know Christ and yet hate a brother. The Bible is completely clear that any type of sexual behavior outside of marriage between one man and one woman is sexual immorality but so is lusting after a person sexually. The Bible is clear that we must have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness and that we must leave behind the world and the old self and pursue the Lord and His righteousness.

Dear reader, please, please, please: hear God’s call to be saved and delivered from your sins. Then seek with all of your might to live a life pleasing to the Lord, allowing Him to sanctify you of all uncleanness and lead you into all of His righteous ways. Then make it your ambition to live out and fearlessly declare with grace His message of love, redemption, and holiness. Stop compromising and letting your sins slide while hammering away on other’s sins. Instead, look at Jesus and look at yourself and then confess the difference. 

If Christians won’t pursue Christ or live holiness and preach holiness, really there is not much reason to call ourselves “Christian”. If we want to keep lying, cheating, stealing, lusting, gossiping, committing sexual immorality, worshiping and serving the gods we pick, treating others as objects or obstacles and deciding that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want and we will just confess it later, we might as well be honest with ourselves that we really don’t want to be a God-honoring Christ-follower, we really just want to have a way to escape the consequences for our behaviors that we really plan on doing anyway.  

Dear reader, please hear this invitation to accept God’s gift of salvation. Dear Christian, please receive this call to pursue holiness. Dear Christian, please fearlessly manifest the gospel in both word and in truth. 

God have mercy, Christ have mercy

The hard part of pastoring

How can we possibly pick which part of pastoring is hard and which part is “easy”? And yet I would like to address just briefly the hard part of not just interacting with people in a casual or conversational way but in an intentional and spiritual way. 

When people come to pastors with their problems it can be overwhelming. We might personally begin to shrink back into ourselves or even have a mini- “panic-attack” inside as we consider the fact that we not only are called by God to be nice to these people and seek to put a smile on their face, but we also are to represent God and speak for God.

It can be a heavy load to consider dealing with their concerns and life issues especially knowing that we have so many times before been “punished” after sharing the truth with people or misunderstood regarding either our motive or what we are saying. When people come to us with their issues it can be easy for us to flash back to a previous interaction with a parishioner or even personal friend or family member and begin thinking that perhaps once again the interaction might go poorly or be insufficient to address their true need. 

And yet we are called by God (and equipped by His Word and His Holy Spirit) to not only interact with them in gentleness and with tenderness and compassion but also speak truth to them and help them to discover the hard revelations from God regarding sin and righteousness. As a matter of fact, if we don’t plan on helping them unpack what the sinful vs righteous responses are in their respective and specific circumstances we don’t really need to be pastors or spend time pastorally with people. 

Finally here is the reality about helping people through their problems: their problems will not just go away because you met and dialogued, the people you meet won’t change all of their behaviors overnight and your remarks no matter how true will not save, heal or deliver them. But if we speak God’s word to them, connect them with Him and remind them that in their connection to Him they will be delivered through all things and if we pray with them and share God’s never-ending, never-failing word with them, then they will have the opportunity to really have a breakthrough and not merely find a band-aid or a simple emotional pick-me-up.

Dear Pastor, thank you for listening to people. Thank you for taking time to dialogue with them. Thank you for connecting them with God. Thank you for helping them to dig into the Word, talk to God in prayer and walk in the streams of God’s grace. And please don’t shy away from this, for this is exactly what people need from their pastor. May God continue to open doors for conversation and may He fill and use you to be a conduit of His gospel and holy love!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Are you living holy?

Isn’t it amazing to know that the Creator God of the universe loves you and i and has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins, delivered from all guilt and shame and cleansed of all unrighteousness?! 

Various things that I have said to other people have been harsh, unkind, disingenuous, deceitful, prideful and more. And these things have caused pain. Some attitudes that I have had have been self-centered, angry, self-righteous, self-justifying, proud and more. These attitudes have hurt people and communicated messages of untruth. Certain actions and reactions that I have lived out have cheated others, treated people like objects, taken from others and placed myself first and temporal things about eternal things. These unholy words, attitudes, and actions have caused pain, promoted untruth, and resulted in consequences for myself and many others.

But here is the good news! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was perfect in every way and who never sinned, paid the price for me to be forgiven of these things. Jesus’ death and resurrection have made it possible for me to be delivered from the rightful judgments I deserve and from the consequences I have brought on myself and others as a result of my sin. Praise be to God that Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to set me free from my past, my sin, and my deserved judgment!

However, I want to take this one step further. Since we know that Jesus Christ Himself came and died in our place in order that He might make a way for us to be delivered from our past and the various strongholds and broken things in our lives, why do we keep on living the same as before?

If Christians have been forgiven for speaking unkind words, why would we continue to speak unkind words?

If Christians have had to seek the Lord to deliver them from their selfish behaviors, why would we continue to live selfishly and as if the people around us are merely obstacles?

If Christians have asked the Lord to forgive them from their worshiping and serving false gods (such as material possessions, success, and fame) why would we keep running after the same stuff that got us into trouble in the first place?!

The question at this point might be asked: “Were we really sorry in the first place for our sins, or did we only not want to have any consequences for our behaviors?”

And so here is the point of this article: “Are you living holy?”

I know that no one is holy except God alone, however by the death and resurrection of Jesus we are now able to be forgiven of our sins and cleansed of unrighteousness and then receive the Holy Spirit to live in us. In other words, our natural self is not holy, but the Spirit of Jesus who is perfectly good and holy will live in the hearts of those who believe so that by Jesus’ Spirit at work in us we can supernaturally live His holy life or rather He can live His holy life through us.

  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you speaking to others like Jesus would?
  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you exhibiting an attitude like Jesus does?
  • If you have been forgiven and cleansed, are you acting/reacting to people/circumstances as Jesus did?

And if not, why not?

Don’t say it’s not possible. Jesus and the entire Bible cover to cover tells a different story. 

If we aren’t living holy (living like Jesus) what exactly are we doing that Jesus wouldn’t do? And what exactly aren’t we doing that Jesus did? And when are we going to start doing it?

The world can be changed if these see the holiness of God through you and me and therefore come to the Lord in order that He can do the same thing in them.

The world (and even other believers) can become bitter and hardened and distant and further rebel against God is they see us continuing to sin and act selfishly all the while we claim to be disciples of Jesus or “Little Christs” (literal meaning of ‘Christian’)

Are you living holy? If not, I beg of you, let Jesus’ perfect Holy Spirit begin living out His holiness in your words, attitudes and actions. It will bring glory to God and may possibly result in other people drawing near to God because of the holiness they see in you!

 

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

hope-1804595_1920There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

hope-1804595_1920There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

The hope for the church is as great as the promises of God

There are so many obstacles, hurdles and difficult circumstances facing the church today. It has been easy for many to give up hope for the church. Whether we look at statistics, trends or personal stories it would seem that the church is facing a difficult path. Fear and pessimism are rampant these days and so when you couple this negativity with the situations around and then consider the spiritual warfare being waged against the church and the slow erosion of the church by the constant pounding of culture, it might seem as though what little hope the church might have is fading. And yet, I am here to tell you as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ that the hope of the church is as great as the promises of God!

Peruse social media, read mass media headlines or listen to someone’s sad story of a declining church and it might be easy to conclude that the church is in such desperate trouble that there may be no digging out of the depths, but I am here to tell you that every single person who knows and believes the promises of God and chooses to come under the authority of the Lord, will quickly find the grace, faith, and hope that is needed to not only prevail but also to become victorious conquerors in Jesus’ name.

The kingdom of God is advancing forcefully upon the earth! It is carried forward by the prayers of the saints and by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Scriptures say, we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Each and every person who listens to the revelation of the Lord and accepts His word as truth will find themselves placed on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. All who will take the time to receive from the Lord the gracious and bountiful gifts that He is giving will receive the Holy Spirit who breaks the power of canceled sin. Each and every church and believer who takes God at His Word, can receive His love, walk in His promises, become conduits of His holiness and live for His glory. A church full of people who walk by this kind of faith and not by fears or obstacles of this world will discover that they truly are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Today, if you see something in the news or on social media that paints a picture depicting the certain decline and demise of the church or Christianity, please, choose to ignore this false narrative. These foreboding declarations are built on temporal things and instead, we must stand on the eternal truths of God’s Word that declare that He is building His children into a spiritual house that He can dwell in with power and that the church He is building not even hell itself can stand against. 

If you know that you have been walking in defeat or the local faith community you belong to has been walking in defeat, please read the Word, receive the promises, pray and seek the face of God and allow His sufficient atonement and overwhelming victory to take over. 

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)