The mysteriousness of ministry Is what we’re doing making a difference? How? How will we ever know if what we have said or done has truly accomplished anything? Will we always just have to rely on the promise of the Lord that he will make something happen with our meager contributions? These are questions that weContinue reading “The mystery of ministry”
Category Archives: For Pastors
God is at work where you live
We don’t have to know all that God is doing We know the basics… He’s told us in his Word that he is saving, sanctifying, sustaining, and guiding us. Along the way we know that He is protecting and providing for us. In your local congregation and in mine, we don’t necessarily know all theContinue reading “God is at work where you live”
Taking care of the ones you have
especially new people. We know that part of the call is reaching new people with the gospel and evangelizing and discipling them but we often don’t know who, when, where or how. Let us today be reminded of the beautiful reality that God will bring into our lives those that He desires us to ministerContinue reading “Taking care of the ones you have”
Showing up
Dear pastor Have you ever received a “perfect attendance” award? Have you ever given one? These definitely seem to be things of the past, but there is a lesson to be learned from this practice of yesteryear. The reason that these awards were created and distributed in the first place is because we know thatContinue reading “Showing up”
Pastoring contentious people
Dear pastor, Have you ever had the privilege of pastoring a strong-willed person? Hopefully you are already smiling at my use of the word “privilege.” Ministry is already hard enough without putting strong-willed, obstinate, cantankerous and contentious people into the mix. And yet that is precisely what many of us face week in and weekContinue reading “Pastoring contentious people”
God can sanctify our work
Dear pastor I want to encourage you to find joy and fulfillment RIGHT NOW, in this PRESENT MOMENT, for the Lord is with you, even now. So much of life and ministry can seem mundane, boring or like wasted time. And yet when God is present, He is sanctifying that very moment. I remember the storyContinue reading “God can sanctify our work”
A sense of grief
I have a sense that something is off in this world. It is a sense of grief that weighs on me, a burden that God has placed in me. Let me define this grief: I am grieved because I know that God’s heart is hurting, and He has placed His heart inside of me andContinue reading “A sense of grief”
The purpose of the church
The purpose of the church is to be the church To exist. To belong to God. To belong to each other. The purpose of the church is to exist and to live in holy communion. What is the end goal? The end goal of the church is to be: to be in existence, to beContinue reading “The purpose of the church”
We can’t change them
Last week I shared a post about the fact that in life and in ministry we cannot save other people. We can’t even save ourselves. Only Christ can do that (with our believing and acceptance). In this post I would like to explore the reality that ultimately we cannot change the people whom we interactContinue reading “We can’t change them”
We can’t save them
Here is a hard reality for us pastors. We can’t save them. This is true for ourselves too: we can’t save ourselves. First of all we must remember that there is only one Lord and Savior: Jesus Christ. And we all need Him to save us. We need Him to forgive us. We need HimContinue reading “We can’t save them”
Pastor Michael Johnson 