After finally getting a moment to catch my breath after Advent, Christmas, and the start of the New Year, I wanted to share with you a few of my surprises that I have experienced in this new year:
1. There's Never Enough Time. All through Advent and Christmas I kept saying to my family and myself, "If we can only get through Christmas, then things will slow down." I should have known better. Things never slow down. Especially if you have targeted the start of the New Year as the time to start new ministries and Bible studies. I find myself busier than ever, teaching two Bible studies and a class on personal evangelism, and participating in a Chyrsalis Journey and a Walk to Emmaus Event. But, God is good, and He continues to bless me with time and energy and the ability to accomplish all that He has placed on me in this new year.
2. God Still Does Miracles. This past week was one of the most challenging in my short pastoral career, with a major family crisis in a church that has directly affected the lives of three separate families. Yet, in the midst of the ashes of this event, God has brought out beauty. Lives are being restored, marriages are being restored, faith is being stretched -- all in the midst of a situation that looked as hopeless as any I have ever seen. I am continually amazed at how the power of God can come into any situation and into any life and transform it and change it for the better.
3. Personal Witnessing Is Not That Hard. As a pastor, I have found myself somewhat slack in the area of personal witnessing. Simply put, I did not share my faith with others in a direct way. I had come up with many reasons and excuses to justify this sin in my life: I invite people to church; As the pastor, I am responsible for sharing the gospel only from the pulpit; As the pastor, my job is not to go out and save others but to build up the body of Christ so they can go forth and save others; and so on and so on. But this week I had the opportunity to share my faith on two separate occasions, and in both cases, God gave me the words to share and the will to continue and both of these men accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. It takes a lot more time and energy to come up with the excuses why we can't and won't witness than it takes to actually share our faith with someone else.
4. Harvests Always Follow Planting. For the past six years, I have pastored two small Methodist churches in south-central Georgia. And, while we have seen great growth in spiritual maturity and in biblical knowledge among the members, there has literally been no growth in the churches, other than family members rejoining after years of attendance. I began to think that I would never see any fruit from the sowing that we had been doing in the churches. However, God has blessed us since the new year with the start of a harvest that I pray continues for years. Since the new year, one church has had a new member join and I had someone approach me about joining the other church. Additionally, as I noted above, we shared in the salvation of two men, who may eventually join the church as members. God is faithful and harvests will always follow obedient planting and cultivation.
1 comment:
As for your first comment about time. I just don't understand how January can be my busiest month of the year. But every January since I've been at my current appointment, I seem to busier than any other month.
And I agree with you about miracles. God does continue to do them. Sometimes I think we simply don't see them. But other times, if we'd only open our eyes, we'd notice so much more that God is doing around us.
May God continue to bless you and your two churches.
Post a Comment