Monthly Archives: August 2009

Posted on

The First Four Lessons I Learned in Pastoral Ministry

I made an offhanded remark yesterday that the fourth lesson I learned in pastoral ministry is that you should always have a backup plan.  It took me about 1 week to learn that lesson.  After a single Sunday running Kid's church and I quickly realized that there will always be something that doesn't turn out the way you anticipated it would.  Could be a game you thought would be great, but that the kids think is lame.  Could be an object lesson that works great the 6 times you practice it, but fails miserably when it comes service time.  Could be a million other things. So a quick lesson learned…always have a plan B.

Well, my off handed remark about having a backup plan being the fourth lesson I learned prompted someone to ask, "what were the first three lessons you learned?"  Here is the answer to that question…

1. Always Have a Great Mentor.  Allow me to tell a story.  I will never forget the first emergency call I took as an associate pastor at Calvary.  A lady in the church had a stroke and so I went to the hospital to pray with her, and introduce myself to her family since they didn't come to the church.  When I arrived at the hospital her condition was much more serious than I was expecting.  I walked into the waiting room and up to the family, and before they even gave me their names, they said this, "Our mom's stroke was massive.  The doctors are asking if we want to remove life support.  You're her pastor, according to my mom's religious beliefs would she want us to take her off life support?"  Now before you judge my response, please remember this was literally my 3rd day on the job…but my answer seriously went something like, "Uhhh…..well……ummm…..err…..yeah, about that….hang on, let me step out in the hall and call Pastor Tim.   I am sure he would want to know how serious your mother's condition is, and I am sure that he would be able to answer that question for you!"  

Pastor Tim did come, and he did have a great way of framing a response to their question about whether to take their mother off life support.  The response that I listened to him give that day is the exact same response I have used a few times since, and will probably be the same response I use the rest of my life.  Lesson #1 Have A Great Mentor.

2. You Must Be a Reader of God's Word.  It's tough to get far in pastoral ministry if you are not reading God's Word.  And you can't read it just looking for your next sermon.  It needs to be read devotionally, not just professionally .  Many have tried to get by without this, and many have failed.

3. You Must Be a Reader of Books.  You can expand books to include magazines, journals, blogs, even listening to Podcasts.  The bottom line is that you have to always be exposing yourself to new ideas.  I know for me at least, it is easy to get stuck in a rut, especially if that rut seems to be going more, or less, the right direction.  It is good to get out of the rut every once in a while and blaze a whole new trail.  New ideas from others help get the creative juices going.

Posted on

10 Things I Love About Peru

I shared these today at Calvary, but I thought I would post them here for posterity sake.  In reflecting on my time in Peru this summer, there are several lessons I learned and several aspects of the Peruvian culture that I fell in love with.  Here are 10 of them…

10. The Schedule. Every day we awoke to a rooster crow, usually around 3:00 am, which a touch earlier than what I am used to getting up, but I loved rolling out of my hammock around 4:00 or 5:00 and heading to work.  Generally we worked from 6:00, or so, in the morning till 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.  Then we had our afternoons off to go swimming, hang out with the villagers and build community, or just take a nice siesta nap until the evening service.

9. Pastor’s Who are Hungry for God. We worked with two pastors along the Itaya river who were just as passionate about reaching their villages for Christ as the pastors at Calvary are about reaching our community.

8. Kid’s Can Use the Restroom on the Church Floor and No One Cares. It didn’t matter if it was a kid who couldn’t behave quite right, an old man who smelled a little odd, or if it was someone who was just a little “different”, people were just glad that others were able to be at church….even if they make a little mess on the floor.

7. I Learned I Can Live with a Lot Less. I realized that I really don’t need my iPhone, my computer, or even that new Kindle I really want.  The people of Peru live without running water, electricity, and a whole lot less than what I have.

6. No Need to Go to Gym, Because Just Getting Through the Day is a Workout. Just getting from point “A” to point “B” requires expending a ton of energy…and sweat.

5. The “Downtown Square” of Every Village is a Soccer Field. Enough said.

4. The people of Peru are Very Family Focused. It didn’t matter if they were cooking dinner, eating breakfast, going to work, going to church, or just hanging, out the people of Peru do everything as a family.

3. Everyone has a Place of Ministry in the Church…Including Kids. I love being a part of a church that values kids, and it was great to see that same value in Peru as well.  The kids were a part of the church services, especially when it came to the music.

2. Hospitality on a Completely Different Level. When the people of the second village we visited found out we were coming they actually built bridges to make our 2 or 3 day stay easier.  They don’t use bridges.  They just walk down the hill, through the creek, and up the other side.  But they didn’t want us to have to do that, so they actually went through the trouble of building us bridges to use.  Just one example of their amazing hospitality.

1. There are No McDonalds…so I Lost 11 Pounds! We worked so hard that sometimes I didn’t really even feel like eating, but when I did eat it certainly wasn’t McDonald’s.  Fish and rice made up the majority of our afternoon meals.

Posted on

Beyond the Soiled Curtain

I have been on a pretty good reading kick lately.  Just finished the book, Beyond the Soiled Curtain by David and Beth Grant.  This book provides a glimpse of Falkland Road in Bombay, and reveals the atrocity of human trafficking and what organizations like Project Rescue (http://www.projectrescue.com/) are doing to combat it.

A few stats from the book regarding those sold into the sex-slave industry….

– Some are sold into a life of prostitution by their families for as little as $150.

– The average age of someone sold into prostitution is 13.

– 1 million children each year are exploited in the global commercial sex trade.

– 50% of all trafficking victims worldwide are children.

– 2.3 million girls and women work as prostitutes and madams in India alone.

– 400 million in revenue is generated each year by Bombay’s red light district.

I could go on, but I won’t.  I encourage you to check out the book.  It is an easy read in the sense that it is not dense reading, but in the sense you will come face-to-face with the ugly side of the world we live in, it is a very difficult book to take in.

On a related note, I was also introduced to another organization combating human trafficking, focusing on those in Greece.  You can check them out at http://www.thea21campaign.org/.

Posted on

Would You Be Happy in Heaven If Christ Were Not There

I normally don’t just reprint quotes, but this one by John Piper from God is the Gospel is so good I couldn’t resist….

John writes, “The critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?”

I’ll admit I paused to think about this question….and I have my answer….no.  But what does it say about someone’s relationship with Christ if they answer “yes” to this question?

Posted on

I Just Realized How Out of Shape I Am

Until you run around a soccer field with kids for a few hours, it is easy to forget how out of shape you actually are.  This week during our church’s Mega Sports Camp, I realized that I am very much out of shape.

This year was our best year yet at Mega Sports Camp yet.  We introduced baseball for the first time, and we also had our traditional basketball, soccer, archery and sports swords for the kids to participate in.  I think all the kids had a great time, and I know for sure I did.  A few things I love about sports camp….

1. It gives me the chance to get to know some kids I haven’t met before from Calvary, and the community.

2. It is a great event for kids to invite their friends to, as almost everyone loves sports.

3. It is a great mix of having fun with sports, and having fun during the coaches huddle times (devotional times).

4. It get’s me out of my office and staff meetings for the week 🙂

In fact, I love sports camps so much that we are probably going to be offering some more soon.  So keep an eye out for some upcoming sports clinics.  We will probably be offering archery again in the fall, and then baseball in the spring.