My Appreciation for My Pastors

There are so many “appreciation” days on the calendar that I have lost count.  A quick internet search reveals an enormous number of “appreciation days”.  Enormous is relative considering there are only 365 assignable days in any given year.  Next year holds the 29th of February.  Is that Leap Year Appreciation Day?  I don’t know, I haven’t checked.

There is Mole Appreciation Day; the animal, not the saboteur.  Weed Appreciation day; the garden nuisance, not the marijuana plant.  I’m sure there is a day for the other as well.  As long as I’m referencing mind-benders, there is Beer Can Appreciation Day - just the can, not the contents, on that day.  Believe it or not, there is Root Canal Appreciation Day, but the last date of that on record was in 2014.  Somebody wised up that that was a stupid day, I guess.  On a related note, there is also Virus Appreciation Day, and it’s still around.

What about people appreciations?  We all know about Administrative Assistant’s Day... and Boss's Day. There’s Mother’s, Father’s, and Grandparent’s days.  I discovered over the last few years there is a Sibling Appreciation Day.  There is also Waiter’s Appreciation Day - isn't that what my gratuity does?  There is Military Spouse Appreciation Day.  Couples Appreciation has a whole month, which I find strange.  I always thought their day was in February.  Speaking of… there is Wife Appreciation Day.  One would think that would be one’s anniversary.  Not so, it has it’s own day.  Here are a few more:

• Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day
• Ancestor Appreciation Day [How do they even know?  What’s the point?]
• Operating Room Nurse Day AND Emergency Room Nurse Day [Apparently neither are to be confused with regular Nurses Day.]
• Love Your Lawyer Day
• Hug Your Boss Day [Okay, so… um… couldn’t this mean lawsuits and such for people? Never mind, my boss is God, right?]

My “under-boss” is my Pastor, and October is Pastor Appreciation Month.  Because I'm also a "pastor", all month long I personally have experienced the thoughtful expressions from folks demonstrating their love and appreciation.  It is a sweet thing.  This has also made me reflect upon how much I appreciate the leadership staff with whom I work.  Dude, they are awesome!  

My Senior Pastor is one of the smartest and spiritually sensitive Pastors I’ve known.  His variety of ministry experience has equipped him for everything we do as a staff and church.  I appreciate that every staff meeting holds not only fantastic pastoral leadership, but also great, workshop style exercises, instruction, and application.  I see in his face his love for us as a team.  I experience first hand his desire to shepherd us himself with intentionality, and teach us to shepherd the flock at large.  His sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is ever present and his resolve to do the work God inspires me to be a better servant and leader myself.

My Discipleship & Missions Pastor has a heart for missions and outreach that is second to none.  I love the passion that flows from his voice as he talks of people being better versions of themselves and a better version of the church.  He communicates well the vision of seeing the church as God sees it.  There is no question that he wants to see the church “be the church”.  He’s also a strategist.  I love that I can walk into his office with an idea, vision, plan, or dream and the first thing he naturally does is see all the ins and outs of it’s realization.  He quickly sees all around a plan and has immediate advice and suggestions.

My Students and Young Adults Pastor is a guy who makes me smile every time I think about his ministry.  I smile because I am a direct recipient of his work.  I watch and experience the way he runs his ministry and am thankful every day for the impact he has on my oldest son.  I watch as students shine with spiritual maturity that clearly comes from a learned submission to the Holy Spirit.  I attribute much of that growth to the impact of his ministry - he sets a good example.  I also love to hear him preach.  Never have I come away confused about his message or unclear about his points.  I also never come away without having had a great laugh.  He’s a natural at wrapping perfectly timed humor in all he does publicly which makes him endeared by all.

Our other team member isn’t technically one of my pastors, but the value she brings to our team is immeasurable.  I see her serve others daily through her ministry.  She is great at mentoring young, fresh minds toward the ministry of what she does in tech, media, and music.  I love that it’s not just a job for her but truly embraced as a ministry that reaches more people for the the Kingdom of God.  She also knows how to pull out all the stops to make everything we do look greater than any of us could do on our own.  I always need a notebook when I talk with her because at any moment a simple discussion about the mundane can turn into a huge creative, brainstorming session.  I speculate she probably brings out the best in ALL of us, but I know she does of me.

Ultimately, we make up a team that functions well together and only gets better doing so.  We laugh together.  We pray together.  We dine together.  We group text together.  We happily work together.  As we continue discovering all the ways our individual cogs turn and interact, we become a squeak-less, well oiled machine.  The synergy we have has long begun to blaze, and is becoming glaringly evident to others.  I am appreciative of every single person on our ministry team and count myself undeservingly blessed to learn from each of them.

On this Pastor Appreciation Month, I could not be more appreciative of a single group of people than I am of these I serve with each week.  They are amazing.  If you haven't got a reason to tell them so, you simply haven’t spent enough time getting to know them, and that is most certainly your loss.

These people are my pastors, my colleagues, and my friends.

I’ll take ‘Kids in the Class’ for a thousand, please…

When I was doing student ministry, I always had that kid who would pre-fill in the blanks of a lesson before or while I was teaching.  I generally found it annoying because that same student would come up to me afterward with a gloating spirit and announce how well they nailed it.  There is always one in a group, right?

My son is now that one, except for the gloating - I won’t let him get away with that.

My son attends Men’s Bible Study with me every Thursday morning.  When he first started attending he saw me trying to fill in the blanks in advance [yes, I’m aware of the irony and hypocrisy of my aforementioned disdain].  Anyway, we pre-fill the blanks together now, which makes it another father-son activity.  We sit down at the table and immediately start to fill in the blanks from a contextual conclusion of the the points while we wait for our pastor to begin and teach us through the outline.  Sometimes we nail it, sometimes we simply have a synonymic difference in the words, and other times we miss it all together.

At first I felt that I was leading him astray by not only letting him distract himself with the game, but outright engaging in competition with him.  After all, I know from experience how that can be a student pastor irritation, but I’ve changed my mind.  I actually encourage it now, and if I’m ever again in the environment where there is that “one”, I might just point it out as an example of learning and critical thinking.

Here’s why:

• First, it means he is reading the outline.  The blanks rest within the main takeaways that are intended for him to not only read, but remember.  He has to read them to fill in the blanks.

• Second, it means he is thinking critically and contextually.  He is using his own knowledge and frame of reference to deduce the possible answers before filling in the blank.  Thinking is always good.

• Third, he is listening and paying attention.  In order to “grade” himself, he has to listen for the answers and either feel a certain amount of credibility, or strikethrough his answers and correct them.  Listening and paying attention is what any presenter wants of his audience.

• Fourth, he is processing the information.  As the answers are revealed, he processes his conclusions with the correct answers contrasting his own reasoning with that of the instruction.  Processing is good because it leads to application, and personal application is what any Bible teacher wants of the listener.

As far as I’m concerned, my kids can be “that kid” from now on.  As long as they don’t become bratty and arrogant about it, they can pre-fill all the answers they want.  Now, if I can just get them to answer in the form of a  ___________ , they will be just like me.

Idled by Idolatry

Recently I encountered a moment of deep conviction upon my running life.  It is an interesting thing to me, because it was a conviction about my own idolatry.  That’s right, IDOLATRY.  

In modern times idolatry seems like an almost non-existent practice, yet nothing could be further from the truth.  In days gone by, among tribes in lands most of us never encounter, idolatry consists of people “less enlightened” than ourselves worshiping a fashioned piece of wood, stone, or metal made into the image of some thing, some animal, or maybe of some-one.  For more “civilized” societies, idolatry seems like a silly topic, yet I have heard preachers preach against it most of my life... for that matter, I have preached against the principles of idolatry myself.  We often use sports and money to illustrate idolatry for such sermons.  I never think I’m preaching to myself on this topic.

Idols can be good things in our lives.  Not the idolatry itself, but the objects of it.  My children are good things in my life, they should not be my idol.  My job is a good thing to have, it should not be my idol.  Food is a good thing, it can be an idol.  Likewise, exercise, with all its benefits, can be an idol in our lives.  Anything I place in priority over my God, is an idol.

Strange as it may sound to some of my readers, I believe God wanted me to start running.  I believe the Holy Spirit compelled me to do so.  There is no doubt there were some personal revelations and physical motivators involved (See Weak One on Day 1), but ultimately I believe they were simply measures God used to get my attention to tell me to run. 

One of the surprising discoveries in the process is my personal enjoyment of running.  I really do like running. I know! Who knew!  I like the personal achievement I feel.  I like the stress relief it brings.  I like the physical energy I have gained.  I like the loss of pounds that has occurred.  I like what I have seen along my running routes, the sunrises I have witnessed, the personal praise and prayers to my creator as I reflect.  I like the personal applications I have made in the process.  I like it all.  In fact, after completing the training of my C25K app I immediately downloaded the next app in the series and began running towards the 10K goal.  I was amazed at the progress I was making and excited to not only have hit the 5K goal (3.1 miles), but then to run 5 miles.  Then to run 5 miles again... and again... and then even farther.

The five mile mark is kind of a cool mark to me.  I feel proud of the fact that I can.  I think back to the struggle of reaching a single mile - it was hard to imagine five.  I know there are marathoners and triathletes and tough-mudder runners out there that are doing far more exerting runs, but all of them hit the five mile mark at some point.  Even from the perspective of their accomplishments, I know they haven’t forgotten what it felt like to reach their first five miles. They know how I feel.

But then... God spoke to me again.  I was at the point of being just a 1/2 mile from the 10K mark in my running.  I had about two weeks of training time left on my app.  I had already looked at downloading the half marathon training app the night before.  But God convicted me.  In the quite, cool, sweat dripping, rhythmic, serenity of one of my runs God said “I didn’t tell you to run 10K”.  

Wait!!! What?!?  I chose not to listen.

The next run that week was exhausting. I was having an awful time. I actually ran my fastest time ever to the 5K mark, but then fell apart after that.  Each step seemed grueling.  It was almost like day one all over again.  My side began to hurt.  My legs felt feeble beneath me.  I felt more out of breath than ever and decided to stop and walk back home after having only run 3.5 miles.

Once again in the stillness of what was now a walk home, God spoke to me again and said “I didn’t tell you to run 10K”.

Simple as that.  He cleared me to run 5, NOT 10...but why?  Because of my own idolatry.

You see when I started, I found myself more disciplined spiritually as well.  I found myself less neglecting of time alone with Him.  I would return after a 30 minute run and sit on the patio reflecting, praying, meditating, and reading my bible more (I have an app for that, too).  I would spend the rest of the hour or so tending to my spiritual walk early in the day.  They were sweet, revealing moments indeed, and I was not doing it for any other reason than enrichment and pursuit of God.  I didn’t use the time to pray for my church or prepare sermons.  I didn’t use it to research biblical history or think about leadership strategies.  It was simply me and God having intimate time together and tending to the spiritual needs and counsel of this broken man.  People think ministers find such personal time easy, but that is simply not true for many of us.  It is easier to rationalize our study and prep time as “our time with God”.  Believe me, there is a difference between the two.

When I decided to go on to run 10K that time stopped.  My 10K training took longer.  It consumed more of my time.  It consumed more of my energy.  It consumed more of me altogether.  I was reveling in my accomplishment and leaving the spiritual exercise behind.  I was driven to achieve my goal and something had to go in order to get it done.  Like many of the people to whom I have ministered over the years, in order to achieve what I wanted to do, I let the spiritual discipline go.  It is a classic example of the flesh battling the spirit inside.  

I didn’t want to stop running farther, but I must.  I didn’t want to reduce my time on the run, but I must.  I didn’t want to feel like I am achieving less, but I must.  For now, it is 5K only for me.  Somewhere down the road I expect God will release me to pursue a new distance.  Until then I will perfect the one I have permission to do, and pursue new distances in my time with Him.

Ultimately, idolatry points back to self.  Even when the idols reflect something of greater power than our feeble humanity, it points back to self because it is the idol we have chosen for ourselves.  We have decided that it is our god, and that very act declares that we hold self as god even though we camouflage it with the image of something else.

1 Timothy 4:7-8

Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Galatians 5:16-17

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Preacher Friendly

“You can’t have friends in ministry” is what a former pastor of mine once told me. He was adamant on this point and though I still do not completely agree, I understand what he meant.

The people we serve and serve alongside are also the people with whom we strive to build relationships. Unfortunately, [and unexplainably since we are the body of Christ] the local church dynamic seems to sometimes get in the way. Can you really be friends with the preacher? Do you really want to be friends with the preacher? Some do, some don’t, and some are bipolar about it. It is the way of ministry.

I am thankful that although the aforementioned philosophy may be truer than I want, God has granted me with those I can truly call friends through the course of ministry. I have some, not many, with whom I am comfortable to be vulnerable. That feeling is a tremendous thing for a minister. After all, who ministers to the minister? Who preaches to the preacher? It must be those in whom trust and reliance is found.

I love the friends that look me in the eye and call me out on my stupidity. I love the friends who discipline my children as their own and me theirs without fear of misunderstanding - I love those friends.

I love the friends who talk with frailty and welcome advice, who listen intently and respond with love and concern - I love those friends.

I love the friends who share a meal and laughter follows, who aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves. I love the friends who feel right at home in my refrigerator and aren’t afraid to take the last coke or piece of cake - I love those friends.

I love the friends who can lie around and watch a show and don’t feel like an explanation is needed for the dishes in the sink. I love the friends who stretch out in the floor, grab a pillow off the sofa and feel comfortable taking a nap if needed - I love those friends.

I love the friends that hug my neck and say they love me and neither of us thinks it’s weird. They make jokes, they make fun, they make faces, and all of it becomes a lifetime of memories together - I love those friends.

I have been thinking deeply about my appreciation of friends developed over years of experiences and journeys. Those relationships are relationships that have been tested, tried and proven along paths of imperfection. Growth comes through love, accountability, and forgiveness. As time marches on and miles separate people, strong bonds remain and new ones develop.

I hope we all have friends that no matter how far away they move or how much time passes, to come together is like the moments of our closest yesterday with them – I love those friends.