Too Busy?

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." - Mark 1:35 

What more can be said? If the Master found it necessary to start the day in solitary prayer, what about his servants?

"The men who have most fully illustrated Christ in their character, and have most powerfully affected the world for him, have been men who spent so much time with God as to make it a notable feature of their lives. Charles Simeon devoted the hours from four till eight in the morning to God. Mr. Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer. He began at four in the morning. Of him, one who knew him well wrote: “He thought prayer to be more his business than anything else and I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of face next to shining.” John Fletcher stained the walls of his room by the breath of his prayers. Sometimes he would pray all night; always, frequently, and with great earnestness. His whole life was a life of prayer. “I would not rise from my seat,” he said, “without lifting my heart to God.” Luther said: “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” He had a motto: “He that has prayed well has studied well.” - E. M. Bounds in Power through Prayer

How is your prayer life my friend? Has your working hard for God hindered your waiting long on God? Quality time in ministry stems from quality time with God. If you're too busy to pray ...  you've become too busy.

~ PJVS

End of the Age...

"The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels." 

- Matthew 13:38-39

I well remember my father-in-law's sage advice when it came to fads or quirky ministry ideas. "Just give it time" he would say. I learned a great deal from my pastoral mentor. He taught me that God keeps the books and in time "wisdom is proved right by all her children" (Luke 7:35). We need to stay on point and leave the rest to Him until the end of the age.

Early on, weeds will have the appearance of wheat. It's not until the wheat sprouts that the truth is known. But, what then? Are we called to be "weed police" or to be "wheat producers"? The answer is obvious when we hear our Lord's slightly different analogy to Peter in John 21:15, "Feed my Lambs". Stay on point by producing wheat and leave the rest to the Lord until the end of the age.

Harvest time always comes at the end of the season. As with the farmer, so should pastors patiently work the field in which they have been placed. Weeds of all sorts will pop up and occasionally appear to be the real deal with great success. Don't get flustered, just produce the wheat by feeding His lambs. It's not harvest time yet, so leave the rest to the Lord until the end of the age.

~ PJVS

Passing the Baton...

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." - 2 Timothy 2:1-2

During the Olympics we find a wide variety of competitive races. Most involve one athlete who will carry the whole race by themselves.  But the "relay" race depends on the involvement of many. At certain points in the race the next athlete picks up the cause until they pass it on to the next team member. The relay race is all about "passing the baton".

Paul taught, mentored, and wrote Timothy by passing on great Biblical truth and spiritual experience. He expected Timothy to do the same by entrusting such lessons to reliable men who would also pass them on to others. The role of leadership is a "relay" event; not to be run as a single or private privilege. It is a calling intended to change lives, while equipping a new generation. We are expected to "pass the baton".

Every pastor has great Biblical truth and spiritual experience to pass on to others. The theme of the "Next Generation" is a significant focus of this passage. Pastors are best raised up by pastors. Who are you mentoring for future ministry today my friend? Do you have someone to whom you are "passing the baton?"

~ PJVS

"Leadership training cannot be done on a mass scale. It requires patient, careful instruction and prayerful, personal guidance over a considerable time. “Disciples are not manufactured wholesale. They are produced one by one, because someone has taken the pains to discipline, to instruct and enlighten, to nurture and train one that is younger.”

~  J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership 

In Obscurity... Glory!

“Pastors enter congregations vocationally in order to embrace the totality of human life in Jesus' name. We are convinced there is no detail, however unpromising, in people's lives in which Christ may not work his will. Pastors agree to stay with the people in their communities week in and week out, year in and year out, to proclaim and guide, encourage and instruct as God works his purposes (gloriously, as it will eventually turn out) in the meandering and disturbingly inconstant lives of our congregations.

This necessarily means taking seriously, and in faith, the dull routines, the empty boredom, and the unattractive responsibilities that make up much of most people's lives. It means witnessing to the transcendent in the fog and rain. It means living hopefully among people who from time to time get flickering glimpses of the Glory, but then live through stretches, sometimes long ones, of unaccountable grayness. Most pastoral work takes place in obscurity: deciphering grace in the shadows, searching out meaning in a difficult text, blowing on the embers of a hard-used life. This is hard work and not conspicuously glamorous.”

― Eugene H. Peterson,

 Under the Unpredictable Plant and

 Exploration in Vocational Holiness. 

May your "Ten Minutes" in ministry obscurity pour out "glimpses of Glory" that will last for all eternity. Remember why you began this journey and keep "blowing on the embers" as your heart burns for the Glory of God and the souls of men. 

Yours in obscurity, that Jesus might shine,

~ PJVS 

God's Great Things

"If I am bored with ordinary people in ordinary places, then am I not bored with what God delights in? If I think that local limits of body and place are too small a thing for a person as gifted as I am, then don’t I want to escape what God himself gladly and daily inhabits? If I stare at a face, a flower, a child, or a congregation and say, “But God, not this. I want to do something great for you!” Am I not profoundly misunderstanding what God says a great thing is?”

― Zack Eswine, The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus  

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." ~ 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

The joy and awesome privilege in serving the King of King and Lord of Lords should overwhelm us every day...wherever our Lord places us. May you be awestruck this week with the great thing that God has entrusted to your care and find great joy in making a difference for the Master.

~ PJVS 

Run with Endurance...

"In the fifth and sixth centuries, Gildas and Salvian arose to alert a careless church and a formal ministry. In the sixteenth century, the same task faced the Reformers. In the seventeenth century, Baxter and others took a prominent part in stimulating the lethargic devotion and dormant energy of his fellow ministers. In the eighteenth century, God raised up some choice and noble men to awaken the church and lead the way to a higher and bolder career of ministerial duty. The present century stands no less in need of some such stimulating influence. We have experienced many symptoms of life, but still the masses are not quickened. We require some new Baxter to arouse us by his voice and his example. It is distressing to see the amount of ministerial fatigue and inefficiency that still spreads over our land. How long, O Lord, how long?"

~ Bonar, Horatius. A Word to Fellow Pastors 

and Other Christian Leaders

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

~ Hebrews 12:1-3

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth."

- John Wesley

Blended Qualities...

"Two dangers exist for pastors when it comes to setting standards for success. One is to shoot for the moon. The other is to throw in the towel... 

Who is more successful: the pastor who grows a large church or the one who maintains a church in a stagnant area? The pastor who preaches to thousands or the one who lovingly cares for individuals one by one? The pastor who impatiently pushes people to deeper discipleship or the pastor who patiently accepts the shortcomings of his people?

YES.

Faithfulness, shepherding, teaching, patience, perseverance, growth, progress— these are some of the facets of the diamond of success. Each alone won’t bring glory to God, but together they make a lustrous offering to him."

~  Stuart Briscoe, Measuring Success, In Measuring up: the need to succeed and the fear of failure 

As you stand on the threshold of a New Year with so many expectations, may you maintain the blended qualities that bring the greatest possible glory to God and ... Don't throw in the towel!! 

~ PJVS

Questions for a New Year...

As we begin a new year in ministry, let's take a moment to reflect on the following words from "The Heart Of A Great Pastor" by H. B. London Jr. & Neal B. Wiseman... 

"Every pastor in the thick of the struggle must answer significant questions, the answers to which will shape his ministry and determine his effectiveness: 

• What difference will I make? 

• Why am I here? 

• Who sent me? 

•  Is this assignment sacred because God placed me here? 

•  What does God want to accomplish through me? 

Every assignment is holy ground because Jesus gave Himself for the people who live there. Every place is important because God wants something incredibly important to be accomplished there through us. Every situation is special because ministry is needed in that place. Like Queen Esther, we have come to the Kingdom for a time like this."

“Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” 
― Jim Elliot, Martyred Missionary  

May you make a difference for Jesus in 2024

~ PJVS