It’s Monday Morning, so somebody please remind me Why I Do This?!

I read the story below and thought it was a great encouragement that gives purpose to the headaches that come with ministry. 

Being a pastor/church leader does not make me immune to the Monday Morning Blues, especially after a weekend of intense and focused engagement where I’ve loved, led, helped, created, pulled people together, taught, preached, led small groups and managed crises. Like everyone else, I need to be reminded why I do what I do. So here are the reasons why I love being a pastor:

1. It’s my calling. It’s what God called me to do. I know deep down in my bones this is what I was made for. If you don’t have a calling, you may never understand why we often say we can’t walk away from the ministry. That would be to live in open defiance to God. And that’s not something we can do.

2. I love the gospel. It’s changed my life. I’ve lived it many decades and it’s still as powerful, still as sweet as it ever has been. Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so still moves me as much as it did 35 years ago when I met Jesus Christ.

3. I love people. I love being around people who come together with the same purpose, same heart, organized around a great mission to accomplish something really great for God and good for people.

4. I’m a leader. I was born that way. I’ve also been working hard to be made that way. I love leading people, influencing people to become more together than we ever could become separately.

5. I love pastors. I love being around them. The majority are loving, good, committed people; smart, fully-engaged, learners, leaders who love God and want to make a difference in the world.

6. I love what happens when a person is converted as a follower of Jesus Christ. I love seeing life change. I love seeing marriages being put back together. I love seeing people be set free from addictions and sinful habits that are destroying their lives, into a lifestyle of love, freedom, and joy.

7. I love being part of something that redeems culture in the world in which I live. I love being a part of a movement that knows no geographic or cultural barrier; that like water, finds its way into every crease and crevice of humanity.

8. I love being a pastor in leadership and ministry because it forces me to engage the Scripture in a way that transforms my life. I’ve never had a problem in the false dichotomy between reading and studying the Scripture for my own personal improvement, or reading and studying to teach. I can’t divide the two. I have to teach out of the overflow of what’s going on in my life as I engage the full scope of Scripture.

9. I love the Bible: not the pages, not the ink, not the leather; but the words, the ideas, the concepts that teach me that I serve a great God.

10. I do this because I believe that the gospel is the only hope of the world, that when church is done right, it is absolutely amazing.

11. I continue to do this because I accept the fact that the church of Jesus Christ can at one moment be an amazing and healthy, loving, growing environment, and in another can be a very toxic, destructive place. How could we expect anything different when we get broken people coming together confessing the reality of their own sin and brokenness? There are bound to be sharp edges among us.

12. I do this because I believe in advancing the good. The best way I can do that is promoting the redemptive mission of the gospel.

13. I do this because it is the best way I can spend my life. I’ve got to do something. I might as well be doing something that matters for eternity.

14. I love pushing myself to greater understanding and innovative ways of redeeming culture.

15. I love being around people who don’t get it, who struggle, who have questions, but are hungry and are open. I love presenting the gospel to them knowing it’s not my job to convert them.

16. I am in this work because I’m a seeker of truth. I love the truth. I embrace both mystery and certainty all at the same time. I do believe that Jesus is the answer, but not all the answers are available to me right now in the state I’m in.

17. I do this because I love being a part of a worldwide movement that has indeed changed the world and it continues to change it. It is not bound by lines on a map, or by race, creed, or color.

These are some of the reasons I do what I do and why I’m a happy pastor. How about you? What motivates you?

Source: MondayMorningInsight.com > Confessions of a Happy Pastor: It’s Monday Morning, so somebody please remind me Why I Do This?!

Yet another Leadership Lessons from Baseball

 Sometimes you've got to get in front of the ball, you always come home dirty, and you never give up early.....

Run Through the Bag

If you played on my Dad’s team, no matter what, after you made contact with the ball, you had to run full speed to first base. When running to first (and only to first), you don’t have to stop, but you can continue running “through the bag.” This enables you to give 100% and never have to slow down.

To him, it didn’t matter if you hit a pop fly that would surely result in an out, or if the shortstop threw you out five steps before you were to reach first.

Dad always said, “No matter what, run through the bag!”

I try to regularly apply this principle to my life and ministry. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing with your whole heart.

Paul said in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…”

Whatever you’re doing, do it for the glory of God! Run through the bag!

Source: Leadership Lessons from My Baseball Dad 2 (of 5) at LifeChurch.tv : swerve

Another Leadership Lessons from Baseball

Below is another post from a blogging pastor with a Dad who coaches baseball.

By "get dirty" I don't want to ever imply worldliness, but those who take a risk often have evidence of the effort. I once heard a phrase, "Chicks dig scars." I don't want to demean women by calling them "chicks" but if you can get past that you will see the point that effort and risk are admirable!! 

Get Dirty

Dad always told us never to come home from a baseball game with clean pants. If your pants were clean, that meant…

• You never dove trying to stop a hot grounder.
• You never slid headfirst to beat a tag.
• You never collided with the catcher trying to knock the ball out as you hit home.

Dad always said, “Get dirty.”

Sometimes in the Christian world, people come to Christ hoping to ease the pain, or to escape hard times. In the church world, some try to avoid the pain.

If Dad was leading a church, I think he’d say…

• Go mix with people who are different.
• Go let your heart break with the poor.
• Go take a stand for something that you know is right but will get you criticized.
• Go hug someone who lives on the street. Listen to them.
• Take a risk on someone who has hurt you before.
• Reach out to someone who hates you.

I don’t think a sanitized Christianity is a real Christianity.

How is God leading you to get dirty?

Source: Leadership Lessons from My Baseball Dad 4 (of 5) at LifeChurch.tv : swerve

Leadership Lessons from Baseball

A Pastor blogger that I follow makes some connections between baseball and church leadership. Below are a few quotes from his blog and a link to the full article. 

My dad always taught us to “get in front of the ball” on defense. If we could get our bodies in front of a grounder, even if it popped up, we could use our body to knock it down and still have a chance at the runner.

Even if you take it in the chin, knock the ball down. Take it for the team.

Occasionally a pitcher would throw a wild pitch. As a batter, you could guarantee a place “on base” by letting the pitch hit you.

With a runner on first, the object was always to move the runner to second, into scoring position. That means dropping a bunt to sacrifice yourself to move the runner forward.

Occasionally in ministry, you have the honor of “taking it for the team.” How will that play out for you? I’m not sure. Here are some examples I’ve seen:

• You might be the volunteer no one recognizes or appreciates, but you do it all for the glory of God.
• You might endure public ridicule for your stance for the Gospel.
• You might pray, and pray, and pray, and pray. Even though no one knows, God knows.

Whatever your silent sacrifice, take joy when you get to “take it for God’s team.”

Source: Leadership Lessons from My Baseball Dad 3 (of 5) at LifeChurch.tv : swerve

The Childcare Checklist

 One of the first questions I am frequently asked when I invite a person to a small group is "How do you handle childcare?" The link below provides an excellent guide that your group can use to draw conclusions about the best option for your group.

Every church's small-group ministry is different. So is every small group. That's why we all need to think through the choices that will work best in our individual situations. If you plan ahead, the right childcare option can open up great opportunities for your small group instead of becoming a burden.

Source: The Childcare Checklist | Building Small Groups