Friday, April 17, 2009

To Pastors

Just some thoughts to anyone in the pastorate or thinking about going into it:

Psalm 132:16 "I will clothe her priests with salvation." That should be our goal - salvation. Which although is a singular event, is also a process. If we are clothed in salvation, we are bringing healing.

It can often be a one-way street. Accept that. You can work and minister and pour your heart into someone, but at a moment's notice they simply leave and go elsewhere. It doesn't work the other way. When you can truly accept this it will stop your heart from breaking over and over.

The old saying, "The dogs will bark, but the caravan moves on" is true. You can't be sidetracked by a lot of the nipping at the heels if you truly have a mission from God.

But having said that - Jesus never left people in His wake for the sake of the mission. How you balance that and determine that is one of the hardest questions you'll ever face.

You are never called to sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry.

Trust your wife's instincts - for some reason she'll see through a person better than you.

But a person's motives are ultimately between them and God and let Him be the one to do the final analysis, thus releasing you to love them anyway.

Because that's my final piece of advice: Love them anyway.

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