The Good and the Bad

The call to serve God in a full time, professional sense is an awesome call.  I know that each believer has been called to serve God but not every believer has the opportunity to do so as a profession.  Even though I must admit that sometimes it would be great to attend church and be a member of a church without the responsibility to lead the church.  I especially think that on Monday mornings after a hectic weekend of ministry.

There are times when the call to minister in a professional sense is a down right blast.  Nothing thrills my heart more than leading the congregation to discover new and old truths from the Word and make them applicable to every day life.  That is awesome.  I love being in the study preparing for those times, reading what others have discovered and mixing that with my own.  I find it an awesome privilege to be with people at life's most important and crucial moments.  Usually those are found at the beginning of life and at the end of life.  I would never want to exchange the time I get to pray with families at those moments.  To be able to bring an awareness of the person of God to at times is a great responsibility and joy, to be honest with you.

What tends to frustrate me most is the misunderstandings that seem to inhabit church life.  Instead of talking to people who are directly affected by an issue, we talk about them and then elect someone else to go and do our talking!  What's up with that!?  I believe that if I have an issue with you, I ought to be courageous enough to come and talk to you about it.  However, if I won't talk to you about it, then I need to change my attitude toward you!  I believe that this is the ethic which the New Testament teaches.

Ministry is a wonderful calling from God.  It is a joy to serve the Lord and His people.  The key, I guess, is continuing to grow as child of God and as a minister of the gospel.  I have NOT arrived, I know that I need to grow so much more.  I pray that we would all see our lives as works in progress that need the grace of God and the care of others!