Ten Things You May Not Know About Your Pastor

It’s been a little while since I have posted a blog; so, I thought I would share some personal thoughts. Ever wonder about that pastor of yours? What makes him tick? What makes him ticked?

Well, for your reading enjoyment, let me give you 10 things you may or may not know about your pastor. Enjoy reading:

1. We feel called to this…we are not in this position because we can’t do anything else. We do this because we feel God told us to do so. And, believe me, that’s what keeps us in this game---knowing ultimately that God wants us where we are and we dare not disappoint Him.

2. We are not perfect…Wow, are we not perfect! We have our strengths and our weaknesses. We have our good moments and our no-so-good moments. We WILL make some bad decisions. There are things we are REALLY good at in this job and there are things we are NOT good at. We admit that. We don’t like that; but, it’s the reality of this pastor-thing. That doesn’t make us bad pastors! It makes us a lot like you…imperfect. We know we can’t be superheroes; but, we sure try to be. Sometimes, we bump into some Kryptonite.

3. We are normal people just like you…we like to fish. We watch football, American Idol and ’24.’ We have bills to pay. We have to fix our own cars. We argue with our family members. We have to discipline our kiddos. We like to win. We get mad at things. We become sad at things. We wanna be there to watch our kid’s musical at school. We want to be involved in such things as PTA’s, sports leagues and kids programs. We have to have medical tests that scare us if the results don’t turn out the way we hope and pray they do. We have strong opinions and beliefs. {just like you}

4. We can’t do everything…We really wish we could. But, we need help in making this church-thing happen. If there is a part of this ministry that you notice is not getting done, we may be looking for someone like you to help fulfill that role!

5. We love our spouses…Being the spouse of a pastor is an amazing existence. Sometimes the expectations are unrealistic and sometimes the fishbowl in which she lives in is one no one else would dare allow themselves to live in. In response to that, we often try to protect our wives. I work hard at letting her know I love her more than I do the ministry. I fight hard to make sure she knows I love her as Christ loved the Church.

6. We love our kids…We cannot sacrifice our spouses and kids on the altar of any church’s expectations---we just can’t! I only have my son in my home for 18 years or so. He needs his daddy. So, I may miss your phone call because I am watching him play soccer. I may not be able to meet you until after I take him to school. Don’t take that personally! If my own house is strong, I believe the church-house will be as well.

7. We need your prayers more than your criticism…We can handle constructive criticism from a heart of love. But, becoming the subject of a critical diatribe between ‘Christian’ people does nothing for us…in fact, it kinda stings. OK, it really hurts. Rather, we could really use your prayers. That will do more for us that you will ever realize. And when you tell us you are praying for us??? WOW, you just made our day!!!

8. It hurts us when you leave…We will rarely, if EVER, dust off our hands and say, “Oh well” when you leave our congregations. We LOVE you. We consider you family! If you ‘silently disappear’ from the church, then we just don’t know what to think. Why haven’t you told us? Did we do something wrong? If we call you {and if you take our calls} how will you receive us? There is a void left, not only in the place where you would normally sit on Sunday; but, in our hearts when we don’t see you anymore. We are told to never take it personally…most of us do. If you feel you must leave, can we at least talk about it first? No finger-pointing, no accusations…just talking and praying together. We won’t burn any bridges---we promise!

9. Very few of us will lead a mega-church…In fact, a HUGE majority of us will never pastor a church of over 200 people. That doesn’t mean we are not working hard. It doesn’t mean your pastor is a failure. In fact, many mega-church pastors would have a really hard time pastoring in a ‘smaller’ setting of 50, 100, or 150 people. Your pastor’s effectiveness is not always defined by his Sunday morning attendance.

10. We often know the ‘other’ side of the story…and we usually won’t share it with you. In fact, if you were to know everything we know, it would devastate you. It might make you sick. If you answered the phone calls and read the emails we receive, you would be blown away. In one day, we can learn of someone’s addiction, another’s affair, someone else’s promotion and another person’s victory. We will hear things in our offices that TV could only dream of writing. We deal with emotional nausea on a weekly basis. We get lied to, cried on, yelled at and confessed to. You have no idea how challenging it is to process all of that. And we often shield you from all of it…because we love you.

That’s just a short list. But I hope it speaks to you. You may have already known this stuff. Maybe some of it surprises you. What are your thoughts?

Walmart Clown Commercial Ad (UNCUT)

This is a hilarious commercial!

Book Review -- Kabul24

I found KABUL24 to be an amazing read. Rarely do I ever read a non-fiction book that plays our like a suspense novel; but, that is exactly what I experienced by reading this book. It felt like I was watching continues episodes of “24” and wondering who was going to survive and who may not make it. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

KABUL24 is all about a group of eight westerners who were taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for a period of 105 days. I was struck by the humanity of the captors and the faith of the captives in this account. The hostages exhibited a profound trust in God throughout their captivity that one rarely sees outside of Bible stories or missionary testimonies. There is no doubt that their faith in the Lord brought them through quite an ordeal. The honesty by which the story is told was compelling and rather eye-opening---the squalor the prisoners were subjected to coupled with the special privileges they seemed to receive because of the good reputation they had reaching out to the Afghan people in their missions work…the constant threats to their lives…the human side of those associated with the Taliban…the supernatural circumstances by which God orchestrated their rescue---it’s an exciting read.

I highly recommend this book. I think you will be as inspired as I was.

Don't Fight the Bloggers

This is a fantastic 5-minute message on how to handle the critics. "Lord, help me to avoid fighting battles with people who claim to be Christian but don't like me."

N.C. Church Plans Bible Burning

UGH, you have got to be kidding. I would love to see this pastor and his 1 dozen parishioners read the original King James Bible from the 1600's. It is almost unreadable to us in the 21st century.

By the way, for those that may wonder, this church is by NO MEANS representative of real, genuine Christianity. Not at all!

Oh, Christians. Why do we get SO sidetracked by things that have no eternal benefit whatsoever? Can we just get passionate about souls? Trying to reach the lost? Reaching out to the hurting?

There's a good reason or two to have a BBQ!

What is So Funny About This?

I just watched Dave Letterman's 'confession' on you tube and COULD NOT be silent about it. I encourage you to watch it and see if you draw some of the same reactions and conclusions as I did.

I'll wait while you watch it...

{sorry---CBS pulled all of the videos this past weekend}

OK, done? Here is what strikes me:

1. What in the world are we laughing at anymore? NONE of what Letterman had to say was funny. Sure, his delivery and mannerisms were comical at times {any good public speaker can pull that off}. But, I was struck by what the audience chose to laugh at and clap for. Are we that far gone as a society that the mention of a man having multiple affairs {and if that wasn't bad enough, it was with people in his own company/show] makes us LAUGH? APPLAUD? Really??? If he had sex with YOUR daughter, would you find it as funny? Your mom? Your wife? {Not so funny now, is it?}

2. Will Letterman have any mercy for those who have failed in the public eye from now on? Recent Top 10 Lists have been devoted to the moral compromises of recent politicians, leaders and celebrities. Does that stop now?

3. David Letterman needs Jesus in his life. He is a VERY funny man and, I believe, may be is one of the most talented men in his field. But, he needs a Savior. We need to pray for him.

Your thoughts?

I Remember That Day

Eight years ago today everything changed. I remember that day...

I sat on my chair in my living room actually getting ready to take a trip with my wife and son. As we were getting ready to pack and load the car, I turned on the television and got ready to make sure all was ready when I saw an alert on Fox News pop up...a plane had hit one of the towers at the World Trade Center. I thought, "Wow, what a mess that's gonna be. Some small plane guided by an obviously inexperienced pilot was involved in a terrible accident." I remember that day...

I remember watching the news report as an "expert" felt it was just an accident and we shouldn't be alarmed at all. That was at 9:01...I remember that day.

Then I saw a sight I could not believe. The fireball. The second plane had hit. I yelled across the house for my wife to get in the living room...this was no accident. Strangely, my first thought was "Bin Laden." For some reason I knew he was responsible. I had been to Kenya and seen what he and his thugs did to the embassy in Nairobi. I couldn't believe my eyes. We were actually being attacked on our homeland. I remember that day...

I had no idea what to think...especially when the Pentagon got hit. That's when I knew the world had changed. That's when I knew for sure this was more than just a few crazies. We were now at war. I remember that day...

My wife, our one-year-old son and I began to drive to our destination that morning. Every radio station was broadcasting the same thing. Not one plane was in the air. When we passed airports while we drove, all was incredibly silent. It was so eerie. Some gas stations raised their prices to $4 a gallon {that's before $4 was considered normal}. I remember that day...

I also remember the flags...they were everywhere that week. People would stand on overpasses just waving huge American flags to total strangers. There were no total strangers in America that week. We were all Americans. We were all patriots. Strangely, we were all Christians too. It changed everything. I remember that day...

All that I could write about that day and that week would take hours to compile, sort and rethink. This morning, I will be getting my now nine-year-old son ready for school. I pray the world is safer for him now and will continue to be. Yeah, I remember that day...

May God truly bless America and continue to protect her. May we not take for granted what happened eight years ago. I DO remember that day, and to be honest with you, as much as I would like to, I cannot afford to forget it.