Most Churches only meet once a week for worship as a community. That means there are 52 possible times to attend over the average year. (Note – some years have 53 Sundays)

If you live in an area like mine, you might have fewer chances because of the weather. There is always the threat of tornadoes, flooding, ice, snow, or a power outage caused by one of the other issues. Every year I have been at my Church, we have closed at least one Sunday or two for the safety of our people, especially our older members. So that reduced our possibility to only 50 weeks a year.

Suppose you are the kind of person who misses once a month for holidays, family, or illness. Once a month is 12 total times for a year. That drops our number down to 38 times a year.

If you are like most American families, you will also have a list of other times you will need to miss Church for various reasons. Two weeks or more for vacation is a minimum. 2-4 weeks for holiday adventures like Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Then there is Christmas and Easter. There are also graduations, weddings, and family commitments. So add another 10 to the list of Sundays missed. Now we are down to 28. 

Most people I know will also miss another two weeks for work. There is training, deadlines, the coworker who quit, and that angry boss who demanded that you work. So, you’d better drop that number to 26.

When people tell me they are a “committed Church member,” they mean they attend about 50% of the time. Six months of the year, they will not be in worship to fellowship, serve, give, or connect in any way. 

To be clear, I am not being critical; I am just making sure you understand what I am working with each week. And why leading a Church community is incredibly difficult.

On the last Sunday in September, I was officially hired to be a preacher at a Church. I had preached several times over my first three years of college as a “supply preacher.” That means I preached one sermon on one Sunday and never came back. I suppose I had already preached at least 75 sermons when I was asked to go and speak at Urich, Missouri, at Christ’s Christian Church. I spoke for the first time on Labor Day weekend. The handful of people who attended that day liked the sermon enough to invite me back to preach the following Sunday. After three sermons, they held me after Church for a short meeting and asked me to return every weekend as their preaching pastor. I agreed, and that began my life as a preacher.

Since that first Church invited me to preach, I have been in six Churches in four states. I have preached 48 or more times every year except one when I was between ministries. I estimate that I have preached over 2,000 sermons and given countless Sunday school lessons, youth group lessons, and other public teachings.

By my calculations, 1565 Sundays have passed since I became a preacher. During that time, planes crashed, buildings fell, a new Church was started, four children were born and raised, I lost my dad, and my wife lost hers too. People have been born, married, and buried all under my watching eyes. There have been victories and defeats, good times and bad. We have traveled around the country and lived in Alaska. Personally, I have gained weight and lost it twice while losing my hair after it turned white.

Many events have occurred, and numerous changes have marked my journey, but God has remained faithful. I have always been able to come up with something to say. People have responded, sometimes quite surprisingly. I estimate I have been a part of around 400 baptisms. I don’t know how many others became members of a local Church and started serving, giving, and loving. I have no idea how many lives have been impacted positively. I know that God continues to use me for the Gospel’s sake in ways I never thought or imagined.

Every year about this time, I stop and thank God for allowing me to be a preaching minister. God is good, and my life has been blessed. I am incredibly thankful for every person who listens to me preach or teach, along with those who read my blog. Thanks for a lot of great experiences in the name of Jesus. 

If you plan to be a salesperson, you need to get down your pitch. This is a condensed version of what you are trying to persuade another person to buy by briefly telling them the nature of your work and how it benefits them. 

While making this comparison might make you uncomfortable, every believer needs to have a gospel sales pitch. They need to memorize a brief overview of the Gospel and be able to present it to other people.

For example, I use Romans 6:23 as a primary method. It says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 – NIV 2011) From there, I can draw two ridges with a valley in between and explain the problem of sin and the reason for the cross in a few minutes.

Anyone who is a follower of Jesus needs to come up with their own method or style of sharing the story of Jesus quickly and understandably. There are also dozens of “prepackaged” ones to copy that fit your personality and ability to explain it.

I am not saying you cram it down everyone’s throat, but I want you to have prepared an answer to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that you have. 

It happens two ways. 

First, the family is on their way to Church, and they begin to fight. Dad is yelling. Mom is frustrated, and everyone’s temper has reached its limits. Then they step out of the car, and everyone is suddenly happy. They paint on their smiles and tell everyone that everything is fine.

Second, I went to a Christian musical. On the way into the show, everyone in the parking lot was happy and letting others move through traffic without a care. Then the show was over, and those same people returned to their cars with a vengeance. People were cutting each other off, honking, and, I think, yelling a few obscenities.

One of the challenges of being a Christian is to always live like Jesus.

We are not to behave one way at religious gatherings and the opposite way the rest of the time. Jesus is meant to impact my actions both before and after we come together to worship him. 

You are either a full-time Christian or not one at all. 

A businessperson explained that there are three keys to success.

1. Professional Skills

2. Social Skills

3. Persistence

Then he went on to say that if you have numbers 2 and 3, you will do just as well or better than the person with only the first one. 

As I read his words, I could not help but reflect on faith.

If you want to make a difference as a believer, getting along with people through their ups and downs will enable you to have a successful Christian life. By that, I mean if you want to live for Jesus from your faith commitment till you meet him in Heaven, you will need the ability to deal with people and keep at it over a lifetime.

You will need perseverance to return to your faith through difficult seasons. Faith has grit. It requires staying power to move through all the seasons of life.

These traits may be more significant than even knowing the Bible.

Yes, I want you to know the Bible, but faith is also lived out in community. Learning to love others while you love Jesus is essential to faith. Then, when things get complicated with those people or in your personal life, you need to be willing to hang on tight and endure the rough waters.  

Number one is important, but people with numbers 2 and 3 will often do better than those with only the first one.

This is an honest confession from a preacher and for the people of ACC, your pastor.

I am TIRED.

There are numerous reasons for this, and I want to share a few for you to ponder.

1. Our Church is growing. Growth means more people and more people means more needs. I spend time dealing with at least one issue every single day.
2. People Fatigue. I am an introvert by nature. I love people, but it exhausts me whenever I spend time around them. Lately, I have been having 1-3 daily meetings, plus Sundays and small groups.
3. Additional Planning. Whenever you add people, the Church needs programming to meet their needs. I had hoped to hire a staff person to help in this area, but we have struck out three times. So, I keep planning things myself.
4. People Management. I try to lead the staff, guide the Church with the elders, and coordinate with our Church leadership all the things that need to happen. My job is to make them look good as I follow the example of Jesus as a servant leader.
5. Leadership Issues. Church people are a funny bunch. I recently celebrated 30 years of leading a local Church as a pastor, yet people seem to doubt most of what I say and do. Everyone truly believes they know how to lead a Church because they have attended one for part of their adult life. It is rightfully said that leading Church people is like herding cats.
6. Isolation. It has been said that a pastor is seldom alone but usually lonely. Where does a pastor share his struggles and not be judged for them? Due to the morality connected to my career, I am often forced to internalize struggles for fear of gossip and condemnation.
7. Emotional Weight. I carry the burdens of a congregation. There are people’s marriages falling apart, struggles with addiction and cancer, people losing a parent, those angry with me or my wife, and my concern for people’s relationship with the Lord.

I hope this is not seen as complaining. It is not a plea for you to show up at my door with some sense that you will save me from my struggles. It is simply a declaration that the lead pastor’s life is often challenging.

Sometimes, I need rest and a vacation simply because I am tired.

I stood in their office for a minute and looked around, waiting for them to return.

One clear thought went through my head as my eyes scanned their bookshelves. “I am judging you based on the books you own and presumably read.”

For Christians to grow strong in their faith, they need to read good books. They must be exposed to the Christian classics that have endured the test of time. They must dig into some profound theology and have academic-level books. Their shelves should contain deep thoughts, great stories, and time-tested wisdom. 

A Christian should not read every new book being published. They cannot live on a steady diet of the latest pop theology. Their shelves should not contain all of the works from one author and nothing else. Growth will stagnate if you only expose yourself to shallow thinking, best sellers, and limited wisdom. 

Christians are disciples. And disciples are learners. One of the best ways to learn is to read. But please – read good books. 

When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ walked the earth, he chose twelve men as his closest followers. They were called disciples because they were learning the way of Jesus through his words and watching his actions. These men spent three years with God’s chosen Messiah.

And one of those twelve men was Judas, who would betray him.

Not only did he betray Jesus, but we are also told in John chapter 12 that he helped himself to whatever was in the money bag. We are not told one positive story about the life of Judas in all the New Testament. 

And yet, Jesus chose him as one of his closest twelve followers. 

In part, Jesus selects him because his betrayal would ultimately bring about his death and the salvation of humanity. The grand providential plan included Judas. 

But I often wonder if it was also a walking demonstration of the grace of God. Jesus’ closest companions included a person who did not care about him. Judas was not concerned about the mission of Jesus but was using his connection to profit from it. And when he thought he could gain more by betraying him, he seized the opportunity.

The whole time this happens, Jesus never says a bad word about the man. There is no shouting or pouring out of righteous indignation. Jesus always treats him the same as the other eleven. Jesus’ model of love and compassion has no limits.

This is significant because someone in your life probably represents a Judas. They don’t honestly care about you. They are only with you for what they can get. And they would sell you out instantly if they thought it would benefit them.

How do you treat a person like that? 

Treat them like Jesus did Judas – with kindness and grace.  

No one in your life is beyond Christian love because no one was beyond Jesus’ love.   

Everyone is going to go through a season of loss. Death eventually hits close to home, and we all feel the sting of separation.

Our natural inclination is to try to avoid feeling grief. Denial is the first stage and perhaps the biggest trap. We claim we are not struggling, or we repress our feelings so that we do not show weakness. 

Once we open our hearts to our loss, we will walk through anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. It is a long, arduous journey that rips your heart out and drives you to the bottom of your emotions. No one wants to go through grief, but it is something we all must do. 

But this post is not about you going through the heartbreak of loss. This post reminds you that many of the people you encounter each day are somewhere on this journey.

Why did they get so angry? Why do they always seem so sad? Why are they on such an emotional roller coaster?

The answer might be that they lost someone they care about and are trying to come to terms with it. Grief makes your life a mess for a while. That is true for everyone. 

One more reason we must live each day filled with grace and forgiveness towards others is that you don’t know how someone is hurting.  

What you learn after you know it all is the most crucial information you will ever acquire.

When you realize that your education and experience left you with some gaps in your knowledge, you can finally start listening.

As long as we think we know it all, we will close our ears and hearts to all the voices trying to help us. It doesn’t matter your gender, age, or race; any person can rest in their current level of understanding and stop growing.

This is especially true in the Church. Christians might think, “I learned those stories as a child,” or “I have been in Church my whole life,” and stop listening to those trying to teach them.

If we ever accept that there may still be much for us to learn. A whole world of information opens up, and we can finally move toward spiritual maturity.