They said to me, “I would like to start a ministry at our Church that would …”

This person wanted to organize a group of people with a similar mindset to join them in serving the Lord together.

My response was to ask if they had ever done this type of project on their own. They seem perplexed by the question.

Often, the best type of ministry is when Christians simply see a need and then fill that need. No one needs the Church’s consent or blessing to be the light of Jesus in the world. There are an unknown number of ways to serve others without being “organized.”

Anyone who wants to serve the Lord can do it today. Right now. All you have to do is look around and see something that needs to be done and then do it.

I am a big advocate of both organized and unorganized religion.

Last night at 9:25, a train rolled through our town and past my house. It is the first time I have heard it in years, which is remarkable, considering it happens every single night. Having lived in the same house for 10 years, I have become deaf to the familiar sounds around me.

This selective deafness mirrors a common spiritual challenge for the people who follow Jesus. We can read our Bibles, talk to other Christians, listen regularly to the preaching of God’s word, and slowly stop listening. The sounds become familiar, the words no longer touch us, and the message is lost in the background noise of our lives.

Perhaps the solution isn’t to seek more knowledge or spiritual content but rather to create space for deep listening. By quieting our minds and turning our full attention to the wisdom already present, we might rediscover truths that we have not genuinely heard in years.

I have never been a pastor who enjoyed leading funerals. I love officiating weddings, but I have found funerals to be a challenge. Lately, I have realized one reason this is true.

As a pastor, I was hired from outside of the community and brought in to preach and lead. Take me, for example; I have been in my current location for about ten and a half years. While that might seem like a long time, it is not the same as many people in my congregations. Some of them have 50-plus years in this community.

The result is that my knowledge of this person only comes from the final few years of their life. Often, my perspective is quite different than that of those who have known the deceased for a lifetime.

I can think of numerous examples of people telling me that their family member was an active Christian, serving selflessly in the name of Jesus in the local Church and community. Meanwhile, for various reasons, in my 10 years of knowing them, I have experienced them doing very little for the Lord.

The family will seem very confused when I ask them to share stories of this person’s service that I could include in my funeral message. They usually have a frustrated reaction to my questions and say something like, “Just share a story about some time you served with them.” I have to be honest and say, “I really don’t have any stories, ” which usually makes them upset and disappointed with me.

So, let me end this with two applicable thoughts. When you are planning a funeral, try to find someone to do the eulogy who has known that person for a lifetime. Ask someone with a lifelong connection to share their thoughts about this one who passed. 

My second thought is more Biblical. I encourage you to finish your journey of faith strong. The Apostle Paul tells the elders from the Church at Ephesus that his only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus gave him (Acts 20:24). Paul was trying to actively serve Jesus to the very end, and we should do the same.

Believe me, as a pastor, it is easy to do a funeral for someone who served Jesus till their final breath and did not give up a few years short of the finish line. But most people do not live like that, and that is what makes preaching funerals so complicated.

I am asking my staff and leadership to come up with two names of people or families they are trying to connect with this year. I want them to pray for these people daily and spend the entire year trying to help them.

One is the name of a person or family they are trying to reach for Jesus. I want each one of them to identify a person in their life who does not have a saving relationship with Jesus and then spend the year reaching out to them. They will not only pray for them but also invite them for meals, coffee, or times of connection. Each leader will intentionally try to share their faith this year.

The other name is of one person or couple they are trying to disciple. I want them each to “adopt” someone who is already a Christian and help them strategically grow in their faith. This will include praying for them, spending time with them, and most likely doing a study with them. Each leader should be helping someone else become more like Jesus this year.

I would love to extend my challenge to every person in the Church I lead and every Christian in my life. This year, would you be willing to come up with two names and spend the next 12 months pouring your life into those people?

Lasting change for the kingdom of God will only happen when the people of God take intentional steps to reach out to those around them, one or two at a time.

I abhor forced or fake appreciation.

I realize there are natural times to celebrate other people. Celebrating Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and even pastor appreciation month can be great times to show how much you value another person and recognize their contribution to your life. But let’s be honest, many times it feels forced.

You know that the only reason they are doing anything is because the occasion meant that they had to do it. We have all gotten a lousy or cheap gift, an impersonal card, or a visit from someone because they were forced to do it. And let me be even more honest: it was meaningless to you, or it might have even hurt your feelings. We thought they truly appreciated us, but based on what they did and said, they clearly do not.

That is why I believe the solution to forced appreciation is to offer it when the other person does not expect it. A card on a random Wednesday is a tremendous blessing. A text on a Thursday that expresses your appreciation will be meaningful. A gift given out of the blue will touch someone’s heart in ways you never imagined.

The solution to forced appreciation is doing it when it is unforced. Doing it on days, well, like today.

The scriptures mention the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob numerous times. Those three names are often lumped together to represent the creator of the nation of Israel.

The story starts in Genesis 12 with a promise to Abram. He was going to have a child when he was old. He was told that one day, his descendants were going to become a great nation, they were going to be blessed with a great land, and through them, all nations would be blessed. The only part that he would see is the birth of his son Isaac.

God started a work in the faithful man Abraham that would eventually result in a large family that would become the nation of Israel. His faithfulness to God brought great blessings to his descendants that he never experienced on earth.

I do not want to misapply scripture. Abraham was a man God specifically used to fulfill his plan. But it is worth noting that some blessings we receive for following God will be accepted by future generations that we may never see. God is working not only to bring about his kingdom in your life but also into future generations. You might be the first person in a line of people who God uses for his purpose. 

What if your greatest gift to the world was leaving behind a family of committed followers of Jesus?

I cannot quote him word for word, but I recently heard a preacher say something like this: God has given us the exact people we need in our lives to help us grow. He has given us people who are encouraging and a blessing to help us on life’s journey. He has also given us the challenging people we need to help us grow in grace, patience, and wisdom.

The only part he was missing is that God also puts us in other people’s lives for the exact same reasons.

Recently, I have heard several people say a similar phrase in interviews and video clips. They all stated that they were a part of a Church where “questions were not allowed.”

First, I need to be clear that this is often connected to one believer. What they are saying is that this one person I asked a question to, as a pastor, teacher, or leader, did not think this other person should be asking questions. Some believers do reject open and honest dialog. If they had started asking others, they would have found a much more diverse reaction from numerous other Christians.

Second, I believe the Church must value questions. If you want to know more about the Bible, God, faith, and life as a follower of Jesus, then I think you should ask questions all the time. Dig into what and why you believe. There are numerous resources on the internet to help you. A pastor or leader can help, and there are thousands of books under the label apologetics.

Finally, I think this must be said: along with valuing questions, we need to value answers. In at least one of the cases where I heard someone say, “questions were not allowed,” what they truly meant is that “no one was giving me the answer I wanted.” Those two statements are vastly different. I know of another who did not like my view on something. I explained my reasons from the Bible, and they didn’t like what I said, so they searched until they found another pastor who said what they already believed.

I believe that whatever question you have about the Bible or the life of faith, there is a reasonable answer. The question is, “If I answer your question, will you adjust your thinking and actions to align with what you learned.” If not, what you value is not questions but your opinions.

As I am typing this, it is 18 degrees outside. We have a layer of ice under about 3-4 inches of snow. It is truly a winter wonderland as I stare out my window. I have not been out of my house beyond my driveway in the past 3 days, and I am not planning to leave for two more days.

While it may sound like a terrible situation to some, I see it as a blessing from God. These days have forced me to do several things, like having conversations with my spouse and reading my Bible. Primarily, it pushed me to rest.

I am the type of person who likes to go, go, go. I am constantly filling my time with more things, from family stuff to Church stuff to fun stuff. I rarely take time to relax. Then God forces me into my home with very little to do.

Times like this remind us that God is in control and he can stop anything. Along the same lines, once he starts something, nothing can stop it. Faith should lead us to rest and relax in God, but sometimes, it takes a winter storm to remind us of that.

Today has been officially dubbed Quitters’ Day. That is because, by the second Friday of January, the majority of people had quit whatever they had resolved to do this year.

Every year, I know dozens of people in the Church I lead commit to reading their Bible. Some have made a 90-day commitment, and others a year-long one. Either way, numerous people want to spend more time reading God’s word.

I hope that you have not quit yet and will not quit anytime soon. One of the things that makes for a mature believer more than intellect is a strength of will. If you genuinely want to grow as a follower of Jesus, the greatest asset you can possess is an iron will that won’t allow you to quit. Like Jacob at the river Jabbock, where he grabbed ahold of an angel and said, “I won’t let go until you bless me,” Christianity is for people who refuse to let go of Jesus.

Some may call it Quitters’ Day, but you are no quitter.