Seven Ways to Catch Your Breath

Pastor Perry Noble often has great insights for church leaders - and one of the reasons I really respect what he has to say is that the church where he is the pastor continues to see great growth (not simply "transfer" growth where already-Christians decide that NewSpring Church is bigger and better than their current church, but conversion growth, where people are making decisions for Jesus Christ for the first time).

Today Perry posted 7 ways to catch your breath, and they really hit home. I didn't just want to post a link to his list, because I know that many of you (hehehe, I just pretended that I have more than "many" readers) won't go to his post and read it. Or maybe I just project my own busy schedule on everyone else.

Anyway, here are his ways along with my commentary.

1. Rest.

This should be obvious, but it often is not. God told us to protect a Sabbath; that should be enough. But if it isn't, check out this post on the chemistry inside a pastor's body. It's a real reminder of how we physically need rest.

Besides all of this, I am reminded of the H.A.L.T. acronym: warning signs (especially pointed toward the life of addicts, but applicable to all of us) Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. To combat the "tired" part, we need rest!

2. Find a Hobby.

This gives us a chance to focus on something else for a change. Most of us don't have an "off" button, and we could spend all day every day doing church work; that's not healthy! It's one reason I run. It gives me a chance for "down" time (though some of you might not believe that running is "down" time!) and a time to just think and pray.

It's one reason I enjoy soccer so much, too. Besides loving the game, it gives me a chance to go out and live out a Christian life in front of "the world" all the while competing as hard as I can.

3. Get a Journal.

I journal off and on - sometimes I'm really good at it and other times not so great. But I've found that when I slow down enough to write, it is extremely helpful. In this world of over-disclosure, there are (believe it or not) some things that shouldn't be written in a blog or shared on facebook. One way a journal is helpful is when you are doing other things (especially spending family time), often an idea comes up... you can just write it down and be done with it.

4. Have a date night with your spouse without the telephone.

Absolutely important. Because we as (married) church leaders are married to our spouses, not to the church... the Church is called the Bride of Christ, and when we value the church above our spouses, we are committing adultery with Jesus' Christ's Bride. That's just wrong!

And you'll never find someone who, after their divorce, gladly says, "I'm so glad I was always available to everyone else but my own family" or "I'm so glad I took that phone call and ignored my family."

5. Take a season of rest every year.

This is a hard one for me to actually get done. It's hard to plan for an extended time away from the church (and it's also rather difficult to save up the money to get away for that amount of time - trust me, it's not really a complete rest when you are still in town).

But part of it (honestly) comes down to #6; I get caught up in the fact that I am the one hired and called to do such-and-such, and I have to remember that it's really God's job, not mine, that the Holy Spirit is the one who really does the work, not me.

6. Focus on God's sovereignty and not your ability.

Here is a direct quote from Perry:

"He loves the church more than you! He said that HE would build the church…which means you don’t have to. AND…if you think you are SO essential to your church that it could not survive without you for a few weeks…then you either suck as a leader OR are struggling with pride!"

That is a real wake-up call. Truth is, if it was about me, the church would (and should) close tomorrow. Or today. But it's not about me at all. And that is a great thing.

7. Have someone you can spill your guts to... other than your spouse!

Key. Absolutely key. And I would go on to say that this ideally should be someone else who understands the demands of ministry, preferably another pastor, someone in ministry who yo can be absolutely honest with.

I have struggled in ministry where I was alone - I had friends, but nobody who I could really open up and share with totally honestly. Know also that not everyone in ministry is willing to be that open and honest. I worked with other clergy who either blew off my struggles (once, when I was feeling burned out, a fellow staffer told me to basically "suck it up" and keep (over)working - that he had been doing it that way for years. Unfortunately by that time, he was pretty much "mailing it in" and the church was suffering the consequences. Another time, a fellow pastor used things I said in confidence against me - so not every pastor is the right one to be this person).

One of the real blessings about moving to New Knoxville, where I was a solo pastor was that I wasn't alone. Our county clergy met monthly for breakfast and I was invited to a Lectionary Bibly study and soon became friends with Pastor Greg Roberts (we would often stick around after Bible study to chat about what was going on).

Soon I met Pastor Dave, the "new" pastor at the UCC (the other church in NK), and we became very good friends (I honestly still consider him one of my best friends) because we would get together often to talk about ministry and our struggles, to laugh together, and (most important) to pray together.

Then I joined an accountability covenant group with five pastors - we were brutally honest with one another, and this was absolutely important to me. So when I moved, I found a similar group to meet with. These groups aren't just for programming; they are meant to spur one another on to good deeds - to Christlikeness. I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Is there anything you would add to this list? What would that be?

Peter Mayer Group Concert

When our worship chair asked my permission to book the Peter Mayer Group in concert, I had never heard of them. I didn't know that Peter Mayer's main gig was playing with Jimmy Buffett. I didn't know that he was a fantastic guitar player and songwriter.

All I knew is that he (along with the rest of his band) is a Christian and our worship chair wanted him to play at our church. And soon I found out that the leader of our worship band has a man-crush on him.

I scooted over to his myspace page and gave him a listen and I really liked what I heard.

So we booked him to come and play at the Millersport UMC. He has apparently played at nearby Buckeye Lake in his other gig, and though we had a decent turn-out, it was slightly less than Jimmy Buffett might draw.

I hadn't been to a good concert in a while - I can't remember one since the Violet Burning played in Ohio a couple years back. Other than that (and a rare double showing of the Violets at Ichthus the year I took Stonybrook youth there), it would probably date back to college.

Anyway, I took my place in the front row, center seat (yes, I was that guy), hoping I wouldn't be disappointed. Everyone else had slipped down from the office to "help out" (read: listen to them warm up), but I hadn't (was a little embarrassed that I'd showed up late to help them unload their gear). From the first note, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed at all.

I was reminded heavily of the Freddy Jones Band (one of my college favs - if you go to their site, make sure to listen to In a Daydream - great song), but there was something about Peter Mayer that reminded me of my late friend Chad Miller. Reminded me enough of Chad to bring tears to my eyes.

The music was a mix of upbeat, acoustic, electric, funny (the Onion, anyone?), contemplative, Christian, and secular tunes with jazz, acoustic, folksy, and rock roots - all with a great sense of humor and good rapport with the audience. At one point early on, they had us (the audience) simulating a rain storm. It sounded cool. At another later point, we had a fantastic conga line stretching all around the entire church. Now that had to have been a first!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Fantastic concert!

First Day of School


Today Andrew and Jonathan began a new year of preschool: Jonathan for the second year (but in a new classroom) and Andrew for the first time.

Jonathan was pretty happy to go and was excited about going and about his new classroom. Andrew felt like such a big boy, getting to go to preschool (after all year begging to go last year). Although as Tara prodded Andrew to help decorate his preschool bag, he wasn't interested at all.

Anyway, we got them to school early - way early... (on purpose) we first went to the hardware store to pick up some supplies for the playground, then we went to the playground and fixed an issue, then in to class.

Andrew acted like he wanted to start a crying show, but he already knows Miss Heather, his teacher (and already loves her), so he pretty quickly got involved in class. Way involved.

On one pass past my office, Miss Heather mentioned to me, "Guess who gets the award for catching my blue beta fish!"

Yes, it seems that Andrew stuck his hand into the fish bowl and caught her fish.

Bare handed.

She is said to have done the "silent scream" pose as she tried to coax him to put it back. When I saw it later, it was floating nicely upside down. No, just kidding. It was fine.

After school, Andrew really wanted to decorate his school bag. Everyone else had pretty decorated bags after all.

But that was his first day of school. I wonder what will happen on the second day!

Seasons of Life

Today as our church buries one of our own, I am reflecting on the seasons of life. We do not get to choose how we come into this world or (usually) how or when we exit; these are simply seasons of this life.

One dies, another is born.

One suffers, another celebrates.

In the midst of struggle, someone is victorious.

One of the strangest things to contemplate is how life goes on, unaffected. When a funeral falls on a sunny day... (I vividly remember the bright blue sky on the day of Troy Simpson's funeral, which turned out to be a horrific day in the life of our country - September 11, 2001). A wedding party takes pictures in a park, while businessmen rush by, needing to finish up Friday's work (on Saturday), oblivious to the celebration happening in front of them. A funeral procession comes by, and traffic stops (or doesn't stop) and drivers wonder, "Who was that? Maybe someone I knew?"

And life goes on.

If this world were all there was, I think I would be overwhelmed with grief. Life would be meaningless; even the greatest legacy we could leave would not be enough. But this world is not all there is, and for that I am grateful.

President Obama's Upcoming Speech to Our School Children

I have been hearing a lot of complaints about President Obama?s upcoming speech to school children. I think I can sum them up in three phrases:

"The president has never done this before."
"Democrats would have had a fit had George Bush tried this."
"He's going to push his partisan politics on a captive audience and thus brainwash them."

All of those comments are simply partisan nonsense. Although I must admit that I am inherently mistrustful of the government and just as wary of the public school system, I also understand that my Christian duty is to pray for our elected leaders. And to remember that Jesus isn't a member of a US political party.

I seriously doubt that President Obama will be "out of control" in this speech; he's not going to use this as a chance to wave a Kenyan birth certificate in the faces of our school children, to push secular Americanism (or Islam) as the American religion of the future, or to push his healthcare plan (well, he might do that).

More likely, he's going to tell the school children to "be excellent to one another and party on, dude." Oh, wait. That was Bill & Ted. More likely he'll tell them to obey the (Four) Demandments of Hulkamania (training, saying your prayers, eating your vitamins, and believing in yourself). Or just maybe he will going to tell them to stay in school, to be nice to each other, to work hard, to celebrate diversity, and that together we can make the world a better place to live in.

Whatever he says, the best response for a Christian parent is to use it as an opportunity to spend some time with their child to help them to understand what is True. Part of the complaint against the speech is the accusation that our children are a captive audience and that we as parents can't counter what President Obama might teach them in their public school. To that I ask: Why do you send your child to public school anyway? How much "control" do you have over all of the specifics of what your child's teachers, coaches, aides, administrators, etc. say? What do you do when your child comes home having learned about the theory of evolution? What do you do when your child's best friend tells him/her about "the birds and the bees" on the playground? Do you panic, or do you use these as opportunities to sit down with your child and talk about the Truth?

Were I a parent of a school-ager who would be hearing/watching the president's speech, I would also watch/listen to it so I could have an accurate assessment of what he said, so I could thus speak to my child about it on a knowledgeable basis. I hope to raise my children to be critical thinkers, not just when it comes to thinking about what a president (who I did or didn't vote for) says, but also about what they see on TV, what they read in books, and even what their dad says in the pulpit.

Furthermore, I hope to continue to spend good quality time with my children so I will continue to have a voice in their lives. Too many of us leave "parenting" up to the government (yes, I said that - including our governmental public school system as part of that) and then we're upset at what they are teaching our children.

Instead of complaining at what a horrible job "they" are doing at raising our children, let's live lives of integrity in front of our children and make sacrifices in order to teach them well, not just by words, but by deeds.