Faithfulness

Is it just me, or do you sometimes have an “off day” too? As much as I want to wake up every day ready to take the world on and, by the end of the day, have a completed to-do list, all with actions that truly made a difference for eternity, no less; that’s just not the way it always happens.

At Eastland Baptist Church, we have done many creative and innovative things. Each one has been organized and planned with a specific purpose and goal in mind.

Summer is almost as good as a new year for the fresh energy it gives us in setting goals and planning times of renewal. Of course, summer means different things to different people. To students, it means “freedom.” To farmers, it means “work”!

Rats! Another flight delay! Oh well, if you fly much these days you are aware that delayed departures (and arrivals) have become the norm rather than the exception.

Would you like your ministry to be full of grace? Your life? Your relationships?

Every pastor has former church members and former workers. It has been said that the average life of a church worker is seven years. That may be the average, but I am sure it is not God’s intended norm. Here are a few simple thoughts to help people be faithful in the work of God over a long period of time.

We often talk about what God’s grace does for us. And, truly, it is abundant. We talk about how greatly we need it in ministry. And we do. But have you ever considered if you might be preventing God’s grace from working in your heart? If you might be blocking its flow in your ministry?

The grace of God is an incredible gift. It not only brings salvation (Titus 2:11), but it is the ongoing provision for our Christian walk.

We cannot always measure effectiveness by visible fruit. Some of my favorite testimonies of salvation are of people who trusted Christ after repeated witnessing attempts by multiple people.

He conducted a city-wide meeting in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1947. I listened to a recording of a fabulous sermon that he preached there. But at the end of his life, he was dependent on alcohol and the great ministry he once had vanished. Why did he not continue?

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 6:16—“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls….”

When we set a goal in our lives, we normally have some termination point. For example, if I needed to save five hundred dollars for some new tires I might decide to save fifty dollars a month for ten months. If I decided I wanted to lose twenty pounds, I might set a goal of losing two pounds a week for ten weeks. We put our mind to the task at hand because we know that it is only for a few weeks or months that we have to sacrifice the fifty dollars or the fifty calories.

“Agony, torture, psychological abuse, mentally stressful, complete exhaustion, physically excruciating, and cruel and unusual punishment” are just a few of the descriptions that Navy Seals who have experienced the fourth week of Seal training in San Diego, California use to describe it. The week begins on Sunday evening at Midnight and ends on Friday around midday. For five and a half days these Seals go through some of the most physical, emotional, and psychological pressure that most of us will never have to endure.

It was 1948. A young soldier had been released from the Army after World War II and intended to go to Columbia University on the GI bill. General Eisenhower had become the president of Columbia University, and this young soldier thought, “If it’s good enough for Ike, it’s good enough for me.”

Christians across America are frustrated. Some are discouraged. Some are fearful. Some are hopeless. Our culture is shifting before our very eyes, and there seems to be little to nothing we can do to stop it. We see the decaying morals and we sense the intolerance toward Christians growing around us.

If you’ve served the Lord any length of time, you know that the outward expressions of service don’t guarantee a consistent heart for the Lord. The same is true of serving on a church staff. Being in the ministry is no guarantee that you will be strong as a Christian or that you will be diligent in the spiritual disciplines of following God and serving His people.

Most of us have more ideas than time. That’s a good problem. It’s better than more time than ideas, for sure. The danger, however, is that we develop a tendency to also have more half-started projects than we have involvement. Once we’re convinced that an idea is something God has laid on our hearts—whether that be a new ministry, building, activity or event, project, or program—how do we act on it to bring it to completion?

An older woman was celebrating her golden wedding anniversary. Someone asked what her secret was to a long and happy marriage. She said, “On my wedding day, I decided to make a list of ten of my husband’s faults, which I would overlook for the sake . . .

In the previous post I pointed out seven symptoms of one of the most dangerous spiritual diseases—apathy. A diagnose without a cure, however, is unhelpful. The direct counsel Christ Himself gave to the church at Laodicea was to humble themselves in repentance and recognize their need for Christ:

For two thousand years, Christians have been persecuted in many places all over the world for teaching and practicing their faith. This is not new.