16 Names!
I wrote down 16 names of men who could fill in tonight. And I love that.
God has gifted our church with teachers and preachers and servants who can fill the pulpit when the pastor is gone, and the Bible teaches that a church is built on multiple gifted members. A pastor is one. But Bro.7Adam is another. And 15 more men who I know would be willing. Glory to God!
Tonight, I am in Colorado with 31 other pastors for what is called Sharpening Week. One pastor here told a successful businessman in his church what he was going to, and the business man said, “Of COURSE you should do that. We have conferences and fly in Navy SEALs (or whoever else) to train us all the time. I’m glad you get to do that.” It’s not the business world, but we are being sharpened in order to come home and minister better.
Bro. Adam texted me some encouragement on Monday, and I replied something like, “I’m just so grateful I get to go, but more than that, I want my week here to ultimately be a help to our church.”
Three things have already been helpful for me:
Fellowship. I am around church planters, college presidents, and everything in between—men from all over the country and with all kinds of experiences. I love friendships with men who are going the same direction.
Book studies. We are working through the book called THE PRACTICING MIND, which emphasizes the PROCESS more than the GOAL. Rather than trying to rush to get to something (whether it’s a church size or a fix to some counseling situation, for example), we’re working on doing things the right way and allowing God to bring the results.
Mindsets. So far we’ve discussed the following, which can practically be expanded to almost any area:
Divine Triangle. God’s mind at the center includes His Word, but also the other true things that are not God’s Word—man’s creations, logic, nature, etc. The point is that all truth is God’s truth, and we can filter all of life through the Scripture and see God’s revealed truth even through secular sources (such as a doctor studying anatomy).
Gain/Loss. Gain minus loss equals profit. If we gain the whole world (nothing more to gain), that doesn’t mean we’ve profited. We must always calculate the loss into any decision to find out if it’s profitable.
Competing Virtues. We can often struggle with the tension between two good things: Zeal vs. knowledge. Family vs. ministry. Timely vs. timeless. Content vs. delivery. Authority vs. humility. Pastoring vs. preaching. Private vs. public. But good balance is about not going overboard in any one direction.
Two Ditches. Often as we back away from some ditch we are trying to avoid, we fall into the ditch behind us. We must keep an eye on both extremes when looking at any decision.
All in all, this is my second-favorite week of the year (behind my writing week when I go to Junior Camp!) This year, I’m learning how to learn from anyone. Not everyone here is a Pastor Wayne Hardy—he’s a unique voice in our generation and can articulate things in ways that no one else does—but everyone here DOES have experiences to learn from, and I’m working on getting as much as I can.
For you.
I don’t always know how it translates directly, but overall, weeks like this shape my own personal ministry philosophy, and it helps us guide Calvary Baptist Church to be the kind of church that I believe our Temecula Valley needs.
Just having a Wednesday night service is itself unique around here, and it’s all part of the process.
—Pastor Ryan