Archive for 2010

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden for that would be of no advantage to you.”

When your Pastor thinks of you, do his thoughts bring him “joy” or are those thoughts “a burden?” The very nature of what we as pastors do is often a burden. We deal with life tragedies, family crisis, death, financial issues etc. Those life “burdens” are not what I’m talking about. I am talking about “stuff” that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever in the building of God’s Kingdom. For example, not long ago I received a call from a local Pastor who after a morning service was approached by a church leader who was very distressed with the service. His distress wasn’t about the message; his distress wasn’t even because of the music. This man was very upset that a member of the praise team wore, are you ready for this, sandals. The Pastor explained to the man that the woman was pregnant and that sandals were the only shoes she could wear. Do you think this explanation satisfied? Surely this explanation satisfied the gentleman. Not hardly. At the next Elder’s meeting the man insisted that the church make a policy that no one be allowed to wear sandals on the platform. Now you decide, is this leader a “joy” or a burden” to his Pastor?

Some of you are thinking this is an extreme case. I wish that it were. But the more Pastors I talk to with Care for Pastors, the more I realize that our Pastors are burdened with things that are absolutely ridiculous. Burdens that are causing many of God’s servants to say, “Enough already. I don’t need this. I can’t take anymore so I quit.”

I wonder, what explanation will be offered at the Judgment Seat of Christ from those individuals who placed unnecessary burdens on God’s servants? Burdens that they felt were so important like the style of music, what color the carpets should be. I could go on, but you get the picture. But wait, there will be no explanations offered at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will only receive what we are due (II Corinthians 5:10).

Would you honestly ask this question, “Am I an unnecessary burden or a source of joy to my Pastor?”

I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The longer I live the more I am convinced that the power of truth can never be over-estimated. Truth not only changes hearts and lives at salvation, but is a lifetime resource for breaking down the lies of the enemy that we have chosen to believe to be truth.

We are all more likely to believe a lie than the truth. If you don’t think that is true, study Genesis 3. Adam and Eve chose to believe a lie when they had been given truth by God himself. We have inherited that weakness from our parents and the father of lies, Satan, will attempt to convince us to believe a lie instead of a truth concerning God and His plan for us.

Why do you believe what you believe? Why do you do what you do? What do you filter all your thoughts and decisions through? Truth or a lie, remember a lie is much easier to believe but only truth sets us free!

I once heard this definition of obedience, “obedience is doing what you’re told, when you’re told, with the right attitude.” That definition strikes directly to the heart of what the Christian life is all about. Please give some thought to that definition. I would love to hear your feedback.

For some reason today after my devotions, I found myself reminiscing.  For some reason the Roy Rogers song “Happy Trails” popped into my mind. For many of you reading this you have only heard “old people” talk about Roy Rogers and “Happy Trails” and it means absolutely nothing to you. Then my mind went to Bob Hope’s “Thanks for the Memories.” What is going on? Am I in some time machine? Before you become overly concerned, no, I haven’t “lost it.” All of those past memories caused me to spend time thanking the Lord for the journey. Thirty-two years of ministry has come and gone, and there have been multiple challenges, highs and lows. I wouldn’t want to repeat it, but I can honestly say “Thank you Lord.”

Then my mind turns to my wife, Rodetta, and thirty-two years of marriage. Wow! What a journey. We were both too young to get married, but young love is often blind. We have had many financial struggles, health challenges, multiple surgeries, moving all over the country, both of us cancer survivors, dealing with the expectations (more often than not unrealistic expectations).  But, as I look back it is very clear that God blessed me with a wife, called to the work of ministry, one equipped to stand beside her husband in good times and bad times. So, Rodetta, thanks for traveling beside me all these years.

Now for the real purpose of writing this blog. As I look back over the years I give thanks to God for His faithfulness, but I also see the past journey as preparation for the rest of the journey. I am looking forward to the future as never before. I am convinced that the journey ahead is going to be filled with opportunities beyond anything I can imagine. The “Wow God” moments of the past were all field training for the future.

Thank you Lord for entrusting me with challenges, painful experiences, great people and difficult people. Thank you Lord for the past journey because I know the past was all preparation for the rest of the journey. Thank you Lord for birthing a sense of excitement for the future. I can’t see too far down the road, but because of the sweet memories of the past, I am excited about the rest of the trip.

Life is tough! You’re response to that would be “tell me something I don’t know.” During these uncertain times I find the need to be reminded of some of the basic truths of my standing in Christ. The truth I need today is Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

The power that is appropriated to me as a child of God is the same power God used to raise Christ from the grave. Ephesians 1:19-20 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.”  With that in mind, is there any question as to why Paul would declare that the power of God living in us goes beyond anything we can measure or imagine.

How would life change for us if we tapped into God’s power and allowed it to work in us and through us? I don’t think life would be nearly as tough, as a matter of fact, we may start enjoying life in these uncertain times. Just a thought.

As a Pastor’s wife, who can I confide in and know what I say will be kept confidential? Life as a Pastor’s wife is like living in a glass house and the stress can become so overwhelming that if we don’t have a safe place to go, we will either become a fatality in ministry or become cynical and angry.

Care for Pastors is that safe place. As a Pastor’s wife for 30+ years, I know exactly how you feel and we are here to help carry that load of stress. My husband, Ron, and I have been in ministry our entire married life of 32 years. We do not have all the answers, but we can be that safe place to turn in helping carry those day-to-day stresses of ministry life.

I know how it feels to hear people falsely accuse me or my husband of things that all you can do is sit back and pray they will listen to truth and allow God to touch their hearts. Trying to defend ourselves at times only makes things worse. God knows the lies and the truth and He will take care of it. It’s during those times that we have to sit quietly and bite our tongues, that we sure could use a listening ear. However, we can’t go to a church member for that sounding board, so where do we turn?

I know how it feels to constantly be trying to live up to others expectations. We must realize that God is the only one that we need to try to please, and that no matter how hard we try there will always be those that feel like we need to do more.

I want to encourage you to find your place of ministry and not feel guilty about saying “no” to other areas. Allow God to place you in the areas He wants you serving and realize you don’t have to do everything or be everything to everybody.

Please don’t try to carry the stress alone. Allow us to come alongside and encourage you as you serve the Lord and as you are your husband’s help-mate. You are a precious and valuable part of ministry and we don’t want you to feel alone. Please e-mail me at rodetta@careforpastor.org  or call at 352-728-8179.

May God bless you as you serve Him!

Falling into sin is so easy; all we have to do is consistently do what “we” want to do…and who doesn’t want to do that? It’s easy to justify, excuse, and defend what “we” want to do. Then when the bottom falls out and we find ourselves feeling far removed from God and wonder how did I ever get here? And the answer that we don’t want to hear…”we” did what we wanted to do.

Enjoying all that God has for us as His children is so easy, all we have to do is consistently do what “He” wants us to do and who wouldn’t want that? Instead of the bottom falling out we find ourselves standing secure on the Solid Rock and regardless of the circumstances around us we experience the joy of the Lord. Proverbs 22:17 “Apply your heart to my knowledge.”

“New” has so many contentions and layers of meaning. So many times in our pursuit for something new we discard that which is very precious and foundational to life, like God’s principles and precepts. In doing so, the “new” no matter how shining and lustrous it may be will not provide what we are looking for…it may make all kinds of wonderful promises only to leave us discouraged and disillusioned. “Meaningless, meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:2

God understands our desire for “new.” He created us with those pursuits and promised to fulfill those desires when sought His way. Psalms 40:3 “He put a new song in my mouth a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” God has something “new” for us every day!

Let the Word speak for itself – James 3:13-18 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

What wisdom are you pursuing? Heavenly wisdom or earthly wisdom.