I received an email from an Internet friend via my other ministry site (www.mustardseedministry.com) asking me how I determine if what I am doing is within the plans God has for me.  Here’s my quick reply to him for knowing you are within God’s plans for your life: 

1.     Does what you are doing (or planning to do) conflict with Scripture?

God’s will never will.

2.     Does what you are doing conflict with the counsel of others?  

God uses others to confirm His will.  (Don’t be confused though, because sometimes God calls us to go against the grain of life and walk by faith when everyone is saying we are crazy.  See Noah about that one.)

3.     Does what you are doing conflict with the spirit within you?  

God has sent His Holy Spirit as a helper.  He will guide us with an inner peace or a holy unrest.  

4.     Does what you are doing conflict with your life experience?  

God uses our experiences in life to teach us and mold us to His will.  Again, don’t be confused, because He usually stretches us out of our comfort zone also. 

5.     Does what you are doing conflict with your passion for life?  

God tends to work with the things that fuel our fire.  He loves when we are energized for the tasks He calls us to. 

Try those 5 together and see how they line up with your plans.  

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? 1 Corinthians 9:11-12 NIV  
 
Your pastor needs to be supported financially. He should not have to worry about how he is going to feed his family.    (I am thankful to have planted a church that believes in supporting its pastors.)
 
I haven’t met any strong, Biblical pastors who don’t realize that the ministry is a sacrifice. Most pastors don’t expect to be wealthy. Most pastors know that the ministry is a life of faith, even in the area of finances. They shouldn’t, however, have to beg for support. The burden of support should be on those receiving the ministry.   
    
Now I fully realize that there are those who take advantage of the ministry and the generosity of others, but God will deal with those, and, I believe, He will do so severely. The principle and reasoning here though is much as we saw in Part 1 of this series. The pastor needs to be free of concerns which will keep him from properly focusing on the powerful delivery of God’s Word. His primary function according to Scripture is “to equip the saints”.  He will never do this effectively if he is worried about paying his light bill or providing for an education for his children.  
    
How is your pastor being treated financially? Is he comfortable? Is he able to concentrate on what God has called him to do? Is there some tangible way you could express your love and appreciation to your pastor?

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Acts 6:2 NIV  
 
I want to share five things the church can and should give to its pastor in some posts over the next few days. A pastor is to shepherd and oversee the work of God in a local church. (For the purposes of this series I will use the masculine form. This is not an endorsement or a criticism of female pastoral authority. That is not the intent of this series it just makes writing easier.) Please prayerfully consider your pastor this week and see if your church is meeting his needs.   
 
The first thing to consider is that your pastor needs time. The pastor needs time away from the ministerial responsibilities and activities of the church so that he can commit time to his family and to the ministry of the Word of God. The early church leaders are not criticizing the ministry of waiting on tables in today’s verse. Every activity done in the church is important, according to God’s Word. They are simply pointing out that their primary responsibility is to teach God’s Word to the people.   
 
I have witnessed too many pastors who burn out in their work, because too many demands are placed upon them. If there is a social or an activity in the church or among its people, most people expect the pastor to always be there. If someone is sick, the pastor should always make the visit, according to most church members. There is rarely any consideration to the fact that the pastor needs time with his family; and certainly time to prepare the message of God’s Word.   
 
Please, let me share with you from practical experience. If you want your pastor to be prepared to deliver God’s message of the week to you and, if you want his family to be strong enough that he can model family life for you, then give him time alone with God during the week. Make sure he has time to study and for his family. Too many demands on his time will make a very stressed out pastor!

(I hope for those at my church reading this series that they can understand I minister to lots of pastors.  This is not a personal plea. Thanks for being the kind of church that allows me to protect my time.  Grace is a great place!)  

Kudos go out today to fellow church planter Freddy T. Wyatt.  May he and Susan’s example of faith be an encouragement to us all.  The bags and truck are packed and they are on their way to the Big Apple.

Freddy T. and Susan Wyatt recently left a great job at an established church they truly love to help plant churches in New York City.  They left a good salary and benefit package to have to raise tens of thousands of dollars of their own support.   They leave an area of the Bible Belt where people are usually at least open to hearing a faith story to enter a land where they may face as much rejection as they find friendliness.  Their step of faith comes while they have a young, preschool son and Susan is pregnant with twins about to enter this world in a few months.  It’s truly a modern day Hebrews 11 faith example.  You can read more about their story here by checking out their blog NYCMission.  

Their faith challenges me to be even bolder in my own faith, but also reminds me that there are hundreds and thousands of followers of Christ willing to do whatever God calls them to do to advance the Gospel and bring God glory with their lives.  If we want to see a lost world come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, more believers must be willing to take huge leaps of faith.

Do you know people whose faith story has challenged or encouraged you?  (Feel free to pay tribute to them here.) 

A college girl from our church sent me a text the other night saying she was struggling spiritually to find her place.  She spent the summer interning at a church doing inner-city ministry.  Coming home has caused her to face the struggle of trying to know what God wants her to do.  She thought she had her life figured out, but now she thinks God wants more from her.  Her relationship with God feels tough and awkward right now.    

It reminded me of a principle God has taught me over the years that is incredibly important for all believers to understand.  After a period of spiritual highs there will most always be a period of spiritual lows. 

It even happened to Jesus.  Consider His baptism experience:   As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:10-11)  This was certainly a high point for Jesus. 

What happened next?    At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. (Mark 1:12-13) 

The spiritual highs are awesome!  We need them.  They make us more aware of God’s presence and glory in our life.  Just don’t be surprised if the spiritual lows follow.  (That process can, if we allow it to, make us more aware of God’s presence also.) 

I need to share my heart with you about a ministry God continues to bring to me. 

For a couple years I’ve owned the domain name hurtingpastors.org.  Right now it points to the online ministry I’ve had for years called Mustard Seed Ministry.   The decision to purchase this domain, however, was out of a desire to help those who struggle in the ministry; which from my experience is most of us at some point in our career.  Pastors and ministers struggle with burnout, temptations, finances, relationships, conflict, and often just from being in unhealthy church or ministry environments.  Sometimes their pain is mild, but many times the struggles are major and at risk is one of God’s servants.  The Kingdom suffers because the equippers of the saints are unhealthy.  I want to help. 

Pastors who are hurting may need financial advice, counseling, rest, accountability, career advice, wisdom, re-energizing and encouragement and sometimes even correction in a loving way.  When they receive guidance and strength they are able to better serve the Kingdom of God and God gets the glory. 

As with many of the ministries I have been involved with, when you have a passion for something or God places something on your heart, you tend to find opportunities to use the skills God has given you.   It seems like every week I run across another hurting pastor.  The time to act is now. 

Well, with the help of my good friend Tony Hill, who just happens to share my heart in this area of helping pastors, we’ve decided to take another look at this domain name. Over the next few weeks and months we’ll be adding resources to the site and re-launch it.  If you have ideas or know of resources, please let me know.  You can comment here or email me at ron.edmondson@gmail.com. 

Kudos to my son Nate this week; his first major project as student body president of his high school is getting local attention. The publisher of our local newspaper posted a blog about Nate: http://tinyurl.com/565zso.

I’ve said it before, but you need to keep your eyes on Nate. Here is a young leader with a call on his life bigger than most people I know many years older. I wish I had understood life and leadership as well as he does at his age. You can read Nate’s personal blog for more information about him. (Moons from Burma)

The fact is that I have 2 incredible boys you should watch to soar in years to come; both are very different. Nate, the younger, is more organizationally driven. He is so self-motivated and structured that I really just try not to get in his way. Jeremy, the older one, is more relationally driven. He requires more structure and honestly more attention, but he loves people deeply and doesn’t really feel complete unless there are people activities occupying his time. I describe their difference like this; if I wanted a specific task accomplished I would seek Nate’s input. If I wanted someone to visit the hospital or to build a relationship with someone quickly I would send Jeremy.

God has the ability to identify talent before it is even utilized for the Kingdom of God. Throughout Scriptures we see God calling people who others, and even the person being called, thought they were unfit for a particular role.  Consider Paul, Peter, David, Joseph, Noah, Gideon, Esther, Moses, etc.   God recognizes potential others can’t see. 

I want in on that ability.  I think God is seeing that potential in our church today, but He often uses me and leaders like me to find them. 

The question I’m asking in my leadership today and encouraging our staff to be asking is: What is the best way to identify potential superstars early in an organization? 

In doing this I know there are two levels of potential future leaders.  The first group is already leading somewhere, usually in business or community activities.  They just don’t yet know they can use some of their skills and experience in the church.  They are the “Paul’s” of the organization.  The second group has no clue they have any talent.  They are the “Moses’” of the organization.  Both groups have tremendous untapped potential. 

How do we identify them and start using their skills for the Kingdom of God?    I believe answering that question well is a key to taking our organization to the next level and helping it continue to grow. 

Any ideas? 

In a June post I asked the question “What is God Up To with Youth Today?” This morning I received an email from a friend’s son.  This 22 year old recent college graduate is seeking our church as a prayer partner for his mission work over the next two years.  He is going to be a Journeyman with the International Mission Board.  He couldn’t tell me exactly where he would be for security reasons; just that it was in Asian countries in areas that are unfriendly to the Gospel.    

Reading his email this morning made me think.  Would I be willing to step out by faith into an area where I know I’m going to face opposition and possibly danger?  Will I follow God’s leadings in my call to ministry wherever the call leads?  Will I give up personal comforts and safety to attempt to reach people who may not even want to be reached?  Probably more importantly to where I am called today, am I willing to be obedient to God’s voice in my life, here in my city, even on the days where there seems to be more obstacles than opportunities?

I’m very thankful for the passion of today’s youth willing to boldly go where God is moving.  You challenge me!