Wednesday, July 21, 2004

My renewed passport arrived today. It is finally starting to sink-in, I am going to Uganda. There is a tremendous surge of hunger for God amongst a group of pastors in that country that is really exciting. I am going as part of a crusade team. The team is pretty much constructed from ministers from the Midwest. Really great men. I am going to help with music. I am not sure what will happen, but I do expect God will do great things. I leave the middle of August.

posted by Todd @ 10:38 PM

There are times that I am thoroughly convinced that I have been sown in the whirlwind. Craziness reigns. Fast paced decisions. Schedules packed tight. To-do-lists overflowing with minutiae that will not matter when the items are crossed off the list.

There are a couple of simple truths that anyone working for a church has to learn in order to save sanity.

Learn how to live in the moment.
It is so easy to get caught up planning and looking ahead. In fact, the role of pastoral ministry is to care for the flock and have transmit vision for the church. That in itself requires always looking ahead, thinking ahead, planning ahead. That is a vision thing. The catch-22 for me is I get so caught up in looking ahead I constantly fail to look around and savor the "now" moments.

Work hard, play hard.
I believe that we should give our best in all that we do. Whether it is working in full time ministry or in a secular vocation (or a combo of both), we have to give our best. Work hard, focus hard. What ever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. I believe that.

I also believe that relaxing and recharging is critical to our continued focus in other areas of our lives. The word burnout comes to mind here.

In choosing the words for our church marquee this week, I decided that one side would say; "There is hope for you!" The other side would read, "God never takes a vacation." Incredible isn't it? He never takes a vacation because He never needs one.



posted by Todd @ 3:31 PM