All Saints, 2008

Dear Friends in Jesus Christ our Lord:

One day last week I was having a terrible, rotten, no good, bad day. I did indeed feel as though I’d like to quit, take a leave of absence, resign from the world, or something. --- Then God reminded me of a publication which He had sent me through the mail which contained an article called “Ten reasons not to resign.” It contains a description of how one pastor kept himself (or rather how God helped Him) from jumping ship. Below are the ten reasons with a brief note attached to each:

1. I need to grow in the demands I’m facing rather then find an excuse to cop out. ----It would be a shame to miss the growth God has planned for my life simply because pressures were greater than I had ever felt.

2. I refuse to be guided by my emotions --- There is nothing wrong with “feeling like resigning,” Wise counsellors tell us to listen to our emotions, but not to believe them.

3. My family needs love and stability --- I am first a husband, second a father and third a pastor. I believe God accepts no other order for my life.

4. Building people takes time.  --- God has called me to be a people builder. He can grow squash in three months, but it takes years to build an oak.

5. I want our missionaries to have a sense of permanence in their home church. --- That’s the young people who have left here to serve the Lord who need a sense of tie to their home church.

6. A longer ministry better serves the church and community. ---This opens up opportunities to serve.

7. The support of Lay Ministers and church leaders comes gradually. --- It is not lack of conflict that makes a great church, but how conflict is handled.

8. Our people have been generous with me. --- The generosity has inevitably enriched my own ministry. I never return without receiving more than I gave.

9. I must not avoid confession and forgiveness. --- I make terrible mistakes and sin all the time. I need Christ’s people to forgive me as well.

10. I can trust God and not panic.  --- The Lord has this congregation’s welfare in mind as well as mine and my family.

My own addition to all this is --- Never, never, never, never, ... never and never! give up. If God is for us, who can be against us? It is my prayer that all this will help you.

We are not expected
To germinate the seed,
Jesus said to plant it,
This world’s a field in need.

God does not expect us
To make the seed bear fruit ...
Jesus said to plant it,
And pray that it will root.