Tag: ministry

POTD: One Who Really Needs Your Prayers

If there was ever a reason to pray, here’s a good one—especially now. Pray for your Pastor—they’re under enormous pressure to do the right thing for their flock in a time of great uncertainty—where the best information contradicts, making errors inevitable and regret inescapable. No wonder Paul added to his list of sufferings, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” Check this out…

97% of pastors have been falsely accused or hurt by their trusted friends
70% of pastors battle with depression
7,000 churches will close each year
1,500 pastors quit each month
10% will retire a pastor
80% of pastors feel discouraged
94% of pastor’s families feel the pressure of the ministry
78% of pastors have no close friends
90% of pastors report working 55-75 hours per week.
Pray for your Pastor.*

Let’s pray…

*By Victor Marx

A Prayer to Be Like Jesus

Lord help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.
Help me in all the things I do,
To ever be sincerely true,
And know that all I do for you
Must needs be done for others.
Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this, my motto be.
Help me to live for others,
That I might live for thee.
—Author Unknown

Just like Jesus—so it’s what we do.

Go make someone else’s day.

—j

Changing of the Guard

“I don’t need a successor, only willing hands to accept the torch for a new generation. I am just one of many thousands called to be an evangelist.” —Billy Graham

Man of God, man of integrity, counselor to presidents, preacher to peasants, evangelist, prophet, servant of Jesus. He will be missed.

Now it’s your turn.

—j

Jerks for Jesus

“Jacob was a manipulator, Peter was impulsive, John had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sarah was impatient, Elijah was afraid, Jeremiah was depressed, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was short, Abraham was old, Lazarus was dead… God does not call the qualified—He qualifies the called.” —Unknown

What can’t God do through you today? It’s not about your qualifications, it’s about His—and He chose you. On Purpose.

Have a mighty day.

—j

Those Who Dare Greatly

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ―Theodore Roosevelt

God’s blessings, comfort and prayers for Sacramento Sheriff’s Office and the family and friends of Deputy Bob French and the California Highway Patrol.

What Are We Supposed To Do?

“Many years ago I asked the Lord why He called me to ministry and He answered me very clearly. He said, “This is how you will worship Me, and bring Me glory...” —Pastor Roger Ullman

What is your calling? Not sure? What do you love to do that benefits and blesses others? That’s a much easier question to answer. And that’s your calling, and it’s your spiritual gift—given to you to happily give away to others. It’s how we worship God, and it’s how we glorify Him in this messy world.

Give ’em heaven.

—j

Minding the Pain

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” —G.K Chesterton

God has called me to many things, and in light of the fact that I’m not getting any younger, I’m frequently asked how I do it. “Don’t you get tired?” “Where do you find the time?” “Doesn’t it hurt?” As he burned his finger with a smile while extinguishing a match, T.E. Lawerence quipped, “Of course it hurts—the trick is not minding the pain.” For us who follow Jesus, it’s more than not minding—it’s knowing—knowing that the difficulties of living God’s life on earth are grossly offset by the goodness and love others receive from Him because we were willing to take the pain for them to get it.

Go for it. He who called you is faithful and He is able.

—j

What Others Want for Christmas

(Back from Israel and Jordan—you gotta go and I’d love to take you.)

So—what are you spending on others this Christmas?

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved,” said the Apostle Paul. In the same way, go before God’s people this day and spend yourself on them—pour out your all. Be fully spent this day on the people He has entrusted to you. Hold back not a single tear or drop of sweat on their behalf. Lay your whole heart on the line for them and do so with a supreme gladness to be able to do so. They may not respond the way we would like, they may not return the affection—the Corinthians did not to Paul—nonetheless, let us be spent for their souls this day for the glory of God. It is my prayer that this verse could be spoken of me, but also you all today—that we gave our all for the souls of the people of God. The Lord strengthen us in order to do so! —Pastor Jim Suttle

Add that to your list.

(Thanks, Jim.)
—j

Motleyness

Ever feel completely unfit to serve God or people? Good.

“He continually watches the good and the wicked, and as His most holy eyes have not found among sinners any smaller man, nor any more insufficient and sinful, therefore He chose me to accomplish the marvelous work that God hath undertaken; He chose me because He could find none more worthless, and He wishes to confound the nobility and grandeur, the strength, the beauty and the learning of this world. He ignored every popular idea of His day (and ours) about what kind of person could fit the role.  Jesus’ band of disciples was untrained and without influence—a motley group for world change.” —Oswald Chambers

What will He do through you?
What can’t He do…?

—Motley Jay

Well Done, Guys

God wants heaven filled, and its radiant population continues to grow. Last Monday it gained Pastor Douglas Mark, known to me as “Dougie”. I knew him all of five hours on earth though it feels like we were lifelong friends. As he prepared for his graduation, he wrote some lyrics in his prayer diary, which were read to him as he stepped into glory…

‘Just think of stepping on shore—And finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand—And finding it’s God’s!
Of breathing new air—And finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory—And finding it Home!’

Welcome home, Dougie…and Jack…and Roger—faithful shepherds of God’s flock; servants of Jesus.

Well done, guys.

—j