These next few weeks mark 4 milestones:

5 years as a pastor in Nebraska

15 years as a lead pastor 

25 years of pastoral ministry

35 years of teaching the Bible 

It is a great time to be a pastor. The data and the reports on church health and pastoral positions are abysmal, so why say it is great?

1. Jesus is still Lord. In all these milestones I can say God’s faithfulness is what works. The amount of control you have is zero. God being in control means I don’t have to be. 
2. Spirit works wonders. Like Jesus, I can’t say how or why the Spirit does what he does, but the results can be seen. Spirit at work means I listen to him. 
3. The Father is a good father throughout the whole Bible. If anything humanity abuses or take advantage of the Father. He’s not a grumpy curmudgeon. I can trust in his goodness. 
4. The Bible is a profoundly good book and we should treat it as the authority of our lives not an authority. It is brilliantly written and profoundly accessible at the same time. 
5. Jesus rising from the dead changes everything. Pain of now is always temporary with an expiration date secured by an empty tomb. 

So… here are three actions from these milestones to take:

1. Faithfully serve where you are with the abilities you have now. 
2. Develop the life of the mind so you can engage the deep and hard questions of life AND make simple the complexities of it with depth and grace, not platitudes or punchlines.
3. Do the work of the evangelist because it’s a process. Whether you prep the land, sow seed, cultivate, or harvest, all are essential, so play your role while also doing the above 2. 

When the above are no longer true, then perhaps it’ll be a bad time to be a pastor. Because the above are true, it is a great time to show, teach, and point people to God’s glory. I appreciate my perfect pastor’s words:

“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” ~Jesus, John‬ ‭12‬:‭27‬-‭28‬a ‭NLT‬‬