Personal Update

Blogging:  My Blogging activity has been slow for the last twelve days.  I don’t have internet capability at home and my time at the office is crammed with other duties that keep me busy.

I will be resuming at a steady pace pretty soon.

House Plans:  Renae and I are still working on house plans.  Just when we thought we had decided on a final floor plan, we noticed some things we didn’t like.  So now, we’re back to the drawing board.  Dang! 

I hope to get this phase done soon.  We’ve got the money to build and can get started immediately… but trying to figure out the floor is a bigger job than I thought it would be.

We have only one chance to get this right, so we want to be careful.

Garden: The deer are doing a number on my fall garden.  I have planted collards 3 times!  It is frustrating to plant a garden (expense, labor) only to see everything eaten overnight! 

I’ve tried a variety of deer scares and nothing works (more than a day or two).  So I finally got around to putting up a fence.  Maybe this will be a deterrent.

My fall garden consists of collards, mustard, turnips, kale, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, radish, and lettuce.  Lot’s of green leafy stuff – cool weather plants.

I’m still collecting fruit trees and will be planting them this fall too.

Fishing:  My efforts at fishing haven’t been as productive this month as I was expecting.  I’m catching fish, but not near as many as I caught this time last year. 

I’m catching a red fish here-and-there, and a few mullet.  It’s been slow.   

Although the temperatures are mild, it’s still warmer than normal for October which (I think) has affected the fall mullet run.

But I’m going to stay at it. 

I love being on the water.

Church Stuff:  I just finished an eleven week sermon series covering a variety of topics.  We gave away more sermon CDs during this sermons than ever before.  That was very surprising to me.

PCC has some gifted teachers who fill-in for me from time-to-time, and I’m looking forward to hearing them soon.

We’re having a FALL PICNIC and CHILI COOKOFF at the end of the month (Wednesday, October 30^th) the night before Halloween.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.  Bring a lawn chair, something to drink, and your best chili.  This will a great opportunity to meet new people and deepen friendships.

Personal:  I’m in the healthiest place I’ve been in a very long time.  I mean physically, spiritually, and mentally.  It’s a good thing.

I talked about some of those things in the two-part message entitled:  Simplify.

I had almost forgotten what it was like to have normal friendships and God has put some amazing people in my life.  Safe people. 

Life is good.

10 Things Every Pastor Should Know (but many don't)

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1.  If you are in the ministry as a career, get out now.  Yep, I’ve actually heard ministers refer to pastoring as a career.  Got out if that’s what you believe.  First of all, as a minister of the gospel, you don’t have a career.  You have a calling.  Secondly, put your eyes on the Lord and He will take care of you.

2.  Church is not about you, whether it’s flourishing or dying all around you.  Preach Jesus, know the Word, obey Scripture, love the people.  Get yourself out of the way!  He must increase; you must decrease.  John the Baptist said that – and a few days later he was beheaded.  It’s not your church, it’s His church and He is the builder of it – not you.

3.  The reason some people hate your guts rarely has anything to actually do with you.  Some people are sitting in the congregation angry at God, angry with their jobs, angry with themselves.  When their frustration boils over, they are looking for the easiest target – and God’s spokesperson usually ends up in their sights.  So try not to take everything personally, (which easier said than done and it will be one of the most difficult skills for you to learn).

4.  People will keep making more and more demands of you until you muster up the fortitude to take ownership of your own agenda.  If you don’t plan your schedule, others will plan it for you.

5.  As a pastor, you will always have someone angry with you.  You are asking people to swim upstream in a downstream world, against the current.  You are calling people to obey God – a God they have never seen.  You are insisting that church members be generous givers, urging them to love one another (and the unlovable), and warning them of God’s judgment.

Some people just don’t appreciate being told those things – because they have “itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3) – and would rather be given pious platitudes.  They will remind you of the pastor they had twenty years ago, who was “the sweetest and kindest man ever.”

6.  Your doctorate may impress some people, but as a general rule they’re not the kind of people you want to impress.  Earn your degree(s) for a better reason than this.  I’m all for theological training have the parchment to prove it.  Your degrees will have little to do with the real life world of pastoring.  Ministry in the trenches is much different than the classroom.

7.  If you don’t protect your family, no one else will.  And you will live to regret it.  Do not sacrifice your family on the altar of success or denominational prominence.  It’s not worth it.  Make time for your family every week and protect it as fiercely as you do the Sunday morning hours at church.  Get your kids little league schedule and pencil it in on your calendar, then work all other meetings and events around it.  You will never regret missing a committee meeting, but in short time your kids will be grown and you’ll be glad you got this one right.

8.  Granted, you don’t pray very well.  No one does.  Pray anyway.  “We don’t know how to pray as we should” (Romans 8:26).  But don’t let that stop you.  The Holy Spirit makes up the gap.  Besides, this is how you stay in touch with the Lord.

9.  Pastors are mood-setters for the congregation.  This is why I believe pastors should serve as hosts of the worship service on Sunday (and not just bring a sermon at the appointed time).  By his joy, the victory he enjoys in Christ, and his love for people, he can make a world of difference in how people worship.

10.  There are times to leave the office (pastors study) and have coffee with the staff – and anyone else in the membership – in a relaxed atmosphere.  This is every bit as important as anything else in your (and their) day.  Laugh with them.  Listen to their stories of children and grandchildren, how they dealt with a crank neighbor, what happened at work the other day.  When you get back to the study, you will have several sermon illustrations and be forever bonded with those terrific people.

Services This Weekend at PCC - Tropical Storm Karen

1.  Right now our area is under a Hurricane “watch.”  However, if a Tropical Strom “warning” or Hurricane “warning” is issued for our area, all services and activities at PCC are cancelled.

2.  In either scenario the roads will be hazardous for travel, and we are likely to lose power in the church building.  Stay home and be safe.

3.  In the event the storm misses our area and we remain on a “watch” status by Sunday morning, the church doors will be open for worship.

4.  Use your own judgment.

5. Help pass the word along.



What I Woudl Do Differently

I have been in the minsitry for more than half my life, and have learn some valuable lessons along the way - most in the school of hard knocks.  If I were to advise a new pastor who was beginning his ministry today, here’s what I would suggest:

1.  Quit living and dying by the numbers each Sunday.  Yes, numbers count because every number represents a person for whom Jesus died.  But numbers can be torturous too. Live by the numbers, pastor, and you will die by them.

2.  Turn over more responsibility to key people, empower them, and then support them before the congregation.  And when some of the members begin whining because “We want the pastor, not an assistant” I would tell them to get over it, and have the strength to stick to the plan.

I’m sorry I let myself be manipulated by people who insisted I be the one to show up at their events or was the one they preferred to visit their hospital room, etc, even though plenty of others were just as qualified as me.  It ran me ragged and the church suffered for it.

3.  Reserve the morning hours for secluded study of God’s Word and sermon preparation.  Even if it means staying home during these hours, I would do it.  There are too many distractions, interruptions, phone calls, or walk-ins that will throw you off.  Pastors are under a seven-day deadline every single week to deliver another message.  The pressure of doing this week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after-year, is something most people do not experience in their line of work, so they won’t understand.  Doesn’t matter.  Do it anyway.  Your pulpit ministry will be much better.

Early in my ministry I spent too much time visiting hospitals, attending denominational meetings, or keeping morning appointments so I could check those tasks off the list and then have the rest of the day for other things.  Consequently, I was always behind on sermon preparation and found myself burning the midnight oil on Friday or Saturday night too often.  And my pulpit ministry suffered for it.

4.  I would not do any counseling.  Early in my ministry people would call me for counseling appointments, to which I gladly agreed.  Those time-slots would crowd out everything else on the calendar that day.  When word got out that I was a “counseling preacher” I was inundated with counseling appointments – sometimes three or four a day.  That’s more than any professional counselor schedules in his/her workday (not to mention they charge $75-$100 an hour)!

Of course, these appointments were in addition to all of my regular pastoral duties and personal responsibilities to my family.  When I dragged home for dinner in the evening, I had no energy for anything but sleep.

I eventually figured out that it is better to say no to most counseling appointments or refer them to professionals (who are much better at it than I am) even if it means being criticized.  The reasons far outweigh the consequences.

5.  I would be more straightforward and a little less “the nice guy” to church bullies or squeaky wheels who always expect to get their way in the church.  Every church has a few bullies.  Early in my ministry I was intimidated by them.  By the time I planted PCC I was seasoned enough to know how deal with them.  It’s why I am still here and they are not.

6.  Take better care of yourself and your family.  Put your family first, before church work.  Most pastors do not intentionally neglect their spouse and children.  Rather, they are trying as hard as they can to serve God by “fulfilling the ministry” (Colossians 4:17) to which they have been called.  But somewhere along the way, that’s exactly what they do – neglect their families by doing too much church work.

To enter the ministry is to live in a world of unfinished tasks, with more work to be done, and more people to be helped.  When you drop your head on the pillow at night, you can always think of more things that need to be done, people who still need a call, sermons to prepare, and projects that need attention.

That’s the real-world life of a pastor, and if you are not careful your wife and children will get the dregs of your time, the leftovers of your attention, and the last of your energies.

So here’s my advice.  Build some margin into your schedule.  Take more time off.  Don’t work so many evenings or after-hours.  Attend fewer meetings.  Take longer vacations.  Go camping, fishing, hiking, whatever. 

And have a life outside of church-life.

Pictures



Road Trip a few weeks ago.




Made these raised beds the other day.  Garden is now ready for fall planting.



Orchard - Fruit trees, grape vine on trellis, and blueberry bushes.

This Sunday's Sermon

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This Sunday's message is:  WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT

I think you'll want to hear this one.  It's going to be a real eye-opener for sure, and will take many people by surprise.

This is a message about marriage, what to do when life runs dry, and God's conern for the little things that are important to us.

And oh yea, it's about wine too.  Some people really hate this aspect about Jesus. :-)

Update

Renae and I have settled-in to our new living arrangements.  It’s comfortable and we’re enjoying the stay with my mother.

We finally got our house plans submitted to a draftsman.  We sketched out the floor plan ourselves, but now it’s up to the draftsman to make the official plans and get the engineering done.  Once that is completed, we can submit them to the county permit office for approval and pull our permits.

We are very pleased with the floor plan we’ve designed.  It’s tailored specifically for the two of us.

We’ve put most of the emphasis in the kitchen area and the master suite – the two areas where we spend most of our time.

Plus, we will have a front porch (actually a corner porch that wraps around two sides) and a Florida room on the back.  We spend as much time outdoors as we do inside, so this will be a nice feature for us.

The house will only be a two bedroom.  We’ve put the square footage in the kitchen, master suit, and porches.

The extra bedroom will be enough for overnight guests, such as the grandchildren to spend the night, but will prevent anyone from moving in with us long term. 

Smiley face goes here.

I’ve been practicing with my cast nets the last few weeks and have gotten a lot better.  I am ready to do some serious mullet fishing.

Red Snapper season opens next week.  I hope to catch a few of those too.  They are some of the best fish you can eat (besides fresh mullet, of course).

During the month of October I plan to go fishing as much as possible. 

October is a good time to fish – the temperatures are mild, the water clears up and gets oxygenated, and the fish are very active!  The inshore waters are teeming with life.  It’s amazing to see.

I’ve seen more porpoises in the last couple of years (in the local waters) than I have ever seen in my life around here.  It’s exciting to see them feeding on mullet.

I might make an attempt at shrimping too.

Low Country Boil – that’s what’s in my future.

This weekend I will begin planting my fall garden.  Lot’s of greens: mustard, collards, turnips, kale, lettuce, and cabbage. 

Might try carrots again.  I did real good with them last year.

I still don’t have internet at home, so adding new posts to my blog is still slow. 

Right now it’s Thursday, 4:10 p.m. and I’ve just finished my work, so I can take the time to write from the office.

When I get an internet connect at home, my blogging activity will resume its normal pace – about 4-5 postings each week.

Thanks for staying in touch.



Catch Up

Phillip Polk last Sunday

It has been 2 weeks since I last posted on this blog.  The reason is because I’ve bee too busy.  We sold our home, had to move, set up house in a new location, and don’t have internet access yet.

All of my internet activity is from the office – which I limit until all my work is done.

Right now it’s 3:15 p.m. (at the office) on Thursday.  Finally got my head above water so I thought I’d do a quick catch-up.

Phillip Polk preached for us last Sunday and did a good job.  Really enjoyed hearing him and was very pleased with his delivery, content, transparency, and closing.

I’ll be preaching this Sunday.

I feel fortunate that PCC has so many gifted communicators to fill the pulpit from time-to-time.  Not only does it give me a break (so that I have time to give attention to other responsibilities), but it exposes our church family to more than one perspective on the Christian life.

The big one that got away.

Good things are happening at our church.  Many of them are visible, many not-so-visible.

God is always doing stuff… good stuff.

Renae and I went fishing several days ago.  I caught a large Redfish, but it flipped out of my hand and fell back into the water.  Dang!  I think the fish was about 24-28 inches in length, but I’ll never know for sure.

Planting a fall garden is just around the corner.  Can’t wait. 

I love to garden.  It’s exciting to plant a seed, work the soil, and see that seed grow into a beautiful plant that produces something my family and I can eat.  And the best part is, I like being outdoors and picking everything that I need for a meal from my own garden and bringing it to the table.

It’s satisfying to know I can grow food that is better than anything I can buy at the grocery store or eat in a restaurant.

We are very anxious to get started on our new home too.  I will post pictures (or video) of every phase of the building process.

Friday Factoids

Five Jack Russells being moved yesterday

Renae and I are completely out of our house.  The final papers  will be signed this afternoon about 3:00 p.m.

The picture at the right is my five Jack Russell Terries being moved.

Some people thought it was pretty red neck.

More like Sanford & Sons.

Can't wait to haul this outfit to Scheppersville.  :-)

Now begins the next phase.

We’re staying with my mother for a couple of months – until we get our new house plans finalized and the permits pulled.  At that time, we will move to our property and begin construction on the new home.

I will be looking for sub-contractors soon (and will compile a list of names and phone numbers).  If you can recommend any to me, let me know.

It’s a bit stressful to be displaced.  Most of our belongings are in storage, and the rest is packed in boxes.  It’s hard to find anything.

I might have to wear Bermuda shorts and flip flops to church this Sunday.

Hope to get a fall garden planted in the next couple of weeks. 

This year I will plant collards, mustard greens, and carrots.  Maybe kale & turnips again.  (Kale is a super food).

Also plan to try my hand at cabbage, lettuce, and broccoli.

I really love fall gardens – the air is cool and the ground is warm enough to germinate seeds (unlike it is in early spring).

Fall gardening is rewarding for another reason – it’s a second-season planting.

I’m also looking forward to falling fishing.  Last year about this time I caught a lot of fish; mullet and speckled trout in the month of October.

This fall I’m going to try my hand at shrimping.  Think I have figured out how to do it.

Low-country boil… that’s what I’m talking about.

This Sunday at PCC is going to be exceptional. 

Invite a friend, then take them out to lunch afterwards.

Sunday Mind Dump - September 1, 2013

We had an exceptional service today. 

Attendance was slightly off due to the holiday weekend (at least 12 families I know of were traveling, camping, etc), but a lot of visitors helped fill the gap.

The song service was powerful.  Really enjoyed the songs.

Renae Jones, Sandra Brooks, and Philip Polk nailed the offertory: How Great Thou Art.

During the message you could’ve heard a pin drop.

We looked at the story of Martha & Mary when Jesus visited their home.

Next Sunday I will finish the message.

The following Sunday (Sept 15) we will have a guest speaker that day.

Personal Stuff…

Me and Renae are almost finished with moving.  Our house is virtually empty – we are down to two chairs, one TV, and a mattress on the floor. 

We have to be out on Tuesday; and will close the sale of our house on Wednesday.

Tomorrow (Monday) will be the final moving day.

Also tomorrow our Mediacom and internet is being turned off, so I will be unplugged for a few days.

I should be posting again by mid-week.  Keep checking back.

The moving process and displacement has been a little stressful, but we are very excited about building a new home.

Thanks for being at church today. 

Blessings.