No one wakes up in the morning and says, “Oh, what a beautiful day, I think I will go out and have an affair”. I can’t remember whose pen I read that from but it stuck. I can recite a long (too long) list of friends, colleagues, and fellow members of my clergy club (PCA) that woke up one morning though and did have an affair. And the thing is, today its not just physical, now its digital. The truth is still the same though, that decision didn’t “just happen”. Another truth is present: You are not immune to this. Neither am I. Steve has often said, “There is no sin of which I am not capable of committing” (or something very close to it).

We’ve been exploring Archibald Hart’s thoughts on the Four Risk factors of ministry life from an article he published, “Time To Get A Life”. The risk factors he had found peculiar to pastors involve Aloneness, Arrogance, Addiction and Adultery.

Hart notes, “After awhile, the pleasure center in the brain that controls all of this [ministry success or activity] can no longer be satisfied with ordinary achievements, so this risk develops: Adultery. You don’t see this spoken of so much in the secular world, because adultery is so commonplace and doesn’t mean anything. But in our Christian subculture, . . . pastors can no longer derive any pleasure from anything they are doing. The only thing left is the sexual impropriety. I’ve seen sexual impropriety in two categories of pastors: at one end, those who have struggled and failed a lot, who then turn to sexual immorality to make them feel better and, at the highly successful end of the spectrum, those for whom great success no longer brings pleasure. At both those ends, there is a risk of which pastors need to be aware, and take measures to protect themselves. And I’m not talking about pastors who are not living godly lives, who aren’t sincere in their spirituality!”

Sam was working on his second church-planting project. He was married with a family and the work was going fairly successfully. He told me his sad story one day over lunch. He started playing on the web (surfing sites)…then met someone in a chat room. The long and short of his saga was that he finally believed the lie being whispered in his ear… “ You are not a very good Christian or a good pastor; this isn’t real, God is withholding something better from you; your wife is not enough…blah, blah, lie, lie, blah”. One day, that one morning he did get up and say, today’s the day. He rented a U-Haul, packed his stuff, sat his wife and kids down and said, “I am leaving. I can’t do this anymore.” His wife was shocked, his kids devastated. He called the church leadership team as he pulled out of town. Tears filled my eyes as he related to me his story.

“The lips of an adulteress drip honey and her words are smooth; but in the end she is bitter as vinegar, sharp as a double bladed knife. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. At the window of my house I looked out and noticed a man who lacked judgment. He was surfing places on the web that were dangerous, getting close the edge, during the night when his wife was asleep. On came a flashing notice, or an email invitation from a woman dressed provocatively, with obvious intentions. She took hold of him and invited him in to look around and enjoy himself. She said, ‘Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! No one will ever know. No one will have to find out.’ With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk and pretty looks. At once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer in the sights of the hunter, till the arrow pierces his liver…little knowing it will cost him his life . . . Listen to me; pay attention. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her house is a highway to death!” (Tom’s loose paraphrase of Proverbs 6 & 7).

What is the answer? Most of the messages I heard on this subject are more or less rules based. Set up better accountability and “Don’t look at pictures of naked people” type exhortations. The Gospel of grace is better than that folks.

Thomas Chalmers wrote an article, The Expulsive Power of a Greater Affection”.

“It is thus that the boy ceases at length to be a slave of his appetite, but it is because a more mature taste has brought it into subordination. The youth ceases to idolize sensual pleasure, but it is because the idol of wealth has gotten the ascendancy. Even the love of money can cease to have mastery over the heart because it is drawn into the whirl of [ideology] and now he is lorded over by a love of power. But there is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object. Its desire for one particular object is conquered—but its desire to have some object is unconquerable. The object of the gospel is both to pacify the sinner’s conscience and to purify the heart, and it is of importance to observe that what mars the one of these objects mars the other also. The best way of casting out an impure affection is to admit a pure one…the only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one… it is only when admitted into the number of god’s children through faith in Jesus Christ, that the spirit of adoption is poured out on us– it is then that the heart…is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires…” (Thomas Chalmers 1830).

If the gospel doesn’t take your breath away something else will.

Sam concluded our lunch with the rest of his story. “After several months I realized that I had been a miserable Christian but I was a worse pagan”. I called my wife and asked her if I could come home and begin the work of restoration. She said yes. Christ was the beauty his heart was really seeking and the joy his inner being wanted.

We are exploring Archibald Hart’s thoughts on the Four Risk factors of ministry life from an article he published, “Time To Get A Life”. The risk factors he had found peculiar to pastors involve Aloneness, Arrogance, Addiction and Adultery.

We all agree that being a pastor (or an assistant pastor, a youth pastor, a spiritual formation pastor, even a pastor to pastors) can be—doesn’t have to be but it can be—a place of aloneness. I hope that the emerging leaders, new younger pastors who have a proclivity toward community, will break free of the loneliness so many of their predecessors have known. Me included.

Hart observes in the spiral down what is birthed out of aloneness: “You develop a certain Arrogance. Who can teach me anything? You stop being accountable to anyone”. You start thinking, “I’m the one people turn to for answers. People come to see me with their most intimate problems and ask for guidance. When they are hurting, suffering, wandering, dying, struggling or hungry to learn, they come to me”. That is quite a gig. In your little corner of the world, you are the “Bible answer man”. You are the one who has “Mastered Divinity”.

I remember a story of the guy who went to the Doctor and told him his car was broken down. The doctor told him to go see a mechanic. He went to his mechanic and told him that he was having a problem with pain in his right arm and the mechanic told him to see a doctor. He went by his church and saw his pastor and said my car is broken down and my right arm hurts and the pastor said, “Come into my study and let’s talk about it”. It is hard to be a humble servant of the Lord when people see us as the one who is strong, smart, witty and wise.

I love Steve’s open, honest vulnerability in his recent vid! He is teaching at the Billy Graham Center and asked for our prayer because he said, “I’d like to say I don’t want to bring shame on the name of Christ and I want to be faithful to the truth…but most of it is I don’t want to make a fool of myself at the Billy Graham Training Center.” Oh if we could be that honest with ourselves and with others. There is a total lack of arrogance.

Hart says we arrogantly are no longer accountable to anyone. I confess I have not joined the ‘accountability group’ band wagon, where you get a group together and confess your failures and struggles (maybe it is my pride). Most groups don’t have any accountability to them. Accountability implies consequence and there is little consequence in those groups. Instead it descended into a group version of a catholic confessional. “Say three hail Mary’s, stop doing it, and try harder this week”.

I am accountable to my presbytery for my theology and my moral life. I’m accountable to those men because if I have moral failure or my theology gets twisted, they can do something about it and I have seen them use their “something” on others. I am accountable to my loving wife, Rachel. There is consequence to the relationship. And she is accountable to me too. I am accountable to my Board of Directors. I have accountability.

However, I think it is wise to have other relationships that help with our personal, spiritual and missional lives. In our forthcoming book, Gospel Coach, (Zondervan 2012—Steve Brown has written the forward), Scott Thomas (President of Acts 29 Network) wrote a section on five basic foundations for good accountability:

1. Focus on the Gospel and your responding to the grace of God. It is the love of Christ demonstrated through His death and resurrection that controls us (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
2. Find people of your same gender who have regular contact with you and can observe your life closely.
3. Find people who are not employed by you or under your direct authority. Sometimes silence on their part means not getting fired. It is acceptable to supplement your accountability with people under your supervision, but they cannot be the only ones who are holding you accountable.
4. Tell them you may lie to them on purpose occasionally to test whether they will press you for an accurate answer to their questions. Someone asked me how I would know if an accountability team was actually working for their benefit. I told him to lie to them and see if they press anyway. If a person can lie to their accountability team, it is of no value or protection to them. The point of this is not to cultivate a habit of lying, it’s to train your accountability partners to ask hard questions and to be relentless about their receiving an accurate answer, even if they question your honesty. Ultimately, you do this because you value honesty and are deeply aware of your own capacity for sinful deception.
5. Utilize questions that are not the same every week and find questions that examine sins in our head and our heart and not just in our hands.

Lastly, I want to suggest one sure fire way to deal with our arrogance. Gospel motivated Prayer. A pastor friend of mine who had been used by God to plant several churches, lead hundreds of people to Christ, preached thousands of wonderful sermons, led a pastoral care network and taught seminars around the country, crashed and burned in ministry. I never saw it coming. A total blindside. When asked, so how did you end up here, his reply was simple. “I stopped praying”.

A praying life keeps us humble and away from arrogance. Getting back to prayer, we recognize that we cannot do this. And we know we are heard because Jesus, in the Garden, prayed the prayer we struggle to pray—“Father, not my will but your will be done.” To help you with your prayer life, read Steve’s book, Approaching God and check out www.prayercurrent.com.

Dr. Archibald Hart, professor at Fuller Seminary, “is best known for his research on the hazards of ministry, depression, anxiety, divorce, stress, and sexuality”(from Fuller’s website). In an article, “Time To Get A Life”, written for pastors, he offered what he considered Risk factors for ministry life. Allow me to let his pen inform us of

“The Four Risks…”

1. You develop a certain Aloneness. You have no peer, so you become a loner.

2. You develop a certain Arrogance. “Who can teach me anything? I’m the one that’s been successful.” You stop being accountable to anyone.

3. The third step downwards is that you develop an Addiction to being successful. Your body adapts to that level, so you’ve got to up the ante, start new projects. You’ve become so addicted to the physical pleasure associated with new things that you have to keep starting new things and being successful in them. You’re now in a chase-your-tail kind of cycle.

4. After awhile, the pleasure center in the brain that controls all of this can no longer be satisfied with ordinary achievements, so this risk develops: Adultery. You don’t see this spoken of so much in the secular world, because adultery is so commonplace and doesn’t mean anything. But in our Christian subculture, highly successful pastors can no longer derive any pleasure from anything they are doing. The only thing left is the sexual impropriety.

Briefly, as you read those, I suspect some of you might have agreed with his risk factors, some thought of a friend who you know who is or has been down that road, or others of you dismissed it because you thought, “I would never do that”.

So let me ask—How alone do you feel in ministry? Really? The pastoral life is a lonely life. No matter how much you want to be close to your key leaders or staff or other local pastors, it is very risky to allow yourself to be really known and to really know others.

When I was a younger pastor planting a new church, I began attending a monthly pastor’s luncheon—the city’s “Clergy Association”. Ben was one of the pastors in the group. He had been in the city for about twenty years, had a stable church with about 300 members. I was new in the city with a newly launched church half his size. I asked Ben about his longevity. He said, “I gave up really caring about who came and who didn’t. Most people are only around for about 3-5 years and it became too painful to really care about getting involved in their lives.” He was a busy pastor and he was alone.

It is our part of our default to protect ourselves…not just in ministry life, but all of us who have been affected by the fall, whether pastors or not, to not want be known. People may say they want community and relationships, but not the kind that involves prying beneath the masks. It is risky. And being a pastor, well you open yourself up for “Mobbing” (read Vensel’s blog on mobbing). You know the score.

Does the Gospel of grace have anything to say to this? Yes, Courage flows from the Gospel embraced!

So, Remember the Gospel:
You are completely forgiven—you have nothing to hide.
You are perfectly righteous in Jesus—you have nothing to prove.
You are eternally loved—you have nothing to fear.
Rely on the Holy Spirit to lead you and to provide for you!

Next time, I want to explore the Arrogance…

Till then, may I remind you of my favorite SB quote? “Your sin is not a hindrance to the work of Christ in your life, it’s the reason He’s at work in your life”.

According dictionary.com a Sabbatical is any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

In the Older Testament the idea of taking time off for Sabbath resting every seven years is found in their agriculture (the fields were to have a land Sabbath every seven years in order to rejuvenate and regain its strength), debt was cancelled every seven years and also in the release of indentured slaves (they were to be released on the seventh year). It seems that the idea of those in ministry needing some type of Sabbatical every seven years might be a good thing!

I have never taken a Sabbatical. I “Mastered the Divine” in 1984, and with my denomination’s blessing went out and planted a church. After that season, I went to plant another church. Neither pastorate offered nor did I ask for an extended period of leave for rest or training. And besides, raising three young kids made taking an extended period of leave out of the question. So I have worked steady for last twenty-seven years. Eleven years ago, I took on a new role with an established church planting and seminary ministry. Within three years they closed their doors. There was never an opportunity for an extended period of leave with them!

It was at the Pooped Pastor’s conference that I first heard Dan Allender talk about becoming president of Mars Hill Grad School. He said he did not want to be the President, but no one else would do it. I remembered then I have always wanted to be President of something again (I was president of my senior class in high school, but since then, well churches do not have Presidents), so I began Church Multiplication Ministries and became President! One would think that being President I would be able to take a Sabbatical whenever I wanted. Wrong. Launching a new ministry, working to get clients, taking care of clients, and being responsible for payroll to the employees does not allow for much margin for extended leave.

However, since this is the seventh year of CMM, our Board of Directors approved a six-week sabbatical, beginning in mid June and ending July 31 (I love our Board and they will get extra credit in heaven for their service and for allowing me to take a Sabbatical). According to the “Sabbatical Coach”, sabbaticals are taken for one of four reasons:

1. Exploring Self and Purpose- re-evaluate life purpose and meaning.
2. Changing Track- knowing your current career is ending you look for way to pursue a new way of life.
3. Rejuvenation—because you see your work as a vocation and are driven, prone to overwork, and a sabbatical is a way to find rest and renewal.
4. Escape—an opportunity to experience autonomy, freedom and adventure away from work and regular responsibilities.

Perhaps you are so pooped that you are thinking about leaving the pastoral life. Perhaps you need to explore your calling again. Or maybe it’s to change tracks and move into another role. Steve told the entire gathering of ministers in his denomination, just after he left his last pastorate, “Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, I am not a pastor anymore!” But his role with Key Life has multiplied his wisdom, teaching and leadership! Your ‘poopedness’ may be the sign its time for an extended leave.

For me, I wasn’t looking for myself. I already know who I am. I know my strengths as well as my weaknesses—and my calling and my position in Christ. The Gospel of Grace is continually working itself in me daily. I wasn’t thinking at all about changing tracks.

William Gladstone said, “He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who, from among the things he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.”

CMM is doing incredible stuff for empowering leaders to multiply gospel-saturated churches and church planting networks. In fact, we are encouraging leaders to not simply start a church…but to start a church-planting network!

I didn’t want to escape (Ok, maybe a little). Rejuvenation was my aim. I am a workaholic. That is not a virtue it’s a sin! It is non-gospel living. It is believing the lie of the serpent that I cannot trust the good will of God and I must take matters into my own hands (to quote Luther). I knew I needed to find rest and renewal in the Gospel.

Here are some suggestions for how not to take a Sabbatical designed for Rest and Renewal. No matter how much you love your family, do not plan a multi-family vacation in one house with siblings, nieces, nephews, kids, grandkids, in-laws, and planned time with their grandparents. There is no rest and rejuvenation to be found.
I would also suggest that you do not spend four days finishing a writing project with a due date. If you are smart, you will not sneak in a three-day assessment of church planting candidates. Even though I love church planters, and love being with men and women who want to become missionaries to our nation, it does not lend itself to the margin needed. You would probably already surmise that preaching for friends who are on vacation also is not really taking “leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest”. That should be a no brainer! And one other thing: do not promise your wife you will not answer email or texts (or maybe you should promise her) but don’t’ take your computer or iPhone with you!

I hope that if you are in or past your seventh year of ministry life and haven’t taken an extended leave, that you will look for the opportunity to take some form of Sabbatical that you will approach your adjudicatory and ask. Be smarter than me! Believe the Gospel and take a real Sabbatical! Jesus is the True Sabbath rest for your life. If you have taken a Sabbatical, I’d love for you to share with others your successes and advice!

What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
I suspect it was very illegal and even your mother doesn’t know.

Who do you think of when you think of a dangerous person?
Besides Steve Brown or Dan Allender.

Who do you think was the most dangerous person who has ever lived?

Why do we equate danger with evil?

I would like to suggest that what is championed today in most churches is a neutered Christianity. Many pastors, church leaders and members are encouraged to be very nice to others, to our neighbors, and to our critics. Our missional endeavors are outreaches to ‘bless the city’, not to cause a stir. Wouldn’t you agree?

In Acts 19, the church planting pastor Paul went to Ephesus, in what is present day Turkey. (I hope to get there one day). It was a commercial center of the day, filled with trade, bars, businesses, and one of the largest theaters in world. They boasted a large library as well as hosting a regional bank. Ephesus was the marketplace for all of Asia…a world renowned city and melting pot of many cultures. It was a cosmopolitan city, filled with artists, musicians, poets, and actors. People came to Ephesus to use the city for business, to get rich, for sex, to buy and sell slaves and make a life for themselves. It was capital of the world’s slave trade until 100 AD.

But it was most famous for the large Temple to Artemis—“One of the Seven Wonders of the World”—Artemis was a fertility goddess and prostitutes worked out of that temple—it was an economic engine; think of the tourists, the food, lodging, and souvenirs (Artemis carvings & statues)…all the visiting worshipers spent loads of cash in the city.
In addition to the Temple, sorcery was very much a part of the life in Ephesus. The practice of black arts and magicians who were famous for writing Ephesians’ letters—where they cast spells and charms for everything (offering safety, barrenness, business success, love potions).

Ephesus also had its orthodox, traditional religious people, with a small Jewish synagogue. It seemed to pose no danger to the Temple of Artemis or the way of life in such a world class city.

But the Gospel was slowly being shared by Paul and his companions. He wasn’t holding large evangelistic campaigns, but he was teaching the gospel to people. And people’s lives were being radically changed by the Gospel. In fact an outpouring of God’s work was so dramatic, that a significant number of people turned away from the black arts, and the worship of Artemis to Jesus Christ.

And a business owner felt it. The guy made little statues, for the souvenir shops around the Temple. He was a businessman making a good life. and obviously what Paul was doing made a dent in his bottom line.

So he gathered the other business owners and sex traffickers together and said:

“Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is a Danger not only to our trade…but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and the goddess herself will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

As Luke the historian unfolds the continued work of Jesus in the world, wherever the work of the Gospel goes, it is opposed. Wherever you see Kingdom advancement, Evil counterattacks. Whether its through persecution, racism, criticism, violent threats, attacks, money/corruption, or false teaching… Paul said he lived in danger!

But here, the businessman Demetrius, says this is dangerous! This man Demetrius hit it. The Gospel intends to transform societies. To release the enslaved. To heal the wounded. To dethrone idols. To show the Glory of God as the greatest thing in the universe.

Here is the call—it’s a call to Dangerous Christianity. The Gospel is dangerous! Indeed, our freedom is scandalous, as it confronts and transforms lives—making us a danger!

Will you go there?

Missionary Jim Elliot, who was killed by the very people he had gone to tell the Gospel story wrote in his journal, “Father make me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to a decision. Let me not be a mile post on a single road. Make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.”

So what was the most dangerous thing you have done?

I’ve known all kinds of men and women who were leaders, emerging leaders, key leaders, who put their lives into the shredder. Wasted it. The acted dangerously stupid. Some were pooped because they no longer had a fight in them. Some were angry. Some were exhausted and looked for a weird way to find comfort.

Sometimes it was a moment mistake, but all leadership leverage was gone. Sometimes they just jumped into it and shredded their lives…lost all influence with their spouse, kids, people in marketplace, friends, employees…gone. They were a danger, but the wrong kind of danger. However, there is a gospel Danger and I invite you to find it.

In the movie Braveheart, there is a terrific scene where the Scottish army, under William Wallace, is soundly defeated at Falkirk because of the treachery of one of the main Scottish Lords, Robert the Bruce. His father had worked out an arrangement with the King of England, Edward Longshanks.

The “Bruce” is horrified at what he has done, and goes to see his father who is in hiding because of his leprosy.

His father said, “It’s what had to be done, to protect the future of the family, increase your lands, and in time, you will have all the power in Scotland.”

Robert the Bruce replies, “Lands, men, titles, power, nothing.” “Nothing?” his father incredulously responds. “Yes, I have nothing,” Robert shouts back. “Men fight for me because if they don’t I throw them off my lands, starve their wives and their children.”

Why do I keep on keeping on with Jesus?

Jesus told a story about a nobleman who went to be crowned king. As he was leaving he gave 10 of his servants 3 months wages and told them to put the money to work. One of the men gave the full wages back when it was payment time. He said, “I kept it hidden because I was afraid of you—you are a hard man. You take what you didn’t give and you reap what you didn’t sow.” Wow. That’s really honest isn’t it?

Do I serve God out of fear that he will “throw me off his land, and starve my wife and children.” I totally have enough faith to believe that God can take it all away. Every bit of it. “I knew you were a hard man…you take…”

But that is not very Gospel is it? Of course God loves me. He sent Jesus… “He who spared not His own Son, will He not also give us all things?”

So it really is the fight of Faith isn’t it? The Fight to believe in God’s promise and God’s love. To live as an adopted son, not a servant who fears his Master will take it all away, throw me off his lands and starve me out. I am at the heart of it, a Pharisee, and I hate that.

Why do you serve God in a job you are tired of doing? Why continue to follow God’s ways when you are so unjustly treated, when people are saying all sorts of things about you? Can the security of God’s love really be enough? Is the gospel penetrating deeper into your awareness as a son or daughter? He really isn’t mad at me anymore! He really is for me!

The scene in Braveheart ends with these lines…Robert the Bruce adds, “Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for Wallace and he fights for something that I‘ve never had. And I took it from it from him when I betrayed him; and I saw it on his face on the battlefield.”

His father says, “All men betray. All men lose heart.” The Bruce, shouts at him, “I don’t want to lose heart. I want to believe, as he does.” Me too. I want to believe in the Jesus who was totally betrayed for my sake—who gave it all up, so I could be rich in God!

All down through the history of mankind there has been an ongoing struggle of two dominant systems of thought that was best dramatized in the movie Forrest Gump. One character was Forrest’s “Momma”. She believed, that “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”. You make your own destiny by your own choices. In other words, Life is random. Make the best of what you get. The other main character in Forrest’s life was Lt. Dan Taylor.

In a battle in Vietnam, Lt. Dan has his legs blown off, but Forrest rescued him. They both are in the hospital recovering and Lt. Dan grabs Forrest and says, “We all have a destiny, nothing just happens. It’s all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men. Now I’m nothing but a cripple… you cheated me Gump. I had a destiny. I was supposed to die in the field with honor. You cheated me out of it. That was my destiny”. In other words, life is fixed.

So which is it? Is your life fixed in such a way that what is going to happen is going to happen and there is nothing you can do about it? Am I stuck in this miserable job? Miserable pastorate? Was it fate that had me get fired? Fate that my daughter was born with her disability? If it wasn’t, where was God in that?

Or does God simply allow stuff to happen in your life, but He is there to give you peace or comfort as you endure it? All is just random stuff–like my daughter’s genes randomly collided and ended up missing a piece.

Gump tries his answer. Standing at the grave of the love of his life, Jenny, he said, “I don’t know if Momma was right or if it’s Lt. Dan. I don’t know if we each have a destiny or if we’re all just floating around accidental like on a breeze. But I think, maybe it’s both. Maybe both are happening at the same time.”

At the risk of oversimplifying an age old problem of philosophy, let me suggest, God’s plan is a Supra-plan. He has the details of your life.
On one hand, though we have real freedom to make real choices, there is not randomness in your life. You are not floating around like a feather–“accidental like”.
On the other hand, there is not some fatalistic plan occurring either.

Do you know what the answer is? It’s God with us…God Himself has come and intersected with our lives, out of His great love for Us. The Eternal God, entered time and space, and became one of us. Jesus is the plan. And in the purpose of His coming, He was and is the Ultimate Innocent Sufferer of this broken, seemingly random world. The One who did not cling to selfishness rights, but emptied Himself is the One who is the fulfillment of the Plan—the plan is a Person, not fate.

God’s love for you is greater, deeper and more complete than you ever dared to believe. His unconditioned love is the only constant in our changing world. He demonstrated His love, not in words alone, but when He came. And gave Himself for you. His life for yours. This is one part of Christian life that is the heart, root of it all. The fight of Faith: To believe God loves me. To doubt my doubts and believe the Gospel is True.

One time a pastor called and said, “My leadership voted last night to keep me on, but the vote of confidence wasn’t unanimous. I don’t know what I should do now.” One phone call later, I heard this: “Our church is under some kind of attack right now. Every time we seem to make a gain, something happens to set us back two steps.” Both are coaching situations for me.

I believe coaching is essential to your ongoing health in ministry. Some view coaching as a technique driven approach. Here’s how I view it: “Ministry Leader Coaching is a process of imparting encouragement and skills to the leader in order to succeed in their ministry role, in the context of a gospel friendship.”

Coaches are leaders because they are expending influence on another’s life and ministry. Christ is the Head of the Church, universal and in particular, the Head of the church that the ministry leader is serving. Thus the coach must see him/herself as a leader-coach, representing Christ as the Leader. Our Savior accomplishes his purposes through the three offices in which he ministers: Prophet, King, and Priest. Jesus ministers the gospel to us as Prophet, King, and Priest.

Coaches are called to lead and model ministry to others as representatives of Christ, serving them as prophet, king and priest. We are called to be all three, all at once.

But Christ is also our Friend. We must approach all our coaching in the context of friend, not in a place of superiority or expert. With the theologically rich paradigm of prophet, king and priest, coaching is seen as a conversation in a friendship.

I believe coaching is a conversation, which means it is far more than simply asking good questions. Conversations involve people in give and take, questions and answers, advice and direction. It means the pastor/coach will listen, observe, respond, interact, offer insights, support, encourage, and sometimes give directions. Since it is a conversation, it means the ministry leader listens, observes, responds, interacts, offers insights, support, and encouragement and sometimes gives direction

Are you receiving coaching in your ministry? Perhaps you are pooped because you are facing a myriad of issues and have no one with whom you can talk them through. You are the pastor and you are expected to have the answer aren’t you? You have Mastered the Divine right? After all, that is what you are paid to do to. Or maybe you have the false idol yourself. Either way, you might find a coach to be of great help.

My friend is still the pastor of the church. My other friend continues to get three steps forward and a few back, but they are both still in the game!

Part of the ministry role I have now in my life is coaching ministry leaders. Way back, when I was praying through my calling before going to college, I had considered being a high school coach. I ended up a pastor—a church planter and pastor. Now I am coaching pastors and church planting pastors. Its part of my story.

Gary Collins wrote, “Coaching is the key element in producing good leaders. To be a good leader you must be a good coach. And to be a good coach you must recognize that coaching is a significant form of leadership” – Christian Coaching.

If you think back on your life, I suspect that there was a coach who had an influence on your life—good or bad. For some, it might be a football coach. Others it had to do with the arts or science or scouts. Maybe it was a neighborhood dad who took a real interest in you and some others around. Coaching had a major impact on you.

When you consider your church ministry, let me ask you a question: Who is often the most under-resourced person in the church? Who gets the least amount of support and attention? (Besides you I would add).

Some chief complaints of leaders in the church are they feel uncared for, under-resourced and under appreciated—they are pooped. So often we get someone to volunteer for a leadership role—elder, deacon, small group leader, Sunday school teacher, or music—maybe give them a one day training event and then turn them loose. We delegate to them the responsibility to make it work. And they get pooped.

Here is a Principle: There are organizational systems that free leaders to lead and some that are ministry “stallers” and “stoppers”.

In church planting, studies show that a church planter who meets regularly with a coach will start a church that is two times the size of one where the planter isn’t coached. And if the planter meets regularly with a group of peers, it increases the survivability of the new church 135%. Pretty amazing influence of what coaching can do for a leader.

Coaching is essential to the ongoing health and survivability of your leaders in your church—to cut down on the pooped-out leaders. But not just any kind of coaching methodology will work. Gospel Centered, grace-saturated coaching is the kind your people need…and maybe you need as well. More on that later!

It’s been awhile since my last blog, so to remind you, I’ve been talking about the Stout Monk Society. A few have said they have started one or are going to try and get into one. I’m hoping that they will. I think it is imperative for not just surviving, but thriving in ministry life. I thought I would tell you some of what happened in our SMS this May.

My Stout Monk Society was so good. We all connected in a house in Canada. Here are some notes I jotted to myself from our four days. We each took turns leading our brothers in a brief ‘word’. One ‘word’ was from 2 Cor. 1:8,9, on the hardships we suffer….

“This happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead”.

We were asked to recognize our sufferings. What are the hardships in my life? Confess where I am relying on myself/my own strategies—what does self-reliance look like to me? Next, to rejoice in Jesus, our resurrected Hope!

One Monk asked us to consider the maladies of people who can discourage us in ministry.

1. People who lack/lose interest in what is happening- remember the disciples fell asleep on Jesus. “Don’t base your love and service to Christ on their commitment.” Invest hard in those who are serving, celebrate them. Careful you do not fall trap to cynicism—you may not know their full story right now.

2. People who betray you- there will be some you have invested in and they end up turning on you. Peter’s betrayal. Be careful not to demonize them, but pray for them. “Working through this experience is one of the most important means of your sanctification”.

3. People who abandon Christianity. Judas types. They drift away, or they love the world more or turn to a scandalous life. Can the gospel give you grace to greet them warmly and not erase them from your life? Will you let yourself grieve?

4. People who assault you, your character or motives.

5. People who are hostile to Christianity. There will be some who have incessant harshness toward Christians. Your kids will be mocked for their values etc. “Cultural Transformation without Spiritual warfare is an impossible exercise in futility”.

Another day we heard about our relationships with other men. We were asked to answer the question, “Are you a relational pygmy …

1. …when it comes to other men?” Isolation of men in our culture is epidemic. We keep our friendships surface level—sports, career, the market, maybe politics. “The more you involve yourself in the life of another man, your selfish bent is de-clawed.” Then he asked the tough one: Who are your pall bearers going to be? Which six people? [This reminded of the story of the guy who asked his small group, suppose you are lying in your casket and your friends are coming up and looking at you. What would you want them to say? One guy said, ‘That I was a good father,” another said, “A good friend.” Last man said, “I would want them to say, “Look, he’s moving!”

2. …in your relationship with your wife?” (I won’t share this one with you readers).

Another, and this is not all of them, but some samplings… How much More passages. We were reminded—How much more we will be saved from God’s anger; How much more we will be reconciled through His life; How much more did God’s grace overflow: How much more will those who receive God’s abundant grace and gift or righteousness reign in life; How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit!

See why I think meeting with some others will help you now?

The Rule of St. Benedict, from the Benedictine Monastery, 6th Century.

“If any pilgrim monk come from distant parts with wish as a guest to dwell in our monastery and will be content with the customs which he finds in this place, and does not perchance by his lavishness disturb the monastery, but is simply content with what he finds, he shall be received for as long a time as he wishes. If indeed he find fault with anything or expose it reasonably and with humility and charity, the Abbot shall discuss it prudently, lest perchance God has sent him for this very purpose. But if he has been found gossipy or divisive in the time of his sojourn as the guest, not only ought he not be joined in the body of the monastery, but also it shall be said to him honestly that he must depart. If he does not go, let two stout monks, in the name of God, explain the matter to him.”

Benedict coined the term “stout monk” in reference to men able to guard and protect the community from enemies and intruders. He put them to work on tasks and mission requiring strength, courage and integrity (sure they loved beer too). When necessary, they would go and escort the intruder out. Yet they were called to act in pairs, not in isolation. They were together. The protected one another as well as their community.

Do you want or need to start a Stout Monk Society? We say we all need community, but are we practicing community? Now I would suggest that the kind of community you need, at this level, the Stout Monk level, will not be found in your own congregation. Some strongly disagree and believe that elders are elders and the local church ought to be the place where everyone can be real including the pastor. True. But, if one of your leaders opens up and reveals some black area of his life or raging doubts, he isn’t going to lose his paying job. Be careful to whom you give bullets to. Some day they might shoot you with them.

I suspect that because you know that instinctively, instead of looking for real brotherly community, you have bought the lie that it’s not for you…and you have remained a loner. Let’s change course now. I want to help you help others in the same predicament.

In forming a Stout Monk Society, Our objective is to halt the endless loss of great leaders.

Begin with Prayer. Ask God to show you who you would invite into your community. Wait for God to answer.

It works best with 6 men. A good ratio is to have older guys and a couple of younger guys. They should be guys who are ready to get real and quit the bull… admit they are pooped, pissed or whatever… admit their willingness to have others speak into their lives, and also listen to God through them. Willing to watch each other’s back. Find other pastors outside your city. Maybe look for ministry leaders, like guys who lead Young Life or a mission agency. Trust me, they are lonely leaders too! One of my chapters has a man who is a business entrepreneur par excellence and is a donor to Christian ministries. He said he never had anything like this in business.

Next you’ll need a house. Ask someone to donate it to you for a few days to keep cost down. No TV. No ESPN. It’s just for 3-4 days.

So what do you do for the three to four days?

Each one will be responsible to facilitate 3 prayer/ mentor sessions:

1. 75 minutes where you lead/ facilitate prayer on one important thing God has been teaching you in recent months- applying it to the rest and helping all pray this into each other’s lives.
2. 75 minutes facilitated prayer and counsel for your personal and family life. Let others know how things are going personally and have all gather round you to listen/ pray for you and your family
3. 75 minutes facilitated prayer for you/ your ministry. This is getting down to 1 or 2 key areas that you could use listening prayer and counsel from men of wisdom. Come with a few ideas written down for all to think about.
4. Lots and lots of free time and bocce ball etc.

Work in shifts for shopping, cooking and clean up. Plan on doing one night out at a nice eatery. Again, it’s not expensive to do this. And it’s not a boiler plate thing either. Let community take place. You can’t manufacture it anyway. All you are doing is providing a great venue for good things to happen…being intentional. God will show up! Let me hear how it goes. This blog will serve as a great venue to brag about what God is doing through community. “Give it a try. I think you’ll be glad you did!”

As I continue my work with frontier type leaders, I am more convinced than ever for the necessity of Stout Monk Society type gatherings. Burn out, flame out, blowouts and ups are inevitable if we try to continue on our own.

Stout Monks are there for one another. They trust the community to protect, guard and give assistance.

Singer, songwriter, Susan Ashton writes,

I’ve had the faith that gave me strength for moving any mountainside
I’ve felt the solid ground beneath my feet
But I’ve had the bread of idleness while drinking from a well of doubt
And it shakes the core of all I believe
Sometimes I feel like I’m as close as your shadow
And sometimes I feel like I’m looking up at you from the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

That is my story. That is life. That is ministry life…pastoral life. And it can only get worse the longer we live in isolation. The longer we choose not to link up with other Stout Monks and defend. En-courage = put courage in.

My friend John (co-founder of our Stout Monk Society) wrote…”When I think of Stout Monks, I think of men on the front line. Bold. Filled with zeal for Christ and his mission. Ready to face the opponent. A select and increasingly rare man. Every one is teachable. Most in need of strategic, just in time counsel. All in need of prayer, friendship and brotherhood. Men who face weariness, discouragement and loneliness.

Time for us to ‘man up’ and get a fellow Stout Monk by our side. To admit we are toast if we try to go it alone any longer. Time to be willing to make a courageous decision to get some friends, brothers…and be teachable, humble and willing to give up our busy-ness and give and take from other pastors in similar mold.

It also works when some older guys take some younger guys with them into community. Both are helped. Both are strengthened.

More later on what we do at Stout Monks.

My good friend John and I were sitting by a nighttime fire in the backyard of his cabin. I had been his guest at a leadership retreat and we were unplugging from the weekend. He is pastor of a solid, missional church that is doing great things in his city. I am jealous for him. He is a rare find…passionate for Christ, his Kingdom, prayer and the city.

He mentioned a quote I had used… I use it a lot in training leaders, elders, pastors and church planters. I stole it from Steve years ago (I have looked it up myself and its legit). It’s the Rule of St. Benedict, from the Benedictine Monastery, 6th Century.

“If any pilgrim monk come from distant parts with wish as a guest to dwell in our monastery and will be content with the customs which he finds in this place, and does not perchance by his lavishness disturb the monastery, but is simply content with what he finds, he shall be received for as long a time as he wishes. If indeed he find fault with anything or expose it reasonably and with humility and charity, the Abbot shall discuss it prudently, lest perchance God has sent him for this very purpose. But if he has been found gossipy or divisive in the time of his sojourn as the guest, not only ought he not be joined in the body of the monastery, but also it shall be said to him honestly that he must depart. If he does not go, let two stout monks, in the name of God, explain the matter to him.”

Then we began to talk seriously about pastor friends who had blown themselves up…abandoned the ministry, their call and sometimes their family. Most were men who had been faithful, godly pastors, caring for a church… most for a long time. Then wham.

We confessed our independence. We are basically loners. Ministry can have that effect on people. (Or is it loners are attracted to ministry?) We repented to God and one another.

Benedict coined the term “stout monk” in reference to men able to guard and protect the community from enemies and intruders. He put them to work on tasks and mission requiring strength, courage and integrity (sure they loved beer too). When necessary, they would go and escort the intruder out. Yet they were called to act in pairs, not in isolation. They were together. They protected one another as well as their community.

Our conversation led to forming the Stout Monk Society. Our objective is to halt the exodus. To raise the fallen. We each invited other men to join us (we have six, but think we will add an Abbott). We need each other’s counsel, prayer and friendship. Though its only annual, it has been great. Rewarding.

We spend a few days together in community (not a real monastery but we share cooking, cleaning and other stuff (for those not reformed I refrain from causing you to stumble, but a pastor said to me once, ‘when I became a Christian I gave up all my vices. When I got reformed I got them all back’).

I will continue this blog later… but let me ask you: Do you long for a Stout Monk Society?

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

I was in an antique store recently (on vacation with my wife ok?) and I saw a little transistor radio. It was AM radio in a black case –kinda looks like an Ice Cream sandwich— it had one ear piece. I remember having that radio. I listened to 45’s on my single record player and LP’s. Cassettes, CD’s. I have always loved music.

One of the greatest inventions in my lifetime has to be the iPod. Music, messages and movies all in one place. The new version even has radio capability. I heard a song on TV and went to iTunes and downloaded it into my library. A while back I downloaded the Brown Sessions, listened to Steve interview Dan Allender, and Mark Driscoll. Amazing technology.

Most of all it’s the music though. Music is a means of grace… yesterday at church as we were singing I thought about how there aren’t any other places in our society that groups of people get together and sing. We have SomeOne and Something about which to sing. Steve says often, it’s the laughter that sets us apart from both the pagans and the religious elite. That’s true. But a close second is the music. Which leads me to another thought. The Gospel of grace—freedom from the penalty and power of sin in life through Jesus—is music to the soul. Radical freedom and love from God the Father toward us is more than words…or lyrics to the song. It is the music. It is the tune. Some of the preachers I have listened to have the words but not the music. “For God so loved…He sent His One and only Son, so that all who believe in Him should not perish but have Life”. Do you hear the music? The joy? The Tune of the Gospel?

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing! No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found!

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove, The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love!” Isaac Watts

Notice in Watts’ famous Christmas song the grand, cosmic significance of Jesus’ saving activity. The music of the gospel moves us out of the narrow realm of our self-preoccupation. My friend Bob Heppe wrote, “The Gospel is God’s message of liberation: from guilt, alienation, and every bondage that hinders the human race from being fruitful for and reflecting the glory of God. The good news that Jesus preached is that He, as Lord of the cosmos, is now in the business of recapturing a runaway planet. He came to destroy the works of the Devil — all of them, not merely the psychological one’s that plague middle class Americans — and to bring the world under His saving authority. That means He came to reverse the effects of the fall, “as far as the curse is found.” The gospel of the kingdom announces nothing less than God’s intention, and activity, to replace the effects of the fall (sin, guilt, sickness, hunger, injustice, oppression, poverty, bondage, dehumanization, and death) with His Kingdom righteousness; and His work will not be finished until His redemption covers the whole earth.”

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

I’m in London as I write this. Tomorrow I meet with about 15 church planting pastors here in the UK. They are a great bunch of men. All of them are making tremendous sacrifice to minister in this Post-Modern, Post-Empire, Post-Everything city. I am going to facilitate a training module on preaching Christ-centered, grace saturated sermons in our post-Christian world. It is one piece of our half-day meeting (we pray together; we do small group peer coaching and problem solving together; we pray more; we laugh and cry; we tell stories of what God’s doing). It’s great. I wish you could have a community like this one. I suspect you’d last longer if you did. One day I will tell you about the Stout Monk’s Society I’m in, but I digress.

I attended two different churches today. Both sang the songs we sing in the USA. (one better than the other but again I digress). I listen to and evaluate about 25 sermons each year and write reviews for church planter wanna-bees. I also have coached a number of pastors in preaching. Today’s “two-sermon Sunday” caught my attention. Both were different in delivery and content. Both taught from the Bible. Both loved Jesus and are obviously loved by Him, so please don’t misunderstand what I am about to say. I am not criticizing any of my dear brothers, either here or in the USA. And trust me, I am a better coach than practitioner. (and I really wish after listening to Steve for over 25 years, I were better).

Brothers, may I humbly remind us of two things: one, we are strangers in a strange land and preaching Christ and his grace is for both believer and non-believer. Be careful you are not simply talking “Christianese” to Christians. But secondly, it’s the gospel of grace. It really is all about Jesus Christ and the radical nature of his love and grace. The way you get in to a relationship with Jesus is by grace through faith and repentance and the way you live in grace is through ongoing faith and repentance, not by the rules. Jesus didn’t die so he could give your congregation an easier list of rules to live by. He died to set them free.

I want to tell you that I thought Zach’s blog, Heroes and Heretics, was so real and honest. Thanks Zach. I think that’s a great example of what our freedom allows us to enjoy. And when we preach with that kind of remarkable authenticity, our watching world of non-believers may just sit up and listen. When Jesus is lifted up as the only solution for our plight, lives, communities and cities will be transformed. God’s glory and our good!

The following is from an old British pastor from the mid 1800’s, named C H McIntosh.
“A man may be called to preach the gospel in the same place for years, and he may, at times, feel burdened by the thought of having to address the same audience, on the same theme, week after week, month after month, year after year. He may feel at times at a loss for something new, something fresh, some variety. It will greatly help such to remember that the one grand theme of the preacher is Christ. The power to handle that theme is the Holy Ghost; and the one to whom that theme is to be unfolded is the poor lost sinner. Furthermore, it is well for the preacher to bear in mind, on every fresh occasion to rising to preach, that those to whom he preaches are really ignorant of the gospel, and hence he should preach as though it were the very first time his audience had ever heard the message, and the first time he had ever delivered it. To preach the gospel is really to unfold the heart of God, the person and work of Christ; and all this by the present energy of the Holy Ghost, from the exhaust-less treasury of holy Scripture”.

Of course, it might also help if you had a deep voice that sounded like God… but once again, I digress.

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

In need of encouragement? Subscribe to Tom’s weekly dose of grace at GracedAgain.com.

I was sitting in a pub with a bunch of pastors in London. One of the guys told us that in commercial flying, the airlines have come up with a point system for pilots, so they don’t get burned out. He said, for instance, that flying into Heathrow, since it’s so complex, is 500 points. Flying in and out of Atlanta, since it’s the busiest, is 750 points. But flying in and out of smaller places, like Birmingham, AL or Birmingham, UK is only 200 points. After a pilot has logged so many points in a month or week, he has to take a break.

Because we are all pastors, we could apply that to ministry life. Instead of putting in a 50 hour week, as if ministry is logged in as hours done, maybe we should come up with a point system for pastors. So if you do a funeral for a friend, its 500 points. If its for a child, its, 1000 points. If you deal with a couple and one’s infidelity, it’s another 500 points. If you have a deacons meeting or elders meeting that week, that’s 2,000 points. Every week is a sermon. For some its only 100 points, for others its 500-1000 points. And then there’s the administrative junk and the phone calls…and emails and…

Makes sense doesn’t it? Pastoral life is more than sermon prep and making polite conversation with little old ladies. It’s tough. And maybe we need a point system that says, when you get to this amount of stuff, stop. No more pastoral work for the week.

Anyway, here’s the kicker. I checked with a commercial pilot friend of mine who flies all over the country (USA). I asked him about the point system. He said, “Not true.” They fly by hours. Oh well, it still makes sense doesn’t it?

But if we decide to put something in place for pastors—to keep us from getting pooped—we should also think of the good stuff as well. So when you see someone really get the gospel of grace—maybe a new convert or where they get graced again, maybe that’s minus 2,000 in the point system. Or when a healing occurs or a sermon really worked and a few people ‘got it’—minus 500 points. Or when the teens return from a mission’s trip and a few want to serve locally as well… Or a half day of prayer, alone with the Father, restores one’s soul. Subtract 1,000. There are some things that put the energy back aren’t there? Makes me want to be a pastor again just thinking about it…

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

In need of encouragement? Subscribe to Tom’s weekly dose of grace at GracedAgain.com.

Someone said once, that the one thing all leaders have in common is that they have followers. True. But they also have enemies.

A friend recently defined leadership for me this way:

“Leadership is disappointing people at a pace they can tolerate.”

That makes more sense, in a real, down to earth type of church setting.

I work with leaders all the time. So I have been thinking about it a lot lately. Most of the men with whom I went to graduate school, who were preparing to be pastors, seemed mostly concerned with pastoral type studies; i.e., exegeting a passage of scripture, pastoral counseling, teaching and preaching. I don’t think they thought of themselves as leaders. Granted, it was a long time ago, but the emerging leaders I have the joy to work with are not unlike the old guys (I am an old guy now) I was with…instead of being a pastor of one church, they see themselves as parish ministers…they carve out a community and become the parish priest in a sense, even to those who don’t’ attend church.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the missional zeal and the idea of a church caring for its immediate ministry sphere. I think that is biblical and wise.

But Leadership wasn’t for my peers and doesn’t seem so for the new generation either. Have we an aversion to leadership? Have we gotten so burned by bad leaders, by corrupt and self-serving leaders that we don’t want anything to do with it? I pray not so. We desperately need leaders in our churches, in our communities and in our nation.

Our call is a call to influence others by grace. That means leadership at some level, because that is the essence of leadership- to have influence on others.

If you are a pastor, no matter what the size is of your congregation, you have influence. That is the nature of the job. You are a leader. Perhaps it’s time to study it and learn it. Leverage it. Even if you are afraid of leading, you are still a leader. Jesus can teach you. He will lead you as you lead others.

In the movie Forrest Gump, after Lt. Dan had lost his legs in Vietnam, they were both recovering in a hospital. One night, Lt. Dan yanked Gump off his bed (he was wounded saving the men) and started yelling at Gump for saving him back in the jungle. He said, “You should have left me out there to die, that was my destiny, but look at me now, I’m nothing but a cripple, a legless freak. I was Lt. Dan Taylor, and I was supposed to die with my men, that was my destiny and you cheated me. I was Lt. Dan Taylor.” Gump says, “You’re still Lt. Dan.”

I’m not sure how you see yourself today…or what you think of as your destiny. But one thing I do know, God’s calling to be a leader in the church is God’s enabling. I Thess. 5:24 .

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

In need of encouragement? Subscribe to Tom’s weekly dose of grace at GracedAgain.com.

This morning I woke up early. I had a lot on my mind. But the song playing in my head was the old tune, Wild World, by Cat Stevens.

“Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
It’s hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world
I’ll always remember you like a child, girl

You know I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do
And it’s breaking my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don’t be a bad girl

But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware”

He wrote the song to himself as he was getting ready to leave home and start out on his own career. He had grown up in a religious home…his dad was a Catholic and his mom a Baptist. They lived in London, in the Soho district.

Years later, he converted to Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Islam.

One of the reasons I got pooped as a pastor was being part of stories like this. Someone you think is getting the gospel; getting faith; getting “living by grace”…maybe even coming out of a traditional religious background… and despite knowing—“I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do…just remember there’s a lot of bad out there (and in you as well, I might add)…oh, baby is a Wild world”.

It breaks my heart in two when they throw it all away. Men and women who decided to throw away years of marriage…years of hard work building a business…years of ministry and “oh baby baby is a wild world”. Sadness, broken lives, devastated hearts.

I’m getting pooped just remembering their faces and stories.

You’ve heard this before I’m sure, but I did feel like I was standing at a cliff warning people, “Beware, I’ve been standing here watching people get too close to the edge and some have slipped, fallen off and been royally messed up. And some smiled and said, “Thank you so much Pastor Tom, that is so kind of you. You are the best pastor I have ever had”, then they walked over to the edge and jumped.

If you are pastor of people…I mean you love them and care for them, it’s going to break your heart in two when people jump off. I don’t have any easy made answers to the heartache. Love hurts…sometimes a lot. One way to find comfort in the pain is to remember that you are not responsible for their actions. Another is to remember that the “God of all grace” can find them at the bottom and bring them out of the pit. That’s where he finds all of us.

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

In need of encouragement? Subscribe to Tom’s weekly dose of grace at GracedAgain.com.

I am new to blogging. So be patient as I try out my fingers…my wings on this adventure.

Every morning when I wake up I have a song playing in my head. It’s different every day. Sometimes it’s a SCC tune “Its all Yours Lord, Yours Lord, Everything is Yours…” or “Anticipation, Anticipation is making me late, is keeping me waiting”. Two mornings ago, out of nowhere, “Love the one you’re with, Love the one you’re with, dit, dit, dit, dit, dit, dit dit dit”. This morning, though, it was an old (1990’s worship tune), “You have been a shelter Lord, to every generation, to ev’ry generation. A sanctuary from the storm, to every generation Lord…” I can’t explain why one tune over another. Perhaps today was because yesterday I was in church holding my new grandson worshiping the Lord!

Now I happen to think that the old guys who told us that the means of grace were “the Word, the Sacrament, Prayer, Church and Holy Spirit”, well…if they had had iTunes, they would have included music. iTunes is the greatest invention known to man since the printing press. When I wake up and I have a tune I haven’t heard in a long time, I go to the iTunes store and bam, I can listen to the whole thing. Music is a means of grace.

A man I was talking to about tunes playing in my head responded, “I wake up almost every day angry”. The man was a pastor. I understand. There is a lot about which he should be angry. There are a few churches that make me angry too…but I digress.

Music is a window into my soul. I fill a lot of my soul with lyrics that remind me of the truth about the Gospel and grace and Jesus’ love. Why? Cause there is a whisper in the Universe. It was put there in the garden…”God is not for you. Make life work for yourself”. Martin Luther said, “To doubt the good will of God is an inborn suspicion of God with all of us…”

For me, one of the means of remembering God has not abandoned me is music.

Luther continues, “In all these difficulties we have only one support, the Gospel of Christ. To hold on to it, that is the trick . . . All these things cry out against us, death thunders at us, the devil roars at us. In the midst of the clamor the Spirit of Christ cries in our hearts, ‘Abba, Father.’ . . . The Spirit cries because of our weakness…(and) is sent forth into our hearts…to assure us of the grace of God.”

For the sake of your soul, get an Mp3 player. Plug in, go for a walk and listen to some good tunes. Calming jazz, Steven Curtis Chapman, some great guitar music by Keaggy, the sultry sounds of Anita Baker or you hardly ever go wrong with U2, especially their new CD. Worship the Lord using hymns and spiritual songs.

Oh yeah iTunes has sermons, Key Life, and other great teaching. It’s truly amazing. I hope you begin to wake up with tunes in your head and not anger or something worse…doubting God.

Tom Wood has been a pastor for 25 years. He has planted and pastored two churches and has served as a church planting trainer and coach for the Presbyterian Church in America. He is currently the president of Church Multiplication Ministries, in Atlanta. His mission is starting, strengthening and multiplying grace centered churches and church planting networks, through coaching and consults with church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

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