Pastoring....

Pastoring… according to a spiritual gift questionaire….that’s me.

From my particular religious heritage, I immediately think ‘preacher’. But is it…?


“….he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers….” (Eph. 4:11-12 )

‘Pastor’ is the Hebrew word ‘raah’. It is a verb. It means to tend, to feed, to be a special friend.

‘Poimen’ is the Greek word. It is a noun. It is the one who tends and cares for.

There is relationship involved in this thing called pastoring. It isn’t just a matter of throwing out a bale of hay, or strewing some corn. Neither is it a matter of preaching.

If in fact this is an enablement I have been given, I am commissioned to use it….

I am to ‘go’. We all are. (Matthew 16:15)

It is our purpose to make disciples. With whatever He has provided to each of us, whatever He has gifted to every believer, we are to use in kingdom building.


“….to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Eph. 4:12)


Now….the next time I start preachin’…… ?? ….. you know why… J

Ache...

Ache… Ever have an ache that you just can’t describe? Not exactly pain…not exactly pressure…not exactly soreness…. But very uncomfortable….

My chest aches. Relax, it’s not my heart. Twice I’ve been thru the ER and all those tests to make sure.

It’s not a cough. It’s not heartburn. It’s not indigestion.

They just call it anxiety. (….whatever THAT is !)

So, I try to ignore it. Find something to occupy my mind….some activity. Sleep and hope it’s gone when I wake up…

This ache makes me think about that ‘God-sized hole’ that is in every human heart. Nothing can fill that space but Him. We try to fill it with ‘stuff’. We try all sorts of distractions so that we don’t think about it or feel it.

Nothing works really. We are deceived for a while. A new car. A new dress. A new person. The emptiness returns. The ache…..

We were created by a Creator Who designed us for a perfect world. We ache for it.

We were Created by an Eternal Being Who created us for eternal fellowship. We search for it.

All over our world, in every kingdom of man, the quest rages. Efforts to find perfection, fix what has gone terribly wrong with our world. Wars rage as we search for peace.



Ache…. We ache for something we can’t describe because it is completely other than we are. It does not exist within us. It will not be found any place.

We prolong and even intensify our ache by our own tendency to choose the knowledge of evil rather than trust that He is always good and only good.



“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.
By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent……

And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him!
……Who then can understand the thunder of his power? (Job 26:7-14 )



Oh how I ache to understand and know Him more. One day….I will.

“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1Cor. 13:12)

More "Happy"....

“…This poor man died, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.'

"But Abraham said…….

'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. (Luke 16:22-25 The Message)


This rich man probably considered himself happy.

Happiness we attain for ourselves can NOT be held on to.

Listen to Solomon’s advice: “Be happy……… let your heart give you joy ………… Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see….

….but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment..” (Ecc.11:9)

Whatever it is that defines that state of being ‘happy’, I purpose it to be pleasing to my Creator and ruling Force of my life.

If God isn’t happy….I certainly won’t be for very long. And most assuredly not for eternity.

Happy...

Happy… I was asked recently to define that. Just what does it mean to ‘be happy’?

Is ‘being happy’ connected to other people? Situations? Circumstances?

Is there a price tag attached? Or a location?

Is it an emotion? Or a state of mind?

Should we always BE ‘happy’?

Do we have some right to ‘be happy’?

What does it take so that we can in fact ‘be happy’?

There are dozens of scriptures that come to mind. A little searching turns up dozens more….too many to list, and certainly too many to brush aside.

In defining this thing called ‘happy’, I will begin by eliminating what it is NOT.

Renovation....

Renovation… We renovated our kitchen a few years ago. Boy….what a mess to live with that going on !! I’m sure glad it wasn’t like the renovation going on with in me….


“…put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”(Col. 3: 10)

The word renewed in that verse is anakainoo in the original language. It means to renew or renovate.

When we renovated our cabinets, all the doors were removed. I thought I was pretty organized in my kitchen cabinets. Until they took all the doors off. Man, what a mess.

Our Creator took all the doors off. Oh, it’s not that He can’t see what’s behind them…it’s me that needs to see the mess and allow Him to remove the clutter and renovate.

The kitchen is done. Cabinetry is beautiful.

The renovation within me is ongoing.

It is a work in progress.

Conformed...

Conformed...Scripture says I am being conformed, and it says I am not to be conformed…

So....Conform? Or not?

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romand 8:29)

I like the plain language of this passage from The Message. “ God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him”


Conformed = summorphos in the original language of scripture. It is a combination of ‘sun’ which gives a meaning of being soon, and ‘morphe’ which carries the idea of adjustment to shape and nature.

So…I’m being conformed. To become like Jesus Christ.

Then there’s this don’t thing….

“…be not conformed to this world..” (Romans 12:2)

For a very long time I thought it was up to me. I was to change and adjust my shape and nature. I was to become like Jesus. And I failed miserably.

Then, God changed the way I think. After exhausting myself in behavior modification and religious activity, screaming out to God “I can’t do this!!”…… He made my spirit to hear Him say….

“I know Child…. But I can.”

It is a work in progress.

Image....

Image….... “Do not set up an image for yourself..”

That is a directive from The Creator God recorded in Leviticus 26:1.

At one time, I thought I had that command aced. You’ll find no ‘graven images’ in my house. I don’t have ‘idols’….never ‘bow down and worship’ them.

Then He began speaking into my life and addressing my images. There were lots of them as it turned out….my own image being set up quite high.

I deal with image every day. Creating images is my job. Changing images, altering them, enhancing them. Yep….it’s what I do. Pays my bills.

There is nothing wrong with creating a better self image. In fact, I think God intends for us to care about how we look, to ourselves….and the image we project to other people.

But I wonder if the image I often see projected is indeed what it ’looks’ like it is. Some young women look like they might be paid regularly for some very personal services. I wonder if they are anything at all like what they ’look’ like.

Makes me pause to consider….what do I ‘look’ like? Am I what I ‘look’ like?

On the flip side of that, is the image I project what I really am? Or do I too ‘look’ like something I am not?

I’ve come to the realization that it doesn’t matter what I look like on the outside if the inside is marred. And marred it is. With sin. Thank You Lord Jesus for removing that stain and taking the consequence of it.

And thank You Creator God most of all, for changing me into the image of Your dear Son. (Romans 8:29)

I continue to be a work in progress.