"I miss what I once had: a strong body, a clear voice, clear thinking, open doors for ministry ... I miss myself." This is what John Stumbo said after a mysterious disease ravaged his body in 2008-2009.
John Stumbo didn't swallow on his own for a year and a half. He had a feeding tube and used a walker. Once the senior pastor of his growing church, he was out of commission for almost a year, and then reduced to a part time associate position. Today, just five years later, he is the president of Jeff and Jonny's denomination, the Christian & Missionary Alliance. In this episode, John talks with the guys and tells his story. He shares about his early years of ministry, the churches he's served in, and then the illness that almost took his life. Most importantly, John Stumbo tell of the life change he experienced through the journey of pain and suffering. Once and ultra-marathoner, he feared he would become a quadriplegic. Through the suffering, and the process of recovery, his life and ministry changed, and perhaps more significantly, his marriage changed. Will it take a near death crisis for us to get real about our ministries and our marriages? Thankfully, we don't all have to experience that, but unfortunately, many of us will also never get to the depths of our growth because we will be too healthy. Maybe this conversation will encourage you to move toward your spouse, your real bride or groom, and reclaim the intimacy, respect, and commitment you owe her or him. This is not just for male pastors, but women pastors can also be guilty of being married to ministry. Whatever your situation, learn from one who has walked through the valley of the shadow of death - so you can grow without going there! P.S. We did not talk about this on the podcast, but John and his wife Joanna have written a book together called An Honest Look At A Mysterious Journey. John also has written a book titled, In The Midst: Treasures From The Dark. Both of these books are available in Kindle format for only $4.99 each. Jeff is attending his very last on campus course at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN this weekend. Degree completion is within sight now! Jonny is holding down the fort with an all night youth activity Fri/Sat, a college event Saturday night, and preaching for Jeff on Sunday morning. Jeff says, "How are we doing for sleep Jonny?!" :) Today's post is a re-direct to a podcast companion post by Dave Jacobs on The Pastor and FEAR. This week's podcast episode #62, dealt with Facing Your Ministry Fears. If you haven't listened to it, you can listen to it or download it here: www.200churches.com/podcast. Below is a link to the original Dave Jacobs post at SmallChurchPastor.com! Check out Dave Jacobs post here titled: When The Pastor Is Afraid
Today’s podcast episode, #62, is all about handling fear in the ministry. Dave Jacobs from SmallChurchPastor.com joins us in this episode. You’ll just have to listen to it. We hope that it encourages you and gives you some practical food for thought to help you deal with fear in your pastoral role.
But, can I just say two things about fear, and then leave you to listen to the episode?
Number one, About a month ago, I wrote a blog post titled, Fear: The Great Negotiator. You should check it out if you haven’t read it yet. In that post, I share what I believe is the antidote to fear.
Number two, my personal opinion is that a very practical way to handle ministry issues that cause fear in your heart – is to step right into the middle of them. Once we engage them, they tend to lose their fangs. They don’t look as ferocious as we thought they would. As I reflect on my past ministry experiences, I remember several encounters I needed to have, confrontations actually, that caused me fear. Actually, I was filled with FEAR. I remember one time looking at the clock in my office, and deciding that when the second hand reached the 6, I would walk into another office and make the confrontation. It was all I could do to literally will my legs to walk down the hall. When I got there, the person had gone to the bathroom, and I had to repeat the whole horrific process five minutes later! When the conversation actually occurred, it was not easy, but I lived through it. And boy, oh boy, did I feel better when it was finished! FEAR attended me, but it did not prevent me. Once I stepped into the “scary” situation, fear dissipated, and we were just two people trying to make the best of a tough situation. Again, if you haven’t read that post about FEAR being the Great Negotiator, read it. You’ll find that the antidote to fear is FAITH. And then step right into your fear. It’s bark is worse than its bite! Remember, as a pastor, you’ve got the greatest position in the world! It’s all about attitude Babeee! We get to pick our attitude, so pick a positive one. Think about it. The SPIRIT is the One who equips you, the LORD is the one who goes with you, and JESUS is the one who’s paid your way. Your church, no matter the size, can do great Kingdom things with you as the pastor, when the Triune God helps you do your job. Go for it. Oh, one more thing… fear not. Yeah. That.
YOU CAN FIND DAVE JACOBS AT SMALLCHURCHPASTOR.COM. WITH 8 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE COACHING PASTORS, HE IS AVAILABLE TO COACH YOU! WE CONFIDENTLY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENDORSE DAVE AND RECOMMEND HIM TO YOU AND YOUR CHURCH!
Moment of truth: Jeff and I are currently sitting together in the 200churches studio at 11:30 PM Sunday night realizing that this blog post needs to be written. Weirdly, I think we're afraid of what it would mean if we didn't write it. What if we skip just one Monday, just once, and no one notices? Or worse, what if we skip one Monday and just start to get into the habit of skipping Mondays? We've been at this for over a year now, and with the exception of a (much needed) Christmas break, we've been very consistent. It's just one post, but the implications of that post can be scary. Jeff just said that if we start skipping posts, it will only get easier to do it, and, we have learned a ton blogging thoughts and ideas with you over the past year, and we wouldn't want to give that up! This week the blog and podcast are focusing on the topic of fear. That dark little feeling inside that what you're doing isn't right. Or that you're not good enough. Or that your church is going downhill.
Fear is that thing that keeps you up at night when you're so exhausted sleep should come easily. Fear is the tightness in your chest when you think about meeting with that one member of your congregation, or preaching out of that book that you know will cause controversy. If we let it, fear can start to control our thoughts and desires - our decision making and relationships. We're prone to fear, but the truth is, there is no room for fear in a Spirit-led ministry. In 1 John we see that perfect love casts out fear, but how often do we forget that this truth applies to our ministry? God's love leaves no room for fear, because fear is a tool and weapon of the enemy. As true as that is, we all know it's hard to really lean into God's love in our own lives, let alone in the life of our church. It's easy to start wondering how God's love will pay the utility bill or fix that buzzing in the sound system. It's even harder to see God's love when your board is getting deadlocked or a group of people decide to walk out of your church. As pastors, we know God is love, but sometimes it's hard to feel that. This week we're talking with Dave Jacobs on the podcast, and he has some great insights on how pastors can deal with the fear that is controlling their lives. It's a message that's so important, but at the same time is hard to swallow, because the first step is admitting to yourself that you are letting fear guide your decisions in the first place. Our encouragement to you this week is to really dig down deep into yourself and look for fear. Look for how the enemy has tricked you into believing things about God and yourself that aren't true, and how those lies are leading your decision-making in your ministry. It might be a hard look to take, but ultimately it is so important to your ministry that you recognize those places where fear has taken hold. You have an important mission to your church that has been entrusted to you by God, and we want to encourage you to be the leader that God created you to be. Let's not let fear be a factor in our ministries! Years ago I met with a staff member for the purpose of reading said staff member the riot act. I needed this staff member to substantially change how he or she was doing the business of ministry in our church. Fear caused me to negotiate my message down to one that was less direct, less drastic, and essentially fruitless and ineffective. After the conversation, they likely walked away thinking that I was proud of them and that I hoped they would have a nice day. Now, some who know me might read this and think – “Aha! I know who he is talking about!” I’m not worried about it. They would have to guess which one. Like this only happened with one person?! I should be so good.
While prepping for a message I was so liquored up in my office I was almost frothing at the mouth rehearsing my lines! I had scripture, the Holy Spirit, a backbone, conviction, and a God-ordained calling on my side! I would be ready to share this message with all the vim and verve I could muster the coming Sunday morning. The more I thought about it, the people I would speak to, and the closer Sunday morning came, fear caused me to negotiate on some of the wording, and on the severity of my convictions. Fear negotiated away some of my bluntness and produced a more circuitous route for my words to take. Thinking ahead about our elder meeting, I began to lay out on a legal pad a vision for our ministry. It was grand, and great. I was going for broke – no half measures this year. Our ministry would gain more ground and score more points than we ever had before. The elders needed to see leadership and vision, courage and direction. As they began questioning my proposals and expressing doubt about my ideas, fear negotiated away my remaining thoughts, and I tossed out over half of my plans before even sharing them. Fear of opposition, rejection, and abandonment crept into my soul and negotiated with my wiser self – forcing me to retreat, call it a night, and recommit to try again later… a lot later! Fear is the great negotiator. It strips us of leadership and value. It puts us in the middle of Mediocreville, of Almoston. We get just far enough to stay in our seat, just enough down the road to say we’ve moved forward. But no more. Not enough to claim victory. Not enough even for a first down. Sooner or later, fear causes us to punt, and to give away the ball. Hey pastor, pssst – yeah, you! Hey mister. Hey Lady. Yeah, I’m talking to you. I know you. I am you. Been there. Done that. And I even know the verses. So do you. You could finish them…
We all know these verses on fear, and many, many more! We know them. Yet we still shepherd, lead, feed, and operate by fear. Some of us all the time, others of us more than we care to admit, and for others we have forgotten what it’s like to operate out of anything but fear. I HAVE AN IDEA I have an idea. Want to hear it? Can I admit I preach it to myself too?! Well, I do. I might as well be honest about it. But here’s my idea. I think we choose fear because we’ve forgotten we can do all of those same things by faith. Faith, not fear. By faith we walk next to God. By fear, he leaves us behind because we stop, afraid to advance, then in our aloneness we have only one fuel to run on – fear. What if we commit our plans to the LORD, and move forward with Him. What if we simply chose to move ahead by faith, or not at all. We move ahead with God, or we don’t move ahead at all. LET'S CHANGE THOSE PREVIOUS THREE SCENARIOS So I arrange with God what I need to say to the staff member, and then walk with God, hand in hand into the room, and in love deliver the goods, trusting God with the outcome. So I decide my message plan on my knees, asking for wisdom, mercy, and grace to deliver his words through me. I trust in his power, and go for broke with God, trusting Him with the outcome. So, finally, I do my homework on the front end of the elder meeting, with God, (and perhaps a few wisely planned meetings before the meeting) asking for his wisdom and his heart – then I proceed forward in confidence (in God, not me) asking God to give me wisdom and perhaps move the hearts of my elders. WHO OR WHAT ARE WE TRUSTING IN? Pastors, when it comes to our leadership, we either lead from fear (relying on ourselves and our own resources) or we lead from faith (relying on God, his power and his wisdom). Pick one and run with it this week. Hey, it can’t hurt, can it? Not going to get any worse, right? Been leading from fear? How’s that working for ya? Fear is the great negotiator – giving away all the good we’ve managed to scrape together. Choose faith – it’s the great facilitator – allowing your (plural, you and God) plans to move forward. If you are the pastor of a 200church, you especially need faith over fear! Lead, live, and love by faith, not fear. Negotiate that! |
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