12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry (part 4)
24/08/20 Filed in: Pastor | Church Leadership
This is very much like rekindling ministry passion. The fuel is still there. The need is still there. A low heat is still there. But work needs to be done – attitudes, activities, methods, goals, etc. need to be shifted. In this final part of 12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry, we look at three more concepts that will help stoke up the heat.
10. Refuse Negative Self-Talk.
Earlier this year I started watching a YouTube series done by a young lady who hiked the first part of a long trail here in NZ. While I admired her tenacity in completing the difficult journey, I grew tired of her morning ritual of complaining about what she had gone through the day before and what she would have to endure in the day ahead. Matter-of-fact, I stopped watching her videos about a third into her journey because the counsellor in me wanted to keep interacting with the videos in a non-restful way. I did benefit from her videos though. She gave me a visual demonstration of the reality that even the most enjoyable activities can be spoiled by negative self-talk.“Self-flagellation”. This is a term introduced to me by a counselling mentor as he heard me describe my self-assessment. I wonder how many times we spoil ministry joys through self-flagellation. Yes, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” But constant negative self-talk is not necessarily a sign of humility. It actually may be a sign we are ignoring the gifts, skills, and abilities God has given us to do His work. May I suggest an alternative?
“I can’t, but God can through me.”
God has given you the opportunity to join Him in the work He is doing in your community. He has wired you to do the work He wants you to do. He has given you everything you need. Negative self-talk will hide who God has made you to be, so refuse to speak it or listen to it. Live to what God has designed you to be.
11. Repent of soul-crushing sin.
Leading people towards Christlikeness involves leading them away from self-serving sin. Confronting sinful attitudes, actions, and beliefs in your church family requires a great deal of personal fortitude. Some may use that kind of confrontation to justify leaving your church. Some may respond angrily and seek to force you out of the church. Confronting sin in these days is not for the faint of heart. It is doubly difficult if you are hiding the same sin you are confronting.Confidently knowing you are walking with the Lord in close fellowship because there is nothing between you and Him is one of the greatest life-giving elements you can have in ministry! Knowing that - even in the face of all kinds of struggles, trials, misunderstandings, and disappointments – you are in right relationship and walking with the Lord will give you a confidence that cannot be shaken. Is there any soul-crushing sin in your life? Is there anything you are holding onto that keeps you from ministry confidence? Repent of it and rekindle the joy of cleanliness before the Lord.
12. Recount the Gospel.
I know of a pastor who struggled with depression for a bit. One of the activities he found most helpful to him when he was in that emotional darkness was to share the gospel message with someone who needed it. Sharing this life-changing message reminds you of what is really important. Ministry is not about budgets, meetings, schedules, meetings, administration, building maintenance, meetings (did I already say that?). Ministry is about helping people find relationship with God and then helping them grow in that relationship. This is what God has called you to do! If your passion for ministry needs to be rekindled, this where you start. Add gospel fuel to your ministry fire. There is nothing that will rekindle your passion for ministry like watching someone get added to God’s family.So that completes my list of 12 ways to rekindle your ministry passion. Review the list. What are you doing well? What are doing but need to improve on? What do you need to restart right now? Why don’t you pray through this list and ask the Lord to show you what He wants you to see?
- Relax in your own humanity
- Revisit your calling
- Renew your soul
- Reorganise your schedule
- Rediscover your strengths
- Remember God’s promises
- Rehearse the blessings
- Refocus on the future
- Re-evaluate your relationships
- Refuse negative self-talk
- Repent of soul-crushing sin
- Recount the gospel
12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry (part 3)
13/07/20 Filed in: Pastor | Church Leadership
Re: “to do something again”. 
Kindle: “to set something on fire”.
Rekindle: “to set something on fire again”.
This last definition implies that what is being rekindled was once on fire. There once was heat and light coming from it. But the implication also is that the heat and light are dimming, if not gone altogether.
When that happens to your pastoral ministry, what do you do. So far we have looked at six activities that help rekindle your ministry passion. They are found here and here.
Now we move onto three more.
I think that is still a great remedy, especially when pastoral ministry is cold and dreary. Even the most positive optimist is going to struggle in ministry from time to time. It is then that rehearsing your blessings is so vital. You are reminded that God has been good, is good, and certainly will be good. You are reminded that it’s not ALL negative and hard and dreary and cold. There certainly have been positive and easy and bright and warm times as well. Rehearse when you have seen God at work, and let the blessings of that sink into your soul.
One of my heroes that helps me fight that thought tendency is Moses. If you divide his life into thirds, his best years were all at the end! The first and second thirds prepared him for the great task God gave him in the last third. I think an interesting biblical study would be to see who else would fit this model: Ruth, Samson, Elijah, King Manasseh, the disciples, Paul, etc. There are plenty of examples of people who kept moving forward into new expressions of serving the Lord.
The best years are NOT behind you if you keep looking forward to where God is leading you and join Him on that journey.
Look, people can be draining – even for you extroverts! I’ve written – and will write more in the future – about getting alone to recharge your batteries. Even though people can be frustrating at times, working to help them grow to Christlikeness is what gives you such great satisfaction! So stick at it, making sure to recharge so you can be the best version of yourself.
However, there are people that you need to release from your life. Consider the number of co-workers the apostle Paul had, and the few times he released people because they were no longer healthy for him and the ministry God had called him to. Pastor, there is more than likely some people in your life that are a constant drain on your ministry passion, sometimes even colleagues. I encourage you to look at this next graphic and consider whether you are investing your energy in relationships that carry these qualities.
One of my favourite verses in the Bible is Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. I love the first part of that verse. It’s NOT possible to live peaceably with all; some people just don’t want to enter that kind of relationship. They enjoy keeping you off balance, manipulating you, talking behind your back, undermining you, etc. Those relationships will suck the life out of you. Release yourself from them! When you do, you will find how much they were negatively impacting your passion for ministry, and you will be well on your way to rekindling that same passion.
Which of these three do you need to implement first and right now? Pastor, you have a great work to do. Rekindle your ministry passion and re-join the Lord in reaching your community for Him.
Kindle: “to set something on fire”.
Rekindle: “to set something on fire again”.
This last definition implies that what is being rekindled was once on fire. There once was heat and light coming from it. But the implication also is that the heat and light are dimming, if not gone altogether.
When that happens to your pastoral ministry, what do you do. So far we have looked at six activities that help rekindle your ministry passion. They are found here and here.
Now we move onto three more.
7. Rehearse the Blessings
One of my enduring childhood church memories is sitting in church on a cold, dreary Sunday night – having just woken up from a great Sunday afternoon nap and being somewhat dragged to the building – and then finding it was “favourites night”. This was when people got to choose which hymn they wanted us all to sing. Invariably, Count Your Blessings was chosen by one of the older people. And away we would go – singing only “the first and the last”. I confess I didn’t understand a lot of the bigger words, but I did understand this: the answer for having to sit in church on a cold, dreary Sunday night when you just wanted to stay home was to “count your many blessings; see what God hath done”.I think that is still a great remedy, especially when pastoral ministry is cold and dreary. Even the most positive optimist is going to struggle in ministry from time to time. It is then that rehearsing your blessings is so vital. You are reminded that God has been good, is good, and certainly will be good. You are reminded that it’s not ALL negative and hard and dreary and cold. There certainly have been positive and easy and bright and warm times as well. Rehearse when you have seen God at work, and let the blessings of that sink into your soul.
8. Refocus on the Future
The older you get, the more history you have behind you, and the more tendency you have to remember the good ol’ days rather than look forward to what’s coming up next. The more you do that, the more those good ol’ days feel like they were the best years of your life. The future just doesn’t hold as much promise anymore. You find yourself slowing and coasting – trying to drag your feet to slow your entrance into the “hopeless years.” Well, if your belief is that the best years are behind you, you are certainly going to live into that.One of my heroes that helps me fight that thought tendency is Moses. If you divide his life into thirds, his best years were all at the end! The first and second thirds prepared him for the great task God gave him in the last third. I think an interesting biblical study would be to see who else would fit this model: Ruth, Samson, Elijah, King Manasseh, the disciples, Paul, etc. There are plenty of examples of people who kept moving forward into new expressions of serving the Lord.
The best years are NOT behind you if you keep looking forward to where God is leading you and join Him on that journey.
9. Re-evaluate Your Relationships
“Ministry would be great if it wasn’t for people”. How many times have you been at a pastor’s conference and heard that half-serious joke? Ministry is a lot about bringing people closer to God, and as long as people are involved in that task, the pastor will experience some level of frustration.Look, people can be draining – even for you extroverts! I’ve written – and will write more in the future – about getting alone to recharge your batteries. Even though people can be frustrating at times, working to help them grow to Christlikeness is what gives you such great satisfaction! So stick at it, making sure to recharge so you can be the best version of yourself.
However, there are people that you need to release from your life. Consider the number of co-workers the apostle Paul had, and the few times he released people because they were no longer healthy for him and the ministry God had called him to. Pastor, there is more than likely some people in your life that are a constant drain on your ministry passion, sometimes even colleagues. I encourage you to look at this next graphic and consider whether you are investing your energy in relationships that carry these qualities.
One of my favourite verses in the Bible is Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. I love the first part of that verse. It’s NOT possible to live peaceably with all; some people just don’t want to enter that kind of relationship. They enjoy keeping you off balance, manipulating you, talking behind your back, undermining you, etc. Those relationships will suck the life out of you. Release yourself from them! When you do, you will find how much they were negatively impacting your passion for ministry, and you will be well on your way to rekindling that same passion.
Which of these three do you need to implement first and right now? Pastor, you have a great work to do. Rekindle your ministry passion and re-join the Lord in reaching your community for Him.
Pointy Ears
I think the biggest realisation I made in this brief reflection is that I have not heard over this last year, “Pastor, I missed the second point of your sermon.” I remember one lady in a church I used to pastor would quite often ask what the second or third point of my sermon was as soon as the service was over. However, she most often missed the point of the entire sermon as she continuously struggled to live the life Jesus calls us to.
So on this reflection I want to ask two questions:
Pastor: are you more focussed on delivering the points of your sermon or the Point of the passage?
Listener: are you more focussed on writing the points of the sermon on your paper or writing the Point of the passage on your heart?
Can I encourage you to take “Pointy ears” with you to church this weekend?
Maybe drop the pen and listen for the one thing God has for you… and then write that down.
Let’s make sure the Point overshadows the points.
12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry (part 2)
21/05/20 Filed in: Pastor | Church Leadership
Using this scale: 1: “It couldn’t be any worse” or 10: “It really can’t get any better” – how would you assess these three rekindling activities:
__ I am relaxed in my humanity. While I am always journeying toward greater Christlikeness, I am not placing unrealistic expectations on myself in that journey.
__ I have revisited my calling. I spent time thinking about and reconnecting with what drew my passion for ministry in the first place.
__ I am renewing my soul. I am spending time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer. I am also connecting with Him in ways that are congruent with how I am designed.
Once you have scaled yourself on these three activities, ask yourself how you would know you had moved a point higher. What would be different in you? What would you notice that tells you that you have shifted? What would others notice? Then think about how you can implement changes that move you in that direction.
Now on to three more rekindling activities:
4. Reorganise your Schedule
While we are slowly creeping back to what looks familiar, now is the time to ask yourself what your new normal will look like. What priorities shifts have you made in the last two months? What have you found is not as important as you once thought it was? What have you been doing differently that you have found to be nourishing for your soul?I invite you to thoughtfully consider what Eugene Peterson wrote in The Contemplative Pastor:
“…the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront.”
5. Rediscover your Strengths
Gift Projection. It’s a term I first came across in Bible College. It happens when we read about or see one of the “heroes” who has accomplished great things for God in mighty ways. We then decide we want to be the same and try to accomplish what they did…only without their giftings. Frustration ensues, so we try harder. As we try harder…and remain unsuccessful…passion for ministry wanes.God has wired you to serve the way He wants you to serve Him. You have gifts, strengths, and experiences that are unique to you. Walk in those Holy Spirit-given, God-empowered gifts! Be who God made you to be.
When I turned 40, I became comfortable with who I am. When I turned 50, I became comfortable with who I am not. The second understanding was far more powerful than the first. You don’t have to wait until your 40s and 50s to get to these places. It just took me that long to hear what God had been saying all along. Rediscover who God made you to be and minister from that place rather than someone else’s.
6. Remember God’s Promises
A waning passion for ministry often comes when difficulties seem insurmountable, or when you can’t see the next step forward, or when it seems like nothing is working, or… The answer for all of this is to remember these words: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). In that promise of God’s constant presence, remember all the other promises God has made and that you have appropriated. Reminding yourself that you are not in the ministry by yourself – even when it might feel like it – and that God is always with you, empowering you, guiding you, blessing you, and using you for His glory is a great way of rekindling your ministry passion.So, more for you to consider. Sitting around hoping your passion for ministry just shows up again seldom works. Actually, I don’t know that it ever works! But taking these steps can begin to move you toward rekindling your ministry passion.
12 Ways to Rekindle Your Passion for Ministry (part 1)
11/05/20 Filed in: Pastor | Church Leadership
What an interesting time we live in right now. Who could have imagined that 2020 was going to look like this? How many churches started this year with a version of “2020 Vision” as their theme for the year? 
How many of them are completely having to revamp the way that vision looks and how they intended for it to be accomplished?
I’ve heard pastors say the different levels of lockdown they and their churches have been placed under have been good for them personally. I’ve heard pastors say lockdown has relieved some pressures but brought up new ones. I’ve heard pastors say they were initially recharged in their ministry passion but are finding that passion waning as the Covid-19 lifestyle drags on.
It is that last sentence that I’m most concerned with. In the next four blog posts I want to make twelve suggestions for you to consider in rekindling your passion for ministry.
One of my favourite verses is found in Psalm 103 – a great Psalm about God’s undying mercy and grace. Verse 14 hold great encouragement for me:
“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Read that Psalm and allow yourself to remove the “shoulds” and “musts” that demand perfection of you. Take notice of how God’s unchangeableness steps into our weakness as humans and brings patience, healing, mercy, and grace. If God can do that for us, can we not do that for ourselves as well?
In his book, Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas lists nine ways Christians relate to God. I would encourage you to get and read this book. It will give you some great encouragement and guidance in helping you live in the reality of relating to the Lord. When you are experiencing this reality, you will find your passion for walking with Him in ministry rekindled.
That’s it for now. Can I ask you to assess yourself on a scale of 1-5 in these three suggestions? One being, “I couldn’t be in a worse situation” and five being, “All good with this one.” Once you’ve assessed yourself, take some necessary actions to move up the scale.
I’ve heard pastors say the different levels of lockdown they and their churches have been placed under have been good for them personally. I’ve heard pastors say lockdown has relieved some pressures but brought up new ones. I’ve heard pastors say they were initially recharged in their ministry passion but are finding that passion waning as the Covid-19 lifestyle drags on.
It is that last sentence that I’m most concerned with. In the next four blog posts I want to make twelve suggestions for you to consider in rekindling your passion for ministry.
1. Relax in your own Humanity
Ministry passion has a wide variety of expectations and experiences associated with it. There are many influences that are brought into the discussion: theological bent, age of the pastor, size of the church, spiritual gifting, personality type, family structure, church expectations…the list could go on. The one constant I have found around ministry passion is that there is no constant. To say that ministry passion should never wane puts an unwarranted pressure on pastors as they navigate what each day brings.One of my favourite verses is found in Psalm 103 – a great Psalm about God’s undying mercy and grace. Verse 14 hold great encouragement for me:
2. Revisit your Calling
Do you remember the chain of events that led you into ministry? Was it the Holy Spirit applying a biblical passage? Was it the great need you saw around you? Was it the desire to do something of eternal significance? As great as ministry can be, sometimes the day-to-day busyness can cloud your vision of what you are trying to accomplish. In those times, it is helpful to step back and remind yourself why you got into ministry in the first place. Reconnect with it, reimagine it. Let those first images of stepping into ministry come back into focus.3. Renew your Soul
Many might think this goes without saying, but I have found pastors so need to be reminded of this! Renewing your soul comes as you spend time with the Lord. I’d like to take this a step beyond the necessary and common practice of reading the Word and praying. Some pastors find that those two disciplines feel just like that – disciplines. While they are necessary for spiritual growth, some pastors find they are still missing what feels like real relationship connection. That’s not because Bible reading and prayer don’t work. Neither is it because you are broken in some irreparable way. It may just be that you need to connect with God in ways that are congruent with how you relate to others.In his book, Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas lists nine ways Christians relate to God. I would encourage you to get and read this book. It will give you some great encouragement and guidance in helping you live in the reality of relating to the Lord. When you are experiencing this reality, you will find your passion for walking with Him in ministry rekindled.
That’s it for now. Can I ask you to assess yourself on a scale of 1-5 in these three suggestions? One being, “I couldn’t be in a worse situation” and five being, “All good with this one.” Once you’ve assessed yourself, take some necessary actions to move up the scale.