More often than I wish to admit, I feel frustrated about what could be but for whatever reasons, it’s not happening. As a pastor I know it’s risky to unveil that I have frustrations, so I ask you to take these and make them prayer requests. Oh, do pray for me as I strive to be the spiritual leader and pastoral leader that God needs for Friendship. Sometimes my frustrations do get the better of me.
What are some of my frustrations?
First, I sense Friendship could become a really great church, but we are not embracing all our God-given opportunities. This frustrates me. I have a lot of people willing to be in advisory positions, and not nearly enough willing to step up and discover the joy of investing their lives for kingdom purposes.
Second, it frustrates me that I’m expected to ‘perform’ at a high level but most of ‘my people’ can get by with being average. And, I better not call them on this!
Third, it frustrates me that so many of ‘my people’ are missing out on the joy of being a bold witness for Christ and have settled for mediocrity in their spiritual lives.
Fourth, it frustrates me that we could be averaging 200+ more in worship attendance, but so many of ‘my people’ are satisfied with sporadic attendance.
Fifth, it frustrates me that so many of my people are stingy and have not discovered the joy of tithing. This is preventing us from doing all we could be doing. I ask you to join me in praying for some huge financial gifts that we can pay off existing debt to get into a position for Friendship’s next adventure of faith.
Sixth, it frustrates me that too many people feel strong about their opinions without any basis in God’s Word. Honestly it seems we still have too much immaturity among long term followers of Christ.
How do I deal with my frustrations?
I seek your prayers, patience, and deployment. If only we had the courage to forget about what’s in it for me and ask, “God, what do you want from me?” we could reach so many more people for Christ.
And, I’ve courageously shared them with you. I will strive to operate with the old adage, “Let him – or her – that gripeth, be the ones that grab hold of the situation.”
Still, even with all my frustrations, God is at work and lives are being challenged and changed for Him.
3 Comments:
Calvin - Hi! This is Mary Wagner. Mike and I watched your sermon on July 22nd because we were out of town that Sunday. I want to be like Billy Graham too! But I learned many years ago that God created me just the way I am ... with all my imperfections and lack of great knowledge. But He uses me just the same ... just as He uses you! How could I take issue with myself if He is the One who created me!!!
Your blog is interesting...you are really becoming high tech! This week in One on One with God we talked about "investing your life" or "spending your life". Jerry Fine said there are only three things that are eternal and will live forever: God's Word, God, and the soul's of men. I agree with you that people, and yes, Christians, seem to go through the motions of Christianity, and not willing to inconvenience themselves too much. When we "spend our life" we concentrate on prestige, accumulating things and just participating in church at best. But, what would happen if we as Christians were willing to invest our time and money for things that have eternal significance ... not occasionally, but everyday? Wow! I for one am tired of spending my life for things that have no eternal value. I want to "invest" my life in things that are eternal. Think about it ...when you spend, you come up empty when the money is gone. But if you invest ... it pays dividends ... dividends or treasure that you can present to Jesus someday!
Hang in there pastor ... God loves you just the way you are ... and so does everyone else! Think eternal and the "things" of the world will not cause you concern!!!
Hello Calvin! Please hold your head high! You are GREAT! We love you the way you are and you do a wayyy better job than I could!!!!! You have our love and respect. We will continue to pray for you, you are human also. Love ya, Cindy & Family
Calvin. Hey! I believe that everyone as a right to admit however they feel even those that are pastors. The more I learned of what it takes to be head of a church (especially a church as big as Friendship)I know that you get frustrated. But in order for some of your frustrations to go away you also have to get to where you understand that the people in the church also get frustrated by how things go in the church. You and the staff are not the only ones that are affected by how things are not going but it affects the whole church (as the church is a whole). The lack of communication between the heads and the body needs to improve. When there is lack of communication there are problems and situations that arise which causes misunderstandings. But, I know that you are a strong minded individual and you do things the way you see fit but always remember that without God in everything that is done there will be problems and frustrations. Even pastors need to be reminded sometime because you all are also human.
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