Monday, February 27, 2006
TRANSITIONAL TIMES, ETC.
Well, it's official: Deutero Q will soon be leaving the promised land of Texas to pastor a congregation in New Orleans, Louisiana. We will be living and ministering in the Westbank, the part of New Orleans least affected by Katrina. This will be a challenging time in a challenging place; I welcome your prayers!I have not been able to blog much, since most of my time lately has been devoted to packing and finalizing plans for the move in early March.
I do want to mention how special this past Sunday was. My congregation honored me and my family with a wonderful meal and a time of sharing. It was such an encouragement to hear people share how much their pastor has meant to them. Wow, the power of encouraging words! I shall miss my congregation dearly. It is hard to believe that nearly a fourth of my life has been spent ministering in Brownsville!
As I conclude this blog entry, I am reminded of some "timely" words from Charles Spurgeon. Though spoken more than a hundred years ago, they really resonate with me, underscoring how important it is to encourage our spiritual leaders. Here are Spurgeon's words:
Encourage Your Minister
If you do not encourage your minister, your minister will probably sink down in despair. Remember that the man himself needs encouragement, because he is weak. Who is sufficient for these things? To serve in any part of the spiritual army is dangerous, but to be a captain is to be doubly exposed. The most of the shots are aimed at the officers. If Satan can find a flaw in our character, then it will be, "Publish it, publish it, publish it!" If he can lead us to keep back a doctrine or go amiss in practice, or wander in experience, he is glad enough. How delighted is the devil to break the vessels of mercy. Pray for the poor man, whom you expose to perish if you do not preserve him by supplication. If there were a ship at sea stranded and broken on the rocks, and someone volunteered to carry a rope to the sinking crew, you, standing on the shore, could do no more, methinks you could not do less, than cry, "O God! help him to bear the rope to that wrecked ship." Pray for the minister and encourage him, for there are plenty to discourage him. There are always carping spirits abroad who will remind him of any fault; he will be afflicted by those dastards who will not dare to sign their names to a letter, but send it to him anonymously; and then there is the devil, who, the moment the man has got out of the pulpit, will say, "There is a poor sermon! You will never dare to preach again." After he has been preaching for weeks there will come a suggestion, "You are not in your proper sphere of labor." There are all sorts of discouragements to be met with. Professing Christians will backslide. Those who do remain will often be inconsistent, and he will be sighing and crying in his closet, while you, perhaps, are thanking God that your souls have been fed under him. Encourage your minister, I pray you, wherever you attend—encourage him for your own sake. A discouraged minister is a serious burden upon the congregation. When the fountain gets out of order, you cannot expect to find water at any of the taps; and if the minister be not right, it is something like a steam engine in a great manufactory—everybody's loom is idle when the motive-power is out of order. See that he is resting upon God and receiving his divine power, and you will all know, each Sabbath day, the benefit of it. This is the least thing you can do. There are many other things which may cause you expense, effort, time, but to encourage the minister is so easy, so simple a matter, that I may well press upon you to do it.
