Why do I not regret the change?

I get this question quite frequently. The answer is “No.” I don’t have a single regret leaving full-time preaching ministry. In fact, it may be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I say this for those reading who are contemplating stepping away from preaching ministry because I know you are out there. You are torn. You are scared. You worry about what others might think.

I’m here to tell you that there is life on the other side.

That many have been duped into thinking that the only effective ministry is preaching ministry is unfortunate. I know people indeed work under this misconception because it was a burden once placed on me.

But I took the plunge, and may have salvaged many other aspects of my life because of it.

Here’s why I don’t regret my decision…

I made some people happy!

To be sure, your critics will be glad you are no longer preaching. For a while, I got emails from my critics stating that I wasn’t fit for the pulpit any longer. My decision to minister elsewhere was a blessing to them.

I also made my wife happy. The fishbowl our families get thrust into when we are involved in full-time preaching work is never mentioned as a part of the package but it’s always in the fine print. My wife and kids didn’t deserve some of the treatment they received. To have been moved from a fishbowl to open waters has been a blessing to us all!

I’m engaged in work people appreciate.

Don’t misunderstand me here. Preachers are appreciated. What I mean though is that when people ask me what I do now, they become intrigued. When I would tell people I was a preacher, they would generally become guarded. I think we all know why. In fact, many would become people they really weren’t. In my opinion, that is unfortunate. Now when I tell people what I do, I get amazement.

A few months ago I went back to my hometown for my 20th class reunion. I was amazed at how genuinely interested and intrigued my friends from “back in the day” were with the work I do. I wouldn’t exchange that for the world.

Kids matter! They are the future. Our world in 30 years will be shaped by the preteens Tisha and I work with now. What could be nobler work than affecting the world now for the sake of the future? I can tell by our donors this is a work they appreciate!

You don’t have to preach for a church to minister!

I alluded to this earlier, but I’ll reiterate it once more… You don’t have to preach for a church to minister!!!!!!! Was that stated clearly

Serving gravy at the NMCCH Pork Chop Breakfast

enough?

I work in an incredible environment with incredible people! This is a unique environment. I am somewhat insulated from a lot of things, but regardless of where we work we can minister to others.

I have a friend who left the pulpit and now works as a prison counselor. He’s doing what he could have never done while in preaching ministry. I would venture to say he feels like he’ s making a huge impact! I think he is. He is in the trenches, and is in a position to make an enduring impact.

One Last Thought…

The business model is working against the church. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

Jesus didn’t die for a 501 C3 Non-Profit Organization!

It’s true! The first century church wasn’t dictated by a budget. It didn’t hire and fire ministers. I don’t think it voted to see who would become elders and deacons. From everything I can read, it didn’t operate like a business. But that is the norm today.

This became a major source of frustration for me. Criteria were crafted for helping people. It wasn’t “opportunity” based assistance (Galatians 6:10). There was too much worry about getting scammed. Who can feel good about telling someone, “Sorry… Can you come back another time and we might help you then?”

I’m not suggesting the business model is necessarily wrong. It’s a way for the church to function. But I’d contend the business model has hindered the church more than it has helped it, and I’m glad I’m no longer beholden to it.

The longing for something new isn’t abnormal. It’s actually natural, and at times needed. The covenant offered at Sinai was in need of being replaced by something “new” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13). But something new is generally risky. The “old wine” might be what we are used to, and often, we will only take on something new if we can put it in old wineskins (Luke 5:36-39). After all, we are entrenched in the belief that “the old is better” (v. 39). But the inborn sense of desire for something new must be dealt with. You can only avoid it for so long before it becomes deconstructive.

For a while now, I’ve considered breaking free from local church pulpit work to do something new. I don’t want to quit ministering, but I do want to minister in a way that I sense betters serves people. Yes, that’s exactly what I meant!  “What can better serve people than to preach ‘the good news’ to them?” you might be thinking.  Look,  preaching and teaching doesn’t just take place in church auditoriums. It happens in a number of different environments, in numeous venues. But before one thinks that a Sunday morning assembly is “the” best place to minister, I would suggest such one takes a Sunday, stands behind a pulpit for 30 minutes, and speaks . What you might see might change your mind! Sleeping. Doodling. Texting. Reading the Bible but not following along with the minister. People looking around and watching what others are doing. All of this happens every Sunday all over the country.

So, for the time being, I am transitioning into something new. I will no longer be involved in full-time preaching work. Instead, my wife  and I have chosen to minister together in the lives of children at a nearby children’s home in Portales, NM.

I want something new. I need something new. The New Mexico Christian Children’s Home has stepped in to offer Tisha and I an opportunity to do something new.

It will be tough. We both know that. That is, in part, why we want to do it. We are concerned for the future of the church, and we long for Jesus and his church to be integral to the lives of today’s youth.

I ask that you will pray for us as we begin to transition, as well as keep us in your prayers as jump into this work with both feet!

This morning I was reading through Acts 6 and I was struck by the life of Stephen. He was one of the “seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom” selected to tend to the Grecian widows who’d been neglected in the daily distribution. He was also described as “full of faith” (v. 5). Still later, we read of Stephen as “full of grace and power…performing great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8). He met formidable opposition from those of the Freedman’s Synagogue, but “they were not able to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (v. 10). Ultimately, his history lesson of Israel’s rejections of God’s prophets over the years, which culminated in the rejection of the Messiah, got him killed. But what a compelling argument he was for the faith of Christ!

The guy chosen to “wait on tables” (v. 2) apparently had much more to offer. And he did. Inside of him was a heart for souls. His ministry was about meeting the needs of others. If by food distribution, so be it. He offered food that met physical needs, but he was also willing to serve food “that lasts for eternal life” (John 6:27).

Service, in whatever form, is mighty ministry. Jesus boldly proclaimed the “living word” with passion and urgency; yet, washing his disciples’s feet was no less ministry, and no less significant.

Like Jesus, Stephen wasn’t a one talent man. His selection for a specific work didn’t mean he wasn’t fit for anything else. In a sense, I think it helped groom him for more. Unfortunately, it seems to have been a life cut short, but like others who have gone on before, “though he is dead, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).