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To My Younger Self: Pray More

There are few things as significant to a Christian as prayer, and there are few things that are so easy for a young pastor to neglect as prayer. Prayer doesn’t feel like it “does” anything. People aren’t known for prayer—it isn’t sexy and it doesn’t bring accolades.

As I started this little blog series, I wanted to focus on things that I’ve learned after about 10 years of pastoral ministry. I do this for me because it helps me to figure out how I have changed (and likely how I need to keep changing). The first post was about how faithful ministry is better than fast ministry. How does ministry remain faithful, though? Through prayer.

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A Verse I Like, an Application I Don’t

If you know me, then you know I generally have a suspicious take on hip and trendy pastor phrases. It’s just one of my quirky things. I remembering one of those motivational posters from school when I was a kid that said, “What is right is now always what is popular. What is popular is not always what is right.” I’m not saying that hip and trendy phrases are wrong, I’m just saying that *I* tend to meet them with suspicion. It’s about me, not the phrase.

One of those passages/statements is from what I think is a true idea, but perhaps a goofy application of said idea. What I’ll do is show the idea, show what I like, show where I’m a little critical, and then leave with a thought or two moving forward.

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Three Time Adjustments I’ve Had to Make

There has been a lot of adjusting going on in our house since moving to Texas in July of last year. It feels a bit funny to say that but it is true. Though I am living close to where I grew up (an irony not lost on me because it was never on my bucket list to live near home), there have been a lot of changes that have come along the way. One of the biggest ones for me—specifically in regard to how I pursue pastoral ministry—is regarding time.

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Nine Months In . . .

I’ve lived in Texas a little more than nine months. Granted, I came from Texas and went to seminary in Texas, but the majority of my adult life has been Louisiana. I think I still claim Louisiana as home. That’ll change after enough Texas BBQ, but for now I’m still more familiar with south Louisiana than I am with the Houston area.

With nine months under the belt, I wanted to give a brief update on life in Texas and some of the observations I’ve had. These won’t be super serious observations because I don’t have time for that. 🙂

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A (Usually) Unique Difference in Pastoral Change

Last week I wrote my initial thoughts on change in ministry. In that post I mentioned that I’m much more like any congregant when it comes to ministry change. We are all ministers of the gospel and need to regularly ask ourselves (and the Lord) how we can best serve the local church and be a part of seeing the gospel go to the nations. When it comes to that, I am just like anyone else.

However, when it comes to serving as a pastor in the way that I (or others) do, there is (usually) a unique difference. This difference doesn’t apply to all areas of service the same way (I think Oaks site pastor was my third distinct role at The Chapel), but does come about with certain roles.  Continue reading “A (Usually) Unique Difference in Pastoral Change”

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Three Thoughts on Changing Gears in Ministry

My assumption is that if you are reading this, then you likely know that this past Sunday I announced my transition off of staff at The Chapel. I’m not leaving immediately, but will be leaving in the coming months. I’ve been a part of talking about staff transitions at The Chapel, but I’ve never been the subject.

It is different to be on the other side of the announcement. The past few months for me have had moments of grieving, joy, and encouragement. As I’ve talked through decisions with numerous friends and family, I am confident in God’s faithfulness and sad to be leaving people I love.

As I’ve processed the past few days (and weeks, and months, and years), I have a few thoughts. These thoughts are simply preliminary as I try to work out how I’m actually feeling—or at least put words to it.

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