Stop me, Coach!

We forget to stop. Sometimes we choose not to stop. We know we should, but maybe we are addicted to action.

That's why we are doing a series called "Stop." Stopping is a lost art these days. How can you take a break? It seems like we only stop for a day or two when we have a good snow.

We were actually designed to take regular breaks. God made us that way. He even gives us one day out of seven to let go and remember that he's in charge. No one can live without rest. Life has natural rhythms. We function better when we work with those patterns.

Jesus tells us that we can know his rest. He even promises to rest us, if we will come to him. (Matthew 11:28) Think of a basketball or soccer coach. Why does he pull players out of the game and sit them on the bench?

• For an attitude adjustment
  
• For strategy instruction
• To deal with an injury
• To rest and prepare for a big moment
• To remind the player to listen to the coach
• To remind the player to be a team player
• To give another player time to lead

God rests us for all the same reasons. But we choose to ignore that call to rest. And we become worn out, cynical, discouraged, selfish, preoccupied, dull. The world cannot possibly go on without us. We don't need to rest. We like to be busy. Rest won't work with our schedule. Rest really isn't necessary.

But is life without a break really life? Life with no rest fills us with all the shallow things. It leaves us wanting more value, more meaning, more depth. We only get that when we take a step back.

Wouldn't life be great if you knew that you were never more than 6 days away from laying down every burden? That cadence of rest gives you the drive and the depth you need for real living.

And what is life without real living?

Let's Stop. Join us for the last two messages in this series.
January 28: Stop and Receive
February 4: Stop and Give

Advice for Pastors

I’ve been doing this 25 years.  With a Master of Divinity degree in 1988, I was called to serve as pastor of Coolidge Memorial Baptist Church in Coolidge, GA.  My home church, Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC, ordained me in November 1988.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I have served three churches over this quarter century, and I may still not know what I'm doing. 

For what it’s worth, here are a few of my observations:

• You don’t do this for the money. 

• Ministry will take over your life (if you let it), and you won’t have a life.

• Ministry gets real when you get real.

• Ministry gets fun when you stop taking yourself so seriously.

• God is hammering away at you.  He always will be.

• Truth is more important than any planning tool or strategy.

• You are in this for truth, not accomplishment.

• God will take care of you.

• Don’t fake vision.  It won’t work.

• You know God’s ultimate vision:  reconciliation through the cross.

• Keep vision simple and let God bring out the details over time.

• The silver bullet is the cross.

• You can’t do it all, but you can try.  Trying to do it all will steal your soul.

• Trust God to be at work.

• Your sin of avoiding Sabbath is destroying your soul and your ministry.

• Keep it in perspective.  Most problems are not that big a deal.

• Jesus cares more about your soul than your ministry.

• Keep a good attitude.  Your joy means more than your most inspired plans.

• Give it up.  Let God have a turn.

• Don’t give up.  You are doing more good than you realize.

• Laugh.   At yourself, at your first-world problems.

• Have fun on purpose.  Make it a priority.

• The joy of the Lord is your strength. 

 

Here’s to the next 25 years of ministry!

Stop

The word Sabbath means "cease."  Or maybe the Hebrew word for cease came from "Sabbath."  Margaret Feinberg offers these insights in Wonderstruck. 

Many Christians today have little sense of Sabbath.  We believe that a different kind of activity qualifies as rest.  So we return from vacation exhausted.  Our days off are whirlwinds of birthday parties, soccer games, errands and dinners out.  Every weekend offers a multitude of festivals, craft shows, parades, yard sales, 5ks and fundraisers.  Save the date, five months out.

When do we stop?

There comes a time when we are forced to stop.  Heart attacks make us stop.  Injuries and illnesses make us stop.

But God commanded a stop day every week.  Stop working, stop cooking, stop exerting, stop gathering firewood.  Let your animals rest.  Let your servants rest.  Just stop.

It takes a lot of faith to stop.  We have to believe that God will be able to handle everything while we don't.  We don't really know (by experience) if he can or not.  We don't let him.  Our situation is different.  Of course we can't stop.  Work will pile up.  We have to stay caught up. 

But we never get caught up.  We just reach the point -- preferably sooner, not later -- when we realize that some things just aren't that important.  We can let them go.  Maybe we can't control them anyway.

Old people don't get worked up over every detail.  It's just because they are retired, right?  Maybe it's because they are wiser.  They take time to be still.  They can think about what really matters.  They've run the rat race and realized that it's an endless exercise wheel.

What if we learned to stop before old age?  We could stop every week.  For a whole day.  That might be wise.  If only God had told us about this...

Stop.