I have been a pastor for almost 15 years. While some would say I am just getting started, it is remarkable how many stories I can recall – stories of failure, success, loss, pain, elation, and everything in between. I took the initiative to record some “blooper” stories from my ministry.
I was getting my feet wet as a pastor when a church in our area invited me to preach at a community Thanksgiving service. I eagerly agreed and began preparing.
The Sunday evening before Thanksgiving, my bride and I went to her parents’ to watch TV and hang out. When we returned home that night, I’ll never forget the message on our answering machine. It was from my pastor friend John Cory. “Uh … Dan … where are you? The service is supposed to start in a few minutes. Why aren’t you here?”
As I heard those words, my heart sank. The service was now long over, and there was nothing I could do. For some reason, I thought the service was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and not before. Lesson learned: double check the time and date!
My wife and I received our initiation into parenthood with twin daughters. Like most children, Elizabeth and Anna were very vocal in church. Everyone knew the pastor’s kids made all the noise in our small country church. Most of the time, I didn’t say anything, but one time I decided to make a joke of it after one of the girls started carrying on.
“Will the lady in the back row please keep her children quiet?”
In an instant, I realized my error. A baby girl was carrying on, but it wasn’t one of my girls. Whoops! I did get a lot of laughs, but not in the way I had planned. Thankfully, that poor woman in church forgave me.
One of my parishioners, Mr. Sherman, came down with a serious heart problem and ended up in the Cleveland Clinic. The first time I visited him, he was still in the cardiac unit and close to many other patients. It was more than a little unnerving to be in the presence of so many people in critical condition, but I carried on as best I could.
We didn’t talk long before I opened my Bible and started reading the 23rd Psalm. I only made it through about half the Psalm when I began to feel woozy and excused myself. I started walking but didn’t get very far before completely passing out on the floor! My wife witnessed it all and said that in a matter of seconds, I had several doctors and nurses examining me to make sure I was all right.
I was fine, and Mr. Sherman eventually recovered, but from time to time, he liked to kid me about “passing out” in the Cleveland Clinic. A few years ago, I had the privilege of doing his funeral.
On June 19, 2009, I preached a sermon on “The Power of a Father.” It was Father’s Day, and my text was 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. After preaching that sermon, I was convicted about how I handled the text. Instead of doing “exegesis,” my preaching was more of an exercise in “eisegesis.” I was reading something into the text for my own purposes.
I decided to preach from the same passage the following Sunday. I began by confessing to our congregation that I had not been faithful to the text of Scripture and that I could do better. People were surprised at how different the second sermon was, and I can confidently say it was much better!
God used that not only as a learning experience for me but also for our church. How we handle the word of God matters!
One day I was hard at work in my study when suddenly, a woman from our church rushed in and said, “Dan, don’t you know? The house next door is on fire!” Sure enough, it was, and the fire department had arrived. There were people all around, and I suddenly noticed the smell of smoke in my office. Somehow, I had remained oblivious to it all.
That experience reinforced what I already knew about myself. I score higher in the area of concentration than I do in the area of overall awareness.
One evening, I was teaching a Bible study in Hebrews when a guest decided to join us … a bat! For a long time, the bat just flew around in circles until he eventually decided to move upstairs into the sanctuary. We opened up some doors, and after what seemed like ages, our bat friend finally decided to exit the building.
It took everyone a while to settle down again after all the chaos. Some visitors were with us that week, but to no one’s surprise, they didn’t come back the following week.
Every pastor has a blooper list. For me, this is the edited version. Though one can’t fault me for all of these things, they happened and were humbling to me. The redeeming element is that God uses our mistakes, failures, and embarrassing experiences to teach and grow us as pastors.
Pastoral ministry has a way of surprising us. Every pastor will testify that this calling is never dull. Ministry is hard. Every pastor will suffer (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Sometimes you will feel like you are at the end of your rope (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). But it is immensely rewarding, and we can always trust God to supply His sustaining grace.
As one of my seminary professors told me before I graduated, “Preach the Word and love the people.” God has called you to be a shepherd (1 Peter 5:2-3) and not a salesman (2 Corinthians 2:17). If you are just getting started in ministry, expect to laugh, cry, grieve, smile, and be embarrassed from time to time. But get to know your people, love them, and continually point them to “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
The most important thing to remember is that success, in an ultimate sense, is not about you. It’s about God. Any success you enjoy in ministry is His. When you trip and fall and even fail on occasion, don’t despair. God is working in you and through you, even in your mistakes.
He has you!
The post Failing Forward: Learning from Ministry Mistakes and Failures appeared first on Focus on the Family.
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A “No Show” at Thanksgiving
I was getting my feet wet as a pastor when a church in our area invited me to preach at a community Thanksgiving service. I eagerly agreed and began preparing.
The Sunday evening before Thanksgiving, my bride and I went to her parents’ to watch TV and hang out. When we returned home that night, I’ll never forget the message on our answering machine. It was from my pastor friend John Cory. “Uh … Dan … where are you? The service is supposed to start in a few minutes. Why aren’t you here?”
As I heard those words, my heart sank. The service was now long over, and there was nothing I could do. For some reason, I thought the service was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and not before. Lesson learned: double check the time and date!
Wrong Kid
My wife and I received our initiation into parenthood with twin daughters. Like most children, Elizabeth and Anna were very vocal in church. Everyone knew the pastor’s kids made all the noise in our small country church. Most of the time, I didn’t say anything, but one time I decided to make a joke of it after one of the girls started carrying on.
“Will the lady in the back row please keep her children quiet?”
In an instant, I realized my error. A baby girl was carrying on, but it wasn’t one of my girls. Whoops! I did get a lot of laughs, but not in the way I had planned. Thankfully, that poor woman in church forgave me.
Passing out at the Hospital
One of my parishioners, Mr. Sherman, came down with a serious heart problem and ended up in the Cleveland Clinic. The first time I visited him, he was still in the cardiac unit and close to many other patients. It was more than a little unnerving to be in the presence of so many people in critical condition, but I carried on as best I could.
We didn’t talk long before I opened my Bible and started reading the 23rd Psalm. I only made it through about half the Psalm when I began to feel woozy and excused myself. I started walking but didn’t get very far before completely passing out on the floor! My wife witnessed it all and said that in a matter of seconds, I had several doctors and nurses examining me to make sure I was all right.
I was fine, and Mr. Sherman eventually recovered, but from time to time, he liked to kid me about “passing out” in the Cleveland Clinic. A few years ago, I had the privilege of doing his funeral.
Preaching Struggles
On June 19, 2009, I preached a sermon on “The Power of a Father.” It was Father’s Day, and my text was 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. After preaching that sermon, I was convicted about how I handled the text. Instead of doing “exegesis,” my preaching was more of an exercise in “eisegesis.” I was reading something into the text for my own purposes.
I decided to preach from the same passage the following Sunday. I began by confessing to our congregation that I had not been faithful to the text of Scripture and that I could do better. People were surprised at how different the second sermon was, and I can confidently say it was much better!
God used that not only as a learning experience for me but also for our church. How we handle the word of God matters!
Fire! Fire!
One day I was hard at work in my study when suddenly, a woman from our church rushed in and said, “Dan, don’t you know? The house next door is on fire!” Sure enough, it was, and the fire department had arrived. There were people all around, and I suddenly noticed the smell of smoke in my office. Somehow, I had remained oblivious to it all.
That experience reinforced what I already knew about myself. I score higher in the area of concentration than I do in the area of overall awareness.
Unwelcome Visitor
One evening, I was teaching a Bible study in Hebrews when a guest decided to join us … a bat! For a long time, the bat just flew around in circles until he eventually decided to move upstairs into the sanctuary. We opened up some doors, and after what seemed like ages, our bat friend finally decided to exit the building.
It took everyone a while to settle down again after all the chaos. Some visitors were with us that week, but to no one’s surprise, they didn’t come back the following week.
God Uses our Bloopers
Every pastor has a blooper list. For me, this is the edited version. Though one can’t fault me for all of these things, they happened and were humbling to me. The redeeming element is that God uses our mistakes, failures, and embarrassing experiences to teach and grow us as pastors.
Pastoral ministry has a way of surprising us. Every pastor will testify that this calling is never dull. Ministry is hard. Every pastor will suffer (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Sometimes you will feel like you are at the end of your rope (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). But it is immensely rewarding, and we can always trust God to supply His sustaining grace.
As one of my seminary professors told me before I graduated, “Preach the Word and love the people.” God has called you to be a shepherd (1 Peter 5:2-3) and not a salesman (2 Corinthians 2:17). If you are just getting started in ministry, expect to laugh, cry, grieve, smile, and be embarrassed from time to time. But get to know your people, love them, and continually point them to “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
The most important thing to remember is that success, in an ultimate sense, is not about you. It’s about God. Any success you enjoy in ministry is His. When you trip and fall and even fail on occasion, don’t despair. God is working in you and through you, even in your mistakes.
He has you!
The post Failing Forward: Learning from Ministry Mistakes and Failures appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...