Serve by Design

There is no “best by” date for showing appreciation to your pastor or for that matter anyone! Many churches designate October as their Pastor Appreciation Month emphasis, but our beloved six-year-old granddaughter, Klaire, chose this past Easter. It was all her idea! Klaire’s family has been active members of the Paragon Church in Rio Rancho, NM, for several years now. It is an exciting church plant born out of their previous church, First Baptist.  Matt Sellers is the lead pastor. He and his wife, Christy, have served Paragon for over twelve years now and they are the proud parents of 7 children! Paragon is alive with many kids each Lord’s Day and three of them are our grands! An Easter Pastor Appreciation! Klaire loves her pastor, and she couldn’t wait to show it! She took her little pencil in hand and wrote him the sweetest note that said, “Pastor Matt. You are the best Pastor. Thank you for teaching me about Jesus. Klaire.” On Easter Sunday, she gave him the note along with a p...

It always helps me to try to quantify or graphically measure what I'm thinking about. I guess this is because I am a visual person and need to diagram, conceptualize, or even try to sketch the thoughts I'm thinking in order to understand them. The other day in a small group setting, we were discussing how to grow in our capacity to love others, especially those who are different from us. I suggested that we first needed to identify the recipients of that love. Taking a marker in hand, I began drawing on the whiteboard several concentric circles like the ripples made from a pebble dropped into a body of water and then titled this simple image, "Quantifying Our Relationships!" Each circle became a way to specifically show the levels of our relationships in life. The inner core represented ourselves. Then going outward, we segmented other relations like our immediate family, relatives, close friends, next door neighbors, fellow workers, the many acquaintances we have...

I have always been a little hesitant to pray for patience even though I need to grow into this fruit of the Spirit more fully. My hesitancy is because God knows my shortcomings and daily engineers circumstances that give me multiple opportunities to exercise patience. I have even cautioned my peers, “Be careful what you ask for in terms of patience. God may just set up a situation this day to put the virtue into practice.” Someone or something may challenge you. There are unpleasant confrontations with people and there are frustrating things to be fixed that are woven into each day’s agenda. These encounters have us praying, “Lord, give me patience!” Paul counseled the Ephesians to live up to their calling in Christ and “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of peace” (4:2-3). These beautiful instructions give pastor and people guidance for relating within the church. The idea of “bearing with” means showin...