We have moved to www.theprognosis.org

No, before you all get worried (especially Jon, fellow author and boss!) I’m not having an emotional crisis of any kind and although ministry is a bit of a roller coaster in terms of emotions (after all what job isn’t) I’m not referring to this phenomenon.

I’m talking about work loads. In all the time (8months) I’ve been in ‘the ministry’ this has to be the issue which has struck me the most. How do you keep a balanced work load from day to day, let alone week to week? As events come and go, commitments (such as back to back preaching to cover an AWOL pastor…not really) rear their ugly heads one can be found in one of two equally uncomfortable positions. Either buried under an unimaginable mound of work, take note this is the very time when your phone will be red hot, or else swimming in a sea of nothing with all the time and best intentions in the world, but no work to fill it. Yes, I know Jon, I should be getting on with the Cross of Christ by John Stodge (sic) but really, as I’ve told you, it’s like reading porridge.

Back to the point. For an illustration as to how work loads can fluctuate quicker than a married woman’s mood (single women do not have the luxury of such mood swings so they suppress them) you can just look at the inconsistency in my blogging (is that even a verb? Stupid techno geeks inventing new words, I thought it was only the Church that could do that). About two weeks ago I posted two blogs in very quick succession, symptomatic of having nothing much (that I wanted) to do. Sermons had been preached, clubs organised, parishioners visited. I was swimming. And then, a dry spell. The sea of nothingness dried up and I found myself very near that mound of work which is lurking at the bottom. Two weeks, no blog.

My point? Well other than a simple statement of the obvious (as this is no doubt something we all go through, including those outside ‘the ministry’) and an apology to our readers for a lack of blogging (there it is again) over the past fortnight, it’s an admission that time management is something we need to get a hold on. So anyone out there with any chestnuts of wisdom, well you just go right ahead and hit the shiny button labeled COMMENT.

…Cheers in advance.

A few days ago, Jonny Raine and I ended up in Bridgend, specifically Bryntirion. Jonny had picked up some information about a day conference on ‘The Call’. So off we trotted down the M4 heading WESTwards.

Now I use the word conference rather generously, as when we arrived, there were 6 of us…and 4 of them we’re speaking at the ‘conference’. This was most definitely an intimate gig. But it was great to be there and learn from 4 experienced pastors. We kicked off with a session on the theology of the call, and then moved onto a week in the life of a pastor. After lunch we looked at things they don’t tell you in Bible College and my first year of ministry surprisingly led by a guy who’s just completed his first year of ministry. It was a good day with plenty of opportunity to discuss and ask questions. A shame more didn’t turn up. I was encouraged by the guy who had just completed his first year of ministry and is seeking to reach out to the local community he’s in. He was rightly excited about it.

While we chatted about the difficulties faced in Christian ministry, there was a comment ‘what often keeps me going is a reassurance that I’m called to this work’. This got me thinking about what is our motivation for doing anything. If that’s what keeps some pastor’s going, then what keeps Steve working down at spar going? Surely something bigger than reassurance of our situation we’re called into keeps us going?

It’s the gospel keeps us going in the face of difficulties. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith keeps us pressing on. There are many aspects of the gospel that keep us going; here are just a few tasty ones:

Knowing that the gospel has saved me, free of charge, all by grace. And so too, it can save others, and it’s so powerful it can even save the hardest nutcase in the east end.

Knowing that our great high priest has gone before us into heaven. So we can freely and boldly approach a holy God and never be turned away.

Knowing that I’m seen as pure and righteousness because I’m clothed in Jesus’ purity and righteousness, all because of him.

Knowing that God remembers my sins no more, they’re totally forgotten.

Knowing that the message of the gospel is true and is relevant for everyone whether they think that or not.

Knowing that one day I’ll be home with Jesus in heaven and all the struggles I faced in here on planet earth will be nothing compared to the glory that’s coming. It’ll all be worth it.

The gospel is so rich and so deep and yet we so often want to be driven by anything else. But whatever our situation is, whether we’re pastoring a church, or beeping through items on the checkout in spar, it’s the gospel that should keeps us going, shape our actions and our attitudes and its Jesus we need to fix our eyes on. We’re called to be gospel driven people.

By Dave Walker