Jim Martin's Encouragement Note #89
Turn the next page of your life with hope . . . Some choices that really matter . . . Ways to invest in your children . . . Seven truths about ministry . . . Etcetera
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The List of Five
Turn the Next Page of Your Life With Hope
I recently ate lunch with a new friend in Nashville. Though we have only recently become acquainted, I have great respect for his life and ministry. His manner is engaging and his spirit is gracious. His love for God is deep and solid.
We are both approximately the same age and in the same season in life. At lunch, we talked about life, ministry, and our desires for the next ten years. We shared some difficulties and challenges. Yet, both of us want to make a kingdom difference and invest our lives where it matters — in gospel ministry and in people.
Life does have its disappointments. You and I both know this. Yet, a disappointment does not mean that we have to shut down, move aside, or give up. Far too many people spend the rest of their days licking their wounds and bitterly talking about the way life used to be.
You and I have received a joy that is the result of our salvation. This joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Our purpose flows out of the heart of God. By his grace, you and I have the capacity to take the next step. This is good news.
On my way back to Memphis, I thought about the next ten years of my life:
I want to live a gospel-shaped life, both in my commitment to Jesus, my marriage, and my ministry.
I want to invest in my children, my grandchildren, and others in my family.
I want to invest in and sustain friendships that are so important to me.
I want to to smile, have a pleasant disposition, and look for the good in the ordinary things of life.
I want to serve God, trusting him to make a kingdom difference in my ministry.
What about you?
What do you think about as you consider the next ten years of your life?
Some Choices That Really Matter
So often our lives are impacted by the decisions of others. Family members, friends, church leaders, employers can make decisions which affect us in some way. Consider the following:
A friend now seems to disregard and even ignore your friendship. The friendship seems to be a low priority for this person.
Your adult son has chosen a lifestyle that troubles you deeply. Some of his choices breaks your heart. Yet, he is an adult and you have no control over his ethical and moral decisions.
At work, management made a decision that has impacted your family and finances. Years ago, a couple in our church called one afternoon and asked if Charlotte and I could come to their house. A few minutes later, we were in their living room listening to how this father had lost his job that morning. That morning, the manager of the plant, told him that “we won’t be needing you anymore.” He had worked at this plant for 20 years. He was visibly shaken as he told this story.
You are no longer on the team, in the club, or a part of the group. You feel like you have been discarded. You may even feel discarded by your children, your parents, or your spouse. You gave your all and yet no longer have a place.
Yet, we can make choices that may be life altering in a positive way. These particular choices are ours to make.
Annie Dillard once said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” She is right!
Again, we have the capacity to make some choices that matter:
You and I can choose to make the most of today. Don’t be that person who is always focused on “someday.” Someday, I will do this or that. Yet, someday never comes. Live in line with God’s purposes - today!
You and I can choose to count our blessings. We can focus on the ways we are blessed by God, instead of focusing on scarcity and what we lack.
You and I can choose to be gracious and thoughtful with others. Gracious, thoughtful people realize that people created in the image of God are more like fine china, than trash to bagged and taken to the road. Each person we encounter has been made in the image of God.
You and I can choose to be intentional in our obedience to God. Know that even the smallest step of obedience can impact the direction of your life.
You and I can choose our attitude. We can choose to smile, move forward and to look for the good. (This doesn’t necessarily come easily. I have to pray about this and be intentional each day.)
Bottom line: we can be intentional about making godly choices that matter. What choice could you make today?
Ways to Invest in Your Children (or Grandchildren)
If you are a Jesus-focused dad or mom, you are passing on something significant to your children. Your legacy of godly character may bless generations! You are rearing children who are learning what it means to live with integrity and nobility.
The following are a few reminders:
1. Treat your spouse with adoration and respect. Children see it all! Nothing gets by them. They observe your tender affection and respect. They also see the contemptuous looks and hear the words that drip with sarcasm.
2. Live right even when your children are not looking. Kids have little or no tolerance for duplicity. An immoral lifestyle, on the part of mom or dad, impacts their children whether they ever know the details or not.
3. Love the Lord with devotion, passion, and consistency. Far too many adults have settled for a faith that is sedate, passionless, and routine. Many kids long to see someone (particularly their parents) who have a fire for God burning from within. It is so powerful when our kids see that our commitment to God has really changed our lives and impacts how we live in practical ways.
4. Model and teach what you want to pass on to your children. Children need a parent who will be a source of deep love and a consistent moral rudder that helps keep them on the right path. They need a parent who will teach and show them what a noble and honorable life looks like. This is also a parent who will encourage them, even when they fail.
5. Tell the truth. Children experience security when they know their parents will always tell the truth. When children cannot always count on their parents’ word, it only heightens their insecurity.
Seven Truths About Ministry (Especially for Ministers and Other Church Leaders)
1. Good thinking and good practice matter. Those who work with churches are sometimes challenged on both fronts. Yes, what we do with Scripture matters. How we think theologically matters. Yet, it also matters how we behave and how we relate to others, both within and outside the congregation.
2. We live and serve out of our identity in Christ. You and I find our identity in Jesus Christ. We may look at the accomplishments of other preachers and feel small and diminished about our own ministry. You and I may wonder if our ministry even matters. Yet, when you serve out of your identity in Christ, you work matters — even if it is simply a cup of cold water given in his name.
Almost ten years ago, I began a new role at Harding School of Theology. I didn’t suddenly become more important than another Christian servant. Nor did my new ministry matter more than working with a congregation. This is just a different form of ministry. What is at the core of any Christian ministry is how you are living out your identity in Christ.
3. Our own emotional and spiritual maturity matters. Margaret Marcuson (Leaders Who Last) has said that “…Your primary responsibilities are to manage yourself and the part you play in relationships with others.” (p. 60)
Far too many ministers damage themselves and their ministries by their emotional and spiritual immaturity. Attempting to manipulate the elders or exploding in anger reveals much. On the other hand, the minister who seeks to be Christ-like even when wronged, can give a powerful witness to the congregation.
4. We don’t serve ourselves but the church. Christian leaders, ministers, and those of us serving in Christian organizations are sometimes tempted to become self-serving. This kind of toxic ministry has a way of turning the attention to one’s self and even one’s advancement. A ministry centered in Jesus never expresses itself in such spiritual narcissism. One of the dangers of ministry is that we can become intoxicated on the attention and adulation we receive. Nothing is sadder than the minister who stands before the congregation trying to figure out a way to get even more attention.
5. We mentor others even as we ourselves practice lifelong learning. Students in seminary can sometimes feel inadequate, unimportant, and unrecognized. They may wonder if they will ever be used by God to do anything significant. On the other hand, as Paul D. Tripp has observed, seminary “arms them with powerful knowledge and skills that can make the students think they are more mature and godly than they actually are” (Dangerous Calling, p. 54).
Mentoring is a side by side relationship where, ideally, both are interested in continuing to learn. One is allowed to come alongside another and pour into that person what he has learned. If you are in a mentoring role, you are making a deep investment in another. However, one’s own spiritual formation is critical.
6. We awaken every morning needing to follow Jesus. We stand a greater chance of producing solid leaders if people can first see the power of God’s transformation in ourselves. One of the dangers of ministry is thinking that our works and words mean that we are mature people. We may, as a result, pay more attention to our gifts and our accomplishments than the transformation of our hearts.
7. We have the opportunity to model before others appropriate behavior. This takes wisdom and discernment. What is appropriate behavior in an elders’ meeting? What is appropriate speech when you text/e-mail someone of the opposite sex? What is an appropriate way to speak about your spouse to others? What is an appropriate way to use money?
If you are a minister, know that these all of these are very important. In fact, they may be very important for any Christ-follower.
Etcetera
This week, I share a few paragraphs from The Book of Common Prayer (2019 from the Anglican Church in North America). This particular quote has in mind someone being ordained for ministry in that church. Note the following from p. 489:
Therefore, consider the purpose of your ministry to the children of God. Work diligently, with your whole heart, to bring those in your care into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God, and to maturity in Christ, that there may be among you neither error in religion nor immorality in life. Finally, equip and lead your congregation to proclaim tirelessly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And seeing that the demands of this holy Office are so great, lay aside all worldly distractions and take care to direct all you do to this purpose: read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures, that you may show yourself both dutiful and thankful to the Lord; and frame your conduct, and that of your household and those committed to your care, according to the doctrine and discipline of Christ. Know, however, that you cannot accomplish this of yourself; for the will and ability needed are given by God alone. Therefore, pray earnestly for his Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and strengthen your resolve.
I serve as Vice President of Harding School of Theology, Memphis, Tennessee.
Every other Monday morning, I publish this “Encouragement Note.” You can subscribe at jimmartin.substack.com. You can also find me on Facebook - @jim.martin or Instagram - @jimmartin.jm. My e-mail address is: jmartin9669@gmail.com. Feel free to write. I would love to hear what is encouraging or helpful. — Jim Martin
I always appreciate your Encouraging Notes.