Divine Appointment

A situation that could have been avoided the other day, resulted in spending a couple hours w/ a young "Family Life" Pastor, whom I had never met, nor stepped into his church, until I found myself in need of some help...that one simple decision would have prevented needing in the first place.

The result, put me very behind schedule...ultimately to the tune of 4 hours.

But the time spent w/ this young man, helped get me through my frustrating morning, and I can only hope our bits of conversation encouraged him.

I still don't know why that morning played out the way that it did, but as I reflected on for the past few hours, I can't help but wonder what God needed to accomplish in either his life or mine. But as I've thought about it, I'm reminded to keep him in prayer. He's been at the church for a couple years now and his wife just finished her degree and is in search of employment.

As if young married life didn't have it's own challenges, it seems to multiply itself when ministry is factored in. While Senior Pastors face great challenges in the "big picture" of what is going on in their church, Associate Pastors carry a great burden in helping carry out the vision and ministry operations of their churches...it's a critically important role, that goes well beyond "supporting" and assisting Senior Pastors. They have their own talents and gifts to which they must remain true and accomplish their ministry purpose while subjecting themselves to the focus and direction of their Leadership.

Pray that God would strengthen and renew Associate Pastors and their families, as they carry out God's will for their lives and ministry focus. Pray that their efforts would not go unnoticed, nor taken for granted by Lead Pastors and Church Deacons. Pray for creativity and vision, that would bring clarification and focus to help increase church effectiveness and efficiency in the various outreaches within the church and community. Finally, pray that God would continue to provide for their families, in every way, and redeem the time they spend together as ministry obligations and demands can quickly take their toll on spouse and kids, making them feel second-rate to the needs of other families in the church and community.

-PNC

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