Avoiding a Heart Attack

Avoiding a Heart Attack: Or how to have a long term ministry without burning out

How do you stay in a ministry 5, 10, 15, 20+ years?

What keeps you from burning out or just going through the motions all the time? I am sure that in the whole world there are tons of reasons, but I picked some I thought were more common and could extend to cover other possible reasons.

First, let me be clear that I do not think it is God’s will that when we start in a specific ministry we will never change. I will say emphatically that if you are a child of God you should have a ministry or several ministries to aid the local New Testament church, no matter where you attend or what stage of life you are in currently.

We will have been at our church for 19 years this October and I would love to say I never wanted to move or just give up on some of my ministries. I would love to say that I have always done my best or been the best… but that isn’t true. It is out of my struggle I will attempt to give you some helps to help you be aware on your way. At the end of the lesson I will give you some questions to ask yourself before changing or quitting a ministry, so read all the way through!

Be aware of: Family history.

Were you raised by parents that were not exactly stable? Did they change home, jobs, friends and churches often? Did you sense a kind of vibe before the move or change that they had become discontent with whatever it was?

I did. My mom was in and out of marriages, jobs, friends, homes; you name it, and she became bored or disgruntled with it at some point.

While leaving some things is not necessarily a sin, at a certain point, it does show a lack of maturity and the ability to hold on to long term things. If we are raised like this, we often have these tendencies. We must stop the cycle and know there can be some long term things in your life: but it takes work. Insecurity can also play a large role in this, too.

So whether you clean the church, work in the nursery, teach Sunday School or any of the other ministries in the church. Be in it for the long haul and only change after totally thinking it through and not just because you are tired.

James 1:8 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Pro 24:2 For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

Pro 24:3-4 Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches

Be aware of: Inactivity

I see this as a huge issue that gets people all the time! For example: You have been teaching a while, you get comfortable with it, and -boom- all the sudden your class attendance drops or starts misbehaving or looses its attention span. Suzie is giving you a hard time and your favorite, Tina, moved away. You start arriving later and later to class. You never make time to visit. Your Sunday school board has been the same for 4 months, etc, etc!!!!

Sound Familiar?

You finally know what you are doing, but everything is going wrong! You have become inactive. You no longer need 2hrs to study for your class because you have taught this lesson before. But instead of still using the amount of time you did when you were hungry to learn and do your best, you just slide on what you know. You have lost your get up and go. I find when I get in these spots I have to push myself to go the extra mile. Do the finishing touches. Google to learn how to do something better. Look for new fun illustrations.

Find a way to do the extra things so you can take pride in your work. When we work for Jesus we should do our best. Brainstorm! Children church worker, choir member, janitor, secretary, associate, water cup fillers, laywoman: find a way to do it better!

Pro 6:6-10 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.”

Be aware of: Stress

This can be anything that causes a distraction, whether it be Family, Finances, or Physical Health. When you are dealing with these things, quitting is sometimes is the worst thing you can do. Why? Because the Bible teaches the principle that by helping others we help ourselves. Your ministry -if done right- can be an relief for the stress you have to battle! Quitting in reaction to stress is never the answer. Remember why you are serving in the first place. Do you have unrealistic fantasy expectations for your ministry?

Pro 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the Foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

Be aware of: Bad Habits

I must state the obvious fact that sin does not only cause pain to you but to those around you. Even worse, it will bring shame to the name of Christ when found out.

Guard and protect your life from sin! Guard against every sin of the mind and in deed.

James 1:19-22 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

What I want to focus on here is the danger of never striving to improve yourself as a Christian. We get lazy! How easy it is to say, ‘That’s just how I am’, and give free reign to our besetting sin. No matter how mature you are as a Christian, there is always something that you can improve on.

Pick a fruit of the Spirit to work on for a week, and I promise you won’t feel perfect anymore! You will start to re-notice the flaws in your character, and hopefully feel compelled to work on them.

Be aware of: Changes in your abilities

One day you will find for whatever reason that you can no longer do what you once did. It may come as a sudden shock, or it may sneak up on you gradually, but now you no longer can physically do what you used to.

Maybe when you were younger, you could endure the heat/cold no problem, but now you just can’t. Maybe a disease has crippled you early in life, and it’s hard to do even simple tasks. Maybe an injury has put you on the sidelines for a while, or even permanently.

Whatever your situation, find SOMETHING you can do. Unless you are paralyzed from the neck down, there is something you can do- and even then, you can be a prayer warrior! Don’t find an excuse. Find new ministries or ways to be a blessing to those who fill your shoes.

Deu 32:29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

Eph 6:12-13 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

So before you throw in the towel, take this pop quiz.

Questions to ask before quitting or changing ministries:

1. Why are you thinking of quitting?

2. Is this a Pastor-initiated/promoted change?

3. Is it to enable you to start a new ministry?

4. Is there someone willing and able to take your place?

5. Are you quitting because you can’t get along with someone?

6. Can you still physically do the job properly?

7. Are the issues you’re quitting over bigger than the need for the ministry?

8. Have you made a genuine effort to solve any of the issues?

Make a Joyful Noise

When I think of a joyful noise, I imagine an animated person unashamedly showing their deep emotional love and excitement for someone or something they love. While that certainly a lot of adjectives to use in one sentence, I feel that is how complicated joyful people are. We see this in sports, entertainment, hobbies, money making endeavors and for people even in a religious setting. What I want to discuss today is how we can become a joyful person making a joyful noise in our own unique way.

1 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. “

2. “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. “

3. “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. “

4. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

5. “For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

Psalms 100:1-5 KJV

These five verse, are packed with everything we need to get a start on a joyful noise type of life. First it tells us what to do and second it tells us why.

The first two thing we are told are to make a joyful noise and to serve the Lord with gladness. I don’t think this is a coincidence that serving is connected to joy. Generally, the biggest factor in a lack of joy is selfish living. Serving requires self-denial. It also tells us what type of attitude to obtain, an attitude of gratitude. Somedays are hard to serve in gladness but as we continue in this chapter, we as believers see the reason we can have this gladness and true joy. If you notice that no one gets a pass.

Psalms 100:1 KJV “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.”

I’m pretty sure God is giving this instruction to all of the world not just believers. How much more should we as Christians obey? I would submit to you we should be all the more joyful.

The next two commands are to approach him and others with thankfulness and praises.

4. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Being thankful and praising God is important, but I read into this a little more.

When verse 4 says,

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:”,

I believe this is praise and thanksgiving of our family, friends, fellow believers, and those in our lives because the rest of the verse tells us ,” be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

I have a passage that backs that theory up.

Matthew 22:36-40 KJV

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

I truly believe God not only wants our praise and thanks giving for himself but to share it with those around us as well! I will confess this is not my personal strong point and have had to stop often in my life and give myself a thankfulness tune up. We will talk more about this at the end so right here I am going to stop and go on to the why of these commands and then I will wrap it up in some practical ” hows” we can obey this command with greater success.

First, we are His creation and He cares for us personally. This is so big! Why do we feel hopeless and lack joy? Is it because we are lonely or because we are in a bad place or don’t know how a bad situation is going to end? In our uncertainty we forget about or don’t feel his presence but as the good shepherd He is in control. We know he cares. Psalms 100:3 KJV

3. “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Secondly, the Scripture says “For the Lord is good;” not only does He care for his creation, but He is good to us, too!

Third “his mercy is everlasting; ” Really, His mercy never ends! How wonderful is that since we keep messing up and needing mercy! That should get a joyful noise out of you!

Lastly, it says “his truth endureth to all generations.” That gives us hope that the hope He gives, I can share with the youngest child and the oldest grandma! In every time in my life I can cling to this hope that truth of God never changes. The same hope and truth that carried the martyrs to heaven will uplift us in every situation. I have never faced being a martyr, but if I did, the same truths would apply to me! Does anyone feel a song in their heart yet?

Now we have the what’s and why’s out of the way, let’s get to some ‘how-to’s. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but if you’re like me and have to do these types of things on purpose you will appreciate a list. I tend to get caught up in me and mine and must put time into my schedule for purposeful service, thanksgiving and praise for God and man.

Let me tell you a story that has inspired me.

Joseph Scrivens, author of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, would be one of many examples of gratefulness in extreme circumstances. His first tragedy began the day before his wedding. His wife drowned in a terrible accident. Struggling with this loss, he poured himself into others by giving money, mending homes and helping anyone he could. He then received a letter telling him that his mother was ill. However, because he gave all his money away to others he had no money to travel to see her. During this time, Scrivens wrote the poem that he called “Pray without Ceasing”, and we call “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. He sent this to his sick mother. He found love again later on, and was to be wed shortly after his 40^th birthday; but she died of tuberculosis before they could be married. With new pain, he again plunged into the service of others; becoming quite known for generosity- even becoming a traveling preacher. Tragedy ended Joseph’s life when he drowned in a stream. Yet despite it all, he made a joyful noise that has lasted through the ages.

Do you want that kind of joy? Start putting some of these practical things in action and see the transformation God can make in your heart.

1. Thank God first

Start (or re-start) a thankfulness journal that may include the following:

People and things you are thankful

Kind deeds done on your behalf that God sent your way. (You can use this as a reference in your thankfulness to man category later.)

Don’t forget intangible blessings (protection from the unseen)

Remember God’s mercies toward you.

Express appreciation for truths that have made a recent impact on you.

Try experimenting with different forms of expressing your thankfulness to God. Poems, letters, lists and even art.

2. Serve God First in His Church

Soul-winning, nursery, cleaning- basically find something you can do to be a blessing. Do it all the time. Be faithful. Some of the suggestions in being thankful for and serving others below will ultimately be serving God also.

Ideas for serving and being thankful for your fellow man:

Watch for people who are faithful, steady or consistent in any thing they do- then say something.

Remember people’s special days.

Write cards or notes to someone mentioning something a person did that you were impressed by. Go the extra mile by mailing it.

Send texts with words of praise or encouragement.

Buy small gifts or bake things.

Publicly recognize others’ good deeds if the opportunity arises.

Pray for people, and tell them you are praying. Pray with them!

Plowing New Ground

Hello there!

Here at the Rasbeary patch, we are all about Christian growth! No matter how old or how much training we have had, we will never reach perfection. I even find as I get older that I must relearn things I once thought I had well in hand. So I pray this post will be an encouragement to those who are putting off that new endeavor or who are procrastinating on conquering a stronghold of sin.

Every year we set new resolutions for ourselves (or we should). I have a post I wrote for a Sappsolutly wonderful friend(inside joke for my friend) if you are interested in why I think we should set goals. The link will take you there! Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That

Usually the problem is not setting the goals or even starting the process. Rather that we fail to prepare our life for the changes. We seem to have in our mind it will never work. This results in us doing things half way. Or we try to start so many new things our mind tires of all the change.

Let us find out how we can plow up some new ground in our life and make way for some great fruit in the future.

#1. Different situations require different approaches.

For instance the soil at my house is hard as a rock when dry and sticky & slimy as clay when wet. To adequately plow it, you really need a large piece of equipment. A hoe will require a long time to plow that ground, yet I understand that not all soil is that hard to plow.

Maybe your life is filled with tragedy and deep hurts. Some things you try to do in life will require some hard ground work. Keep on trying: just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. Here is a link to a resource for those deep hurts. Invisible Hurts

#2. Give yourself grace.

Don’t let one skipped work-out or diet cheat keep you from going on. Or one day doing your devotion makes you feel like a failure. Maybe you need to be more flexible and change your time and/or intensity of your work-out or devotions.

In other words, find a way to make it happen. Maybe your ambition is to read 5 chapters of your Bible and pray for an half hour everyday. While that is commendable, maybe you should break it into chunks. Do 15 or 30 minutes in the morning, then do the rest in 15-minute increments throughout the day. Why feel like a failure? Are you doing more than before? Let’s look for improvement, not perfection.

I am not a writer and I know this post will need many corrections by my grammar-minded daughter before you see it. I have put off writing this post as well as other things because I am afraid of failure. The fear of not being good enough is valid. But if we are able to help each other with our feeble attempts of communication, shouldn’t we think it worthy to learn and develop ourselves?

“Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/1/1co.9.10.kjv

Love,

Amanda