Pray for your Pastors II
Fri, 27 July 2012 14:59:03
By: Mike Bullock Cross Posted from He Designed Me I sat in a living room last night of a dear friend, with my awesome wife and several of the most important people in our lives. Many of us had just finished some mission work and were doing a ‘debrief’ to unpack the day’s events. Towards the end, the two lead Pastors in the room (Pastor Dave from Crosspoint Church and Pastor Michael from Uncommon ) discussed the weight a lead Pastor must shoulder and how important it is for those around the Pastor to help support him, just as Aaron helped support Moses. The future is a great unknown. God will never reveal it to us. He will never guarantee we’ll have a wonderful future in this life. And, He’ll never reveal to us what’s coming down the pike in enough detail for us to be decisively prepared for it. What He will do is put it on our hearts to pray for our Pastors. Support them physically, emotionally, financially and fiscally. For us at Uncommon Church, right now that might not seem like a huge amount of effort. Pastor Michael is a strong, intelligent, driven man who has a clear vision of where God has called him and his needs are easily met by the rest of us with prayer and through the use of our time, talents and treasures. But, we don’t know what the future holds. This means we need to work hard every day to build that Strong Tower around him, as you should with your pastor. About fifteen years ago, another Pastor who Michael reminds me of greatly, invited three couples into his living room to join him and his wife in a daring church plant in a city that didn’t care about church. They struggled at first, hitting unexpected turbulence, having all sorts of trials and tribulations, facing some great unknowns as they stepped boldly out in faith, knowing if God didn’t show up, they were going to fall flat on their face, like a toddler taking his first steps without mom or dad there to guide them. Fast forward a few years and that Pastor, Greg Rohlinger, had led his sheep from his living room to a movie theater, where they prayed God would send more sheep. And He did. Then they moved to a High School a few years later, where the Church swelled to nearly 5000 regular attendees on big weekends, becoming America’s largest portable church. At this stage, Palm Valley Church was a dream come true. Thousands had come to Christ under its umbrella, people were saved every weekend, the community felt the impact of the church and all was rolling. Unfortunately, we have an enemy in this war. One who doesn’t sit idly by as we make our grandiose plans to reach every lost soul on Earth. In 2008, the economy went bust and attendance at Palm Valley slipped for a time. Worse, in 2009, Pastor Greg started having health issues. Not just, normal ones we all face, but the kind you rarely hear about. The kind that fall into the “I’ve heard of that but thank God it never happens to anyone I know” kind. You can hear about his struggles here: Pastor Greg’s Health Update 7/13/2012 I’ll wait while you check out the video… Done? Thanks. This is one of those unexpected turns God had in store for Pastor Greg. Is something like this headed for Pastor Michael or Pastor Dave of Crosspoint? We have no way of knowing. Chances are, what they face won’t look like what Greg is struggling with, but very well may have the same sort of nearly unbearable burden with it. What we do know is things like this happen. The more a Pastor does for the Kingdom, the more the enemy wants him gone. So, stand with me. Stand in the gap. Pray for your Pastor. Pray for mine. Pray for Pastor Greg. And, while you’re at it, pray for those who pray for them. God gives us all a tiny piece of His power when the Holy Spirit comes on us. Some allow the enemy to blind them of this. Some squander it. Some forget all about it. But, some use it. And the enemy trembles. Use your power today. Wield it the way God intended. Cut through the darkness with it. Lift up the ones who will make have to account for your soul someday. How can you do that? Pray. Sincerely. And when you’re done, pray some more. With love,
Mike
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