The Hangover!

It is Monday morning, the alarm clock is interrupting your slumber with its incessant and irritating chime. As you wake, you quickly discern that not all is well, your head is pounding, your body is feeling rather fragile, and you wonder if you actually slept. “What did I do yesterday?” “Was it something that I ate?” “I didn’t go to bed all that late, why do I feel so drained?” Then it dawns on you, yesterday was Sunday, and suddenly it all makes sense, you are suffering from a preaching hangover!

If you are anything like me a typical Sunday starts before the sun comes up. There we are in our study pleading in earnest prayer that God would in His grace work through the imperfect preachers that we are. We run through our sermon, making any last minute adjustments. A glance at the clock tells us that time is not on our side, no time for breakfast, a quick cup of coffee will have to suffice. We bundle the family into the car and off we go to church. As we drive our minds are a frenzy of activity, what needs to be done before the service, who and what needs to be specifically prayed for in the service? Did the secretary remember to put that important notice in the bulletin, has the music leader chosen appropriate songs and hymns? As we walk in the church door, our eyes focus on the pulpit, a determination, a resolution fills our heart, “By the grace in the strength of God, I will seek to proclaim His Word to His glory. Please Father send Your Spirit, please by Your grace work today.”

We have little chance to sit and quiet ourselves before the service starts, we must seek to greet the visitors and of course, we must greet Mrs. Smith, or else there will be trouble. Numerous questions, requests to see us, advice wanted, all come thick and fast. Before we know it the service is starting, we try as hard as we can to focus on worshipping the Lord, but the whole time our mind is preparing, for we know that in a few minutes time, the moment we have spent our whole week preparing for and praying over will come. All shall then be looking to us as we seek to serve them through the preaching of God’s Word. The weight of responsibility descends, the joy of the task and the high calling fills our heart. We begin the walk to the pulpit as the last verse of the final hymn is sung, perhaps with the words of Spurgeon in our heart, “I believe in the Holy Spirit!” We open our Bible, lay our notes out, pray silently and then proceed to preach, with joy, boldness, and passion, calling people to a decision for Christ, praying the whole way through that God will work. Finally we pronounce the benediction, but even after the “Amen”, there is no time for a breather. Those who didn’t get to us before the service descend upon us, and it is our delight to offer what time and help we can.

Soon the church grows quiet, and there is a tug at our arm, “Daddy, can we go home yet?” We finally sit down in the car, a sense of rest comes upon us, we make our way home looking forward to Sunday lunch, and even more to the Sunday afternoon nap. In the back of our minds, however, we know that we cannot get too comfortable, for the countdown to the evening service has started and the whole process will be repeated.

Is it no wonder then, that on Mondays we feel as though we are running on empty, that our head is pounding and the ability to concentrate is diminished! Do not get me wrong, we would not have it any other way, Sunday is the highlight of our week, and it is the joy and the desire of our hearts to be able to serve in this manner. However, come Monday morning, and well we are spent. We don’t stride into our study or office, so much as stumble, and as we sit down at our desk, we hit the reset button, Sunday is only six days away, and there is so much to do, where will we find the time?

We also know that Monday often sets the tone for the rest of the week, a bad or lazy Monday has a snowball effect upon the reminder of the week. We need to develop a balanced approach to Monday’s, providing our body with the care it needs, but also being productive. Therefore, with this in mind here are a few tips to making the most of Mondays, in no particular order of importance:

1.)   Do that which you enjoy, that which will cause you to look forward to Monday, that which will enable you to get out of bed with a sense of enthusiasm. If I want an incentive to stay in bed on a Monday morning, it is to remind myself of all the admin that is piling up on my desk. If however I write on a Monday, then I find I want to get to work, as I love to write. (I generally put a new article on our church blog and my personal blog on Mondays, or at least write them and then post it later in the week, as well as work on articles for our church newsletter and the such.) Find what you enjoy and if possible keep it for a Monday.

2.)   Listen/ watch/ read a sermon. We have so much available to us now by way of the Internet. Take time on a Monday to have some spiritual input, allow the Word of God to be preached to you. I will often listen to some of my favourite hymns prior to listening to the sermon I have selected, and I will spend time in prayer after listening to it. I find this time to be most encouraging and look forward to it. (I am currently working my way through the conference sermons from the 2011 Gospel Coalition conference, here is the link to their website: http://thegospelcoalition.org/videos/)

3.)   Get some exercise. For some of us that word alone is depressing, but exercise is one of the most effective ways of kick starting the system and aids your body to rejuvenate. Whatever it may be, a brisk walk, or a vigorous gym session, set some time aside to exercise. (Calculate how many hours you will spend behind your desk in the week. Do you see now why your body needs the physical stimulation of exercise? Most of the time exercise has a positive spin off, as if you are anything like me, I often do my best thinking while taking a brisk walk.)

4.)   Make encouraging phone calls, or write encouraging letters. Speak to and encourage members you saw at church. Thank them for their service; encourage them for their spiritual progress. It is not amazing how through encouraging others and looking for evidence of works of grace in our members and then encouraging them in that regard, we ourselves are encouraged.

5.)   Clean, Plan and Prioritise. Spend time on a Monday morning cleaning and clearing your desk, it is always much easier to work in a neat and ordered office, than in one where you have to sift through a pile of papers, or books to find what you were looking for. Valuable time is wasted and it is a frustrating process to search for something amongst disorganised piles of papers and books. Map out and plan the rest of your week, with all the various meetings, visitations, Bible studies, prayer meeting in their slots, then you can immediately see how much time you have for sermon preparation. If you see on Monday that your week is already full, you can develop a strategy of craving out time during the week that can then be given to sermon preparation. We all dread those weeks when we arrive at Friday and we have not even begun to prepare for Sunday. Most often those weeks can be avoided by good planning and prioritising done at the beginning of the week. (As pastors, we must seek to push aside the notion that we have to say yes to every request, and not even consider cancelling or moving appointments and meetings when a week is too full. Our desire to serve one member of the congregation must not come at the cost of the entire congregation on a Sunday when we deliver a poorly prepared sermon, nor should it come at the cost of our family because we are never home.)

6.)   Have coffee with your wife. You already know how many nights you are going to be out for in the coming week (because you have done point 5!). Carve out time on a Monday to spend with your wife. It is good for your marriage, for your family and for your soul.

Well, that is my penny’s worth of advice and I trust that they will be of help to you. I welcome any further suggestions and tips you may have on how to make the most of Mondays.

The Urgency of the Task.

The small town of Tzaneen, in which I am currently living and ministering in has been over the past two weeks, shocked and saddened by two very tragic events. Two weeks ago, a pair of dogs mauled a five-year old boy to death, his father only metres away, but was completely unaware of what was taking place outside. Then just this Sunday morning, whilst we gathered for worship, two aircraft, that had been involved the previous day in the Tzaneen Air show, crashed into the side of a mountain whilst on route to Johannesburg. All 13 people on board the two aircraft died upon impact.

When the first reports of these events came through, many in our community found them hard to believe, myself included. Children in my son’s preschool class had days earlier played with this young boy; they even played together with the pair of dogs that would days later end his life. I had taken my son to the Air show that very Saturday, we watched those two aircraft perform a faultless display of formation flying, we had seen the pilots, and the other people that were on board those fatal flights! A sense of disbelief, sorrow, grief and deep sympathy with those who have suffered these losses to their families, now hangs over our town like a dark cloud.

As I have been trying to process these tragic deaths, and have been thinking of how to respond to it pastorally, I have found myself increasingly sobered by the truth of Scripture.

“Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” Psalm 89:47-48

“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.” Psalm 103:15-16.

“When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.” Psalm 104:29-30

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Hebrews 9:27

It has been a sharp, but necessary reminder that the only day we know we have is today and even then, we do not know if we shall live to see the end of today. I find these tragedies have not only reminded me of the brevity of life, they have also further reminded me of the urgency of the task that we as ministers of the Gospel have.

We so often, foolishly and naively, take for granted and assume that the people we preach to this week, will still be here next week. When we interact with people in the course of the week, whether they are believers or unbelievers, it seldom, if ever, enters into our minds that these words may be our last words to them. We forget that death is cruel, it seldom gives warning, it gives no second chances and it never gives back those it has taken!

Gentlemen, our task is urgent, therefore let us not wait until tragedy strikes before we remember this reality. We always, always must have a sense of urgency in our preaching, seeking to quicken our hearers to action, constantly holding out Christ and the salvation that He freely offers. Let us make it the abiding mark not just of our ministries, but also of our lives.

May God in His grace and mercy, help us once again to understand the urgency of the task, the finality of death, the reality of hell, the grace of salvation, the power of Christ over death and hell and, the glory of heaven.

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5

Does Your Conversion Fuel Your Preaching?

It is Friday morning, and pretty much all of us find ourselves in the heat of sermon preparation. In the midst of this frenzy to complete a sermon that is accurate to the text, theologically sound and relevant, we are constantly praying for God through His Spirit to grant us passion and boldness when we preach it on Sunday. We do not desire to deliver dry head knowledge. No, we want the hearts of our hearers to be grabbed by the Word of God, for it to bring deep conviction, to produce change, to provide encouragement, a passion for holiness and most of all a greater love for Christ.

How is it possible to preach God’s Word in such a manner? Most certainly, through a dependence upon power of the Holy Spirit, He is the only one that can produce change. Definitely through time spent in prayer and the Word, studying the text and preparing to the best of our ability. Allow me to now, suggest a third “tool” that lies in the toolbox, at the bottom and most often is neglected, seldom is it taken up and used. It is the tool of our very own conversion and calling!

How is our conversion, our coming to Christ a tool in sermon preparation? Brothers, let us not forget that there was a time when we could not call upon God as Father, in fact, we had no desire to call Him Father, never mind submit to His authority. There was a time that God’s Word seemed foreign to us, made little sense and held no interest for us. In those dark days, if we entered into a church, we could not understand what all the fuss was about, why people felt compelled to sing songs of love, adoration and worship to this “Jesus” who they believed in. No, we were our own gods, we ran after the idols of this world, we were on the path to destruction, unaware of what lay ahead of us if we continued in our rebellion.

Then that glorious, sweet day came, when the in words of Charles Wesley, “Thine eye diffused a quickening ray – I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.” God by His grace and through His power broke through the sin and darkness, shone the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our hearts, removed the veil and brought us into the light. On that day, He clothed us with the perfect righteousness of His Son, adopted us as His very own children and filled us with His Spirit. Do you remember how the Word of God gripped your heart on that day? Can you recall how joy filled your soul as you sang those hymns of worship with all your heart in those early days of your Christian life? How you were amazed by the grace you had received and the new hope that now lived within you, the hope of heaven?

To then think that not only has God taken us as His enemies and made us His own, He has also then given us His Word and called us to spend our lives proclaiming it. Oh, what privilege and joy is ours every Sunday, as we declare the wonders of God’s Word! As we take to the pulpit on Sunday, as we preach God’s Word, let us look upon the people who sit before us. Know that among them are those who are still on the path to destruction, there are believers living in sin, believers shattered by hurt and suffering, and we can proclaim to them; “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Let us remind ourselves of how God’s Word has changed our very own hearts, in fact how God’s Word continues to change our hearts. Let us remind ourselves of the hope that lives within us, the eternal joy and peace that is ours both today and forevermore. Remembering that there was a time when we knew none of this, we were lost, hopeless and helpless. Until that God appointed day, when God transformed our hearts through His powerful Word, when He said to us “Look unto Jesus and be saved!”

Our conversion, the continual work of God’s Spirit within us, and our calling, should fuel our preaching, and make our preparation a delight and joy. Why? Because as we proclaim God’s Word we can do so with confidence knowing it has the power to change, to convict, convert, comfort, build up and encourage. This confidence comes to us because not only does God’s Word promise it, but also because we know it is true, for it brought salvation to us, the worst of sinners!

 “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:12-17)