Some milestones are worth mentioning.

Some are worth celebrating. And most are worth reflecting on so lessons can be learned.

While it’s never proper to toot one’s own horn, it is always fitting to give glory to God. The truth is, it’s all God.

In April of 1994, I yielded to the call of God upon my life for ministry leadership. Lisa was the first person I told because I knew it meant our marriage would be forever changed. I’m thankful to say she’s been by my side every step of the way. Her faithfulness has been exemplary.

Within a few months of seeking God, I knew He would use me as an associate pastor, a lead pastor, and a leader within our denominational movement. God has been faithful to fulfill every promise.

A few weeks later, in May 1994, my brave pastor (Pastor James Rainey) allowed me to preach my first sermon. I described him as brave, but it was more like he really trusted God. He allowed an inexperienced, uneducated 22-year-old with no training for public speaking to approach his pulpit. It was an honor that I didn’t deserve. Pastor Rainey continued that trend and allowed me many more opportunities to preach.

I’m so thankful for the many kindhearted area pastors who gave me opportunities to speak. They allowed me to grow through trial and error, and their counsel and prayers helped me get better.

They took a risk on me, and by doing so, they gave me a lift up in ministry that I needed. Their investments in me were such great blessings.

But the opportunities to preach were not coming often enough to please me. So, I sought God and felt His freedom to begin radio ministry. In July 1995, I began purchasing weekly air time at our local AM radio station. Until March 1997, I’d arrive early on Sunday mornings (before church services) and preach live from the studio. You could think of my slot as the warm-up for folks as they were getting ready to go and attend church.

The new pastor of our home church, Pastor Hayward Clark, began to use me as an associate, intern, and son in the faith. He brought me in close and trained me in ways that no amount of book reading or class lectures could’ve helped me. He loved me enough to tell me when I was wrong. But more than anything, his humble example of how to serve people while enduring suffering set a foundation for which I am eternally grateful. Without the encouraging mentorship of Hayward & Donna Clark, I’m not sure if Lisa and I would’ve continued to pursue the call of ministry.

I slowly submitted and worked my way through an educational process, which was confirmed when I was awarded a local preacher’s license in October 1996. For me, this meant that I should keep working and developing the God-given potential and gifts that were budding.

5 years after yielding to God’s call, ministry ordination was conferred in July 1999. The process of earning man’s confirmation of God’s call for us was grueling. But it was worth it! I’m so glad I stuck with it because these were important and necessary steps in God’s plan for our development and growth. Slower is better when it comes to preparation for lifelong ministry.

If you’re following me, I’m celebrating two milestones.

The first one is 30 years of spoken ministry, and the second one is 25 years as an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both of these mean a lot to me.

The very next month, August 1999, we accepted the call to our first pastorate. I was so full of myself that God used this assignment to humble me and show me how much I really didn’t know. It worked. I was broken, humbled, and in awe of God’s long-suffering patience with me.

After 21 months, I was graciously allowed to move on to the next assignment, which brings me to June 2001 and the next town over. Lisa and I served this church through September 2011. We learned so much and made so many friends.

But let me be clear about the grueling nature of those 12 pastoral years in our timeline. I was bi-vocational, and Lisa often worked part-time outside of the home, too. I did all the things a pastor does and rarely had anything that resembled a normal day off. I provided spoken ministry on most Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings.

I learned so much in those 12 years because I rarely did anything other than work, study, and preach. Looking back, I can tell you that I was living in a state of continual fatigue. Also, with regret, I confess that my most important roles as husband and father suffered in those years.

Our full-time, or fully funded, ministry began in October 2011 when I accepted an appointment to work at our denominational headquarters. We spent nearly 7 years there, and that complex role taught me so much. I’ll refrain from elaborating because the content I learned and the people who blessed me would fill up a sizeable book.

August 2018 marked the beginning of our current pastoral assignment. We’re blessed to use every ounce of knowledge and evaluated experience we’ve gained to serve our congregation and community. We’ve picked out our burial plots and pray to homestead here until Jesus comes for us.

Here are 3 lessons I can share with you from my reflections.

Whether you’re new to the ministry or you’re an aging veteran, you can learn something from these.

1. Be sure of where you are.

Know that you are where you are because of God’s call. When times are tough, and you and your family have to endure suffering, the call of God matters. Many times in ministry, I’ve been comforted by knowing I am where I am supposed to be. God loves me. God saved me. And God called me to where I am.

As we prayed about our transition from serving as a denominational executive to returning to the local church pastorate, here’s how we prayed. We asked God that we’d be the right people for the right places. We prayed for ourselves to be the right pastors for the right people. In other words, we were prayerfully asking God to make us the set servants for the body of believers He was calling us to. We wanted His perfect will for the right match.

As a side note, don’t be so naive as to think you won’t suffer. All godly people must endure some suffering. Suffering does not mean you’re not in the right place.

2. If your leadership circle causes you too much stress, someone is misplaced.

Even on the best days and in the best of seasons, ministry is stressful. But the actual people in your leadership circle shouldn’t be a continuous source of stress. If one particular person is always at odds with you and driving your stress, either you or they are in the wrong seat.

This goes back to the first lesson of being sure of where you are. If I am absolutely sure that God called me to occupy the seat I’m in, then the stress-inducing individual might very well be in the wrong seat. While it’s not easy, as the God called servant sent to occupy your seat, you are the leader He has set in place to help seat the others in the right place.

Getting the right people in the right seat on the right bus is an ongoing process. It will take a combination of prayer, counseling, patience, and creativity. But don’t do it alone. Get some help and counsel before making seat assignments. And please, for the love of the Church, insert term limits for all non-paid leadership positions.

3. Never stop adapting for growth.

You should have expected this one because you know as well as I do that no one on this side of Heaven has arrived. None of us knows it all. And if you stop learning, you and the ministry you’re leading will stop growing.

I can look back and tell you with certainty that every year of my life has helped prepare me for the next one. Every ministry assignment has helped educate me for the next one. Every season of success and suffering has seasoned me to become a better servant of God.

And so, I counsel you to keep growing. The most important things you’ll learn in life will be those that you learn after you’ve received your education. People, places, and the perspectives you learn will show you how to adapt and grow throughout your life.

Please don’t think of adapting your methods and growing as a worldly compromise. So much of the way we do ministry is more about the culture we adopted than the principles and mandates of Holy Scripture.

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I trust these reflections and lessons are a blessing to you. If you need a friend to correspond with or a confidential ear to share your deepest prayer needs with, I’ll be glad to help as my schedule allows.

Now carry on and make this a great day.