Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

Greetings All,

     Yesterday I received a book in the mail sent to me by a wise old friend. As one who loves to climb mountains, the title captured my attention when I opened the package: "Canoeing the Mountains," by Tod Bolsinger. Yet, the secondary title clued me into the fact that it probably was not what I initially thought - "Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory."

     As I read the first chapter I felt like the author had been a fly on the wall in many of my conversations in recent years!  He even mouthed some of the exact phrases I had used!  So, today, I let you in on an issue that has been weighing on me (and many others in ministry) for at least the past decade or longer - trying to minister in a post-Christian (often anti-Christian) culture.  This selection below is just to give you a taste of what he will address in the rest of his book -- offering hope for a breakthrough where many seem to have run into what FEELS like an impenetrable wall we were not trained or equipped to break through. Enjoy.

     "One night after a long day of meetings, an older pastor let out a heavy sigh. He was nearing retirement, and we were working together on a project that was supposed to reorganize our entire denomination in order to help our church better minister in a changing world. And that changing world weighed on him.  He remembered well how not that long ago life was different. He stirred his drink and said to me, 'You know, when I began my ministry in a church in Alabama, I never worried about church growth or worship attendance or evangelism. Back then, if a man didn't come to church on Sunday, his boss asked him about it at work on Monday.'

     Sociologists and theologians refer to this recently passed period as 'Christendom.' The seventeen-hundred-year-long era with Christianity at the privileged center of western cultural life. Christendom gave us 'blue laws' and the Ten Commandments in school [and prayer in schools]. It gave us 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance and exhortations to Bible reading in the national newspapers. (I have a copy of the Los Angeles Times from December 1963 that has stories on the Warren Commission (investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy), the nine-thousand-member Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and a list of daily Bible readings for the upcoming week.  Can you even imagine the Los Angeles Times exhorting people to read their Bibles today?) It was the day every "city father" laid out the town square with the courthouse, the library, and a First Church of _______ within the center of the city.  For most of us these days are long gone. (For some of us, that is good news indeed. Did you notice the reference to 'man' in my friends statement?)

     In our day (unlike then) cities are now considering using eminent domain laws to replace churches with tax-revenue generating big-box stores, Sundays are more about soccer and Starbucks than about Sabbath, Christian student groups are getting derecognized on university campuses, the fastest growing religious affiliation among young adults is 'none,' there is no moral consensus built on Christian tradition (even among Christians), and even a funeral in a conservative beach town is more likely to be a Hawaiian style 'paddle out' than a gathering in a sanctuary.  As we see all this we know that Christendom as a marker of society has passed.

     Over the last ten years I have had one church leader after another whisper to me the same frustrated confession: 'Seminary didn't prepare me for this. I don't know if I can do it. I just don't know...'  A number of pastors are ready to throw in the towel. Studies show that if given the chance to do something else, most pastors would jump at it. Reportedly, upwards of fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry EVERY MONTH  [Every year more than 4000 churches in the U.S. close their doors, almost double the number from 20 years ago.] 

     A couple years ago I learned that three of my pastor friends around the country had resigned  -- on the same day. There were no affairs, no scandals, and no one was renouncing the faith. But three good, experienced pastors turned in resignations and walked away. One left church ministry altogether.  The details are as different as the pastors themselves, but the common thread is that they finally got worn down by trying to bring change to a church that was stuck and didn't know what to do. Their churches were stuck and declining, stuck and clinging to the past, stuck and lurching to quick fixes, trying to find an easy answer for what were clearly bigger challenges. What all three churches had in common was that they were mostly blaming the pastor for how bad it felt to be stuck.

'If only you could preach better.' 

'If only you were more pastoral and caring.' 

'If only our worship was more dynamic.' 

'Please, pastor, do something!'  (That is what we pay you for, isn't it?)

     And to make matters worse, the pastors don't know what to do either. As a seminary vice-president I am now charged with confronting this reality head-on. Our graduates were not trained for this day. When I went to seminary, we were trained in the skills that were necessary for supporting faith in Christendom.  When churches functioned primarily as vendors of religious services for a Christian culture, the primary leadership toolbox was:  1. TEACHING (for providing Christian education).  2. LITURGICS (for leading Christian services).  3. PASTORAL CARE (for offering Christian counsel and support).  In this changing world we need to add a new set of leadership tools..." 

     If you would like to know what those new and necessary tools are, you will need to purchase his book for yourself!  As a pastor who has lived long enough to see Christendom progressively and purposefully deconstructed, and replaced at almost every turn with secularized and post-Christian alternatives, it has been stretching.  I'm not one of the pastoral casualties he lists, but in all honesty there have been times I have come pretty close. In fact, given those statistics it may be time to start a "pastor support group" for those who feel they are on the verge of being one of those 1500 pastors every month who leave the ministry.

     I haven't had time to read far into his book, but I wanted to share the introductory chapter so people can know there is a voice of encouragement from someone who has his ear to the ground, and has himself been a pastor ministering in our post-Christian culture.   A culture where traditional styles of leadership and ministry (which garnered much fruit in the not-so-distant past) can actually be a hindrance and obstacle in the present. His word to pastors - "Start with conviction, stay calm, stay connected, and stay the course - even when navigating loss."

     Ministry has always required people to, "run the race with perseverance"  (Hebrews 12:1-2).  Yet today is one of those cultural seasons or times when like a runner in a marathon on a hot and humid day, people in ministry are encountering what in the Boston Marathon is called, "Heartbreak Hill" -- a long gradual incline at the 20 mile mark.  It's a "grueling test of endurance" as one writer puts it, which drives many to give up before the finish line.  A place where one must be mentally prepared, make adjustments, and persevere, or become a casualty.  If you happen to be at that place, maybe you might want to see what Bolsinger has to say.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

Scripture-grounded Take on Suffering in Times of Trial and Difficulty

Greetings Friends!

     Today's "thought" is taken from the daily devotional, "Streams in the Desert" by L. B. Cowman.
     In it we find an interesting, refreshing, and Scripture-grounded take on suffering that I offer to you to encourage you and nurture hope in you in times of trial and difficulty.  This excerpt appears to be a group of thoughts on the redemptive nature of suffering taken from the writings of several different people -- only two of whose names she cites.  As I was reading it on June 19th it struck me as one I would want to share with you. So please, enjoy!

“Grain must be ground to make bread.”

Isaiah 28:28

     Many of us cannot be used to become food for the world’s hunger until we are broken in Christ’s hands. “Grain must be ground to make bread,” and being a blessing for Christ often requires sorrow on our part.  Yet even sorrow is not too great a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ’s blessings.  The things that are most precious to us today are things that have come to us through tears and pain" (J. R. Miller).

     "God has made me bread for His chosen ones, and if it is necessary for me to be ground in the teeth of lions in order to feed His children, then blessed be the name of the Lord" (St. Ignatius).

     "To burn brightly we must first experience the flame. In other words, we cease to bless when we cease to bleed.”

     Poverty, hardship and misfortune have propelled many a life to moral heroism and spiritual greatness. Difficulties challenge our energy, and our perseverance, yet they bring the strongest qualities of the soul to life. It is the weights on the old grandfather clock that keep it going. And many a sailor has faced a strong headwind while using it to help him reach port. God has appointed opposition as an incentive to faith and holy service.

     The most illustrious characters of the Bible were bruised, broken, and ground into bread for the hungry.

     Abraham, because he endured affliction while remaining obedient, stood at the top of the class and found his diploma inscribed with the words, ’the father of the faithful.’

     Jacob, like wheat, suffered severe threshing and grinding.

     Joseph was bruised and beaten and had to go through Potiphar’s kitchen, and into Egypt’s prison, on his way to getting to the throne.

     Job was ground to powder like medicine, yet through his sufferings has helped untold millions find hope in their own.

     David was hunted like an animal through the mountains.  Bruised, weary, and footsore, he was ground into bread for the kingdom.

     Paul could never have been bread for Caesar’s household if he had not endured the bruising of being whipped and stoned. He was ground into fine flour for the royal family.

     Combat comes before victory.  If God has chosen special trials for you to endure, be assured that in His heart He has kept for you a special place. A soul that is sorely bruised is one God has chosen to use.”

     It is a somewhat interesting phenomena that the messages I share from the pulpit where I use illustrations from my own life (or from the lives of others) where I or they struggled with pain, hardship, or difficulty, are the ones people say they appreciate the most. Not ones where I speak of my victories, successes, or achievements, but those where I share my struggles with pain, difficulty or trials.  There is, it seems, something universally helpful, desired, and appreciated when people are transparent about struggles, which is not there when one speaks about their victories and successes.  This pattern is so pronounced in Scripture, and my own experience, that it has made me hesitant to ask God (as some do) to be "used in a mighty way."  For it seems that those who have endured the greatest suffering and struggle are the most likely to be used in such a fashion.

     If the immense popularity of the Book of Job, and the transforming power of the sufferings of Jesus tell us anything, they tell us people find one immense help from one who is a friend in suffering. It should assure us that if we as believers experience hardship, it's not because God is angry at us or punishing us, but because God is growing our faith and equipping us for useful service to others in His kingdom.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

Few Bearers of His Cross

Greetings Friends,

     Today's "thought" comes to you from the Christian devotional classic, "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a' Kempis (1380-1471).  His name means "Thomas of (or from) Kempen" - a small town in eastern Germany, just a few miles from the border of Holland. His God-given gifts which come through to us in his writing consist in his wisdom, keen insight into human nature, and ability to say a lot in very few words (a gift I missed out on)!

     In terms of personal transformation he taught: "The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step in repairing our loss."   In terms of spiritual leadership he stressed: The loftier the building, the deeper the foundation must be laid."  In terms of the self he said as we all can: Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself."  And in terms of Jesus words in John 14:7 he assured us: "Without the Way, there is no going, Without the Truth, there is no knowing, Without the Life, there is no living."   This selection is entitled"Few Bearers of His Cross."  Enjoy.

     "Jesus now has many lovers of the heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who desire tribulation. He finds many companions at His table, but few of His abstinence. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to endure anything for Him, or with Him.

     Many follow Jesus unto the breaking of bread, but few unto the drinking of the cup of His sufferings. Many reverence His miracles, but few follow the shame or disgrace of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them.  Many praise and bless Him so long as they receive consolations from Him.  But if Jesus hide (the sense of His presence) and leave them but a little while, they turn to complaining or into much dejection of mind.

     But they who love Jesus for the sake of Jesus, and not for some special comfort they can receive from Him, bless Him in all tribulations and anguish of heart as well as in the state of highest comfort.  Even if He was never willing to give them comfort, they would, even then, praise Him and wish to be always giving thanks. 

     O how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, which is mixed with no self-interest or self-love!  Are not all those to be called mercenary who are ever seeking consolations? Do they not show themselves to be rather lovers of themselves than of Christ, who are always and only thinking of their own profit and advantage?  Where shall one be found who is willing to serve God for nothing?" 

     Now, here, I do need to confess I am one who enjoys and cherishes the comforts and consolations of Jesus when they come.  I believe we all do.  Even Mr. A'Kempis did, as he confessed elsewhere.  That's not really his point. His point is that if that's all we seek; if we only seek, love, praise, and thank Jesus when we are receiving those things, and we cease doing so, or walk away in bitter anger and disillusionment when the opposite comes (whether it be for a short or extended time) we must question what we are seeking, who we are loving, why we are praising, and why difficulties would make us stop giving Him thanks.

     If we love Jesus only when the blessings are flowing, and not when the struggles come; if we cherish and adore Him only for what He gives, and not for the sake of who He is (the Lamb worthy of all glory and honor and power - Revelation 4:6-5:14) we must truly question if it's Jesus that we love.  If a child only "loves" his father when his father was giving him gifts, and is indifferent or does nothing but complain when he withholds those gifts, what would it say about the object of that child's "love"? 

     You see, a pure love for Jesus mixed with "NO self-interest or self-love"  may be an ideal that we can never fully achieve so long as the principle of sin still clings to us in this life. Yet, that ideal can be placed before us, and should be placed before us (as a'Kempis does here), to serve as a means of grace which helps us move away from the all too common tendency to love so conditionally the Lord who loves His children so unconditionally. Only you can know the reaction a'Kempis' words caused inside you, but I must confess they lead me to say, "Sorry Lord, please change my heart." 

Thankful for His Grace, Pastor Jeff

Spiritual Struggles in Ministering

Greetings All, 

     This week's 'thoughts' come to you from David Wilkerson, author of the well-known book, "The Cross and the Switchblade," which chronicled his work with street gangs in New York City and the conversion of Nicky Cruz -- a work he began in 1958.
     This much lesser known book, "I'm Not Mad At God," is a set of devotional writings speaking of some of the things he learned through his spiritual struggles in ministering in some very adverse conditions and situations. Since he passed away in 2011 (at the age of 79) and I have always found his writings (and sermons) a blessing, I offer these in honor of his life. Enjoy.

Disturbed

"As an eagle stirs her nest..." (Deut. 32:11)

"The man God uses is often a restless man. He cannot be satisfied with the status quo. His nest is always being stirred. Just when he settles down to rest for a few months of enjoyable ministry, he loses heart or becomes strangely restless. He cannot tell you why. He may know the great joy of the Lord, but at the same time be absolutely disgusted with his present situation. Watch out -- God is ready to break up the nest! 

You will soon be flung out into the space of faith and trust, ready to do God's bidding. All new ministries He has thrust me into have come immediately after a 'nest stirring.' Restlessness and discontent are the motivational forces that drive all men of God to great heights of service."

Proving A Man (Testing the Quality of a Man's Heart)

"God left him to test him and to know all that was in his heart." ( II Chron. 32:31)

     "We have become so preoccupied in proving God that we have not prepared our hearts for the great tests of life whereby God proves us. Could it be that the great trial you are now facing, the burden you now carry, is actually God at work proving you? 'God did prove Abraham... Take your son, your only son, whom you love... and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering (Gen. 1:1-2). 

     God proved an entire nation to find out what was really in its heart. 'Your God led you there forty years in the wilderness to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not' (Duet. 8:2).

     An amazing verse is II Chronicles 32:31, telling how God left a great king (Hezekiah) for a season to prove him. 'God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." 

     Often, while in the righteous pursuit of God's work, the steward of the Lord finds himself apparently forsaken -- tried to the limits of endurance and left all alone to battle the forces of hell. Every man God has ever blessed has been proved in the same manner.

     Do you find yourself in strange circumstances? Do you feel forsaken and alone? Do you fight a losing battle with an unpredictable enemy? These are signs pointing to the proving process. Victory is always desired, but should you fail, remember: it is what you have left in your heart that God is interested in, your attitude after you have won or lost the lonely battle. Your devotion to Him in spite of failure is His desire.

     Jesus promised never to leave us nor forsake us. But the record of Scripture reveals there are seasons when the Father withdraws His presence to prove us. Even Christ experienced that lonely moment on the cross. It is then our blessed Savior is most touched by the feeling of this infirmity -- and He whispers, '"I will pray for you, that your faith may not fail.'" 

     Anyone who has engaged in ministry knows what he's speaking about. Times of restlessness. Times of loneliness (even when we are surrounded by people)! Times when God has withdrawn the sense of His presence and we feel completely forsaken (while engaged wholeheartedly in His service). And often we ask, "Why?"

     Yet Wilkerson here offers a frequently overlooked answer to that question -- God may be doing it to prove you. In fact, He may be doing it to prove to you what is really in your heart, that is, as opposed to what you thought was in your heart. This has often been the case with me. And it's been humbling to discover dwelling in my soul things I never thought could be found there. Things I thought I had rooted out of my soul.

     In this sense, trials and the absence of God's presence act like a stick in a pool of crystal clear water that we come across when we stroll through the woods. The water is clean and still and crystal clear -- until you take the stick and stir the waters. Then all the muck and decaying leaves and dead bugs that were resting motionless on the bottom are all of a sudden stirred up, and you realize that that clean pool wasn't as clean as it looked at first glance.

     The same is true of our souls. Self-deception is so easy to fall into. That is, until God (out of love) takes the stick of trials and the unsettling sense that His presence has been withdrawn, and uses it to stir the waters we thought were so clean. Then we come face to face with the fact that much of the muck we thought was gone had really done nothing but settle there, hidden because of the relative peacefulness of our life-circumstances.

     Yet the revelation that its still there humbles us, and deals another blow to our pride, and dislodges us from our complacency and makes us more thankful than ever that salvation is by grace. And isn't that the place we always needed to be anyway?

In the Bonds of Christian Service, Pastor Jeff

Comforting

Greetings All,

 

     This week's thought comes from Charles Haddon Spurgeon -- a man who is often called, "The Prince of Preachers" and still considered by many to be one of the greatest preachers who ever lived.

     He was a British Baptist of Calvinist persuasion who lived and ministered in London during the last half of the 1800's (born 1832 / converted to Christ 1850 / died 1892).  He preached at the same church for almost 40 years, and did so twice every Sunday to crowds of at least 6000 people.  Nearly 25,000 copies of the printed versions of his sermons sold every week, and for many years they were cabled to New York every Monday morning to be reprinted in leading newspapers across the United States. 

     Were it not for his generous giving to missions, and the pastor's college, and the two orphanages, and the widow's home he started (as well as regular gifts to help pastors struggling in smaller churches), he could have been one of England's wealthiest men. Yet he chose not to be -- dying with little more than a modest home and enough to care for his widowed wife.  

      German preacher and theologian, Helmut Thielicke even goes so far as to say to preachers (and those aspiring to be preachers): "I am almost tempted to shout out to those who are serving the eternal Word as preachers, and to those who are preparing to do so, in what I hope will be productive hyperbole: Sell all that you have (not least of all some of your stock of current sermonic literature) and buy Spurgeon (even if you have to grub through the second-hand bookstores to find it)."  

      This selection has to do with God's grace to help us in our times of struggle, hardship and trial.  And lest you hear it as mere pious advice from a pampered saint, you need to know Spurgeon experienced many disappointments, frequent depressions and the crippling pain of gout for the last 20 years of his life. Yet it is precisely because he did suffer that Russell Conwell (a contemporary of Spurgeon whose own legacy includes Gordon-Conwell Seminary) could write of the effect of his sermons on others: "No man in this (19th) century has ever healed so many people as Mr. Spurgeon." 

      This selection comes from, "C. H. Spurgeon - Beside Still Waters / Words of Comfort for the Soul," an excellent devotional book by Roy H. Clarke.  He has read over 2000 of Spurgeon's sermons and done us the great service of editing and updating many portions into today's language.  Enjoy.

     "Believer, here are four comforts when you face severe trials.

      1.) There is no curse in your cross. It may be as heavy as a ton of sorrow, but there is not a single ounce of curse.  'Whom the LORD loves, He chastens, and punishes every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten' (Heb. 12:6-7). The God of love, who inflicts our sorrows, is as good when He chastens as when He caresses.

      2.) Your trials are assigned by divine wisdom and love.  He who weighs the mountains in the scales (Is. 40:12) measures your troubles, and will not let you endure one grain more than His infinite wisdom determines.  The devil may be turned loose on you (as he was on Job, or Peter in Lk. 22:31-32), but remember, he is a defeated enemy. Everything that you suffer is the appointment of wisdom, ruled by love.

      3.) When you bear the cross, God gives special comforts that He never gives to the healthy. Dark caverns do not keep miners from searching for diamonds.  You need never fear suffering if you remember it will richly bless your soul.  The nightingale only sings at night, and there are promises that only sing when we are in trouble.  It is in the cellar of affliction that the fine wine of the kingdom is aged and stored.  You will never see Christ's face so clearly as when all others turn their back on you. 

      4.) Trials bring you nearer to God.  Yet there are times when our faith staggers and we fail to leave our worldly cares with Him.  Like Martha, we worry about many things (Luke 10:41).  But Jesus says, 'Come My child and trust Me. Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need' (Heb. 4:16)."

                May his words encourage and bring healing to you as well, 

                                 Pastor Jeff

Suffering and God's Presence

Greetings All,

 

     This week's 'thoughts' come to you from four different authors  --  J. C. Ryle, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jean-Nicholas Grou and Morton Kelsey (I believe). The first two have to do with God's purpose in our struggles, difficulties and sufferings.  The last two have to do with nurturing the health of our inward lives by finding consistent, ongoing contact with the God who is always there.  Enjoy.

 

      J. C. Ryle -  "We live in such a fair and pleasant world -- we are surrounded with so much that is smiling and joyful -- that if we were not frequently obliged to taste of sickness and trial or disappointments, we should forget our heavenly home and pitch our tents here on the outskirts of Sodom. 

 

     Therefore it is that God's people pass through great tribulations; therefore it is they are often called upon to suffer the sting of affliction and anxiety, or weep over the grave of those whom they have loved as their own soul. It is their Father's hand that chasten's them, and it is thus that He weans their affection from the things below and fixes them on Himself. It is thus He trains them for eternity, and cuts the threads one by one that bind their wavering hearts to earth.

 

    No doubt such chastening is grevious for the time, but still it brings many a hidden grace to light, and cuts down many a secret sprout of evil.  We shall see those who have suffered most shining among the brightest stars in the assembly of heaven. The purest gold is that which has been longest in the refiner's furnace.  The brightest diamond is often that which has required the most grinding and polishing. Yet our light affliction endureth but for a moment, and it works in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (II Cor. 4:17)."  

 

 

    D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones  -  "We have to be humbled.  So [God] puts us in the fire of affliction, in the crucible of purification.  God has only one object: to get rid of the dross and to refine the gold.  But in our childishness we listen to the devil and we grumble and complain. 'Why is this happening to me? I am trying to be a good Christian; look at those other people.'  

 

    I trust that we shall never speak in that way again, thus falling victim to the wiles of the devil. Cannot you see that in all this, God, as your Father, is manifesting His love to you and revealing His great and gracious and glorious purpose with respect to you?  He intends to make you perfect, 'without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing' (Eph. 5:27).  But first he must rid you of very much rubbish."      

 

 

    Jean-Nicolas Grou  -  "We know in general that prayer is a religious act, but when it comes to actually praying, we easily forget that it is a supernatural act which is therefore beyond our own strength and can only be performed by the inspiration and help of grace. As St. Paul says: 'Not that we are competent to claim anything for ourselves, but our competency comes from God' (II Cor. 3:5)...

 

     Why do people try so hard to enflame their imagination as if prayer depended on their own efforts, as if it were not necessary that God's action should govern and direct their prayer? Since prayer is a supernatural act, we must earnestly ask God to produce it in us, and then we must perform it tranquilly under his guidance. We must draw down divine grace... and then co-operate with it, without interfering with its effects. If God does not teach us, we shall never know thoroughly the nature of prayer...

 

     Prayer is a wholly spiritual act, addressed to God who is the Supreme Spirit, the Spirit who sees all things and is present in all things.  As St. Augustine says, 'God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.'  Knowing this is the essence of prayer.  The posture of our body and the words we use have little significance in themselves, and are only pleasing to God as they express the feelings of the heart.  For it is the heart that prays, it is to the voice of the heart that God listens, and it is the heart that he answers...  Why do we pray so much with our lips and so little with our heart?... Why do we not lay open our heart to God and beg him to put in it whatever is most pleasing to him? Who could call it a bad method [of prayer] if it springs from humility, from a deep sense of our own inability, and from a lively faith and trust in God?  Such is the method suggested by the Holy Spirit to those souls who ask him to teach them how to pray."    

 

 

      The following 'thought' was scribbled on a note I found in my files (I believe it may be by Morton Kelsey)  - "Unless the members of a church are finding some encounter of their own with God, their act of joining together for religious services usually becomes one more meaningless activity, merely the ritual indulgence of a nice habit. 

 

      One can sense the immense difference in a congregation where a considerable number of the people are finding consistent personal contact with God on their own, apart from the group.  

 

 

     The first step in finding such contact with God is learning to be alone and quiet.  Most of modern life is a studied attempt to avoid ever being alone. Yet constant activity, without time for reflection and prayer, is spiritual suicide."  

     

                      In the Bonds of Christian Affection,  

 

Pastor Jeff