Yesterday I turned 15 as an effective pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, KY (2003?2018). Many of you know my story. So you can imagine that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking over the last few days about everything God has done in me and our church over the last decade and a half.
My reflections are best summarized by dividing my time in our church into three periods: surviving, thriving, and correcting.
- The first five years were brutal.
- There were three different movements to say goodbye to me: in the midst of all hostility and adversity.
- God was still building his church; He taught me some of the most valuable lessons I would learn later about ministry.
- I predicted in the hope that the seeds of speech would find a good land.
- I shepherded this flock with the intention of earning her love and trust.
- I tried to support my family.
- I made mistakes I’m almost gone.
- But we survived.
After surviving the third artillery attempt that almost divided the church and damaged my health, the ship finally seemed to be heading in the right direction. Some of our church’s most important leaders, who still serve today, came to church the following year. . My enemies, from those early years, began to soften up towards me and we began to make peace among ourselves. We adopt a plurality of shepherds. Finally, we have achieved a correct membership model, we have seen conversions and refugees join the church, we saw that our budget came red for the first time in many years, and we raised and sent missionaries and pastors around the world. Over the years, we have thrived.
The last five years have brought new challenges. One of the reasons pastors don’t usually stay in church for ten years is that the previous pastor can no longer be blamed for the problems. This season has prompted me to take a long, honest and painful time. See how not only did my strengths as a leader help the church, but also how my weaknesses hurt the church. It was a humiliating but important time for our church to reflect and evaluate and then try to repair what I broke. both the church and my family.
With God’s grace and strength, I feel that I have made significant progress in addressing the problems of my church and family, but it has been difficult and painful. I remember the gift of close friendships and the trained counselors needed to do a difficult job. but essential personal work as a pastor to grow in grace and sanctification. As a result, I feel like we are now in a place of better maturity and health than ever before.
Fortunately, there are many unique and powerful trials of grace in our church over the past five years. I intend to take advantage of these stimuli by entering the fourth season of what has become for me in five years of ministry. very grateful for God’s work in my marriage and my family through this.
The pastor of this church was one of the greatest joys of my life, God has been very kind to me by giving me, during these years, a very special group of God’s sheep, through which I believe that I continue to grow in love every day. Therefore, I confidently say that our good and sovereign God will work for the next five years in the same way that he has undoubtedly worked for the past 15 years.