A note from Pastor Kenny: We have a member in our church who spends much of his time studying God’s Word and writing out his reflections on it. He wants to use the gifts God has given Him to encourage and challenge the body of Christ at MissionWay. I told him I would be happy to post some of these reflections on our church blog. The following is from John K.

He was seated on the throne of God.
He heard the voice of God saying,
“Who will go for us?”
The seraphs were calling out, "Holy, Holy, Holy."
This is the Trisagion, representing the Godhead:
Holy (the Father), Holy (the Son), and Holy (the Spirit) together.

Could it be that the seraphs repeated "Holy" three times to reflect the Trinity? We see this again on earth at Christ's baptism: The Father's voice, the Son Jesus, and the Spirit's dove together. All three were also present "in the beginning" (Genesis 1-2).

In both the Old and New Testaments, repetition in Scripture emphasizes God's words, directing our attention to matters of finality, intensity, and amplification. In English and many other languages, we show emphasis through bold, italics, underlining, or exclamation marks. However, Hebrew writings do not use these forms of emphasis. Instead, they employ repetition, with words and phrases repeated to drive home their importance.

Hebrew poetic texts contain elements like parallelism, condensed language, and rich imagery. In the Semitic tradition, a triple repetition of a word—often seen in both Old and New Testaments—expresses the superlative, such as “High-Higher-Highest.” This pattern often relates to God’s pronouncements and serves as a means of highlighting the divine nature of YAHWEH.

Here are a few examples of how Hebrew repetition works:

• Genesis 39:10: "yom yom" means "every day."

• Judges 16:20: "kefa'am befa'am" means "each time."

• Leviticus 20:19: "'ish 'ish" means "any man."

• Deuteronomy 14:22: "Shanah Shanah" means "year after year."

• Ezekiel 21:27: "A ruin, a ruin, a ruin."

• Jeremiah 22:29: "O land, land, land."

• Revelation 4:8: "Holy, Holy, Holy."

So when you encounter repetition in the Scriptures - especially the Old Testament, it is meant to draw your attention in and emphasize what is being said. God is not just Holy, He is “Holy, Holy, Holy!”

Most of us view the hard circumstances of life as things that happen to us. But what if we viewed our trials as things that happen for us? That is the perspective we get from Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. If you’ve been around MissionWay Church for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard me quote this passage many times. But how do we take these powerful words and apply them to find hope when life knocks us down? Let’s begin by reading the passage at hand.

Here are a couple takeaways from these verses that we can cling to as absolute truths to find hope in hard times.

1. Trials do come

I know this should be an obvious point, but somehow we still get surprised and blindsided by this fact. Paul says that “our outer self is wasting away.” Of course, he is specifically referencing the fact that our bodies will become older and eventually we will physically die, but the larger reality here is that trials are promised to us all throughout the Scriptures. Maybe no more clearly than in Jesus’ words “…In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33).

The fact that we experience trials actually is evidence that the words of Jesus prove true. We must recognize this reality so that our faith is not shaken when trials do come. He promised that they would, but more than that, He has promised us hope in the midst of our trials which is where our focus moves next.

2. God is always at work

We used to sing a song as kids that went like this: “He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon, and the stars, the sun, and the earth, and jupiter, and mars. How loving and patient He must be. He’s still working one me.” When a trial hits, life seems to come to a stand-still. It’s like nothing else matters in that moment and the only thing we are focused on is the trial before us.

God, even in the midst of our trials, is focused on making us more like Christ. In fact, one of the reasons He often allows trials to come our way is because He is trying to accomplish a specific work in us. Paul says “our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Our bodies continually age and break down, but our souls are constantly being renewed, sanctified, and purified to prepare us for the return of Christ.

Understandably, we want God to shift His entire focus to delivering us from the trial at hand, when His main concern is not always to deliver us from the trial, but rather to renew us and transform us through the trial. Which brings us to our next point.

3. Your trials work for you

Have you ever thought about that before? That your trials are not an obstacle to your faith, but a tool to grow you in your faith and to prepare for you eternal rewards. That’s exactly what Paul says in this passage - “…this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” God is actually taking your trials and forcing them to work for you, producing an eternal weight of glory that will far outweigh anything you could possibly experience in this life.

This means that not a single heartbreak you experience is meaningless - it’s doing something for you. And it may not be something you’re able to see right now, but as sure as the trial is real, the reward awaiting you is real too! You are not a slave to the events of this life, you are a child of the King who is working all things together for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

4. Our perspective matters

You won’t be able to find hope in these truths if you are focused on temporal, earthly things. Your mind and heart must be aimed at eternity in order to walk through trials with this kind of eternal hope. In other words, if your main concern is the trial itself and how you will escape it, your focus is temporal and you won’t be able to see the eternal hope being offered to you.

Paul says we can have this kind of hope “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Of course you can’t always see what God is doing - His ways are higher and better than yours (Isaiah 55:9). You must look beyond the trial to the eternal hope of Christ. You have to look beyond the pain to the work that Christ is accomplishing in and through you.

None of this means that we ignore our trials, refuse to grieve, or pretend it’s not all that bad. It means that we look to our trials with a sober-mindedness that allows us to grieve but not as those who are without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Conclusion

How do we shift our mindset to believing these things when life hits us hardest though? It’s one thing to know these things to be true, but it’s another thing altogether to actually cling to these promises as true when you feel like you can’t even get out of bed in the morning. A few thoughts:

First, pray for the Lord to give you eyes to see and a heart to believe these things, even when you want to believe everything but these truths. Pray like the father who brought his son to Jesus “Lord i believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Next, make sure you are surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters who will grieve with you, and then help you get back up and move forward with what is true. You don’t want friends who are quoting Scripture as a magic potion to make you feel better overnight, but those who will get in the ditch with you, weep with you, and then gently and faithfully remind you of what is true.

Maybe the final thing I would say is that we have to remember this is a lifelong process. There will be times when you do this well, and other times when you give in to the temptation to wallow in despair. The good news is that Jesus is patient with us, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. His mercies are new every morning and He will never leave us, even when we are unfaithful to Him. If you’ve not been placing your hope in Him, confess that - He will forgive. Then wake up the next day with the intent of living in the new mercies He provides.

Note to the reader: While this article will have unique application for pastors and those desiring to be in pastoral ministry one day, I want to emphasize that there are principles in here for every believer. I intentionally wrote it that way so that whether you’re a full-time pastor, a lay-elder at your church, or a member of a church simply seeking to follow Jesus more faithfully, this article will be encouraging and helpful for you. And if nothing else, this will give you a deeper understanding and appreciation for the struggles your pastor is facing and help you know how to more intentionally pray for them.

I have been in full-time ministry since December of 2011 and it’s hard to believe I’ll soon be entering my 15th year of pastoral ministry. As I reflect on the time God has given me serving His Church, a few lessons came to mind that I have learned while ‘in the trenches.’ These are not things I distinctly remember anyone preparing me to face and some of them are conversations that really need to happen among young pastors like myself more often. I strongly believe these lessons (or principles) are biblical, although some of them do not have a chapter and verse that I can point to as a “proof-text.” That being said, all of them are taken from biblical principles and wisdom that we find in the Scriptures that I have sought to apply to my life and ministry.

I do not believe I have come up with anything new here. All I am doing is shining a light on some of the things I wish I had known and applied much earlier in my walk with Christ and pastoral ministry. All that said, I do not write this article with regret, but with thankfulness to God for His grace in teaching me along the way as I follow Him. So, here’s five (of the many) things I’ve learned along these last 14 years of ministry.

1. Under-shepherds are judged by the Chief Shepherd

Admittedly, this is the one principle on the list that does more directly apply to pastors particularly. However, all believers will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, so don’t stop reading just yet. Pastors though, not only will stand before Judgement as believers in Christ, but also as those who will give an account for how they steward their calling as a pastor. This is one of the principles that I do have a chapter and verse for, so here it is:

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account…”
Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

The writer of Hebrews makes clear that pastors will give an account to the Lord for how we shepherd the flock of God that He has entrusted to us. On my first Sunday as the senior pastor of MissionWay Church, this truth hit be like a mac truck. My calling was not to win the approval of the world, other Christians, my congregation, myself, my family, or anyone else. My calling was to be a faithful “under-shepherd” of the Chief Shepherd and to pastor in the way that He, in His Word, tells me to.

This is a sobering reality and one that will cause any pastor to pause and assess the methods of ministry he employs. It certainly challenged me to go beyond trying to simply give a “good” sermon, cast vision, grow the church numerically, and sustain the ministry. I am not primarily a leader of an organization, I am a shepherd of souls (with the understanding that I am under the Chief Shepherd).

Early in my ministry, I would have probably acknowledged this to be true, but it wasn’t until a little more than 5 years ago that this reality truly set in and I began actually seeking to pastor in light of this truth. And while, on the one hand, this is sobering and seems like a heavy burden to carry, the truth that I am doing this “under” the faithful Shepherding of the True Shepherd allows me to operate in this truth with joy and confidence in His work in and through me. So I guess you could say this realization was both heavy and freeing all at the same time and it’s not an understatement that this flipped the way I do ministry on it’s head. No wonder I put it first on the list!

2. You will not prioritize your family by default.

Now this certainly applies to all Christians, but pastors have a knack for especially forgetting this. Many of us have repeated the popular mantra that we don’t want to “sacrifice our family on the altar of ministry,” and yet many (read: most) of us at some point have found ourselves on our way to doing just that. I hope you know this, but just in case you don’t let me put it in bold text for you: your family is your first ministry.

Allow me to tie this principle in with the first one with a quote by Brian Croft:

“If I will someday give an account for the way I have cared for the people in our church, how much more of an account must I give for the souls of those in my home?”
Brian Croft

If that doesn’t wake you up to the importance of this, I don’t know what will. Trust me, I know how demanding ministry can be and I know the temptation to allow it to pull us away from our family more than we’re comfortable with. But the truth is that often, the sense of demand we feel in ministry, our jobs, or our daily lives, is self-inflicted. Meaning you are the one placing many of the demands you feel on yourself and then using that as an excuse to not shepherd your family well. Your church needs a pastor who prioritizes his family over them, much in the same way that your kids need parents who prioritize their marriage.

Your family is ground zero in terms of your calling as a follower of Christ. Every other vocation, ministry, project, even relationship, should fall under your famiily in terms of importance to you.

The reality is that you may believe everything I just wrote, say a hearty “amen!” to it, and still be in jeopardy of neglecting your family. Because you will not prioritize them by default. In other words, just because you believe these things to be true, doesn’t mean that you won’t need to fight to make this a reality in your life. This is an area of life that needs constant attention and regular evaluation. Talk to your spouse and your kids often about how you’re doing in this area and be sure to truly listen to them.

If you’re a pastor, I could not recommend this book by Brian Croft more. Get it. Today. Read it, and go through the discussion questions with your spouse. I can say that as boldly as I did only because of how transformative it was for me and my family.

3. Social media is not your flock

I’ve been on X - formerly Twitter (seriously, when will we stop having to qualify that?!) a bit lately and I’ve realized something: many pastors seem to be more concerned with shepherding social media than shepherding their flock. Let me be clear, I do not know their motives and I am not saying this is true in every case I suspect it, I am just trying to put my finger on something that I have observed for some time now.

And of course I get it, I too have fallen victim to this trap. I can tend to get so caught up in theological, political, social, and personal debates on these sites and be completely ignorant to or even flat-out ignore the issues that the people in my church are actually facing. Not that the conversations on social media are unimportant, or irrelevant, but when I am more focused on the conversations online than the needs, hurts, sins, prayers, and questions of the flock God has entrusted to me, I’m not walking as a faithful shepherd.

Another danger in this thinking is that it causes you to run to social media first when you have something to say. Instead of depositing your faithful teaching to your flock first and foremost, they get the leftovers after what you have to say has gone through the filter of the trolls on Twitter. God has placed you in your church not only so that you can shepherd them, but so that they can minister to and hold you accountable as well in your teaching and your character.

What if we put our theology and teaching to the test in our local churches first, and then prayerfully decided whether those things will be helpful and beneficial to share with complete strangers on social media? Just a thought that I’m not even sure will make sense to you, but it’s one I’ve been having for some time and needed to get out there.

Besides all of this, the amount of time that social media can consume is nothing to overlook. Quite frankly, with the volume of posts some pastors and Christians seem to be making, I have no idea how they are finding the time to truly be with their families and churches. How are you doing in this? Have you checked your “Screen Time” stats lately on your phone? If you’re nervous about what they will reveal, maybe you already know this is an issue.

I do not say this as one who has done this perfectly. Especially earlier in my ministry (and still at times today), I fell victim to being more concerned with the conversations online than I was about the needs of those in the pew next to me. I’m not saying being engaged on social media is a bad thing, but it is no replacement for the local church.

4. Discipleship requires boldness.

When I think about all the people who have walked out of my office living in sin that I was too afraid to address directly I’m, quite frankly, a bit embarrassed. similar to many pastors I know, I like to be liked. Too often I seek the approval of men and allow the fear of man to cause me to shrink back from speaking the truth in love to those who I know need to hear it.

But if we are going to be effective in discipleship, it is going to require more boldness than we are sometimes comfortable with. I’m not suggesting we do things like: put a poster board in the church lobby listing the attendance and giving of the members. Before you ask, yes, I have seen churches do that before. It’s just that we try so hard at times to circle around the issues of those God has called us to lead instead of lovingly confronting the things we see. We believe we are acting out of love by not calling them out, but exposing sin in order to wash someone with the Gospel is actually one of the most loving things we can do - and it’s part of our calling as pastors.

Go back to the first point of giving an account to God for those He has placed under your care as a pastor and add to it the truth that life is a “vapor” (James 4:14) and I think you’ll begin to understand the point I am trying to make. We need to have some boldness and urgency with the folks we are discipling. Yes, we need to have kindness, patience, gentleness, and all the other fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but we also need to love people enough to actually confront their sin, bear their burdens, and speak straight with them.

5. Organization and Productivity can be learned.

“You would forget your head if it wasn’t attached to you” is a sentence spoken by my parents to me more times than I could have counted. Ask those who have known me for much of my life and they would nod their heads in agreement to that statement. For most of my life, I thought that’s just who I am; I’m just simply not a very organized person and I need to accept that, try to mask it as much as possible, and hope for the best. At least, that’s what I thought.

Turns out organization and productivity can be learned. How do I know? Well I have dedicated a good amount of time since the beginning of 2023 learning these skills and I feel confident that my wife would tell you while I still have a long way to go, I have been learning and growing in this area of my life. This article is actually proof of this, because I made plans to write this and didn’t just sit at the desk thinking “what do I want to write about today?” as used to be my custom. Not only did I plan this article, but I proofread and edited it, too! That doesn’t mean I expect it to be without error, but baby steps are worth celebrating.

This final principle may not seem to fit with the ‘more spiritual’ ones above it. Actually, I would say this is spiritual and serious too if you take the words of Ephesians 5:15-17 seriously:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV)

Redeeming your time means being intentional with every single moment whether you’re at work, recreation, family time, rest, church, chores, or whatever else you’re doing, do it all with purpose, planning, and for the glory of the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31). Don’t just make the excuses I did and say “that’s just not my strength.” If it’s a weakness, work hard to make it a strength. While certain people may be more naturally inlined toward these things, they are skills that I truly believe everyone can, and should try, to master for the purpose of redeeming the time.

If you struggle with this (like I still do at times), a great place to start is this book by Reagan Rose. It will give you a Christian perspective on these things and also very practical tools to begin growing in this area of your life. It’s time to stop making excuses and become a better steward of your time and recources.

Conclusion

Maybe there will be a part two of this article because there are certainly more that I could share, but these are some of the ones I’ve been thinking about most often as of late. My hope is that this article reaches other young pastors who need to be challenged and encouraged in these areas just like I have been. So much more could be said about all of them, and if you’re reading this and need some prayer, encouragement, or even counsel, please send me an email. I would love nothing more than to get in the trenches with you, whether you are a pastor or not.

What about you? Which of these do you struggle with? What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below.

We’ve all either experienced or heard other people talk about their idea of an ‘ideal’ quiet time. For me it’s the early morning sun, quiet house, comfy chair or table, cup of coffee, an open Bible, and a highlighter/pen combo. I’ve always had the idea that early morning is the best time frame to read my Bible and pray. I could give you many reasons practically speaking why I believe that is best, but if you pressed me to give a Bible verse supporting my opinion that mornings are best, I’m not sure I can provide one.

The Psalms are full of phrases like “Evening and morning and at noon…” (Psalm 55:17), “to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:2), “I rise before dawn…” (Psalm 119:147), and “my eyes are awake before the watches of the night…” (Psalm 119:148). The writers of the Psalms seemed to cry aloud to the Lord all day long - they didn’t seem to have a ‘preferred’ time.

As I have been reflecting on the story of Daniel and the lion’s den, we see Daniel “…got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God…” (Daniel 6:10). And while there is not a biblical command that we must pray at three specific points of the day, I want to make the case that we should consider adopting a similar practice. I want to give you three reasons for doing so:

1. It centers your day around communing with God.

Most of us organize our days around mealtimes. For many of us, breakfast, lunch, and dinner happen every single day and we plan the rest of our activities accordingly around those three meals. What if we did that with our quiet time instead? What if we stopped trying to fit our daily devotions into our schedule and instead fit our schedule around our daily devotions?When you decide to set aside three points of each day for the Lord, you really begin to think about your schedule much differently.

2. It gives you three chances to reorient your heart each day.

Whenever I have my quiet time only in the morning, it often becomes something I am checking off my list so that I can go about my day. By the end of the day, I’ve forogtten all about what I read in the Bible and prayed to the Lord about. When I have three separate times a day I’m spending with the Lord, it keeps my mind fixed on Him throughout the day much more effectively. So many days, we become distracted, tempted, angry, discouraged, etc. and could really use some time alone with the Lord to recalibrate our hearts toward Him.

3. It helps to crowd out other distractions.

How many points throughout the day do you spend at least 5 minute chunks of time scrolling your phone, checking the news, looking at photos or memes, or just simply wasting time? What if you replaced at least three of those chunks of time with Bible reading and prayer? You are now not only spending that time on something that is eternally more beneficial, but you’re training yourself to go to the Lord when you have time to spare throughout the day. I’d much rather have a habit of reaching for my Bible rather than reaching for my Facebook account when I’ve got a few minutes to spare.

CONCLUSION

I’m not necessarily suggesting that you’re more spiritual if you do this. Nor do I even think it will always be practical in every circumstance. I’m simply offering this as a suggestion for those of us who struggle to make our quiet time a priority. You don’t have to spend 30 minutes at each session. As a matter of fact, I would recommend you choose one of the three times that is a little longer than the other two. Sometimes, just 5 minutes of reading a few verses and a short prayer is all you are able to do. In the end, the goal here is more time with Jesus throughout our day - don’t we all want that?

Well, I’ve decided to go ahead and offend 90% of the people who read this blog…just kidding…I hope. In all seriousness, this is a very important topic because it has to do with our worship of the One True God—what topic could be more important than that? I want to talk about the role that emotion should (or shouldn’t) play in our worship.

Disclaimer: worship involves much more than just singing to the Lord. Paul says, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). For the purposes of this post, however, I will primarily be referring to worship through song. So, when I use the word “worship,” that’s the context.

Now that we’ve established that, back to our topic at hand. If you were to attend ten different church worship services over the course of ten Sundays, you might just see ten very different congregations who express themselves very differently in worship. This, in my opinion, is a good thing because we are all uniquely designed by God with different personalities and ways that we respond in worship. Even still, I think some of us feel guilty when we see a Christian worshipping with hands raised and tears falling down their face because we very rarely have that kind of response. It makes us wonder if we love Jesus as much as they do.

But does more emotion = more worship? Well, let’s make a couple of important points to figure this out:

1. God gave us emotions.

   We have been created in the image of God, and I believe a part of that is that we are emotional beings. This means, among other things, that emotions are not inherently evil. For example, even about anger, the Bible says, “be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). We normally view anger as always a bad thing, and while it certainly often leads to sin, anger in and of itself is not always sin. As a matter of fact, God even portrays Himself as having emotions such as joy, grief, anger, jealousy, love, and others. And while God is immutable and is not swayed or changed by His emotions, this tells us that emotions in and of themselves are given to us by God and serve a purpose.

2. We can’t always trust our emotions.

   All that being said, we are sinful human beings. Even those of us who have been saved by Jesus Christ still wrestle with the flesh and its sinful desires. Because of that, our hearts are deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and we must always check our emotions against the Truth (more on that later). One pastor said it this way: “Your feelings are real, but they aren’t always true.” Many people, for example, can seemingly be worshipping God with great emotion, but it’s not God they are moved by. Rather, the lighting, music, and adrenaline have manipulated in them an emotional response much like what can happen at a secular music concert. On the other hand, someone can not “feel” like worshipping God, and yet choose to worship anyway in spirit and truth, and the Lord would accept that as pure and good.

3. Different truths call for different emotions.

   Some people have simply trained themselves to respond to worship music in certain ways. So they throw their hands up and weep no matter the song being sung. But that response may not be the most appropriate when we are singing songs of joy, for example. We need to be sure that we are not just seeking to elicit some kind of emotion in ourselves every time the music begins on Sunday. Rather, let us have appropriate emotions based on the truths we are singing.

4. Outward expressions don’t always tell the whole story.

   My family will tell you that I am not always the most outwardly expressive person. So, while I’m not completely stoic during worship, I’m not necessarily going to be the most expressive person in the room. That’s true in my everyday life as well. I can be feeling a particular emotion very deeply and yet not express that outwardly to the degree I feel it inwardly. Other people are naturally very expressive, and as soon as their favorite worship song begins, they are a puddle of tears. Let’s not judge one another or ourselves on externals. After all, “God looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

5. Truth should be in charge of our emotions.

   Not the other way around. We should meditate on the truths we sing, think deeply about them, and pray that they impact our mind and heart the way they are supposed to. The Psalms are full of phrases like “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Psalm 84:2). When we truly understand the truth about who God is and what He has done for us, I do believe that will elicit some kind of emotional response. Maybe not every single time in the exact same way, but the one who has no response to the truth of the Gospel may not truly understand the Gospel. However, it would be a mistake to begin by saying, “I need more emotion in my worship.” Rather, we should say, “I need more of God’s truth to be implanted in my heart so that I may respond in worship to Him.”

Conclusion

W.S. Plumer wrote, “We cannot have too much religious affection if it is pure and holy.” I agree with him. While I have said we should check our emotions against truth and not always trust them, when our emotions and affections are driven by the Gospel and coming from a pure and holy heart, we simply cannot be too expressive about what the Lord has done for us. So, throw up your hands, fall to your knees (you’ll do that one day for sure), weep with joy or mourning over your sin, jump for joy, or stand with your arms at your side and sing loudly the praises of your God who reigns. Just make sure you do it all from a heart that is seeking to love Him with all your mind, soul, heart, and strength. And beg Him for mercy when you fall short and ask Him to give you a clean heart that desires more and more to worship Him.