Feed them
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:14 am
The text used at the beginning of this chapter, is the text preached at my ordination service. The sermon was given by my pastor from my home church. When he told me about the text he chose I wasn't thrilled with the selection. Feeding sheep, ugh. Couldn't he have picked something a little more exciting. The sermon hit home, and tears filled my eyes as he described the calling of a pastor. Those words from John 21 still ring in my head, "Feed my sheep."
The second week of my first call to a rural church in Northern Vermont, I visited one of the elders of the church. As I got out of the car, he yelled from near the barn, "Come on down, its feeding time!" As I walked down the driveway, and turned to the right, behind the old barn were 150 bleating sheep waiting for hay. I watched Neal pull bales of hay into the pen. It wasn't hard, but it was essential. The sheep needed it. They counted on Neal for their food. That afternoon taught me a lot.
I realized that God has a sense of humor.
I had indeed been called to feed His sheep. The first few years did not seem all that difficult in feeding. Then as situations presented themselves again and again, I found myself returning to the same passages, the same resources. In the last two years, I've sensed a staleness to my preaching and teaching.
The question posed in this section, "What do we as leaders eat?"
is a tough one. Over the years, I have found my spiritual diet lacking in essentials. Being pulled in so many different directions, there are times I have neglected the feeding of my own soul.
My first intern student asked me one day, "So how do you feed your soul?" As the years have passed, I have strayed from some of those practices that were the heart of my devotional life. It's time to get back to feeding, them and myself.
The second week of my first call to a rural church in Northern Vermont, I visited one of the elders of the church. As I got out of the car, he yelled from near the barn, "Come on down, its feeding time!" As I walked down the driveway, and turned to the right, behind the old barn were 150 bleating sheep waiting for hay. I watched Neal pull bales of hay into the pen. It wasn't hard, but it was essential. The sheep needed it. They counted on Neal for their food. That afternoon taught me a lot.
I realized that God has a sense of humor.
I had indeed been called to feed His sheep. The first few years did not seem all that difficult in feeding. Then as situations presented themselves again and again, I found myself returning to the same passages, the same resources. In the last two years, I've sensed a staleness to my preaching and teaching.
The question posed in this section, "What do we as leaders eat?"
is a tough one. Over the years, I have found my spiritual diet lacking in essentials. Being pulled in so many different directions, there are times I have neglected the feeding of my own soul.
My first intern student asked me one day, "So how do you feed your soul?" As the years have passed, I have strayed from some of those practices that were the heart of my devotional life. It's time to get back to feeding, them and myself.