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Is Your Life on Fast-Forward?

Do you ever feel as if you are living life on fast-forward? Do you ever feel as if you are constantly bouncing from one project to the next, one message to the next, one app to the next, one meeting to the next?

In our fast-paced world we tend to value speed, intensity, and productivity. And recently I’ve tried to rethink how I can be more effective and productive in the various spheres of my life: husband, father, pastor, writer, professor, friend, disciple-maker. While away last week with my family, I received a reminder from the Lord about what’s truly important in life.

Here are the three lessons I believe the Lord was teaching me from my time away.

  1. Pause. Close your eyes. Take a nap. Go away. Guess what? The world will go on just fine when you are on pause. Yes, there are things God has assigned for you to do. Yes, you have a responsibility to be productive and faithful for the glory of God. But thank heavens you and I are not irreplaceable to God’s plans of redemption and salvation in the world. God gave us the gift of Sabbath (day of rest) to remind us of the importance of pausing and resting. When we pause and rest, we give ourselves the opportunity to exercise our trust muscles that the Lord has everything handled in life.
  2. Pray. I am naturally analytical and a people pleaser. It is my tendency to do. Maybe you’re like me. Or maybe you’re very different. However you and I are designed, we often find it easier to do than to pray. Unfortunately, we feel as if prayer is passive when we ought to be active. The opposite is true. To pray is to actively exhibit trust in God who is able to do far more than we can do.
  3. Pay Attention. In my quiet time yesterday, I read from Acts 20. When talking to the elders and leaders of the Ephesian church, Paul said this, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). You and I are responsible for our spiritual lives. When we get distracted from the importance of our walk with God, we have a tendency to lose sight of what matters most. Pastors are responsible to pay attention to their own spiritual lives as well as those they shepherd. This verse reminds us that we should take spiritual inventory of how we are doing in our walk with Christ.

So this week, make time for these spiritual disciplines.

Pause. Make time in your day to rest. Take a deep breath or a walk. Go for a hike or a swim. Get away from the hustle and bustle, and remember what is important.

Pray. Make time time in your day to pray and to think. Don’t go another minute without bringing your burden to the Lord. Talk to God. Listen to him speak through his Word. Trust him to handle that situation that’s bigger than you.

Pay Attention. Make time in your day to inventory your spiritual life. Are there sins you need to confess? Habits you need to break or add? Relationships you need restored? Be attentive to yourself and those around you.

Turn these actions into spiritual habits.

You are your habits.

So what are you doing regularly? What would your spouse, kids, and friends say about your habits and practices? Would they say you know how to pause, to pray, and to pay attention? Or would they have to say that you are bustling from one thing to the next constantly frazzled by the busyness of life?

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Our Mission: to Replicate

At Wilkesboro Baptist, we’ve identified our mission as leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. We do this by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating.

Worship, learn, and serve are pretty obvious, right?

  • To worship is to give God the appropriate attention, glory, and praise due his name. With regard to our church’s mission, to worship means that we commit to worshiping together in our regular worship services.
  • To learn is to recognize that in our role as disciples, we are learners. We learn from God’s Word, prayer, and especially as we gather in groups (Sunday School and Discipleship Groups), to study and apply God’s Word.
  • To serve is to give our time, energy, and resources for the benefit of others and the accomplishment of God’s mission. When we meet a need, visit someone who is hurting, lead a class, or join with a mission partner, we are fulfilling our obligation to serve.

But what does it mean to replicate? In short, to replicate means to reproduce a replica or likeness in someone or something else. Ultimately, this is the goal of our biblical mission. Making disciples is replicating the life of Jesus in someone else. When I teach someone how to follow Jesus by worshiping, learning, and serving, then I’m replicating the life of Jesus in them. When I share ministry responsibilities with others, and we work together to fulfill God’s mission in our church, then I’m replicating the life of Jesus in them.

In the coming couple of weeks, we’re going to model our mission to you as a congregation. I’m going to replicate in my preaching ministry.

God has blessed Wilkesboro Baptist Church with some fine staff members and excellent communicators. Our Associate Pastor, Tad Craig and Minister of Communications, Gary Buffaloe are gifted preachers. But God has also sent some younger ministers to us. Over the summer our pastoral staff have gathered with some young men God has called to ministry to help them grow in their calling and service to the Lord. And in the next two weeks, depending on the service you attend for worship, you will get a chance to hear them preach.

Here’s the preaching schedule for the next couple of weeks: 

  • Tad Craig will preach on Wednesday, July 21 at our 6:00 PM worship service and also preach the 8:00 AM and 9:30 AM services on Sunday July 25.
  • Josh Pinkerton will preach the 11:00 AM service on Sunday July 25. 
  • Gary Buffaloe will preach on Wednesday, July 28 at our 6:00 PM worship service and will also preach the 9:30 am service on Sunday August 1.
  • Shawn Dubose will preach the 8:00 AM service on August 1.
  • Hudson Myers will preach the 11:00 AM service on August 1.

Josh Pinkerton is the son of Dr. Joe and Doreen Pinkerton. He grew up at Wilkesboro Baptist and is currently earning a Masters degree toward Christian Counseling.

Hudson Myers is the son of Madeline Myers. He also grew up at Wilkesboro Baptist and is currently at Gardner Webb University earning a Bachelor’s degree in Christian ministry. Hudson is serving a pastoral internship at our church this summer.

Shawn Dubose is a recent church member. He was one of my students at Fruitland Baptist Bible College. He will finish Fruitland in September and is planning to attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in the new year.

Over these two weeks Josh, Hudson, and Shawn, as well as Tad and Gary will get the opportunity to preach at what I think is one of the finest churches in America. Our pastoral staff will be listening to their sermons and critiquing them after they preach with the goal of helping them learn. (Incidentally, Josh, Hudson, and Shawn have been critiquing my sermons recently to my great benefit).

This schedule takes the pressure off Josh, Hudson, and Shawn to preach for recording (our Wednesday services) as well as having to preach multiple times. When I return to preach in August, I will continue our Walk Wisely series in the book of Proverbs for another number of weeks.

  • Would you pray for Tad, Gary, Josh, Hudson, and Shawn as they preach in the coming weeks?
  • Would you pray for rest and renewed energy for myself as I take a week away with my family?
  • Would you pray for our congregation to respond to what I believe will be Spirit-filled preaching over the next weeks?
  • Would you pray that we will embrace this picture of replication in living out our mission?

Photo by Alexander Michl on Unsplash