LayGuy

I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - a disease diagnosed by the omission of other diseases. If that doesn’t make sense, then this will…

I feel exhausted all the time. If I am physically active for 5 minutes, I have a physical and mental breakdown a few hours later. This sucks as it gets in the way of being the father and husband i so want to be. And the worst thing about it is that no-one really understands what you are going through. So you go to the doctors and they do tests and tests and more tests. You spend thousands of dollars and it all amounts to nothing as all the results are “normal.” They cross out diseases like cancer, diabetes, and brain clots one by one until they have nothing left. Then they slap you with the title, “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”

On top of that also, I have suspected Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from an assault I suffered 12 years ago. I have written about this here and here. I say “suspected” because to be officially diagnosed with PTSD, you need to have a memory of the traumatic event. Twelve years on from my assault, I still don’t know what happened. But my body does.

Anyway, Mark Driscoll has just released part three of his series, “Death By Ministry.” This session focuses on stress - something I can definitely relate to. You can check out the video below or visit the site here where he talks about some of the conditions causing stress.

For all you Pastors and Servants in the Church, my lay advice is to remember what Jesus said about the Vine. We are the branches that need to connect [and abide in] to the Vine. When we do this, the Father does good work through us. This is the best antidote against stress and burnout. Now I just gotta figure out how to play this out in reality.

Tags: Death By Ministry, Mark Driscoll, Ministry, The Resurgence, Stress, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Yesterday the topic at church was, “Why Did Jesus’ Mother Need To Be A Virgin?” This was week three of a nine week sermon series. Again a group of us went into the streets of our town to interview a bunch of people and below is the video.

And here is the sermon from last Sunday..

Catholics put “Mother Mary” on a pedestal even saying she is the “mother of God.” Technically speaking, she is the mother of the humanity of Jesus - His human nature. She’s got nothing to do with His divine side. That would be the Holy Spirit’s doing thank you very much. And this talk about still being a virgin kind of makes Catholic theology look kind of simple.

Any casual reading of the Bible would highlight the fact that Jesus had brothers and sisters. Now unless they were miraculously conceived as well, umm, sorry to my Catholic readers, but mother Mary is not a virgin anymore. One of the questions in the video was along the lines of, “what made Mary so special to be the one to birth Jesus?” I feel as if this question’s importance is sometimes brushed aside in our hurry to get to know her Son. The Catholics have got something right in regards to Mary…

“For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed” Luke 1:48b

Mary was blessed for a number of reasons. First and foremost, she was a female and therefore fulfilled the declaration of war God imposed onto Satan…

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.” Gen 3:15

Here we have a rare occasion where offspring is promised to a woman instead of a man. In Hebrew culture, this is indeed, rare. Then there are multiple prophecies given that the Messiah will be born out of the line of King David. Mary just happened to be in King David’s blood line. And so was Joseph for that matter - but that’s a whole other story. And to nail the fact that Jesus’ birth was noticed by all, God declared that a virgin will give birth to Him…

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isa 7:14

Wow! What a sign! Trust God to contradict normality! I have a sneaking suspicion that God sort of WANTED us to KNOW when His Son was born. A woman in the bloodline of King David will give birth to a Son while she is still a virgin! C’mon how many other clues do yo need? And yet the conclusion Jesus’ contemporaries had of Him? That He was a bastard!

What ignorance! The people of my community have a similar ignorance. But that’s ok because they are a people distant from God and His Word. Unlike the Jews in Jesus’ time, they have no idea of the intricacies of Mary and her miraculous birth. The Jews should have known better. It’s up to us to let our community know better. If you are inclined, please pray for us that we are able to present the truth of scriptures in a way our community sees as real and relevant.

Tags: Sermon Series, Jesus, Mother Mary, Virgin, Miracle

I am not a pastor or have any official title at my church but I do understand the enormous pressures such people face day by day. I would love to work full time in church. But not because I see it as a cushy job as many might do. I firmly believe there are heaps of “pastors” out there wanting a cushy life and pastor a church - only to be shell shocked by the reality of heading a church.

Others may say, ” what’s so difficult in being a pastor anyway?” Well unlike secular jobs, the additional job description of the pastor says, “oh by the way, what you do on earth, impacts eternity also.” If that’s not enough to freak you out beyond any other job, then nothing will.

Mark Driscoll has released Death By Ministry Part Two. My pastor gets encouraged by messages like this cause they are real and don’t sugar coat anything. Pastors are humans too - not some half human, half God-like person who can handle anything. As a result, the strains of their job are deep and impacting.

Add to this the spiritual realm where attacks are focussed on leaders in a church. If you were the enemy of God and wanted to impact His local church, it’s much easier to focus your efforts on the leader than the whole church. “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will freak out!” As a result of the enormous burdens and pressures Pastors face, many get burnt. Driscoll provides some interesting, but sad quotes here.

To watch Death by Ministry Part 2, click here or simply watch it below.

mark driscoll, death by ministry, pastors