Christopher B. Wolf Announces New Book Contract

Hey There!

I am blessed to tell you that I have signed a contract for my second book to be published. Thanks be to God! As you might remember my first book was Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007). The working title for this one is With You: Every Step of the Way. Below is a description:

With You: Every Step of the Way

With You: Every Step of the Way is a new and practical “word atlas” for believers and seekers – anyone who desires to navigate and draw closer to God along the unpredictable but exhilarating journey of faith. It is a lifelong expedition with much uncertainty and loneliness. The weight we carry rarely gets lighter and it requires more strength than we know we have…

Along this journey, we lose our way and our confidence, yet celebrate and find meaning, get distracted and stuck, learn and gain wisdom, become hopeless and despairing, deepen relationships and build new ones, leave our old selves behind and become new creations, and ultimately arrive at discovering who God created us to be and who God really is.

With You: Every Step of the Way reveals and illuminates these very things we need and receive along the way: Assurance, Heart and Soul, Fellowship, Possibilities, and Transformation. Pastor and author Christopher B. Wolf’s clear, authentic, engaging and encouraging writing style and messages will very quickly become a trusted and faithful companion.

Formatted for the individual who needs insight and support as well as for the small group that wants to grow, study and think together – With You: Every Step of the Way includes thoughtful, discerned messages as well as reflection questions that will inspire compelling contemplation and discussion.

I am very excited for the release of this book! It captures and summarizes my distinctive voice, heart and approach as a pastor, brother and friend – as a shepherd. I have designed it in such a way that it can serve as more than just a one time read – but as a trusted companion to whom readers can turn and return for encouragement, challenge, comfort, hope, direction, growth and reflection in their faith journeys.

The timetable for its release is about 6 months. I will send you updates throughout the process. Please share this email/message with family, friends, co-workers and others that you think would be interested in this book and my other writings.

In addition to this new book, I am exploring the idea of a new blog that would be a combination of Living Water, church revitalization messages and renewing America articles. Stay tuned…

Please learn more and keep up in touch with me through the following channels:

www.christopherbwolf.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-B-Wolf/17378287393

http://twitter.com/ChristophBWolf

https://christopherbwolf.wordpress.com

As always, I am so grateful for your prayers, support and encouragement – all of these continue to be welcomed and needed!

Grace and Peace,

Christopher

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Every Step

Hello: This is part update, part Living Water. Over the last few months I have been working on a second book. As you may know, my first book, Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs came out in 2007. To learn more about it please visit www.christopherbwolf.com. I am also working on having Giving Faith a Second Chance converted into an ebook.

I have completed the manuscript for a second book, With You: Every Step of the Way. I am currently exploring publishing options for it. I welcome your prayers and encouragement. This week’s Living Water is the description and introduction to With You: Every Step of the Way. For updates, more information and to “like” my writing, please visit my Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-B-Wolf/17378287393. Blessings, Christopher

With You: Every Step of the Way

With You: Every Step of the Way is a new and practical “word atlas” for believers and seekers – anyone who desires to navigate and draw closer to God along the unpredictable but exhilarating journey of faith. It is a lifelong expedition with much uncertainty and loneliness. The weight we carry rarely gets lighter and it requires more strength than we know we have…

Along this journey, we lose our way and our confidence, yet celebrate and find meaning, get distracted and stuck, learn and gain wisdom, become hopeless and despairing, deepen relationships and build new ones, leave our old selves behind and become new creations, and ultimately arrive at discovering who God created us to be and who God really is.

With You: Every Step of the Way reveals and illuminates these very things we need and receive along the way: Assurance, Heart and Soul, Fellowship, Possibilities, and Transformation. Pastor and author Christopher B. Wolf’s clear, authentic, engaging and encouraging writing style and messages will very quickly become a trusted and faithful companion.

Formatted for the individual who needs insight and support as well as for the small group that wants to grow, study and think together – With You: Every Step of the Way includes thoughtful, discerned messages as well as reflection questions that will inspire contemplation and discussion.

An Invitation

I have always been a fan of journeys. Growing up, as soon as I was able – all the way to graduation, I walked to school. I loved it. In college, I was able to go from the student center to across the street from where we lived with a combination of buses and trains. Near the end of college, I started on the greatest journey. I had always believed in God but with just a few months left before graduating, I went on a walk, a journey during which I committed my life to Jesus and His will and design for my life. And that is when everything started to change.

No longer was the journey as easy as walking home from school or making the train or bus. The journey got a whole lot more complicated…as well as wondrous, perilous and joyful.

It seems very accurate and appropriate to think of the life of faith as a journey. And in my role as a pastor, brother and friend, I have learned many things from my own as well as others’ journeys. Every Step of the Way is putting to words all the things that we pick up, let go of, need and come with this journey. In broad terms, these things are: Assurance, Heart and Soul, Fellowship, Possibilities, and Transformation.

These are all good things to share about and explore in the following pages. But there is something else. Perhaps the most important thing needed for this journey, the thing that drives, confounds and is desired most in this journey is – company. Company on this journey can make all the difference. The journey is one thing, but even just the thought of it being a voyage of solitude is unbearable. Yet, with one or many walking along with us – we can find the strength and hope to keep going on. It’s that powerful. And of course, we aren’t alone – the Lord is always with us. But you and I know, as much as we believe, it sure feels lonely a lot of the time.

So I want to walk alongside you for a while. Maybe we can even stop and sit and rest for a while together. All of our journeys include mountaintops, valleys, wildernesses and it often seems like the weight we carry doesn’t get any lighter. As you know, I can’t change the journey God has lovingly designed for you – but I can encourage you, make it more bearable, and illuminate pitfalls and breathtaking views along the way.

Will you walk with me for a while?

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Best of Living Water 2009

Here they are – The best of Living Waters from 2009. Thank you for your support and prayers.

February – Peace in the Storm

But I also know that Jesus is in the boat. And he is peace personified and he is saying, “I’ve got this” to whatever storms you or others are facing. And he wants you to know and receive the peace he has to offer you. And, I know it is hard to see it right now. Remember, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe,” said Augustine.

March – No Going Back

We have seen it when Christianity and Churches are at their best – a people on fire for the Lord and His Word, boldly loving, forgiving, growing, welcoming others and sharing their lives together. We have seen it when Christians and Churches have broken through routines and pretenses and put their focus back on being a living body of Christ.

April – Completely

My prayer for you today, perhaps for the first time or in a renewed way – is that you awaken to, and more fully receive the peace and grace you have been searching for, been thirsting for in this complete forgiveness.

Because it’s for you. It was purchased on the cross for you to own – not to borrow or rent. It’s not some theory; it’s not just for holy people. It’s not based on what others think. It’s not something that anyone else can add to or take away from. It’s for you to completely grab hold of as you let go of all the past and sins and guilt.

April – All Things New

But I do know this, we just celebrated the day that makes it possible for any or all of those to be reversed by a new start through the risen Jesus. And just the fact that it is possible makes all the difference. That it is possible to enjoy a personal and eternal relationship with God through Jesus; possible to see loved ones again in Heaven; possible to have our tears wiped away; possible to be forgiven and forgive others; possible to reconcile; possible to live – abundantly, without the fear of death.

So much so that it has to change the way we live – because the resurrection shattered all the things that hold us down in this life – that trick us into believing that all is lost.

Writer Louis L’Amour captures what happened on Easter and what is possible for our lives because of it, in two sentences, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That is the beginning.”

May – The Best Way

We are asked to love one another like this – at the cost of ourselves, putting our lives on the line; to love without any condition or pretext; to love boldly and foolishly – when it doesn’t make sense.

I can’t tell you how many times I have loved others boldly and foolishly. And sometimes it has worked and sometimes it hasn’t. These Living Waters are mostly inspired by trying to love some people in my life boldly and foolishly – trying to write “letters” to some people to show them that they are loved for who they are. And I keep doing it because of this verse and in part because I know that I have been loved boldly and foolishly by God and by others.

June – Life and Death

In this above passage, Jesus was saying that something momentous happens when someone believes what he said about himself being the Son of God and the Savior and thereby enters into a relationship with Him through faith.

At the moment of belief – calling on the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior – “has at this very moment (accessed) the real, lasting life (eternal life) and is no longer condemned to be an outsider (of the Kingdom of God).”

July – The Heart of a Pastor, Part I

When you need wisdom, I will find it for you in the Word.

When you are lost, I will not stop until I find you.

When you are trapped, I will lead the rescue effort.

When you are hiding, I will keep trying to find you.

When you are facing terrible enemies, I will be right next to you.

When you are dying, I will sit with you until the end, and after.

July – The Reach

Because when we are reaching and risking for Jesus’ sake, our faith is real and alive. From the inside out, from behind the wall, out of the silence, out from the pew, beyond the doors, beyond our fears – that is where the healing is, that is where the miracles are, it is where we live – blessed – on the other side of the reach – in the handful of His cloak, in the humbled “ask” for help.

How much risk is in your faith today? In which parts of your life are you reaching out to Jesus? What needs to be left behind as you reach? In which parts of your life are you risking something, if not everything, in faith? If you belong to a church – where is your church risking and reaching?

September – What If?

What if…we were more concerned with faithfulness than success?

What if…we gave of our time, talent and money sacrificially and with the cross in mind?

What if…we took our faith from private to public?

What if…we called out to God and to brothers and sisters when we needed help?

What if…we were as devoted to God as we are to our favorite sports team or hobby?

What if…we asked for and granted real forgiveness?

What if…we reached out to people that no one else remembered or cared about?

November – Postcards from Exile

So the question is, how much longer are we willing to live with the peculiar comfort of the emptiness as well as the episodic pangs of despair?

November – Opening

If you are alive and you are reading this, it’s not too late. It’s not too late to unfold your arms and open them. It’s not too late to risk loving others with abandon, maybe getting hurt and risking trust. It’s not too late to let go of the expectations and demands that keep you imprisoned. It’s not too late for bitterness to evaporate and for wounds to heal. It’s not too late to start to tear down the walls around your heart and let the love of God in Jesus and others to enter in…to let us love you… It’s not too late…

December – What Is This Really About?

Is this more about seeking real healing or avoiding and numbing pain?

Is this more about belonging to a group or belonging to Jesus?

Is this more about being satisfied or longing?

Is this more about the status quo or about transformation?

Is this more about building a fortress or risking it all on a mission?

December – Heavenly Peace

For example, when we are stressed and overwhelmed by all this turmoil in our lives and we want to find some peace, some might think, “I need a drink” or “I need another prescription or pill” or “I need to go on the Internet to look at some pictures” or “I need to use (drugs or people)” or “I need to go shopping” or “I just need to control others or situations” or many other things that “take the edge off.”

You see, the things of this world cannot produce the peace we actually desire. Seeking peace with anything that begins with “I” won’t work. But there is one thing that can…

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The Making of a Pastor

Psalm 139:15-16

The Making of a Pastor

 

“You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:15-16 The Message

 

There is a plan…

 

A plan for you and me – each one of us.

 

As the verse says, I have been built from “nothing into something.” God has purposefully woven people, events and experiences into the fabric of my life. The plan? As far as I can tell, it has been to shape me into a man who is able to share the love, hope, grace and presence of Christ with others through communicating, caring, encouraging and leading – in a word, a pastor. There are times in our lives when we have epiphanies or moments of clarity – and realize that all along there has a design and plan – authored by someone else – God. If I can claim any success in this life, I certainly can’t take credit for it – it has been all Him. Looking back, I can see the plan with clarity. I wanted to share some key parts of how God was working in my life to call me to be a pastor.  

 

The Kitchen

My first call in ministry was to be a counselor and my “sanctuary” was the small kitchen of our upstairs garden apartment and I had one member. I was about ten years old. It was when, for better or worse, I began to be a listener and encourager for my mom. For sure, this was not normal or healthy. And looking back now, I understand it all. But at the time, it seemed very natural to be a good and helpful son and try to listen and understand my mother’s pain and struggles. I know I was mature for my age and certainly this experience contributed to that. Growing up, both my parents and others would frequently say to me, “Lighten up; you are so serious.” I don’t think any of us realized at the time that I was serious because I was already an adult. But I learned how to be comfortable and compassionately engaged with another’s pain, tears (so many tears), and heartbreaks. And I learned how to be patient and persevering in prayer. I served in this kitchen ministry all the way to the end of her life. Careful observers at her visitation would remember that for most of the hours, I stood near her and her casket. I was still guarding her. It was my job – to walk with her, all the way home. I kept/keep the secrets. I bore the burdens. I was the wind beneath her broken wings.  

 

Conversations

“Can I go upstairs and get my Bible?” the joyful, pretty freshman said to me as she dashed up to her dorm room. “This is a unique kind of date,” I thought to myself as I watched her with wonder. And it was the beginning of a now twenty-year journey with the woman who would become my wife, Jennifer. Her joy and enthusiasm was and is a great balance to my seriousness and she awakened in me a very living Christian spirituality. Prior to meeting Jenny, my faith was “private.” I loved reading the Bible and had many theological thoughts, but it was through our conversations that I was able to start talking about it and sharing it. She opened the door for me in so many ways and certainly for going into ministry.  

 

Spokesman

For a little over two years, I was the spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. It was a very visible, high pressured, exciting job which I loved most of the time. It consisted of speaking to print, radio and sometimes television reporters on a daily basis on a wide variety of topics – all to be quoted for publication or broadcast. In my mind, I wasn’t just a spokesperson, I was the “protector” or “shepherd” of my department and its people against several (wolves) enemies – the media, the other political party and others. In many ways, it was a great experience, in my role as pastor, I function as a kind of spokesperson for God via His Word. When I write Living Waters or work on sermons, I am asking the question, “Lord what do you want to say to your people this week?” 

 

Evidence

I hadn’t seen this friend in a long time. And then Jenny and I saw her at my ten year reunion. And I can’t tell you how or why, but I was concerned about her. I had always prayed for her on my “list” along with others since I had met her in the sixth grade. But this was different. It felt like God was saying “keep praying for her.” And ever since then, I’ve had an aspiration to recognize, reach out to, and lift up people whose struggles may not be very visible and may feel far away from God – the “one mores” of the world. As well, learning to communicate hope to people I can’t see or hear and really don’t know their language – in other words, communicating by faith. Both of these led to the motivation for writing my book, Giving Faith a Second Chance, which is essentially an open letter of hope. The blessing in this has been that God has shaped me to seek to be evidence for how much He cares for His children – whether they are close or far away.  

 

Purpose

I was on my way. After leaving the state department, I was a director at a small public relations firm. We were winning state-wide awards, and had a strong client list. And then “he” happened. One of my two treasures, my son Brian. And just looking at him started a revolution in my mind. I asked myself, “How do I want Brian (and now Madelyn too) to remember me in my life?” And it is through that question that the idea of going into ministry was finally revealed. All of the things I had done and experienced all came together exactly ten years ago this summer. Asking that question really forced me to think what my life, my purpose on this earth was. And the answer was, “I want to be with people in the triumphs and tragedies of life – sharing and encouraging as a representative of Jesus.” As God usually does, the answers were all there, it just had to be revealed at the right time. And so I really was on my way, on God’s way – starting seminary and being more formally shaped for ministry…

 

But I had been on the way the whole time, sometimes aware, sometimes not. “All the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day (Psalm 139:16).” I believe this without a doubt – not just when life is good. Not just when it is going the way I want it to. And nothing is wasted from God’s perspective. Even the worst and shattering parts of our lives – He wants to convert them into healing and strength for others and signs pointing to Him. If we would only be more open to Him using us in this way. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever (Ephesians 3:20)!”

 

I thank you for listening/reading this week and I encourage you to reflect on God’s plan for your life – from where has He brought you? Where does He have you now? Where is He going to take you?

 

Amen.

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The Heart of a Pastor, Part I

In the last couple of months, I have been vividly reminded of why I do what I do. Pure ministry – loving, leading, and encouraging others in Christ’s name by Christ’s power. To be the presence of Christ, an ambassador, in the best and worst times of His people’s lives. To offer prayers when words seem to fail. To love and believe when it doesn’t make sense. To see things that don’t yet exist and try to point others in their direction. To boldly speak about life in the face of death. To offer hope in the midst of despair. To honestly face my own sins, weaknesses and failures in front of a lot of people. To follow God’s lead even when I don’t want to. To try and make God’s grace visible. To tell the truth when it doesn’t want to be heard. To try and make God’s grace visible. To forgive and forgive again. To try to live in such a way that my faith and passion for Jesus Christ and the Gospel are obvious – in person or even via the phone and internet. And to sacrificially love and care for many, many other people and share in their lives.

 

I don’t always get it right. I am a human being and I make mistakes. I am a sinner saved by grace too. I have my own battles to fight. And I take myself and my work way too seriously at times. But, I am called to be a pastor to God’s people. And while this calling is challenging, draining, confusing and many other hard things – it is also the most fulfilling and meaningful vocation that exists. O, how I have been blessed and transformed by sharing in the lives of people as a friend, brother, and pastor!

 

The below thoughts are attached to numerous faces and stories and are some of what goes through my heart and mind on a regular basis in trying to be a faithful pastor. These are some pieces from…

 

The Heart of a Pastor, Part I

Matthew 25:35-36

 

“…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:35-36

 

When you are hungry, I will cook a feast.

When you are sick, I will pray and stay with you.

When you cry, I will wipe away the tears.

When you need prayer, my lips will already be moving.

 

When you need a hug, my arms will be open.

When you need wisdom, I will find it for you in the Word.

When you are lost, I will not stop until I find you.

When you are trapped, I will lead the rescue effort.

 

When you are lonely, I will sit with you.

When you are sad, I will dance (which will make you laugh!)

When you can’t say it, I will still know.

When you are hopeless, I will show you how.

 

When you need to see the Lord, I will bring Him to you.

When you are silent, I will still hear you.

When you can’t go on, I will carry you.

When you can’t let go, I will be patient.

 

When you can’t stop, I will pray and wait.

When you are scared, I will take your hand and whisper comfort to you.

When you are seeking, I will walk alongside you.

When you push me away, I will understand and come back again another time.

 

When you keep me at a distance, I will wave and wait.

When you want to remember, I will show you.

When you are drowning, I will dive in.

When you feel worthless, I will show you how treasured you are.

 

When you are hiding, I will keep trying to find you.

When your precious heart is broken into pieces, I will pick them up and start putting it back together.

When you are facing terrible enemies, I will be right next to you.

When you are dying, I will sit with you until the end, and after.

 

When you lose faith, I will try to give you a reason to believe.

 

And, if you don’t know Jesus I will tell you about Him and try to show you who He is through me.

 

Amen.

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Going Forth

Isaiah 55:11

Going Forth

 

“so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” From the RSV

 

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” From the NLT

 

 

You know, growing up I remember that most of my reading revolved around two resources. I wasn’t a big Dr. Seuss reader or stuff like that – maybe some Richard Scarry J. When I had free reading time, I would randomly pick a volume from our World Book Encyclopedia set and read the articles in them. And, I read the Bible, especially stories of Jesus doing amazing things. I really liked that – Jesus healing, calming the storms and other stuff. I know, sounds kind of nerdy. It is also a bit peculiar given my Catholic background in that, at the time, there didn’t seem to be a lot of emphasis on reading the Bible. But yet, there I was reading a Bible given to me by my third grade CCD teacher, Jim. I can still see his inscription on the page.  

 

What a gift he gave me. He couldn’t have known the impact giving me a Bible would have and the impact it would have many, many people because of my reading it. It is kind of like throwing a stone in a pond, the ripple effect.

 

Here I am, less than a week from my trip to Africa to bring God’s Word to a people who have very little access to the Gospel. Many of whom have never heard it and will never be able to read it because of illiteracy.

 

One of the things we did in Africa was meet with groups of pastors. And many times, when it was my turn to address them I would say, “Brothers, you and I know what it means to know Jesus (through the Word); you and I know that life without Jesus – is no life! So that is why we have come here, to bring the Word of life to people so that they may hear it and have life in Christ.” And I really think and mean that. That is what has been driving me in this project.

 

When we think of me going to Africa, I fully admit that it doesn’t make sense on a lot of levels. And when I first got there, I did experience a time of “What have I done! What am I doing in Africa!” But I also remember something my Dad said to me a few years ago. He said, “CB, you go to places and to people that few or none of us can go or get to.” And he was right, over my life, before ministry and in ministry, God has given me this gift, though uncomfortable and uncertain most of the time, of reaching and connecting with places and people that have never been reached or have been forgotten of left behind.

 

So in that light, the trip to Africa seems not so strange. But a little bit like my book Giving Faith a Second Chance which speaks to those who feel alienated, rejected and distanced from God and church, this trip was part of my life’s purpose – extending a hand of love and compassion to those in need, those in prisons and dark places.

 

And always, my outstretched hand is strengthened, in fact my hand can only reach out because of the power of the Word and Spirit. My love for God’s Word and how it has transformed the way I live, think, and act. Obviously, a long way to go, but still, all those years of reading it has shaped me into this instrument for bringing the Word. I have always loved that my parents gave me the name Christopher, which means Christ-bearer or bringer.

 

So often on the trip to Africa we saw the power of God’s Word at work so visibly. One of the clearest stories was on the first day we were there. We arrived in the evening and our hosts; Gabriel and Geoffrey asked me if I would like to preach the next morning at a church. I had not prepared for that, I was prepared to talk about the Treasure (audio New Testament units that we brought with us), but I said sure. So I prayed and asked God to lead me to a passage that would be a word for this congregation, Geoffery’s church. So we went there the next morning and we were very welcomed. The pastor then starts to explain that the night before he had been working on his message and was having a lot of trouble. He asked God why he was having such a hard time. God’s answer, he said, was “You are not preaching tomorrow; I am sending you someone else to preach the Word.” As you might imagine, the pastor was a little concerned. A pastor without a message on Sunday morning, hoping, trusting that someone else was going to show up? But the pastor trusted. And about two hours later, Geoffery called to say that there was a pastor from the US who was willing to preach the next morning.   

 

But it gets better.

 

After I preached from Acts 2:42-47, the pastor stands up and says, “Church, I am holding back tears, because of how God is speaking to our church. This brother (me) could not have known that we had just studied this passage on Friday and Saturday as part of our leadership retreat about how God is going to lead us in the future. So God has sent him here to encourage us forward in our mission.” With God, everything has purpose – no coincidences!

 

And that was just the first day. Over and over throughout the week, all of us saw the power of God’s Word and Spirit just moving in front of us, opening doors, building bridges, producing miracles, giving life.

 

We talk a lot in our churches of being all about the Word. And I am sure we mean it. But I am more convinced than ever of that and that my official title is Minister of Word and Sacrament. Do I fully understand the depths of this? Not sure I ever could. But certainly when I look at my life and I look at this trip, I came a little closer.

 

I saw this verse fulfilled over and over again – “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it (Isaiah 55:11).” It reminded me that the most powerful force in this world – stronger than military might, stronger than violence and bullies, stronger than love and hate, stronger than lust and greed, stronger disease and poverty, stronger than death and sin, is God’s Word and Spirit – it is the only power that can change this world. Name any situation in life or in the world – and when you bring God’s Word and Spirit to it – it is changed.

 

I went to Africa to bring God’s Word to a people that have never heard it and we have unleashed something so powerful that it could change a nation. I have preached hundreds of sermons and written hundreds of Living Waters to share the Word as I have heard the Lord speak it to me – to draw people closer to Jesus. I have sent Bibles to cousins and childhood friends thinking it was the best gift and best way I could love them. All my life, starting with a gift of a Bible, I have been reading and thinking about Scripture and have been shaped and formed by it. My life in and for the Word has “produced blessed fruit” and “prospered” in my life and everywhere He has sent me to bring it.

 

And as long as He wills it, I will go forth to faithfully bring His Word by the power of His Spirit.

 

Amen.

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is the value or importance of God’s Word in your life?
2. How have you seen it work in your own life or in others?
3. If there is a part of your life that needs change, have you tried applying God’s Word to it? Why not?
4. Think of someone with whom you can sharea a passage or a Bible. How about today? 

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“Let them see your heart”

I received some great advice the other day. A friend encouraged me to “let them see your heart.” The friend offered it in terms of ministry and leadership. The friend wisely said that a congregation, brothers and sisters in Christ, will be much more willing (and able) to trust, follow, forgive, join and love in return. 

After all, what is it that we respond to in Christ? We respond to the love of God in Christ in His living, His dying for us and His resurrection. “We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).” In all that Jesus did, we saw his heart on display. We see His heart, in His strength, but much more clearly in His weakness and vulnerability. We see and are touched by His heart in His willingness and actual pouring out His heart for us – when it is most visible.    

To be a pastor, leader and brother and Christ, to “let them see your heart” means a few things. First, I think it means being open and sharing of my love for Christ and for others. Too often we hide these feelings for many reasons – fear, pride, and others. As the heart is of flesh, I think that “letting them see your heart” is also letting others see my flaws and weaknesses or at least not hiding them.

Thinking futher. It’s not just in ministry that “letting them see your heart” is essential. As a husband, father, son, brother, and friend. I am willing to say that the quality and depth of our relationships directly correlates to what degree we “let others see our hearts.”

It could be transforming. It could be scary. It could involve being more vulnerable than usual as well as loss. Not everyone will want to see our hearts. It might scare them too.

 But to live in fear…to live in hiding…to live without ever having felt God touch our hearts and in turn letting Him use our hearts to love, encourage and touch others’ hearts…what life is that? I guess we could say it is a kind of winter that never ends.

I used to think that one of the worst and silliest songs of all time was Neil Diamond’s “Turn On Your Heart Light” (don’t laugh…you know you have been humming it the whole time you have been reading this) but there might be something to it…letting all that our hearts can be through Christ, be more visible “for all the world to see.” 🙂

I know, I know, the world and many people in it will find this strange and scary and unfamiliar.  And yet…let God, let them, let me even, see your heart as I do the same.  

Many thanks and blessings to this a heart-full friend…  

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A Pastor’s Prayer

A Pastor’s Prayer by Christopher B. Wolf

Dear Lord,

I thank you for this gift of being a shepherd for Your people.

When they cry, let me share their tears.

When they laugh, let me celebrate.

When they are broken, let me re-member them.

When they pray, let me echo their prayers.

When they need to be heard, let me listen.

When they are being tried, let me encourage them.

When they are lost, send me to find them.

When they are victorious, let me lead the rejoicing.

When they are imprisoned, let me unlock the door.

When they are blind, let me open their eyes.

When they feel unloved, let me remind them of Your love.

When they are wounded, let me bring them to your healing.

When they sin, lead me to help them repent.

When they are searching for You, let me point the way.

When they are suffering, give me the strength to sit with them.

O Lord, give me the heart of Christ, the hands of the Spirit and the power of the Word to guide these people. Amen.

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