Ministry In The Mountains

Around the age of fourteen I began to lead youth meetings. I would later understand it was almost the same as pastoral ministry. I had about 20 youth that I spoke to each week. I prepared some scripture but mostly shared my heart with them. I remember that the light bulb burned out in the room we used and instead of replacing the bulb I used lamp light. This made it more intimate as we experienced a mellow atmosphere that Jesus definitely entered and we were blessed. In those days we knew so little about Holy Spirit and The Presence. All I knew how to do was to bring the same things I experienced privately into a cooperate setting. It worked. Without me fully understanding what was happening I now understand that it was an overflow. I was working from an overflow of my relationship with Christ instead of trying to impress with my knowledge. My knowledge was very limited so I really had no other choice. This was all about to change.

The autumn after I turned 18, I began preaching in revival meetings. Again, I relied heavily upon the anointing to give me the words to say since my knowledge was still very limited. There has to be a balance between anointing and knowledge. I had minister friends that totally depended upon the anointing and never studied the word except an hour or so to find a text to preach from. I also listened to other speakers who had a knowledge of the word but it was dry and boring. When knowledge alone was their means of ministry there seemed to be a lack of the breath of God upon their speaking. I would have to find a balance.

For my study I used several study bibles and a Matthew Henry Commentary. I went beyond the KJV version when the Lord told me that He was holding me responsible if I closed my mind to only the KJV. I didn’t want to be held responsible in the things of God. Later I attended seminary in Atlanta at Emory University followed by several summers at Duke University. Some of my old-time mountain preacher friends thought this was a big mistake. They often preached against seminary and even advised me that community college was useless for me. I was divided about it. However, the Methodist Church required that I attend seminary so I felt I had no choice. I would do whatever was required of me because I knew God had placed me in the church they had given me to pastor.

Moving into Pastoral ministry at 19 (although I had said I would never do it) instead of Evangelistic ministry required different skills. It also moved me into a new mind-set of responsibility like I had never known. I felt I was responsible for everything. Like a shepherd of a flock of sheep…. it seemed I was concerned about every hair that fell from their head. Every loss was painful to me. Every misunderstanding was painful to me. When news of controversy came I would feel myself almost freeze in fear. I was responsible for them and their circumstances…. so I thought.

In pastoral ministry we can become so pressured by people and their needs that our focus is no longer on the will of God. Our joy leaves us because ministry has become a burden. This is false responsibility. It is one of the biggest and heaviest religious spirits. Most pastors are under the weight of these spirits. This is especially true here in the mountains where tradition has taught the people that this is status quo. A pastor is expected to visit the sick person even though no one has let him know their loved one is sick. I know of a couple of examples when Holy Spirit would place someone upon my heart and I would visit them to find them extremely sick. Holy Spirit saved the day. Although no one had called me, they were expecting me.

Funerals are unique here in the mountains. After moving on to other pastorates, I have often been called back to a former pastorate to do a funeral. Once I was called to do the funeral of a family member I had never met. They were upset at their present pastor and wanted me to come back and do the funeral. I loved this family very much. I had baptized their children and ate at their table. I had a major problem though. I had already scheduled a trip to a conference that I had felt would greatly benefit me. It was a conference on Intercession and it was my strongest passion to learn all I could about intercession in that season of my life. I canceled the trip and did the funeral. I have always regretted it and cringe inside as I write about it. I ministered to needs instead of being led by Holy Spirit.

When Jesus heard that Lazarus was dying He had a choice. Lazarus was a good friend and his family was like family to Jesus. He had dined at their home and enjoyed their friendship unlike any other. However, Jesus didn’t respond to Lazarus’ need but He responded to the voice of His Father. He remained where He was for a while. When Jesus saw Father giving Him the thumbs up to go to Bethany where Lazarus was, He went, but not before and not after. God knows what He's doing! Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I have always joked that Jesus could not have made it as a Pastor here in the mountains. He was late visiting the sick and late for funerals. He would have been fired by the deacon board.

Deacon boards, Elder boards, and church committees have been a vehicle for the spirit of false responsibility to ride upon. Much like the Sanhedrin (of the Old Testament) that Moses set in order to help him with the daily responsibilities, the early church chose deacons to help with the food for widows. That is what deacons should be doing. But, things have changed and deacons often destroy pastors and local congregations with their hunger for power. They often vote and make the decisions that control the ministry of the local congregation. When will we understand that a majority vote is not always right? This often results in the Holy Spirit being pushed out the door and the ways of man are honored and God is hindered. I personally feel that most of these governing groups are as outdated as the Sanhedrin. There are many things that start out right and end up wrong because of the ways of man. When something good becomes infiltrated with religious spirits it is perverted and becomes a tool in the hand of the enemy.

I know the former paragraph may touch a nerve with some who read this but touching nerves is often a good way to flush out religious spirits. If it irritates you…. then let it surface and rid yourself of it. It’s hard to kill a bird in the bush but if you flush it out you can have it for supper. Time and paper would not allow me to write of all the bad experiences I have had with boards and committees. Our local laws require congregations to have Trustee boards. These boards care for the legal matters of the congregation. Non-profit organizations and Para church organizations require a board of directors. Again, as long as they stay in the bounds of their duty all is well. I am not promoting lack of leadership and structure. We just need to guard against the control of man replacing the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is really good when boards have people on them like Stephen who are full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. But, these people are sometimes stoned.

Under the new covenant it is a heart thing instead of a law thing. God promises to put a new heart and a new spirit in His people. False responsibility will cause us to toil to become Holy Spirit for the people. As leaders we need to teach the people how to hear God for themselves. This brings maturity of intimacy and relationship. This is a part of their process to know God better. Jesus told how some people would hear Him say in the end that He never knew them. What a sad conclusion. Are we hindering people from knowing God intimately because we allow them to use us to be their hearing devise? That is scary. Affirmations and confirmations are good. When someone gives us a prophesy or encouragement that lines up with what God has already shown us, it is like wind for our sails. Leaders and other believers can provide wonderful encouragement and nutrition for us but there is more. We need to gather manna for ourselves and enjoy it in fellowship with each other. We all bring different things to the table. As a body we compliment each other with testimony of our experience in cooperate gatherings. We also bring uniqueness of gifts and purpose to the table.
　
False responsibility keeps people from what God has called them to do. They find themselves trying to please the congregation or persons elected to be on governing boards. Can we not see that this aborts the will of God in our lives? So much repentance needs to be done in this area of ministry. This causes many pastors and ministers to work under a yoke that Jesus never put on them. Heavy burn-out is a result. Let me repeat… false responsibility is a heavy religious spirit. Our calling is to obey the Lord and to be Spirit-led. Jesus is the Great Shepherd and the people are His responsibility. Jesus said He would build the Church. We are to expand the Kingdom. We are to be light and salt in the world. Jesus will take care of church problems one way or the other. In my mind I think I heard someone say Hallelujah. Maybe it was the old mountain preachers who are wrinkled and worn by their years of ministry under heavy loads of needless responsibilities.

After more than 30 years of pastoral ministry things are different now. I have chosen to not become old and worn by the years of ministry. Little by little I am laying down false responsibility. My biggest awakening came a couple of years ago. I had planned my first real vacation in 10 years for Makinaw Island in Michigan. A few weeks before the vacation time a member of my congregation asked me to do a wedding during the planned time of my vacation. I canceled the vacation and did the wedding. My reasoning was that this person was someone I needed to work along beside me in ministry and I didn‘t want to let him down. It’s been a couple of years and he is inactive. I knew I had made a bad choice when I made it two years ago. Succeeding to false responsibility is useless. Instead of stressing out over the needs I encounter, I now look for the thumbs up of my Heavenly Father.

We will see an acceleration of people with needs in our society in the coming days. Dark is becoming great darkness (see Isaiah 60:2) But light is increasing in the great darkness. God is arising and His glory is appearing all over the earth. Light is often in the form of revelation and present truth. Nuggets of simple truth that release us from yokes of useless burdens will be appreciated. God is calling us to a life of responsibility and stewardship. Actually it can be easy as we learn to just simply look for a thumbs up from the Father. Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing and only said what He heard the Father saying. (see John 5:19 and 8:28) Why should we do any differently?
　
Now for the icing on the cake. I love to minister from the overflow. My private time is spent in simple relationship with my Lord. We read, talk, sing, dream, discuss, ask questions, get answers, enjoy the mysteries, eat, sleep and enjoy life. Sermons and ministry are just an overflow of my personal life with Christ. It’s such a joy to do what I see the Father doing and say what I hear Him saying. I know that He loves me and His love never fails. I cannot forget what I heard Him speak to my heart when I was 18 after speaking in that first revival meeting. I heard the words that the Father spoke at Jesus’ baptism, “This is My Beloved Son and I am well pleased.” I knew even back then that God loved me before I ever became pastor of the five churches I have enjoyed working with or traveled the mission fields to ten nations. I don’t have to impress Him. My responsibility is to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and He will take care of the rest. Today, well prepared sermons have given way to just speaking from the overflow of a life of intimacy. Ministry to the people is much more simple as I just handle them like I see Jesus handling them. He prayed for them, healed them, delivered them, and taught them.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I am not out there in the “wild, wild west” of ministry. I meet with others (a group made up of others in ministry) for accountability. I keep in touch with what God is doing in ministry in our nation and other parts of the world. I listen weekly to sermons by other ministers that I have recorded. I am always in the process of reading a book. The word of God always is alive and fresh to me as I read it. I love my life. I am not becoming an old and wrinkled (at least not spiritually wrinkled) mountain preacher with a cane and a scowl. I am hiking the trails and climbing my mountains. Life is good.