Bible

Ready to Preach, Pray, or Die

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There’s an old saying describing how a pastor should be ready for anything at anytime. A pastor should always be ready to preach, pray, or die. I thought of this saying the other day because of a situation I found myself in.

A friend asked me to join him in praying for a friend of his. We were going to meet in my office at the church with the plan of entering into a time of spiritual warfare. His friend did not know Jesus and was facing some torment in his life. His prayers to the god of his religion had not accomplished anything. He was desperate and was now willing to have us pray to our God for him.

One of my first thoughts was, I’m glad I am ready for this. This is going to be a spiritually significant encounter, and I am glad there is no unconfessed sin in my life. I am right with God and feel empowered to be his servant in this situation. It reminded me of the saying to be ready to preach, pray, or die. I wanted nothing in the way if I was going to ask God to fight on behalf of this friend. I was ready.

 As I contemplated this, I realized how absurd this thought was. As followers of Jesus, we should always be ready to serve God in any capacity He invites us into; not just on the occasion when we “feel” ready. Not only pastors, but all Christians should strive to be right with God at all times, ready to serve Him in any way He asks. We should not be afraid to enter into spiritual warfare, as if we had reason to think that we had to do something to prepare first. If we are in right relationship with God, through faith in His Son Jesus, then we are always ready to serve God, no matter what He asks of us.

We should always live our lives free of sin. All sin should be confessed as early and as quickly as we recognize it. We should never carry sin in our life, waiting for a specific moment to deal with it. Deal with it immediately and makes sure you are right with God. Like David, in Psalm 51, desire to live a forgiven life where we are always ready to teach others. We should never harbor sin of any kind. We should always be clean and ready for service to our God.

We need to pray regularly. We need to be in daily communication with God. We need to read Scripture to learn and hear from God, but we also need to be talking with Him all the time. I paused for more prayer as I knew this encounter was coming up in a few hours, but I already had a prayed-up life as I have regular times of prayer with God.

We should continue to build up our faith. We need to remind ourselves regularly of the goodness and faithfulness of God. He provides all we need. He answers prayer. He is with us all the time in all things we face. As we continue to remind ourselves of the great God we serve, we are also equipping ourselves to serve Him when the serving may be difficult. I was not quite sure what to expect but I knew whatever the situation was going to be, God is bigger than anyone or anything else. I had faith in God to handle the situation.

I encourage you to live your life always read to “preach, pray, or die,” always ready to serve Him in whatever situation He may place in front of you.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Real Christmas Story

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Luke 1:26-38

New International Version

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Matthew 1:18-25

New International Version

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Luke 2:1-7

New International Version

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Relax and Rest!

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Rest doesn’t always come easily for driven people. Many pastors and church leaders are passionate about what they do. They are busy, sometimes with expectations put on them, but often because they see another thing that could be done to help move things forward. There is another person to visit, another meeting to prepare, or a new program to plan for. And Sunday is always coming. Every weekend needs another sermon, and service, and lesson prepared. Rest doesn’t always make it onto the “to do” list.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Genesis 2: 2-3 (NIV)

We see four things God did as He concluded his creation. He finished, rested, blessed, and made holy the seventh day. God quit working. There was a certain point where God said, “That’s enough,” and he stopped working. Not only did he stop working, but he also rested. He took a break. He paused from the work and enjoyed a rest. And then he made the seventh day special by blessing it, and he “made it holy.” He set aside from all other days as a special day.

The people of Israel were told to celebrate the Sabbath every week. There were strict warnings from God to the Jewish people to keep this day as a day to stop working and rest and delight in Him and His creation.

Most Christians do not keep the Sabbath in the way that the Old Testament taught, and I don’t believe we need to; yet finding time to stop working and to rest and delight in God is still honoring to God and a huge benefit to all believers. For many, especially pastors, Sunday is not a Sabbath rest. This past Sunday was a good example. My wife and I left home in the morning at 8:30 am and did not return until 9:30 pm. We had a full Sunday. I had to set up and teach Sunday School. I then led a special Prayer Service. This was followed by visits to three different homes: lunch with one family, tea with another, and supper with a third. In that time, we debriefed the morning with an elder, anointed and prayed for a sick church member, and enjoyed playing games with some other friends. While not a Sabbath rest, as such, this was a great way to spend a Sunday, enjoying God and people.

Spending time with our church family, learning and worshipping together is part of Sabbath. Praying for people and anointing them with oil can be part of Sabbath. What many church leaders and pastors miss out on is the Sabbath rest aspect. For some, this works on a Sunday. For others, we need to set time aside at another time. My wife already asked me which day I was going to take off this week, but a Sabbath is more than just a day off. A meaningful Sabbath is a time to follow the example of God: to stop working, to rest, to delight in the day and in His Creation, and to contemplate the holiness of God. It may include feasting and church and family and friends.  It may include prayer and scripture reading. If you finish the day rested, with your joy refreshed, and feeling God’s pleasure, then you have “sabbathed” well.

I would encourage you to take time in your week to, not just take a day off, but to enjoy God and his creation and rest your body, mind, and soul.

Take time to relax and rest in the presence of God.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Invite Books to Mentor You

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Every leader benefits from reading regularly. Even those who do not enjoy reading can benefit from disciplining themselves to read. The authors we read become our mentors. We can benefit from being mentored by those whom we may never meet and who do not know us personally, but who pour into our lives through their written words. Many of us do not have access to pastoral mentors; these authors can become that for us.

As you read, you will find certain authors that you connect with or who seem to speak into your context in a way that you find helpful. There are certain authors I have read at different times depending on the situations I was working in or issues I was facing. Choosing a book allows you the opportunity to tailor your mentoring experience to your specific needs.

Let me share four authors and some of their books I have personally benefited from.

Nelson Searcy is the – founder and lead pastor of The Journey Church in New York and author of a many church leadership books. Many of Searcy’s books are about a specific system that he has developed in his church. I found many of the principles to be adaptable to my situation even in a smaller rural church.

A few of his books that I have benefited from are:

  • Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully – Engaged Members of Your Church
  • Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups
  • The Generosity Ladder: Your Next Step to Financial Peace
  • Maximize: How To Develop Extravagant Givers In Your Church

Andy Stanley is the – founder and lead pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia and author of many books, mostly about church leadership. I especially appreciated his teaching on preaching and vision setting.

A few of his books I have benefited from are:

  • Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend
  • Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
  • Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision
  • Seven Practices of Effective Ministry

Preston Sprinkle is an – author, speaker, and teacher. I have especially appreciated his books addressing gender and same sex attraction, as well as other issues of today.

Here are a few of his books that have helped me understand the discussion around these issues better:

  • Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say
  • People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not Just an Issue
  • Go: Returning Discipleship to the Front Lines of Faith
  • Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

Thom Rainer –  is a writer, researcher, speaker, and founder of Church Answers, a website where many pastors connect and learn together about church ministry and the life of a pastor. His books are usually short but filled with practical advice about the church.

Here are a few of his books I have enjoyed:

  • Becoming a Welcoming Church
  • I Will: Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian
  • Who Moved My Pulpit?: Leading Change in the Church
  • Unchurched Next Door

I read a lot, but these are a couple of authors I have read often and enjoyed how they spoke into my life and ministry.

Invite leaders to mentor you as you read their books. Learn from their experience and expertise. Look for a couple of nuggets that apply directly to you as you read. And keep on learning.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Joy of Connecting with Teammates.

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I had the privilege this past week of spending a day with others who have a similar role as I do. We don’t actually work together on the same projects or in the same church, but we are all part of the same denomination functioning in the role of transition pastors. There is a special joy in connecting with people who know your role and the situations you face because they face those situations, too. In the past, I was able to connect with fellow rural pastors and pastors in the same region. We may not all serve the same church, but we can connect and relate to shared experiences because of our similar roles.

It may feel like getting to know and spend time with these teammates takes too much time or effort that could be used for other priorities, but I have personally found value in connecting with others who understand my roles.

They understand the frustrations and joys.

    When I met with rural pastors as a rural pastor, I knew that they understood what small-town life was like. They understood the realities of serving a smaller church. When I meet with transition pastors, they know what it is like to face church conflict and to try to mediate it. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches, to fall in love with them, and then have to move on to a new assignment in a year or two.

    When you are talking with others who know your role, you can share jokes and stories that they understand. They are “in the know” because they do the same things you do. Other transition pastors know the frustration of churches that do not want to change, even though they know they need to. They understand the joy of a board catching God’s vision together as they plan vision and strategy for the church.

    They can provide ideas and advice.

    When I meet with transition pastors, I know they use similar tools and processes as I do in helping churches transition. Transition pastors know what it is like to help churches build on the past to look to the future. One of the benefits of my recent meeting with other transition pastors is to learn about how they handle particular situations. Most of them have more experience in this role than I do so I love to soak up ideas as they talk about their ministry.

    They can pray for me with understanding and clarity.

    One of the joys of meeting with others in similar roles is that we can pray for each other with an understanding of the situations we face. Often we don’t even have to finish our story and the others are already smiling or nodding or even crying as they have gone through similar situations. They can pray for me, and I pray for them, with clarity because we have seen very similar situations where we have served.

    I encourage you to find others who are in a similar situation as you. You need to find “your people” so you can have people around to encourage you and help guide you as you need input and wisdom from them.

    Keep looking up,

    Andy Wiebe

    Getting it All Done!

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    Life and ministry can be busy times. Maybe you have taken on too many commitments. Maybe someone else piled responsibilities on you that you can’t ignore. Maybe you thought you had time for everything until an unexpected demand popped up. This happened to me recently. I had accepted a number of responsibilities and thought I could manage them until I found a leak in my shower. Now I had the added work of dealing with house repairs that I am not skilled at and do not love doing. I was beginning to feel quite overwhelmed and wondered how I would get everything done.

    As my anxiety started to rise, I paused my day to spend some time with God. As I was praying, I began to get some clarity and peace, trusting God to help me get done what had to be done by the appropriate deadlines while also dealing with my house. Here are some of the steps I took to focus on one thing at a time:

    Pause the “doing” to be with God

      I took on the various responsibilities because I believed God was guiding me in accepting them. With that in mind, I handed it all over to Him and asked him to give me the time necessary to get it all done on time. I was reminded too, that God was not surprised by my house issues. So if God put these responsibilities in my lap, then he will give me the capacity to get them done.

      Remove anything from your to do list that is not important for now

      Sometimes we feel a duty to do something that we don’t really need to do. I had to reevaluate some of my goals and responsibilities and either eliminate some, or push them to next week.

      Plan my day and week.

      With God’s help, I began plotting all my responsibilities, along with their deadlines, onto my calendar. I tried to spread out the different requirements across the whole week. Then I considered all that I felt I had to accomplish for today. As I looked at the list, I started listing them in order of priority. If I could not complete all the tasks, at least the ones that had to get done today would get done.

      Focus on one thing at a time.

      When we get loaded down with responsibilities, we can get overwhelmed because we see it all in front of us. If we can break it down to what must be done this week, and this day, and this morning, we begin to narrow our focus. And if we tackle one thing at a time, giving it our full attention, we can begin to whittle away at the pile.

      It doesn’t matter how big the pile is, you can only deal with one thing at a time, so choose one thing and give it your best. You could even tell yourself you are focusing on this for a certain amount of time, and when that time is up, you will tackle something else before coming back to the first task.

      Celebrate your accomplishments

      I find it quite exhilarating to be able to check off the items on my calendar as I complete them. It feels good to see the momentum beginning to build toward completion of all the different tasks.

      Yes, life can be very busy at times, busier than we had planned, but God can help us grow in capacity so that we can get things done faster than we thought and can complete our list one task at a time. If God wants us to do it, he will help us to get it done.

      Keep looking up,

      Andy Wiebe

      Reconciliation or a Bumpy Rug?

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      The other day, I was speaking with someone who mentioned a “bumpy rug.” She was referring to the practice of ignoring problems and “sweeping them under the rug.” Another similar comment I heard recently was, “Let’s just get this behind us as soon as possible.” In both cases, people were dealing with sin in families and organizations. Both cases reflected a desire to move past the sin and the hurt it caused others as quickly as possible without a desire to actually address the sin and correct it.

      Very few people enjoy conflict. The average person will go out of their way to avoid it. It is not fun when others are mad at you, even if you are doing the right thing. Our desire to get along and please people means that we will try to move past problems without confronting the issue and dealing with it.

      We need to learn to work through the personal pain of a conflict to pursue correction, forgiveness, and reconciliation. We need to see the value of restored relationships both with God and with each other. We need to see the importance of repentance and forgiveness to help people truly get past a problem brought on by sin. We need to see the importance of pointing out sin that is affecting others in the family and in the church.

      We forget that Jesus gave clear direction on how to handle sin with a Christian brother or sister in Matthew 18: 15-17.

      “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

      Jesus does not advise getting past sin quickly, and definitely does not suggest sweeping it under the rug. Jesus suggest confrontation. He gives some steps. First, go by yourself to the person you know has sinned and point out their sin. Do not tell others about it. Do not take a party with you. Go by yourself.

      The second and third steps are only taken if the first did not resolve the situation. So, second, if the sinner does not respond with repentance then take one or two others with you to confirm you are not just making a personal judgement. With two or three others, you can determine if the person really has sin they need to deal with.

      Third, if the first two steps do not resolve the issue, then tell it to the church. The hope is that the church will push for what is right and stand for truth and righteousness rather than sweep it under the rug. Too many churches prefer the bumpy rug to the pain of confronting and dealing with a sinning brother or sister.

      There is one last step. If the person does not listen and does not correct their ways, treat them as someone who is no longer part of the church. This is a very difficult step for any church to take, yet Jesus teaches this so we know there must be times when his teaching should be applied.

      We need to remove the persistent sinner from any leadership in the church yet continue to love them and pray for them and look for opportunities to draw them back to Jesus.

      Jesus did not write off tax collectors and pagans but invited them to follow him. He even called Matthew, the tax collector, to be one of his disciples. Jesus treated pagans and tax collectors as potential disciples, if only they would leave their sin behind. Even as we can’t allow the persistent sinner a place of leadership in the church, we continue to point them to Jesus, with the hope that they will repent and surrender their hearts to Jesus again.

      Let’s choose to pursue reconciliation, not allow more bumps under the rug!

      Keep looking up,

      Andy Wiebe

      Make Sure Your Heart is Right

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      Proverbs 21:2

      A person may think their own ways are right,
          but the Lord weighs the heart.

      Proverbs 3:5-6

       Trust in the Lord with all your heart
          and lean not on your own understanding;
       in all your ways submit to him,
          and he will make your paths straight.

      If we were to take a look at the discipleship methods of our churches, we might tend to think that discipleship is about knowing enough information. We preach and teach on Sunday mornings, we have Bible studies mid-week, we encourage people to read the Bible at home. We want to make sure that people know the right stuff.

      It’s as if we think that if we give Christians enough information about God, about themselves in light of their relationship with God, and what God wants us to do in the world, then we will live out what God wants us to do. Unfortunately, that is not correct. Giving people more information, and helping them to think right is important, but is not the complete picture.

      Information by itself, if it does not connect with our inner being, may never affect us or change us in any way. In the verses above we see the emphasis on the heart. In these verses, “heart” refers to “the inner man, mind and will.” This moves beyond or rational thinking to our feeling. It moves beyond knowledge to our desires. Unless we care about something, it is simply information. Once we care about it, we want to act on it.

      When I tell someone there are over 30,000 orphans in 750 orphanages across Haiti, people receive the information. When that same person gets to know an orphan who was adopted, or visits an orphanage in Haiti, that information becomes personal. They become emotionally connected to the information. Then they may move beyond just storing information in their head to wanting to make a difference somehow.

      When I hear a sermon about the fact that God answers prayer, I receive it as information. I may even believe it. When I pray, and God answers in a specific way, then I know that God answers because I have experienced it. Now when I pray, I pray with a much deeper expectation because I don’t just have information.

      When I am taught that I need to read my Bible and pray every day, I might do it occasionally, but when I have come to know Jesus in a real way, then I want to read because I hear him speaking to me. I am not just reading information but having a conversation with Jesus.

      James K. A. Smith wrote You Are What You Love. He does a good job of pointing out that information alone won’t change us. We will still do what we love. We naturally act out of our personal desires, not just by being taught to think correctly.

      May our relationship with Jesus be much more than information about Him. May we love him and choose to obey Him out of a desire to please him.

      Keep looking up,

      H. Andy Wiebe

      Summer Road Signs Series – #5: No U Turn Signs

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      There were a few times this summer where I was driving in unfamiliar territory and realized too late that I should have taken an earlier turn. I was headed the wrong direction and unsure how to safely turn around. Many intersections have “No U Turn” signs, sometimes with just the symbol, other times with the words “No U Turn” also posted. I would have loved to just turn around and go back to the starting point.

      In my experience working with churches in transition, I could have used No U Turn signs a few times. Some churches long for the “good old days.” There is a hope that if only they could get back to what they were like and the programs they ran some years ago, when the church was growing, then things would turn around in the church and it would start to grow again.

      In my experience working with churches in transition, I could have used No U Turn signs a few times. Some churches long for the “good old days.” There is a hope that if only they could get back to what they were like and the programs they ran some years ago, when the church was growing, then things would turn around in the church and it would start to grow again.

      The reality is a church cannot forget the last few years and the experiences they have gone through and just start over. Time moves on. Culture changes. The congregation changes, and so does the community around the church. Instead of looking backwards, the church must learn how to move forward with clarity and purpose.

      I love working on vision with churches. I love to help them see the reality of today and the possibilities of tomorrow. Instead of churches looking back to a certain period of history as the high point for the church, I want them to see that God has great things in store for them, so the best times are still ahead. It may take some work, and prayer, and trusting God, but looking back will not help. I tell churches that as we work on vision, I do not expect there to be radical change from what has happened in the past and what is going on in the church at the present. Instead, I believe God has the church on a trajectory that may need some adjusting here and there but the future will generally be consistent with their history.

      The same applies to our personal lives. Many of us can look back to certain periods of our life where we felt things were going really well. Looking back, those seemed like stress-free times, times of excitement and joy. As tempting as it may be to somehow replicate what we once had, life moves on. We have new experiences. We have new responsibilities and new relationships. As we grow our family and develop our careers, we can’t just drop all of that to return to a more carefree time. Instead, we need to find a way forward, to try new roads and look for what God is going to do in our lives in the future.

      U-turns are tempting because they seem like a quick and easy fix. Let’s just get back there and try again. This is usually not an option if we are leading a church or setting direction for our personal future. Time moves on like water under a bridge. Our past is not a static thing we can return to. We need to keep looking ahead.

      The reality of being human is that we cannot start over. Yes, we can come back to some original principles to live by. We can reorient ourselves to God and His Word. We can re-establish guidelines for our life that served us well in the past, but we cannot remove history and start over. Sometimes a map directory in a mall has a little icon stating “you are here” so you know where you are starting from. The reality is, we are where we are. Now we need to know how to move on from here. We cannot change the past, but we can make changes for our future.

      May God help us to learn from the past and keep moving ahead. U-turns to an earlier period in our life or in our church are not possible. Keep moving ahead.

      Keep looking up,

      Andy Wiebe

      Summer Road Signs Series – #2: Stop Signs

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      We began the Summer Road Signs Series with speed signs. Now we’ll go to the opposite: stop signs. While moving forward and heading toward new adventures and new goals is exciting, there are times when we must stop. Eventually we have to take our foot off the gas, apply the brakes, and stop.

      Stop signs remind us of a few things. Sometimes we need to stop because we are coming to an intersection, and other traffic may be coming through. If we don’t stop, we may be hit by other traffic. There are times when we need to slow down and stop in life. We have all kinds of distractions and frustrations and even opportunities coming our way all the time.

      Sometimes we need to stop to just reset ourselves, to get our bearings. We need to remember to watch out for what is going on around us. Are there dangers we have been ignoring? Are there opportunities we have missed because we have been going forward with such passion and determination, we never recognized them? Slow seasons can give opportunity for us to stop and assess where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.

      For ourselves and our families, stopping to spend time reconnecting is valuable. Summer can be busy chauffeuring kids to camp or swimming lessons or tutoring. It can fill up with family gatherings and other expectations. But take time to spend with your family doing very little except being together. Instead of working on another project or chasing another busy thing, slow down and just listen to each other and talk about each other’s dreams and desires, hurts and frustrations. Pause to listen to each other.

      In our desire to move ahead, have we left people behind? Do we need to give time for our team to catch up with us? As pastors, we set vision and direction for our churches. Are we giving time for our teams and churches to capture that vision and move with us? As leaders, our jobs include thinking about our goals and our vision all the time, but the reality is that those lead have other things on their minds too. They are not necessarily prioritizing moving towards these goals at the pace we are. A stop sign may remind us to give time for those we lead to catch up.

      A stop sign could be at a T-intersection where we need to choose right or left. In our desire to move ahead, there are times we need to stop to figure out our next direction. What’s next? Just blindly choosing a direction in order to keep going may take us in the opposite direction of where we should be heading. Even if you are confronted with two equally good options, the stop will give space to allow you decide which one to take.

      A stop sign may also be a reminder to just pause. We all need, in biblical terms, an occasional sabbatical. When God created the world, the seventh day, the final day, was a day of rest. It was a time to recognize that the work that had been done was enough. It’s okay to stop. To rest from busyness and take a break. A sabbatical is a reminder that our worth is not found in what we produce or what we do. When the work stops, you are still loved by God and valued as a person, a child of His.

      There is also value in having other “sabbath” times. Taking a vacation can be a sabbath as we stop doing and pursing and producing and enjoy the people around us and take pleasure in the world God has created.

      Yes, it is fun to move ahead at full speed, but it is important to recognize the stop signs and take the important breaks that refresh and reorient us for the next part of our journey.

      Enjoy the stops signs!

      Keep looking up,

      Andy Wiebe

      P.S. Next week’s road signs: Watch for Wild Animals