Why I Appreciate My Pastor

I haven't blogged in months. It took a challenge to post about our pastors that encouraged me to post something that means a lot to me.

I appreciate my pastor because he is passionate about the truth of scripture to transform our lives. He has enabled our church to be an orderly, reverent, and committed group of Christians. He has the help of godly men who make up elders and deacons and who stay close to the vision of the Church. When we sing hymns and spiritual songs, the magnitude of worship resides in voices and not so much in instrumentation. It is a rousing lifting up of voices in praise.

Our children stay with the parents, and I have never experienced a quieter group of children as our pastor preaches and they take notes or rest in their parent's arms.

I guess the most touching testimony of the committment of our pastor is the fact that he blew out his back and was in intense pain the summer before this past summer. He painstakenly hobbled up to preach with a wide back brace, still passionate about preaching the Word of God. Sometimes our other pastor and the elders stepped in to preach, but we knew that it was hard for our pastor to give up his pulpit.

Our church is set in a valley surrounded by ranch land and a strand of the Sierra Mountain Range to the west. We drive an hour to go to our church, and others drive up to an hour and a half each Sunday. The church is the hub and gathers folks from all four directions. We have tried to visit churches closer to our home, but none can compare in our mind to ours, mainly because of the sure foundation set forth by good preaching, and a pastor who loves the Lord so much.

Since he appreciates John Piper and quotes from him occasionally, I sure would love to surprise him with tickets to the Desiring God Conference.

Ok. I will go back to my occasional pasttime of posting comments on OTHER blogs.