John,
There seems to be a lot happening lately, especially today with a bad accident and reports of illness. That said, I would like to tell about something good that Jesus did for me today.
I have been going through the Thought for Today book, particularly in the morning before the day gets going. Today, I read, On the Death of a True Pastor (April 20)* and On the Nature of a True Pastor, (April 21).** I enjoyed reading again the events that took place surrounding your father’s death. The last two sentences in the April 20 message reads, “If a man is a pastor sent by God, he cannot retire, any more than Israel’s High Priest could retire. A pastor is a gift from God, not to be refused if one would grow in the grace and knowledge of God.”
After reading those two sentences, I asked myself if I really believe that my pastor is a gift from God, or has the many years of knowing you caused me to take for granted what God has done.
The April 21 message, On the Nature of a True Pastor talks about Christianity’s method of hiring and firing pastors. You tell the story of how in the 1950’s, the local cotton mill in your hometown of Henderson, NC, shut down. “Some Christian pastors left town because contributions were few.” You wrote that these ministers left “because they were hired, and the pay was not good enough. Being a pastor is what they DID; it was not who they WERE.”
There are many other nuggets mentioned in both these messages. One nugget that really stood out is, “George Clark was not elected to his post. He was appointed to it by God. And the Lord sent him sheep for whom he was responsible to God until death.” “The transfer of authority over the flock” was passed on to you.”
When I finished reading, I closed the book, sat back, closed my eyes and started to pray. I could not help but thank Jesus for giving me (us) a true pastor. However, I wanted to be honest with myself. I asked Jesus to show me how I really feel about my pastor. Do I really love him, and the gift that he is?
Soon after breakfast, I told Suzi that I was going to deliver the mail I had collected for Richard and Amy while they were on their trip. Suzi was disappointed that I was leaving so soon because she wanted to go with me. I told her that I would take a walk first and then we could go together.
I had not gone too far down Preacher Holmes Road before I saw a vehicle coming towards me. When it got closer to me, I saw that it was you. You stopped, and we said hello to each other. Although you were only there for a minute, I was very glad to see you, and your smile.
As soon as you drove off, I felt tears come to my eyes because of the love I felt for you. I knew that Jesus had set that whole thing up. He wanted me to know how I felt about my pastor, just as I had asked him to do. If I had delivered the French’s mail earlier, I would have missed seeing you.
Jesus is so good to us!
Tom
* https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tft04-20
** https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tft04-21