A Pastor's Heart

 Bible study was interesting last night. Lively with discussion. We have been wading through Proverbs verse by verse and chapter by chapter. The topic last night lent itself to everyone paying attention and participating. 

We ended our time by praying for people in the congregation with great needs. Our hearts interceded for the burdened and suffering. It was when I offered the closing prayer that a swell of emotion surged in my heart. Something I could not keep down. Something that had to be expressed. 

I have served Spring Creek as pastor for a little over three years. It has gone by so quickly. So many memories. So many new people. So many others getting older and aging. It is a lot to take in. I never saw Spring Creek as a steppingstone to bigger and better things. 

My relationship with Spring Creek started at a youth camp in Brownwood, TX in 1990. I only brought one student to camp that year from Rochelled Baptist Church. Spring Creek had about a dozen. For some reason the Spring Creek youth minister was seldom around the camp that week. In a divinely orchestrated move of God, I met those students and connected with them. 

Fast forward about eight months. That youth minister invited me to come out to Spring Creek to preach to those students. It was a great reunion. When the service ended, he walked outside to my car with me and then told me he would soon be resigning and moving to another ministry after graduating from seminary. He encouraged me to submit my resume for the job. I did. God called me to Spring Creek just two months before Brenda and I were married. We fell deeply in love with the Spring Creek people. We saw a great move of God as He saved students and added families to the church. 

Our ministry only lasted two years before we left. I am not exaggerating when I say that we might have left Spring Creek, but Spring Creek did not leave us. We remained in touch with a few of the folks for some time. Periodically I would hear about the church needing a new pastor. My interest was always peaked but the timing did not seem right. 

When the former pastor left back in 2019, I heard about it since he is a dear friend of mine. I wanted to be the next pastor. I could not bring myself to submit a resume. I felt I knew too many people in the church, and I did not want to try to manipulate anything happening. I reasoned that if God wanted me there then He would have to do all the work to get me there and I would keep my hands out of it. God worked despite my lack of involvement. The former pastor submitted my resume there without my knowledge. 

When the search committee contacted me, my heart leapt for joy. Then it sunk when I learned that they had over 100 resumes submitted to them. Time passed. They asked for an interview. When Brenda and I walked back through those glass doors a flood of memories washed over our minds. It felt like we belonged there. That search committee asked some of challenging questions. I could have stayed there all night answering those questions. I was saddened when our time ended. Then we waited. 

God moved on them in the following days, and they invited us to come in view of a call to be voted on to be their next pastor. When we walked in the sanctuary that day, I had a rush of emotions. The smell of the sanctuary took me back 30 years. I felt at home. Like we belonged there. The same wooden pulpit remained. The carpet and pew padding were different colors. Everything else was just like I remembered three decades previously. 

They called us. Three years have passed since then. I sat in a room with some of our most faithful attenders last night with a tide of emotion swelling inside. I love these people. I had to tell them. I had to tell them how proud I am of them. They are a generous, hardworking, servant minded, friendly, and loving people. I am humbled, honored, and blessed beyond measure to be their pastor. Our hearts are bonded. It feels like Brenda and I have wed our hearts to this congregation and they have wedded their hearts to us. 

I hurt when they hurt. I grieve when they grieve. I rejoice when they rejoice. I am blessed to be surrounded by some of the greatest people on the face of the earth. Spring Creek is a great church. I am average at best. They could do much better, but I am so grateful God chose us to be here and they love us. They support us. They serve us in multiple ways. 

The roots in our hearts go down deep in the Spring Creek church and community. We do not want to serve anywhere else. We will always be grateful for wonder people in past churches we have served. Those people are dear and precious to us. Now God has planted us here. This pastor is contented beyond measure to be here and prayerfully remain here. 

These people hunger for God's word. They do not want fluff. They want the meat of the word. Like a chef preparing a meal, I sit before the Lord in study to prepare spiritual food to nourish their souls. It's a joy to spend time with them. It is a privilege to have them share their pain with us so we can minister hope. For some we walk the pilgrimage of new life and watching children grow. For others we walk the sad path of suffering as they near the end. It is my desire to walk that path with them to the end. 

God has allowed His lines to fall for Brenda and I in pleasant places. We came to Spring Creek being newlyweds trying to navigate student ministry, school, and work three decades ago. Little did we know that God would bring us back. We came back with four grown sons and seasoned hearts of past pastoral experience. To serve Spring Creek a second time is a blessing for which we cannot give God enough praise. Spring Creek, we love you. We thank God for you. We are proud of you and the labors of love you offer. Our hearts are intertwined with your hearts. Thank you for loving, supporting, and accepting us. 

 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NASB)

²  shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
³  nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.