From the Desk of Pastor Brandon

Good morning, Reader,

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend this past weekend. That means summer is peaking at us from around the corner and ready to come out and play! My schedule is about to change significantly once my boys are done with school, and I will have them with me two days a week. This means wonderful memories, relaxing days, and finding time to work at odd hours, during quiet time, and between the games of wiffle ball and wrestling matches.

Summer isn't easy for me, but it is very good for me. I feel the tension of wanting to play with the boys and take them to do things, but also the weight of being a pastor, professor, and consultant and being available to help others.

Do you ever feel that way? Feel the tension between the things you want to do and the things you need to do. Or, maybe more accurately, the pressure of choosing between two things you want to do, and defaulting to the thing that feeds your internal need for significance.

My boys love me and love playing with me, but they aren't spending their time stroking my ego by telling me what a good job I am doing as a dad. They aren't applauding me at my wiffle ball skills or expressing their awe of my athletic prowess.

But I have people in my church telling me what a great job I am doing. They are letting me know how much they appreciate me and how much they pulled from my sermon this week. My clients express their gratitude often, and my students thank me for being gracious in my grading or being understanding when they have late assignments.

What I have learned over the years, though, from men and women who were much wiser than I, was to intentionally choose the things that have great meaning and significance over the things that make me feel good about myself.

By doing this, I live a more fulfilled life by chasing quality of life over personal significance. I keep pride and arrogance at bay while sharing love. I am choosing to invest in things that matter long-term rather than just short-term wins. And, most of all, I posture myself to place my reliance on God over what I can accomplish.

This may not be an issue for you, but from all my time pastoring, training students for ministry, and consulting with pastors, I find this issue cropping up often. We want lives of significance, but the demands of here and now and our egos and pride rob us of what we desire deep down.

So, we have to intentionally choose differently, intentionally adjust our behavior patterns by shifting our thought patterns.

With the summer coming up, choose to sit by the pool for 5 more minutes instead of running off to a demanding task that has short-term significance. Play a game with your kids instead of mulling over that spreadsheet any longer.

Live a fulfilling life that you enjoy!

See you next time,

For Disciples of Jesus

For Pastors and Church Leaders

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your confidence level? One of the things I find when talking with pastors is this longing to walk in true confidence. Let me explain what I mean by that.

There are a few different types of confidence we can operate in. There is performance confidence. This is confidence pulled from the quality of our performance. It could be from our musical talent, our preaching prowess, or even our storytelling ability in conversation and at get-togethers.

Then there is the confidence we pull from our expertise. There is knowledge we own, experiences we have had, and wisdom we have picked up over the years. This gives us the sense that we can fix problems, debate issues, and even convince people to do what we want them to do.

There is also the confidence we have from knowing we are a child of God with a calling on our lives. This kind of confidence is based solely on God's goodness, Christ's sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit's guidance. When our confidence is grounded in God's love and calling, then we feel anchored in an unmovable object. God doesn't change, so the confidence we live in through Him is not subjective, and we know we can count on it no matter the circumstances, no matter the quality of our performance, and no matter the changing environment of information, skills, and abilities.

For you, Reader, my prayer is that you have the confidence you need that comes from Jesus and the calling he has on your life. If you aren't sure what that is and you're unsure how to figure that out, let me know. I will be happy to sit down in a conversation with you and help you discover it.

My desire is for pastors all over, no matter their experience, church size, education level, or area of the country, to walk in confidence and assurance. When we lead from a place of confidence that is grounded in Christ and unmovable, we can accomplish great things and live a fulfilled life.

That's what I want for you, Reader.

If you would like to sit down and have a conversation, simply respond to this email and say, "I want to walk in confidence grounded in Jesus."

Have an awesome rest of your week!!!