What do you do all week?

14 Sep

I’m either quite odd or simply blessed, but I’d have to say that the best week we have had so far since coming to Orlando is this past week when my in-laws came to visit. I loved seeing the joy on my children’s faces when they got to see Lynn and Jim. They are such godly examples of steadfast love and faithfulness in the kids’ lives and in mine.

The family spent the day on Monday at the beach. Unfortunately we don’t have a picture of them all together, but here is a photo of Eli and a jellyfish.

Elijah and the Jellifish


What do you do all week?

Since becoming a pastor I am often amused by how many people are convinced that being a pastor must be the coolest job because you only have to work on Sundays. Must be nice to have Monday through Saturday off. The second coolest job must be being a teacher since they only work nine months of the year.

Now if you know any teachers or pastors personally you know that this simply isn’t the case. But the question remains, “What do you do all week?”

So here is a little glimpse at some of the ways I’ve had my hand to the plow of late.

  1. Let’s start with Sunday :: Besides arriving early and often staying late I have had the opportunity to share in the Welcome and Benediction portion of the services here at CrossPointe. It has been a great joy to use the rest of Sunday mornings making many connections mostly with new people to the church, inviting them into deeper community. There has hardly been a week that has gone by that I haven’t had a chance to step to the side and pray with someone about a present concern in their life.
  2. Young Marrieds Community Group :: Sandy and I have begun leading a young marrieds community group on Monday nights.
  3. Men’s Fight Club :: I meet with a small group of men on Friday mornings to fight against idolatry and to seek to worship God in the opportunities and responsibilities that God has given us as men, husbands, fathers, workers, and friends. This group will soon become three or four groups as we continue to grow.
  4. Preparing for Planting :: I am preparing the first six months of sermon outlines, community group curriculum and family devotional material for the launch of the church plant.
  5. Apprenticeship :: I am reading a number of books and working through a year-long apprenticeship process that addresses the Man, the Message, and the Mission under Pastor Chan Kilgore.
  6. Sweating :: The first week I was here at CrossPointe I helped the worship leader load a trailer full of equipment in 95 degree heat. When I came into the office Pastor Chan said, “We like our church plant apprentices sweaty.” There are a lot of wonderful things happening at CrossPointe and it is my privilege to leverage my gifts and a good bit of elbow-grease toward helping these things come to pass.
  7. TIME :: One of the most important habits I have been forming during this season in preparation for church planting is simply making myself and my family available to people from the church, our community, and our neighborhood. This means about half of my meals and coffee breaks are spent meeting with someone who needs some help or inviting a neighbor over to get to know them better. This not only takes time, but it takes intentionality with the use of time. I think that this is going to be one of the best things I do during this apprenticeship season in order to prepare for ministry in a church plant next year.

So there you go. If you can get all that done all on Sunday then you would be a pretty good pastor. For myself, I find that it takes a good five or six days to accomplish.


  • Pray for our fundraising efforts. We are sending out a support letter to many of the people that have been involved in our lives in the past. Pray that God would prompt those whom He wills to join us in our ministry in Central Florida.
  • Homeschool is well underway. We praise God for how well the children are responding. Pray for wisdom and energy for Sandy.
  • Jeremiah is making a number of contacts in the next month regarding the future location of our church plant. Pray that these conversations will be fruitful and God would use them to lead us into the future.
  • Our family has begun to pray for the salvation of a few specific people that we have met since we moved to Orlando. Please join us in praying for the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts and boldness in our lives.

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