Leave the Rest to God

Often, I have met people who have been raised as children in almost idyllic circumstances. Their parents listened to them, went to their ballgames and their piano recitals. The parents baked cookies for their events and took interest in their lives. Every Sunday, the family went together to church. Of course, there were some bumps in the road. Remember your adolescence? You wanted to forge your own identity. You were not sure that you wanted to be seen in public with mom and dad. At the same time mom and dad were wishing that you were 8 years old again. But other than the normal bumps, the road from birth to when you left home was filled with good smells, good vacations, doing things together as a family, stability at home and great love for each other. But what if the family system of which you were a child wasn't like that? What if you were playing baseball in the street in front of your house when your dad came home, got out of the car, and staggered into the house. You were...

First, I want to talk about the purpose of this blog. The blog is part confessional, but more than that I hope it can be of help to other followers of the One whom I'm trying to follow: Jesus, the Christ. I just turned 76, so much of my ministry is viewed not so much with anticipation but with memory and reflection. I still preach, do interim and supply ministry, and try my hand at writing. I do some coaching of ministers, especially in the area of preaching. I have been the pastor of several churches, taught preaching and concluded my formal ministerial life as the Dean and then Professor of Preaching and Church Leadership at the Gardner-Webb School of Divinity. I am in that season of life when the phone calls for me to do something in the church are fewer. I liked it much better when I was at the ages when I felt more wanted. Don't tell me to take up a hobby such as golf. I tried it when I was younger, didn't like it, and so I'm not going there. I have other thi...

Inspired by a statement from Dr. Fred Craddock, "Leave the Rest to God", I want to focus on the need for all of us to trust in and depend on God in our lives. This doesn't mean that we do nothing and simply wait for God to do everything. What I want to do in this blog is to share some of my thoughts as well as the thoughts of other people that have given me strength for the journey. In a way, this is therapeutic for me. As a retired pastor and teacher of preaching and church leadership, I can see that I worked extremely hard at what I felt called to do, but often felt the anxiety that comes when you depend on yourself and your own efforts. We are called to work hard. However, working hard at our vocation can sometimes keep us from depending on the God who calls us to follow that God. I hope that some of my experience, both positive and negative, will be of help to people like me who have committed their lives to following the God of Jesus Christ. This blog is int...