Last Wednesday I sat with the Superintendent of the Southern Idaho Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God and the group of people who are searching for my replacement. It was an odd feeling.
I know I am going to be retiring from pastoring this church soon, possibly by year’s end or at least in the first quarter of the new year. My thoughts as others were talking took a strange turn, “How do I go out? What do I want to leave with these people that I love so much?”
I have had a decade to instill my absolute love of grace and the necessity of knowing deeply the truth of God’s Word (both OT & NT!). I hope I have invested in them a determination to be faithful, humble servants.
I decided to go out where I came in—with the Gospel of Mark. After I surrendered my life to Christ nearly 50 years ago, I was uncertain where to start reading my Bible. I cannot remember who told me to begin in the Gospel of Mark. That is what I did.
As I read through that wonderful book, I fell in love with my amazing Savior and LORD. So why not go out where I came in. There are 16 chapters to cover over my final weeks from September through December. Sixteen wonderful chapters focused on Jesus.
I so want people to not just love Him, but to realize how much they are loved by Him. I remember my mentor, Pastor Jim, telling people so often that it is not as hard to get people to love God as it is to get people to understand how much God loves them.
It is God’s love that saves us. “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” [HCSB]
So, I guess I will end my time at The Way reminding people how beautiful God’s One and Only Son truly is and how much we are loved.
