So, whether you’re a pastor or not, don’t forget to smile! It’s a simple thing, but far to often we forget to let the joy of the gospel bubble to the surface.

This glimpse “behind-the-scenes,” if you will, should encourage you, I hope, to be in constant intercessory prayer for your pastor. Pray that the Lord would give him peace and the energy he needs to minister faithfully word and sacrament to God’s people each Sunday.

All too often, I believe, we are too thin-skinned. We don’t want to tolerate the slightest hint that someone might not think as well of us as we do of ourselves. Other times I think people are all too interested in immediate vindication. We want everyone to know we are right and that others have wronged us.

Remember that since we are all redeemed sinners, we all have shortcomings. Every pastor has his flaws, and even if we tend to forget them, we should not set any one pastor up as the index by which all other pastors are measured. Christ alone is our standard.

I’m not saying you have to conceal your personality, and I’m not saying that you can’t have fun, and I’m not saying you can’t let your inner child out every once in a while. But I am saying that there are times and places for such things and when you’re in a prominent place, such as the pastorate, you need to think deliberately about how you conduct yourself.

I’m not saying that retirement is wrong—do as the Lord leads. But I’m really grateful that as a minister, so long as my mind stays sound (there are doubts already), then I can continue to labor well beyond retirement age.

Admitting that you don’t know something has two positive outcomes: (1) it becomes an opportunity for you to learn! (2) You show your congregation that you don’t know everything but that you’re willing to learn.

Never give up hope—always prayerfully intercede on behalf of the lost, and as long as they have breath in their lungs, never cease to tell your unsaved loved ones of the gospel of Christ.

We should always seek to help the needy, but we must be wise in how we assist people. It could be that by failing to do your due diligence and ask questions, you give money to someone and make their life worse, and then you run out of money and can’t help the person who genuinely needs it.

I don’t want to decide significant theological issues based upon how well someone presents their case, the tone of their voice, the color of their tie, or their ability to disembowel an argument with a slash from their sarcastic wit. There may be a place for carefully executed public debates, but for me, I’d rather invest my time and resources in reading written debates in books