July 22nd, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
I’m Still Here
A church had a man in the choir who couldn’t sing. Several people hinted to him that he could serve in other places, but he continued to come to the choir rehearsals.
The choir director became desperate and went to the pastor. "You’ve got to get that man out of the choir," he said. "If you don’t, I’m going to go crazy. The choir members are going to quit too. Please do something."
So the pastor went to the man and suggested, "Perhaps you should leave the choir."
"Why should I get out of the choir?" he asked.
"Well, five or six people have told me you can’t sing."
That’s nothing," the man snorted. "Fifty people have told me that you can’t preach!"
Sometimes I feel like that preacher.
Other times I feel like the preacher who couldn’t stay in a church for any significant time. Every time he began a ministry the church leadership would send him down the road within a few months because he just couldn’t preach his way out of a box.
Finally, he went to a new church and began to stay longer than he had before. 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and even a year went by and he was still preaching there. A second year, then a third went by and the preacher was still in the same pulpit every week. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him. He approached one of the elders and began to tell him about his life story. “As you know, I was never able to hold a pulpit more than a few months before I came. But I’ve been here for three years and there is no sign of dissatisfaction in the church. Has my preaching really improved that much?”
“Well,” the elder replied, “When you came here, we really didn’t want a preacher and you were about as next to nothing as we could find.”
OUCH!
I have never felt worthy of the ministry. I have had training and experience and have enjoyed loving the people of God and the people God wanted to become His, but have never felt worthy. I believe that God has, not only called me to ministry, but I also believe that he called me to serve with First Christian Church in Clovis.
With God’s mercy and your patience as a church family, Cheryl and I will begin our 26th year of ministry at FCC this Sunday. We have had our ups and downs and failures and successes together, but through it all God has blessed us in more ways than I can count.
Over half of our 45 years of ministry have been with you. Thinking of that blows me away. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. I believe that God has some great adventures for us to share together as we are really “just getting started.”
You are a generous and loving family and we just want to thank you again for loving us and for allowing us to share in some of the most personal times of your lives. It has been a privilege and joy to travel this road with you.
This Sunday is being celebrated as our 25th Anniversary Sunday which will include a very nice dinner following the morning service. I will present a message titled A Thankful Pastor based on Philippians 1:3-6ff. I look forward to seeing all of you and celebrating this blessed journey together.
Thankful to do ministry together with you,
Jon
I’m Still Here
A church had a man in the choir who couldn’t sing. Several people hinted to him that he could serve in other places, but he continued to come to the choir rehearsals.
The choir director became desperate and went to the pastor. "You’ve got to get that man out of the choir," he said. "If you don’t, I’m going to go crazy. The choir members are going to quit too. Please do something."
So the pastor went to the man and suggested, "Perhaps you should leave the choir."
"Why should I get out of the choir?" he asked.
"Well, five or six people have told me you can’t sing."
That’s nothing," the man snorted. "Fifty people have told me that you can’t preach!"
Sometimes I feel like that preacher.
Other times I feel like the preacher who couldn’t stay in a church for any significant time. Every time he began a ministry the church leadership would send him down the road within a few months because he just couldn’t preach his way out of a box.
Finally, he went to a new church and began to stay longer than he had before. 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and even a year went by and he was still preaching there. A second year, then a third went by and the preacher was still in the same pulpit every week. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him. He approached one of the elders and began to tell him about his life story. “As you know, I was never able to hold a pulpit more than a few months before I came. But I’ve been here for three years and there is no sign of dissatisfaction in the church. Has my preaching really improved that much?”
“Well,” the elder replied, “When you came here, we really didn’t want a preacher and you were about as next to nothing as we could find.”
OUCH!
I have never felt worthy of the ministry. I have had training and experience and have enjoyed loving the people of God and the people God wanted to become His, but have never felt worthy. I believe that God has, not only called me to ministry, but I also believe that he called me to serve with First Christian Church in Clovis.
With God’s mercy and your patience as a church family, Cheryl and I will begin our 26th year of ministry at FCC this Sunday. We have had our ups and downs and failures and successes together, but through it all God has blessed us in more ways than I can count.
Over half of our 45 years of ministry have been with you. Thinking of that blows me away. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. I believe that God has some great adventures for us to share together as we are really “just getting started.”
You are a generous and loving family and we just want to thank you again for loving us and for allowing us to share in some of the most personal times of your lives. It has been a privilege and joy to travel this road with you.
This Sunday is being celebrated as our 25th Anniversary Sunday which will include a very nice dinner following the morning service. I will present a message titled A Thankful Pastor based on Philippians 1:3-6ff. I look forward to seeing all of you and celebrating this blessed journey together.
Thankful to do ministry together with you,
Jon
Recent
Archive
2025
April
2024
January
September
November
2023
Categories
no categories
Tags
no tags
No Comments