Posted on Monday, August 19, 2024

The Right Pastor for the Moment You Find Yourself In

by Josh Reich

pastor

Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash

One of the things you hear people say throughout life is being in “the right place at the right time.” There is a lot of truth to that regarding life, relationships, finances, etc.

It also applies to leadership and pastoral ministry in significant ways.

One of the overlooked reasons that a pastor doesn’t click with a church or that a church doesn’t grow is timing and people.

Here’s what I mean. There are many different kinds of leadership styles and muscles. Those styles and muscles come naturally to leaders, and they are needed for specific moments and seasons in the life of a church. That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t grow in those muscles and styles you aren’t naturally gifted in. But it does explain some things.

Leadership muscles. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but most leaders are good at a few (not all): starting new things, growing things, maintaining things, vision, strategy, planning, soul care, and shepherding.

Many churches, when looking for a pastor, are looking for someone who is good at all of the above, plus has 10+ years of experience in a church and is 32! That person doesn’t exist. The quicker the pastor and the church can figure that out, the better.

As a pastor, you must know if you are a starter, a builder, or a maintainer. Maybe God has wired you to be a long-term leader or one who has only been at a church for a few years. You may be wired as an interim or a supporter.

Not all leaders and pastors are the same, which is good!

You see this in Scripture. Moses was the leader who brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt, but Joshua was the leader who brought them into the Promised Land. Part of that was Moses’ actions, but another part was wiring. “Moses was the right leader for the people who had been slaves in Egypt; he was not the leader for their children who were born in freedom and would conquer the land.”

Two important, but overlooked, parts of pastoral ministry.

Finding a spot that needs those muscles. This becomes important in many situations, but especially when looking for a new job or thinking about a ministry transition.

As you talk to a church, you get caught up in their dreams and what they share. You will begin to think about living in a new place, and all God has in store for that place and situation.

But you must step back and ask, “What kind of leader does this church need right now? And am I that kind of leader?”

For example, the church may be in a growth season and is looking for someone to come in and simply keep doing what the previous leader did. This is a great situation for a maintainer or improver. For someone who is a starter or a builder, however, it will create a lot of frustration.

If the church is in a season of decline and looking for a new vision and life, you might find a lot of hard work ahead for you and outside of your comfort zone if you aren’t wired as a visionary.

In the same way, maybe the church just had a moral failure or a string of difficult pastorates, and they need a calm, shepherding presence.

How to find the right church for your gifts and leadership muscles.

This doesn’t mean that how you are wired doesn’t fit everywhere, but if you can line up your gifts and leadership muscles with the right situation, you will find yourself and the church flourishing much more.

Posted on Tuesday, August 13, 2024

One Thing that Leads to Church Decline (And How to Turn the Tide)

by Josh Reich

church decline

Photo by Stefan Kunze on Unsplash

Looking at most churches in decline from the outside, the decline seems obvious. But when you are inside the decline, it is easy to miss.

The same is true when it comes to our health or relationships. We don’t see ourselves putting on 20 pounds, but those around us do. We don’t see our marriage grow stale or difficult, but those around us might see it.

The same happens in churches. Those within the church who show up weekly don’t always see the signs of decline or even feel it. Those outside of the church or those who visit see it.

When I interviewed with CCC, I received an almost 200-page report from the organization they used for the intentional interim time. At its peak, CCC had nearly 600 people in 2013, but then it began a decline. Many of the comments from people within the church led to the reality that most people were unaware of the decline.

This happens in many different churches for different reasons. People move away, retire, change churches, or stop attending church. But as you show up week in and week out (or, as the most recent stats say, “1.8 times a month”), you might miss when people are gone.

What turns the tide?

How do you lead so that this does not happen or so that you are aware when it begins to happen?

How to avoid church decline.

The first is to define reality and never lose sight of it, even when it is painful. Jim Collins says, “The leader’s first job is to face the brutal facts and not lose hope.”

This is easier said than done.

The leader’s first job is to face the brutal facts and not lose hope. -Jim Collins

Often, we don’t want to face reality because we allow it to happen, and it reflects poorly on us. Or, as leaders, we think we need to constantly be positive and optimistic about the future. While your mood does determine a lot for your team and organization, you must face the brutal facts and not lose hope.

Another piece that can be difficult when facing the reality in front of you is if you are new to your church or role and didn’t cause the reality you are facing, but your predecessor did. This situation is fraught with landmines. As a new leader, you come into the church with fresh eyes and see what many others no longer see or no longer want to see. And while you might be correct in how you see reality (at least you think you are), it is only your perspective. For this leader, ask curious questions and listen. The best way to help a church face reality is for them to see reality on their own, not because you tell them reality.

What do you do if you didn’t lead the church to decline but inherited it?

What if you are the pastor who led a church into decline, and you are now seeing reality? Is it too late? The short answer is no, but the road ahead is more challenging.

Any church experiencing decline has been in decline for years, sometimes decades. This means that unhealthy leadership patterns, community, etc., have slowly begun to develop roots and become the church culture or “the way we do things here.” Breaking these patterns is incredibly difficult and takes intentional steps because you will be undoing old patterns and constantly saying, “We don’t do that around here anymore.”

This leads to the second idea to turn the tide…

The second is to think in terms of years rather than days. Leaders and churches are often caught up in the daily rush of what is next. After all, Sunday comes every seven days. You might be in a season where you need to think in days because your church is in steep decline or you are running out of money. But most churches are not in that situation.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said, “Individuals count the days, but leaders must count the years.” This means pastors and leaders must consistently think not only about the coming Sunday or quarter but also about the next five, ten, or twenty years. Where will the church be next year? What does this decision mean five years from now?

Many churches will make decisions around their facilities. These huge decisions can tie a church to debt and hamstring it. Adding that new wing, or not, how does that impact your church in five years? While you can convince yourself about the growth that may come from adding to your building or building a new building (and it might), there will also be some unintended consequences that you must be aware of. If not for yourself, do it for those who will inherit the debt.

Another one is staffing. You need to hire a new staff member, and finding great staff members is challenging. So, you settle. They aren’t exactly what you want, but you need someone. The hard truth about the wrong hire is that it can dearly cost your church and leadership. The wrong hire can set you back years in terms of vision, momentum, and cost well into the six figures. You are not just hiring someone for today but for the coming years and potentially decades. They will help or hurt your vision and the culture you create or change.

2 ways to avoid church decline.

Posted on Monday, July 22, 2024

6 Lessons for Leading Change & Transitions in Your Church

by Josh Reich

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I just celebrated 3 years in my role at Community Covenant Church. It is hard to believe it has been 3 years already, but that is what COVID-19 does to you when it comes to time!

I was talking to a friend recently, and he asked me what I was learning in my new role and about transitions in particular. I’ll share some things over the coming weeks and months (especially as I’m beginning my doctoral research project on “Revitalizing Declining Churches in New England”), but here’s one lesson I learned when I heard a podcast that articulated it.

The person being interviewed came into her role after there had been a revolving door in that role.

One lesson I’ve learned about church transitions.

I am the fourth lead pastor at CCC since 2015. While some churches have seen a lot more transition than that, that kind of transition shapes a church and its culture.

When I meet someone, whether they still attend CCC or not, I ask them who their lead pastor was when they came and when they left if they left. That tells me a lot about their experience of our church and how they view our church.

This is incredibly important if you’re a new lead pastor or attend a church in transition.

Here’s why: When you start attending a church (and when you leave a church), it goes a long way to determining what you see in that church and your experience there.

Each lead pastor has a different personality, passions, and, sometimes, different visions. They lead and preach differently, emphasize missions or community differently, view the culture around the church differently, and all of that shapes the church. It shapes who comes, who sticks, the kind of disciples made, and so on.

For the church I’m at, a pastor who had been here for over 30 years left in 2015, the next lead pastor left in 2019, and then they brought in an intentional interim pastor. While he was here, COVID-19 hit, and that made significant changes in the church and staff.

Looking back, while it was the same church with many of the same people, in some ways, it has been four different churches since 2015.

Here are some lessons for leaders and churches:

Understand the power of memory. If you’ve been through all the transitions, you have a lot of memories and potentially some scars. This group has some incredible stories of God’s faithfulness, but they have also been through the most transitions and change. They have held on and often believe great things are ahead for the church. I was talking with a leader who was in a similar position to me, and he said this group has been the hardest group to win over at his church. Thankfully for me, that hasn’t been the case! This group has loved and welcomed our family and reminded me often of how much they are praying for me.

Celebrate the seasons you remember. As the pastor, celebrate all God has done in the church’s history. You might feel like you are competing with a memory (and you might be), but speak well of the people who have gone before you and what God has done in the past at your church. The last thing you want to do is speak ill of people who are no longer there, regardless of what they did or didn’t do in their time as leaders. You weren’t there, didn’t know all the details, and couldn’t do anything about what they did or didn’t do.

You don’t know the whole story. It took me years to understand this principle. And while it is important in all walks of leadership, it is especially important during transitions. When someone comes and tells you a story, know that you aren’t getting the whole story of what happened. That doesn’t mean they are lying to you; they are simply telling you what they know of the situation and their perspective. Yes, you need to listen and glean all you can from someone, but you can’t base your decision on something because of what one person said. Get other perspectives, and talk to as many people as you can as you learn the history of a church. When I arrived at CCC, I interviewed over 50 people. I asked them the same questions to learn as much as possible from as many different perspectives as possible before making any decisions.

Lessons from leading a church in New England.

Move slower than you want or think you should. If you’re a leader, you likely like to move fast and get things done. After all, that’s what leaders do. We make things happen. But when revitalizing a church, a long history came before you got there, and that history won’t move quickly. There is hurt and grief that people still have to navigate, hopes and dreams that didn’t happen, so you must move slower than you want or think you should. I had an older pastor tell me when we moved here that I should expect 5 years to lead the changes I wanted to lead at CCC. Someone told me, “I was here before you came, and as long as I don’t die, I’ll be here after you leave.” Now, he wasn’t being mean but articulating his reality. He has lived in New England and can trace his family back many generations. He has watched a lot of turnover happen at our church.

When leading change in a church, move slower than you think or want to move.

Relationships will win the day. One thing that is true in every church but is even more true in an older church is that relationships will win the day. When a decision is made, or a change is made, people will rarely talk to the new pastor; they will talk to the people they have known for years. This is natural. But you need to be aware of it. As a leader, to make changes, you must know where the power and influence in a church is. If you’re new, it isn’t with you. You have the title. I’ve heard Brian Croft and Karl Vaters say, “An older church lets a pastor make changes.” That’s real. When I arrived, I spent a lot of time observing meetings, watching who could sway the room and who spoke last that everyone listened to. Those were the people who I needed to have on board before making any change. I didn’t make any changes in my first 3 years that didn’t have certain people on board first.

In a church transition, relationships will win the day.

Learn what brought people to the church and what has kept them. One of the most important things you can learn about a church you lead is why people came and stayed. Talking with people who have left and learning why they left is also valuable, but those can be hard connections to make sometimes. Listen to people talk about what they love about a church; ask them what they love.

6 lessons I’ve learned in my first 3 years in New England.

Posted on Monday, July 15, 2024

Are we the Church to do That?

by Josh Reich

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Picture a church staff meeting.

Someone comes in and says, “I was talking to someone on Sunday morning, and they had a great idea for a new ministry. What if we start a ministry to _____?” That blank can be anything: a ministry for moms, men, people who won’t come on Sunday morning, young adults, or senior adults.

How do you know? Should you do every idea and opportunity presented to your church?

What if you should say no? Or wait?

How do you know?

Here are 6 questions to ask before starting a new ministry or program at your church.

6 questions to ask before starting a new ministry or program at your church.

What is missing? Before discussing the need for a monthly men’s breakfast, college ministry, or the opportunity presented on a Sunday morning, I’d encourage you to step back and ask, “What are we missing?”

Another way to think about this is, “What is the problem?”

Say the problem is that men are lonely and disconnected. This led someone to offer to start a monthly men’s breakfast. But is that the answer? It might be, it might not be.

Too often, a church jumps into an idea or opportunity without asking, “Is this something we are missing? Is this a gap in our strategy? Is this a “problem” or “need” to be solved?

Is this a need? Too often, we jump into opportunities that are not needed.

Does your church have several _____ people who would be served by this ministry? Is your church doing anything right now that might meet this need? Or is your church doing anything that would compete with this new initiative?

A lot of times in churches, things get started because the church down the road is doing something, someone’s last church did it, or because the pastor went to a conference recently and heard about this amazing new idea that is reaching hundreds at a church in a different part of the country.

And while all those things might be true, it doesn’t mean that it is a need for your church to meet today.

Is anyone near us filling this need? Here is a forgotten truth that churches must remember: Just because it is a need doesn’t mean you should meet it. Your church does not have to meet every need in your community, nor can it.

Your church does not have to meet every need in your community, nor can it.

This doesn’t mean you reject something, but you do need to stop and ask if someone else is filling this need. Is there a way for you to partner with them, come alongside them to help, etc.?

My hunch for the future is that more churches must partner to meet different needs or serve different groups of people in their community.

My hunch for the future is that more churches must partner to meet different needs or serve different groups of people in their community.

Is this the only way to meet this need? Back to the men’s breakfast idea. Is a monthly men’s breakfast a way to connect men? Yes. Is it the only way? No.

Once you decide something is a need and that you can and should meet it, don’t jump into doing what has always been done or even what other churches are doing. Those are good ideas you might pull from, but start brainstorming how to do something.

I think every church needs to consider how to move more things away from being an official church ministry or even in a church building. Being a ministry or at the building might make sense, but a men’s breakfast at a local diner might make more sense than at the church.

Do we have the people, resources, and bandwidth to do this? Sadly, this question is rarely asked.

Just because something is a good idea, it might not be the right season. You may not have the financial resources or bandwidth to make it happen as a church and team.

That’s okay.

It might be a great idea, but the wrong season means it is time to wait.

Or, it is time to cut something else to make room for this new thing.

Every church has a limit to what they can and should do.

Just because it’s a great idea doesn’t mean now is the time for your church to do it.

And finally, a question that I wish more churches would ask themselves.

Are we the church to do that?

Your church doesn’t have to do everything.

Your church isn’t meant to do everything.

God has given your church specific people with specific giftings to reach certain people and to make a certain impact in your region and the world.

As a church, you must ask, “Is this our calling to fulfill?”

The most important question for churches to ask themselves before starting something new.

Posted on Wednesday, July 10, 2024

The Halfway Point of the Year & the Top 5 Posts so Far

by Josh Reich

Photo by Isai Ramos on Unsplash

It’s the middle of summer.

In New England, we do whatever we can to be outside (and survive the humidity) to replenish our vitamin D and enjoy the long days!

The year is more than halfway over. I hope you are closer to the goals you set in January.

If not, don’t fear.

The year isn’t over, and it isn’t too late to hit restart and try again.

In case you missed them, here are the 5 most read posts of the year so far. Hopefully, they will be encouraging to you and will also help you reach your goals as a leader and a person. Thanks for reading!

If you’re looking for something great to read this summer, check out what I’ve read so far this year to find something!

Posted on Monday, July 1, 2024

Where Your Heart Is (The Parable of the Sower)

by Josh Reich

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

One of the struggles many people have is trying to figure out where their relationship with Jesus is.

There are seasons and moments when things feel like they are going well. You are in community, spending time with Jesus through prayer, reading scripture, and practicing other spiritual disciplines. And then there are times when those things fall off, and we wonder, “What happened?”

It isn’t just about practices or disciplines but about where our heart is or is not.

But how do you know?

Because discerning our hearts can be very difficult.

Yet, many of Jesus’s parables address this idea, helping us to see where our hearts really are.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower, seeds, and soils. While this is often called “The Parable of the Sower,” the parable is, in many ways, about soils. Through this lens, we begin to see where our hearts are or are not.

James Montgomery Boice has a helpful lens of these four soils:

The hard soil = The Hard Heart
The Shallow Soil = The Shallow Heart
The Strangled Soil = The Strangled Heart
The Open Soil = The Open Heart

The Hard Heart

The hard heart wants nothing to do with Jesus or the things of God.

They are completely turned away from God. They love their sin; they love being in charge of their life.

Paul described this person in Romans 1 as suppressing the truth of God, being spiritually ignorant or against God. They love their sin.

In many ways, our culture is like this.

But it isn’t just about sin; it is about ruling your life. This parable and many others that Jesus tells are about the kingdom of God.

Who is the king of the kingdom of God? God.

This is the key to the hard heart, the one who wants to be king of their life.

The hard heart is not just someone who doesn’t attend church. Many people who sit in church every Sunday have a hard heart. This is the person who says, “I know what God says about money, sex, loving my enemies, forgiving those who hurt me, but ____,” and then they tell you why they don’t have to follow that.

That’s a hard heart.

Do you have a hard heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your heart hard towards God?

The Shallow Heart

This is the person whose faith cannot handle difficulty.

Much of their faith is built on emotion and their feelings about God. How they evaluated Sunday mornings or Bible readings is based on whether they “felt God” or had a “good feeling during worship.” Did the hair on my neck stand up?

The shallow heart is here for God’s promises and “the best life now” that Jesus promises, but the moment that difficulty comes, I have to take a stand for Jesus. They tap out if God doesn’t answer my prayers the way I prayed them.

Another example is the person who has attended church for years and is still a spiritual infant. They have experienced no growth.

Do you have a shallow heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your faith shallow or deep?

The Strangled Heart

Jesus is very specific with this soil: They are unfruitful and choke the word out because of the worries of the age and the deceitfulness of wealth.

The worries in every age and every culture. A few things to consider are: What keeps you up at night? What things give you that empty feeling in your stomach? Do you worry about your health, wealth, kids, or other relationships? This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t worry about those things, but it does start to reveal what takes up space in your heart and mind or things you are trying to control that you need to hand over to Jesus and trust Him.

Another one is the worry you feel about the upcoming election. Will you be okay if your candidate loses? If the answer is no, as a follower of Jesus, that reveals something in our hearts.

Do you have a strangled heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is anything strangling your heart instead of trusting God?

The Open Heart

As you read through the parable in Matthew 13, you see that all of this leads to the soil where the seed takes root and grows, “the open heart,” as Boice calls it.

An open heart that receives the word of God and obeys. When it says “hears,” that means “to obey.”

Not just in one ear and out the other.

This means that when we hear the word of God, read the word of God, and feel the move of the Spirit of God in our lives, we obey. We don’t say, “That doesn’t apply to me. I don’t feel like doing that.” We do it.

This parable warns us against superficial hearing. And shows us what real hearing is.

Hearing the word of God = Obedience.

Fruit comes from obedience.

But how do we know? How do we know if we have an open heart?

The fruit. It produces fruit.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

I love that Jesus says, “Some will be a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

The fruit that comes from your obedience might be a world-changing fruit that is 100x.

It might not. It might be thirty.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Shoot for 100 times.”

He says, “There are different levels of fruit, and they all matter and are important. One is not better than another.”

This truth should free us from having to produce what someone else does.

Jesus doesn’t judge us on a curve or compare us to others.

The question isn’t, “Did I produce what the person next to me produced?” The question is, “Did I produce the fruit I was supposed to produce?”

Do you have an open heart towards God? Here’s how to know.

Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

How to Live Life without Regrets

by Josh Reich

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Imagine getting to the end of your life and saying that. Saying I had done what I was supposed to do. I left it all on the field of life. I kept the faith. I ran my race.

But how does that happen? How do you and I get to where we can say that?

Much of 2 Timothy is Paul telling Timothy (and us) how to make that truth true in our lives.

In chapter 2, he tells us three things that are true of a person who can say that: they are approved by God, they are pure, and they are servants.

3 truths about every follower of Jesus.

Approved by God

A follower of Jesus is approved in God by God. As a follower of Jesus, God cannot more approve you than you are, and you don’t need any more approval than you have. Paul tells us that a follower of Jesus, a worker approved by God, is not ashamed and rightly handles the truth of God’s word.

We shy away from risk, passion, and what God has called us to because we worry about what other people think. This is why we don’t share our faith, aren’t generous, don’t serve, take chances, or we sit on the sidelines—we care what others think more than the God who created us.

How do we know?

In verse 19 of chapter 2, Paul tells us that God knows who belongs to him.

This verse has always blown me away. God knows who belongs to him.

Pure

Paul says in a house, there is gold and silver for special use, honorable use, and some things made for dishonorable use. God uses those who are holy, set apart, different, and clean.

This is purity the way we often think of purity, but it is more than that.

This is connected to our motives and why we do the things we do.

Why we make the decisions we make.

Do we do what we do to please and honor God or to please and honor those around us?

One of the themes in 2 Timothy is Paul’s statement that he has lived his life without regrets and has a clear conscience. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things in your past you wish had never happened. Before following Jesus, Paul was a terrorist and a murderer. But because of what Jesus did, he was made clean.

It does mean that the truth of the gospel changes us.

Here is a truth that is often hard to remember: When God looks at you as a follower of Jesus, he doesn’t see you standing there in your sin; he sees Jesus standing in front of you, saying, “He’s mine. She’s mine.”

Servant

When we think of a servant, we think of someone who opens a door, maybe a meek and quiet person standing in the corner, or maybe even a doormat in a relationship.

That’s not what Paul is talking about.

He returns to holiness and says, “A servant flees youthful passions.”

This can mean a whole host of sins, but he focuses on things we do when we are young.

This might mean if you are 40, act 40, not 22.

Stop bouncing from relationship to relationship.

Stop bouncing from job to job and be a hard worker who provides.

Stop giving your heart and body away.

Stop having silly arguments on the internet.

Instead, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Purity. God’s servants should be known for these things. They don’t get caught up in controversies and quarrels.

But you might say, “I’m an arguer. I love a good debate.” A follower of Jesus should not be known as an arguer or an angry person. Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

A follower of Jesus should not be someone no one wants to work with or can’t get along with. If you struggle to keep friends or work well with people, at some point, it has to stop being them and start being you.

An immature follower of Jesus loves to sit around and debate theology and end-of-the-world beliefs, not to learn and grow but to win and be right. Not so with God’s servants as they mature and grow. They learn, grow, and ask questions, but they don’t argue theology to win and be right.

He goes on…

The Lord’s servant is not quarrelsome, is not a fighter, an arguer. We don’t argue people into the kingdom of heaven or beat them down with Facebook posts; we love them into the kingdom.

We don’t argue about stirring controversy, gossip, or trying to split churches apart.

The Lord’s servant is kind to everyone (even those they disagree with). If we asked people in our lives, those we disagree with their political or religious beliefs, would they say we are kind to them in our disagreement?

The Lord’s servant can teach. This doesn’t mean preaching or standing in front of people but being able to communicate what they know of the gospel.

When you share the gospel, you say, “I was once lost, but now I’m found. I was once broken, but now I’m set free.”

Why does this matter?

The people who matter most determine a lot in our lives. How our spouses, parents, teachers, or coaches look at us can give us enormous confidence or take away our confidence. The same is true with God. If we believe God sees us as approved, pure, accepted, and loved, that will determine how we live. But, if we think God is disappointed in us or sees us as unloveable, that will also impact how we live and where we end up.

Posted on Monday, June 3, 2024

Learning to Dream Again

by Josh Reich

Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Recently, I had several (separate) conversations with guys my age where I talked about some of the dreams Katie and I have and some of the prayers we are praying about our future. As our kids continue to grow, we are asking God how to launch them best, what pastoral ministry as empty nesters look like, and for him to give us clarity about pastoral ministry in our 50s and beyond.

Why?

So much life is ahead of us; we don’t want to miss all God has for us. What you do today and your decisions impact where you are in a decade or two.

When I shared this, they responded, “I can’t remember the last time I dreamed.”

It is easy to dream in your teens and 20s but harder in your 40s and 50s.

It makes sense. Life is busy and hard as we age. Cynicism starts to creep in, and we begin to think, “This is all there is.”

I talk to many people in midlife who feel stuck or like their life has grown stale. Some of it is because of past decisions, but we often stop believing that God has things for us in the future. We start to think our best days are behind us.

Why do we feel this way? Many of us are tired. We have less energy as we age, and it is hard to push ourselves. We have tried many things that didn’t work or go as planned, so there is a sense that we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

Too often, though, people in midlife quit things. They quit relationships, marriages, careers, or faith because of their lack of direction, growing frustrations, or something else they can’t name.

What if you took an afternoon and dreamed? What if you asked your spouse if all our prayers got answered, what would life look like in five years? Ten or twenty years from now?

What if you asked your spouse if all our prayers got answered, what does life look like in 5 years? 10 or 20 years from now?

As I write this, our youngest will be twelve this summer. In 4 years, our four oldest kids will be out of high school. That is a very different stage of life than where I sit today with multiple kids in high school. Life, relationships, and pastoral ministry will differ greatly for us in 4 years from this simple fact.

But too many of us wake up one day and realize that life happened to us.

Too many of us wake up one day and realize that life happened to us.

Here are some things that will be different: my schedule will be different in four years. Lord willing, I will have finished my doctorate by then. I will be four years older and have four more years of wisdom than I lack today. My physical life will be different because I will be closer to 50.

All this became even clearer to me several years ago when I spent a summer talking to pastors nearing retirement and asking them about wisdom, things they learned, and things they wish they would’ve done differently. They all said, “If you don’t plan financially, spiritually, physically, mentally, relationally, and emotionally for your future, you will miss all God has for you.”

Many of us only think about the physical or financial side of our future.

As more and more studies are done on life stages, our 50s, 60s, and 70s can be our most productive decades for God. And yet, many pastors and Christians seem to think that it is over once you are past 40.

As more and more studies are done on life stages, our 50s, 60s, and 70s can be our most productive decades for God. And yet, many pastors and Christians seem to think that it is over once you are past 40.

My hope for you and me is that our best days are ahead of us, whatever those best days may be for you.

Posted on Monday, May 20, 2024

How to Make the Most of Your Summer

by Josh Reich

Photo by li hao on Unsplash

Summer is almost upon us.

In New England, we get three months of warmth, so you want to capitalize on every moment at the beach or in the woods, just soaking up the sun and having fun.

But how? Many people struggle to stop, to take their vacation days, or even to make the most of them.

As you prepare for summer, here are a few thoughts to help you make the most of it:

6 ideas to make the most of your summer vacation.

Take all your vacation days. This might sound like a funny first point, but decide to take all your vacation days. If your company or church gives you three weeks, take all 3. Don’t leave any left over at the end of the year. You work hard, and your family runs fast throughout the year from activity to activity. One of the biggest wastes is vacation time left over. The average American leaves 6.5 vacation days unused each year. These are free days off; take them. This can be more challenging if you are self-employed, leading to our next point.

Plan Ahead. Do some research wherever you go, even if you staycation. The internet makes planning a cheap vacation and finding inexpensive, fun things to do incredibly easy. Look for places and things around you that you have never been to and go there. I have friends who swap houses with a friend in another state or city. Vacations can be all out and expensive but also filled with inexpensive day trips.

The point isn’t what you do or how much you spend, but spending time together, resting, and enjoying. Which leads to…

Make memories. This goes with planning. Find fun places to eat out or places to get unique desserts. Stay up late and do silly things you wouldn’t normally do. Do whatever you can to make memories. Our kids still talk about things we did 5-10 years ago on vacation. And the things they talk about are almost always free or cheap things we did.

Now that you have a plan and a goal, how do you rest and enjoy your summer?

Decide ahead of time what unproductive will mean and entail. This might sound counterintuitive, but the first step to being unproductive is to be productive. Set yourself up to succeed.

If you are married, sit down with your spouse and ask, “If I was unproductive for a weekend, a week, two weeks, a month, what would that mean? What would we do?” Most of us struggle to disengage from the pace of life we live throughout the year, but our minds, bodies, and souls need it.

To be truly unproductive and rest, you must decide what that will mean.

For me, being unproductive means not blogging or writing, not reading leadership or theology books (I read spy novels or historical books on vacation), sleeping in (or letting Katie sleep in), taking naps, extended game time with my kids, ample time with friends, and being outside.

Answer this simple question: What would refresh me and recharge me? Are there certain people who will do that? Spend time with them.

Answer this simple question: What would refresh and recharge you? Are there certain people who will do that? Spend time with them.

Too many people work on vacation and prepare for upcoming things (you must plan that for a different time). Your weekend or vacation is for refreshment, recharging, and reconnecting with your family, friends, yourself, and God.

Set yourself up for success. If you don’t decide ahead of time, you’ll come back from vacation exhausted and tell people around you, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”

How to not need a vacation from your vacation.

You know what it will take for you to rest for your family to have fun, so think through those things. Don’t wake up and throw something at the wall unless that is your personality.

The bottom line is that it is easier to achieve if you know and have decided how to be unproductive. It increases the likelihood of resting and recharging.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success is to take social media and email off your phone.

Give yourself grace. No matter how well you plan or think things through, something will happen and throw your vacation off. A bill will pop up; someone might get sick, and you and your spouse will fight. The perfect plan will get rained out, or none of your kids will appreciate a moment and ruin the sunset over the ocean. You will be tempted to get some work done.

Take a deep breath.

Give yourself some grace. Thank God for the chance to rest, refresh, and enjoy His good gift of summer.

6 ideas to make the most of your summer.

Posted on Monday, May 13, 2024

3 Truths for Every Child of God

by Josh Reich

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

On Sunday, I preached one of my favorite parts of the book of Galatians, an idea that is central to the gospel of Jesus but so hard to live out daily.

What is it?

Living like a child of God.

The truth in Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 is that as a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

As a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

But according to Paul, this isn’t some future experience but a daily experience. He says in Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God in Christ.” Present tense. This is the daily experience of a follower of Jesus.

So, what does this mean on a daily basis? According to Galatians, there are 3 things we experience today as children of God.

3 truths for a child of God.

The first thing we experience as children of God is being close to God.

Paul uses the picture of adoption and calls God “Abba,” which means papa or daddy. It is a title of love and affection.

This can be hard for men and women depending on their relationship with their dad. But, many men don’t know how to be affectionate or loving without being sexual, and they struggle to be affectionate with their kids. I was talking to a guy recently who told me that my dad never hugged me, put his hand on my shoulder, or rubbed my head, and he struggled to show love to his daughter because he didn’t know what that meant.

God is a loving, caring father.

Paul also uses the picture of adoption.

What does it mean to be adopted into the family of God?

In the first century, adoption looked differently than it does today. A father could adopt one to take over his estate if he had no heir. He would often adopt one of his slaves and make him a full heir, giving him everything as if he were a son born to him.

I still remember when we adopted Judah and Nehemiah, standing before the judge and them asking us, “Will you treat them as your son? Will you make them a full heir, having the same rights and privileges as your biological children?”

Here’s what that means for a follower of Jesus: Who is God’s son? Jesus. Being adopted by God, God as our father, means that we have the full rights and privileges given to Jesus, God’s son. We are clothed in Jesus.

This means that when God the Father looks at you, his adopted son or daughter, he sees Jesus. As Pastor Tim Keller said, “Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear.” He doesn’t see your failures, regrets, or shame; he sees you clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.

Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear. -Tim Keller

The second thing we experience as children of God is being free from the law’s curse.

The entire book of Galatians is about this one point. A follower of Jesus is free from the law, free from earning God’s love or approval because you have it in Jesus.

Stop working; rest in the grace given to you.

Most of our sin comes from trying to prove ourselves or make ourselves feel better when if we truly could understand, you are a son, set free; you don’t have to do that.

A child of God is free from the curse of the law.

The third thing we experience as children of God is being led by the Spirit.

This sets Christianity apart from other religions. God the Holy Spirit is one of the trinity: God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Spirit. The Spirit lives in you as a follower of Jesus.

The spirit guides you and shows you the way. When you read the Bible, the spirit helps you understand it, speaks to you, shows you God’s will for your life, and brings things to mind that God is calling you to.

A child of God is led by the spirit.