08/31/2026
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For six weeks we have been building the sustainable pastor. We started with the order Jesus set in Mark 3:14, being with him before being sent by him, and then we got practical: a rule of life, a guarded weekly Sabbath, real vacations and real retreats, and the constellation of relationships no pastor should lead without. If you have taken even one of those steps, your ministry is on firmer ground today than it was in July.
But I cannot close this series with a schedule. All of it, the rhythms and the Sabbath and the retreats and the relationships, aims at something deeper than a well-managed calendar. Because it is entirely possible to build every structure this series described and still miss the point. You can protect your day off, take your retreat, meet with your mentor, and quietly run your ministry on your own strength the whole time. Paul asked the Galatians the question that haunts me as a leader: "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). That is not a question for backsliders. It is a question for hardworking, committed, disciplined people, which is exactly what most pastors are. It is possible to have the appearance of godliness while running low on its power.
Read more: https://www.crossroadsdistrict.org/team-updates/having-the-spirit-and-the-spirit-having-you