RETIREMENT

I have had a lot of fun with my wife these past few months teasing her about my upcoming retirement. I officially began my pastoral ministry at the First Church of God in Franklin Furnace, Ohio on July 20, 1980. I have pastored continuously since that time to this present day. Since leaving Franklin Furnace in 1984 I have pastored First/Branchview First Church of God in Concord, N.C. (April 1984-December 1993), First Church of God in Alliance, Ohio (January 1994-June 2003) and now at the Meade Station Church of God in Ashland, KY (June 2003-Present). I keep telling her that people who work for Marathon Oil, AK Steel, KDMC, etc. get to retire when they celebrate 30 years of service. Therefore I should be "entitled" to retire on July 20 of this year!!! I further tell her that her "second job" (which she will need to find!!) had better pay her a lot more than her first job or we are going to be in real trouble real fast!!!!! I see great humor in this. She sees no humor whatsoever in my teasing.

In all seriousness I have labored with this question, "Can a called servant of God ever really retire?". One of my mentors and good friend, Gary Ausbun, retired from pastoral ministry nine years ago but the Lord has used Gary and his wife Frankie in a wonderful interim ministry across the country. Brother Gary and I stay in contact with one another and I know this "second" ministry God has called him to has been both rewarding and fulfilling to him. I can only hope and pray that I might be so blessed. What I mean by that is if the Lord would allow me to live long enough to "retire" from pastoral ministry that He will also give me some good years of health that I might be a continued blessing to to Him and His Church in some capacity of ministry. Having written that I feel we can never really retire from God's service. Our role of service may certainly change but we all should die while still serving the Lord.

I recall two people in my years of ministry who typify my thinking on this. The first is J.O. Fletcher from the Concord Church. When I arrived at Concord J.O. had just relinquished to job of song leader. He was entering his late 70's and his singing voice was beginning to fail him. He and I had a conversation one evening on the front porch of the old church on Corban Avenue about his future role in the congregation. He was feeling a little sorry for himself so I told him he may not be able to lead in singing but God still had something for him to do. And God did have something for him to do. From that day on he became my greatest prayer warrior and closest friend and advisor. J.O. would always tell me the truth about any problem I encountered and every pastor knows the value of someone who will speak the truth into your life. The second person that wrestled with this idea of not being able to serve the Lord as in times past was a lady from the Alliance Church. Her name was Kathleen Hayes. Kathleen had been active in that congregation for many years but she had come to a place to where her health had failed her so much that she eventually had to quit attending services. In lamenting her plight to me one day I asked her to make it her job each week to check on all the people from our congregation who appeared on our prayer list and let me know if there were any specific needs I needed to be aware of. She took that assignment seriously and proved to be a tremendous asset to me and the congregation over the next couple of years until her health failed her completely and she eventually passed away.

In closing let me say I do hope to retire some day. I love the preaching that goes along with pastoring. I love to visit people in the hospital and in their homes. I grow weary however of all the meetings and the relationship issues that you find yourself dealing with as a pastor. If the Lord will give me health and strength I plan to pastor into my mid sixties or about 8-10 more years. But I don't plan to ever "retire" from his service. How about you? What is your commitment to the Lord?

Just something to think about.

Pastor Jordan

TIME FOR REFLECTION

The big news the past few weeks has been the weather. Winter has come in a big way here in N.E. Kentucky the past few weeks. It seems that every weather forecast we listen to has that ugly four letter word "snow" in it somewhere. Having survived ten winters in N.E. Ohio I have seen enough snow to last me a lifetime. Every time I am in the barn and see my little aluminum fishing boat I get such a "hankering" for Spring I can hardly contain myself!

All of this bad weather does offer a person one benefit, it gives us time to reflect on things we don't normally have time for. For instance when I step back into my warm house after being out of doors for some reason I wonder how my ancestors survived these harsh winters. I lived in a house the first five full winters of my life where we heated with a grated fireplace and a Warm Morning stove. We burned coal. I can remember mornings when my Mom would tell my sister and me to stay in our beds until she could get the fire going again and then for it to burn long enough to take the harsh chill out of the air. I was to little to bust the coal or to carry it into the house. My Dad did all of that without me ever giving a thought as to how that all got taken care of. Of course that was true of all the other things I enjoyed as well. When it was time to eat I went to a table that was always filled with delicious food. When it was time to bathe I had a tub of good warm water in which to bathe. I never thought about where my clothes and shoes came from. They were just always there. Daddy worked at ARMCO Steel and everything I needed was provided to me.I am sure most everyone who might read this blog grew up pretty much the same as I did. We all have been guilty of taking a lot of good things for granted.

With time to reflect on such things recently I have been made aware that I have been guilty of taking a lot of things in my spiritual life for granted as well. For instance there has never been a time in my life when God didn't love me. There has never been a time in my life when someone wasn't praying for me. There has never been a time in my life when God didn't have a higher purpose for my life than I dreamed of for myself.

God has always been there for me. His Church has always been there for me too. I don't know about you but I never want to take God, nor His Church, for granted. He is to important for me to take for granted. I need Him every minute of every day. I don't just need Him on Sundays but I need Him every single day and all day long. I need God's people eveyday. I shudder to think where I might be if I did not have people praying for me everyday. I still have people from the very first congregation I pastored who tell me they pray for me everyday. That is a special treasure in my life that can never be replaced.

So in closing let me encourage you to do something for yourself: on these cold snowy days when you can't get out and do the things you normally do take a few minuites to reflect upon God and how good He has been to you. We have all received better than we deserve

Just something to think about.

Pastor Jordan