In this season of life I am taking in a lot of information and I wonder how I will look back on these days, and what I will determine I missed.
Kevin DeYoung has formed a list of nuggets of wisdom for theology students or those new in ministry. He has a top twenty and a second post on things he would add.
My favorites are:
12. Plan for prayer days.
15. Spend more time getting to know your people and less time trying to figure out the culture of your city.
22. Keep reading. Please keep reading. Boldly ask for a book allowance. The rule is not absolute, but I question a man’s call to ministry if he does not like to read.
33. Make time to make friends. In the long run neither you nor your church will regret the hours invested in personal relationships with other pastors, old friends from seminary, and kindred spirits in the congregation.
All of Kevin’s suggestion are spot on and I recommend reading them and meditating on them.
As for #33, I am still waiting for those new friends in Portland to talk life over some beers, any takers?!
Jonathan, enjoyed reading some of your posts tonight. Ann told me it was a worthy read and she’s right. My wife is right about so many things… We had a small get together tonight with friends from small group – a potluck with nothing but appetizers…awesome. It is good to get together with people and share life. Even though we are not Portlanders, I would love to chat with you sometime – over email or phone, hopefully more and more in person as our families can hang out. Great to see your place the other week. It’s awesome to think that Portland is being steeped in a little more Jesus this year than the last. Many blessings. I’ll keep reading…