Dealing with Reality As Church Leaders
About 30 miles north of Dallas lies hundreds of acres once owned by my grandparents where they ran a dairy farm. My grandfather sold the property in the 1960s but when I was a kid my father rented it for raising beef cattle. But cattle was only one part of my farm heritage. We also raised sheep, chickens and even rabbits at one point of my childhood. We cultivated wheat, oats and hay. In my blood runs the dirt, sweat and tears of generations of farmers. I learned a lot on the farm. For one, I learned that it is hard work and while I'm not medically allergic to farm labor I think psychologically I am. But there is another lesson that that shaped my imagination, one that applies to my work now as a pastor. I learned from my father that caring for animals begins by working with what you have not what you wish you have. What exactly does this mean, to work with what you have not what you wish you have? If you grew up on a farm, you know exactly what this means. Farmers have no time...