How are you?

[PG Vargis]

Dear friend,

 

How are you? I want you to be blessed. That is why I spend time to find good thoughts and send to leaders. Hereby I am giving two messages:

 

First: I wrote it for a preacher who wrote to me last night because someone betrayed his trust.  Someone who accused him and called him names.

 

Second I copied from a web page.

 

If you would like to get my occasional letters please send me an email: pgvargis...@gmail.com. This is only for leaders like you.

 

Within this month I will write another letter which you should take to the throne of Grace and ask, ”Lord, is there any loop hole in my ministry or life.”

 

Because I love you.

 

Pg Vargis

 

======== Yes, my spiritual son, it is very difficult to trust people., But if you want to grow TRUST people.    Why I am still trusting people after: ð   a leader took a file of papers and letting his associate to  take a bigger file with all allegations against me; ð  another man stealing all addresses of supporters,   ð  Two leaders taking all telephone numbers of Malayalee supporters and starting their own missions, ð  Editor of faith today stealing all magazine mailing list ð  and so on.   What should have happened if I did not trust anyone but kept all ‘secrets’ with Lilly, me and Aby – address, account secretes etc.? IET should have been a small ministry like other ministries whose leaders are more effeicient than mea and well able. IET spread because we trusted.   People will cheat us call us names, threaten us and even black mail us and make allegations. They are not our reward. Our reward is in heaven.   Our growth depends on our trust.   Why Malayalee enterprises are not growing? Don’t they have money, brain, ideas? We have. But we won’t trust others. We keep everything in our tight fist. And our growth is within that fist. But look at Gujarathies and Punjabies. Thy open franchises and branches. And they grow.   Do you want to grow? – trust. There is a risk. Blessed are those who take the risk.   When I started IET – I decided to make another man as the president because I di dnot want to have any title. So I said that I will be the general coordinator. The man whom I made first President of IET and supported with Rs. 300 when my support was 35 Rupees from Palampur TV Chacko in the army at that time plus sales proceeds of gospels, came to me in 1978 and declared ‘I am resigning’. I looked at his face and said, “Brother, I will keep on doing this. I will pick up another Joseph and another Mathew and train them to be leaders.” (Remember that I was not matured at that time. But there was a leader growing in me.)   If you cannot trust – have a small office/ministry. You will be safe.   Jesus did first. Trusted Peter who denied him, Thomas who doubted, Judas who betrayed him…and so on.   The choice is yours.   I don’t get discouraged and I am determined to trust  people. (Well, I get discouraged. But it is for a few minutes. Then I remember my calling and His promises. I shake up and stand erect. I walk back to life.)   The thought I wrote for our magazine Indian Messenger daily devotion: Do Not Feel Alone Today. You may feel targeted by hell. Your world may be crashing around you. Don’t feel alone or abandoned. Those closest to you may not show it, but they are hurting, too. So, don’t yield to self-pity. Pity parties merely postpone your victory. You are not alone. God is with you. His angels are your servants. (….) A discouraged and depressed person never think positively. When you are discouraged, don’t make any decision. Shape up. Come out of your gloomy mood. Then make decisions. Make plans. Trust God. Trust your lieutenants. (Right hand close associates.) More over trust in yourself. Victory is not far away.

 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world,” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

 

7 Danger Signs Of A Discouraged Preacher

 

 

 

Perhaps this list can also help you pray for other preachers, or pastors .

 

Preachers get discouraged.  This post is not intended to offer any solutions, but sometimes identifying the issue or issues can be a start to addressing the challenge.  Perhaps this list can also help you pray for other preachers, or pastors in your church.

Here are some reasons preachers get discouraged:

1. Lack of fruit – Almost every preacher will receive comments of gratitude after preaching, but most will realise this politeness is not the same as genuine fruit from their preaching.  A lack of new life, or tangible growth can really get a preacher down.  A lot of time and emotional energy can be invested over the long haul with very little tangible return on investment.

2. Loneliness – Preaching can be a strangely lonely ministry.  It is easy to prepare in private and then process the post-preaching feelings in private.  It can also feel lonely to be aware of the next two items:

3. Criticism – After preaching it is a strange feeling to know that a lot of people will be enjoying “roast preacher” for their Sunday lunch.  Unless we have a big ego, most preachers don’t really want to be the subject of conversation.  We try to make Christ the subject of conversation, but we aren’t naive to the conversations that go on!  And then what if criticism is coming in from outside of our context?  That will only add to the pressure.

4. Expectation – Preachers are not a different class of Christian.  We struggle.  We don’t have it all together.  We can even say so in our preaching, and yet people still expect preachers to be “victorious” Christians.  Therefore when we are struggling with temptation, with tiredness, with family life, with financial pressures, with personal and spiritual dry times, we feel the expectation that we won’t struggle and so tend to keep the struggle hidden.  This circles us back up to number 2 again – loneliness.

5. Family Life – Preachers have real families.  Our children fight and sin.  Our marriages go through downs as well as ups.  Churches tend to place expectations on spouses and children of preachers.  Spouses of preachers tend to put expectations on themselves.  The complexity of church life can take a massive toll on families, and even when preachers try to put family first, there will still be times when we question whether the ministry we do is worth it.

6. Lack of sleep / health – A cycle of not sleeping properly will really take the energy and joy out of life.  This could be due to stress, to pastoral pressures, to family needs, to health challenges, etc.  Whatever the reason, when our tanks are empty then life will feel tough.

7. Depression – Preachers can get depressed too.  For those of us who don’t struggle with this it can be impossible to understand those that do.  But they do.  Famous preachers have struggled with extreme depression.  And preachers do burn out.  It is never a pretty sight.  And this is where we should all be aware – burnout can be avoided.

That is a starter list of seven reasons preachers get discouraged.  What would you add?