Wesley New Year Prayer

Every Year John Wesley would hold a special covenant service at the start of a New Year.  It was a time of surrender and dedication to doing the will of God in the coming year.  It culminated with the following prayer, make it yours...

I am no longer my own, but yours.  Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.   Put me to doing, put me to suffering.   Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and fully surrender all things to your hope and service. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit You are mine, and I am yours. So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified also in heaven. Amen.

New day

I love new years.  The passing of one season and the begging of another provides a moment in the madness to pause and reflect and re-position myself.  2011 was a massive year for me and my family as I transitioned back into work after 9 months off with depression.  It was a year in which God taught me so much about my weakness and his grace, about my calling and my need of his power.  If there is one resolution I have for 2012 it is that I would trust in and rely on the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead... He lives in me!

Prayer Summit 2012

Preach the gospel

Francis of Assis has often been quoted as saying preach the gospel and use words if you have to.  I love the sentement behind this, but for good news to travel someone needs to say something!

God reveals Himself as the One who speaks and his voice has power to create and recreate.  We have the joy and honour of being his mouth pieces, not to preach at people at people who dont want to hear (with a mega phone like I am doing in this photo!), but to lovingly and propheticly speak timely words of truth and life into the depths of souls.

Lets keep speaking and sharing the good news of who Jesus is and what his is doing.

Burnout or Breakthrough?

Having suffered a nervous break-down, melt-down, burnout, I have done a bit of study into the causes of this all to common experience, here a few thoughts and findings...   

BURNOUT

DEFINITION

Burnout is a loss of energy and fulfillment in workers previously highly motivated. It is fatigue coupled with despair, afflicting especially those in the helping and serving professions who give much more than they receive. It differs from mere fatigue in being coupled with hopelessness and, unlike clinical depression, it does not arise entirely from within the person. Burnout is psychosocial and its causes are both subjective and external[1]

Burnout means to deplete yourself, to wear yourself out by striving to reach unrealistic expectations imposed by yourself.

Causes

People who are emotionally extroverted are more likely to burnout

The on-going gap between the ideal and the day to day reality proves to be a huge strain, as you have to emotionally deal with unfulfilled expectations.

Leslie Francis suggests that younger or more recently appointed ministers are at greater risk of burnout than older longer serving ones as they have not had yet developed strategies for dealing with it.

Israel Galindo calls year seven the year of recharge or burnout

The size transition from Pastoral (50-150) to Programme (150-300) size church is a recognised point of burnout in ministers.  (see A Rothauge, Sizing up a Congregation for New Member Ministry).

Burnout is the chronic stress of trying to square the expectations of others about who I am and what I do (G Read

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[1] Borgman, D. (1986). Leadership burnout.

Fear

This sunday I think I will speak about fear... it is something that I have known personaly in recent months as I have been recovering from my nervous breakdown.  It has a depilitating power to inhibit.