I trust we all dream of having long, faithful, and fruitful pastoral tenures.
At the last T4G, tears came to my eyes when Mark Dever asked pastors who had served for decades to stand. I wanted to be one of those pastors and to do nothing more than pastor the church we planted in 2009. The church was in the neighborhood I had grown up in, three blocks from my high school.
But God had other plans.
2020 was difficult everywhere, but, watching our Minneapolis neighborhood burn, the year felt particularly challenging for my congregation. It became a year of crisis counseling. Deaths in our family added to the strain, and by the end of the year, my health broke down. I was bedridden, and my doctor had no answers.
For over a year I did not recover and was unable to work. My health did not return, and I had to resign.
I was surprised by this fiery trial. I didn’t know if I would get better; I didn’t know how to get better. How would I provide for my family?
By his grace, God restored my health, but only after I was no longer a pastor. So, I
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