Christmas Gifts for Pastors

For pastors, there is no better season each year than Christmas. The season seems to carry with it an inherent goodness, not to mention a heart’s openness to the Gospel message. It’s like there’s a non-verbal, clearly spoken message sent into the hearts of our people which says, “Everything can be re-born, and made new.”

But at no time during the rest of the year do pastors work as hard as they do than during the Christmas season. Christmas is not simply a day in the life of a church. It’s a season. And that season consists of planning five or six special worship services. For many Creative Arts pastors, it involves a larger-than-life Christmas production. For Youth Pastors, it involves the kids being out of school, which means a complete shift in time spent with them. And for Lead Pastors, it involves shepherding a who lot of people through lonely, even depressing times.

There is a dual reality of being a pastor during the month of December - it’s incredibly rewarding, and emotionally exhausting, all at the same time.

So this year, why not get your pastoral staff something special? I’ve come up with a few ideas for you to ponder…

* If your church shows videos during its worship services, buy your pastor a copy of “The Quench Project”. This is a compilation DVD of the best videos shown in churches around the world. And 100% of the proceeds go to build clean water wells in Africa. Visit the website for more info: www.thequenchproject.org.

* If your pastor has small children, give him a date night (presumably with his wife), complete with a gift card to his favorite restaurant. Also, financially cover the childcare issue with someone his wife trusts. You just pay the bill. And this is extremely important: You are not invited to go with him.

* Buy your pastor an ITunes Gift Card. Most pastors I know love getting these little beauties.

* Many of you have cabins or second homes. Offer these to your pastors’ families free of charge for a weekend, or even a week.

* Give your Worship Pastor the week after Christmas off. Find someone to fill in the Sunday after Christmas, and let him/her have a weekend that doesn’t revolve around singing more Christmas songs.

* Buy your pastor a Gift card from ChristianBook.com. Most pastors love reading, but can’t afford to purchase the books they enjoy. This will help solve that problem.

These are only suggestions. You know your pastors better than I do. But whatever you do this year, please do something. Do anything. Don’t let the season go by without thanking your pastor, and your entire pastoral staff, for the spiritual growth and maturity they work tirelessly to foster in you. They literally live and die every day with every step of your spiritual advancement. So do something nice for them this Christmas.

Pastors… add your own items for your wishlist below…

Thanksgiving 2008

It’s Thanksgiving time again. Christians should all BE thankful. But we’re not. Christians should all FEEL thankful. But we don’t. Christians should all ACT thankful. But that just perpetuates our own hypocritical bent. Thanksgiving 2008. It’s been an interesting year for most of us, and by “interesting” we mean “difficult”. The Creative Team at Floodgate has produced a mini-movie specifically for Thanksgiving 2008. It explores the possibility of being thankful OUTSIDE of our circumstances. If you’re doing any kind of a Thanksgiving worship service, then you’ll want to check out this mini-movie. May we learn the secret that Job seemed to understand: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

The Greater Potential of Thanksgiving

When my daughters were young, we’d take them trick or treating on Halloween. It was usually just a trip around the block - my daughters dressed as angels, or princesses, or babies. The most important thing my wife and I told them, every Halloween without exception, was this: “Remember to say thank you.”

The words “thank you” are possibly the most important words in any language, for any time. It’s not simply about being nice or cordial. Those magic words hit any inclination toward self-reliant pride square between the eyes, and shatter the myth of deservedness. The opposite of gratefulness is entitlement. People who don’t say “thank you” are some of the most arrogant people I’ve ever met, because they often feel like they deserve everything they’ve become.

In our churches, we know the people who are genuinely grateful. They are the worshippers. They are the broken ones. They are the most giving. They are humble at the core. They are grateful because they remember God’s mercy in their lives.

And we know the ones who are not thankful. They are the most negative, the most critical, or the most apathetic. They are the quickest to judge a person who disagrees with them. They feel like hurting people have brought it all on themselves. They withhold compassion. They feel entitled because they have forgotten God’s mercy in their lives.

Thanksgiving is coming. And there is much at stake here. Every year, we set aside one day to express our thankfulness, our gratitude. And every year, we can become tempted to focus more on a large bird, than we do a great God.

There is much at stake here.

At Floodgate, we’ve worked hard over the past three years to help resource your church to experience the true potential of Thanksgiving. We honestly believe that hardened hearts can be transformed into grateful ones. With that in mind, we’ve created a number of media resources for you to implement into your Thanksgiving services. Check them out here.

Whether or not you use any of our resources, it’s vital that churches express gratitude on this wonderful day. And that’s our prayer for you, your leadership team, and your church body. May we be leaders who point people toward a gratefulness that is God-centered, and a thankfulness that comes from their deepest heart.

Because there is so much at stake here.

It’s a Sign

A door sign that is…

We finally got our new sign installed on our front door/window. There should be no doubt as to which suite is ours, now.

Veteran’s Day - A Chance to Say “Thanks”

My father was 18 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, he and his friends stood in a line that wrapped around the Navy recruitment office. They were volunteering to defend our freedom. My father would tell you that young men were lying about their ages, just so they could fight against a very real enemy.

I was born in 1964. I do not understand any of the feelings my father’s generation possessed with regard to defending the freedoms they held so dear. It’s not that I don’t want to understand. It’s that I can’t understand.

Until September 11.

On that day, my generation woke up to the reality of a very real enemy, and the inclination deep in our hearts to protect those we love. We were angry, and frustrated, and ready to volunteer. We were scared and confused.

And for the first time in my life, I got it. There was intellectual understanding, with a depth of feeling I had never before experienced.

Veterans are people unlike me. They not only feel deeply about defending America, but they act on those feelings. They put their lives on the line for us. Think about that statement: They put their lives on the line for us.

With a deeply grateful heart, the creative team at Floodgate Productions has created our latest mini-movie. It’s called “A Veteran’s Voice“. If you do nothing else this Veteran’s Day weekend, please pick up this video, and just play it in your worship services. People from my father’s generation, from my generation, and from the upcoming generation need to know that WE APPRECIATE the heart they’ve given us.

If you don’t like the video we’ve created, then please make the time to find another video honoring Veterans. Check here.

Again… let us not forget….

They put their lives on the line.

For you. For me.

I pray the church communicates how grateful we are to these brave and courageous people.