Pastor Goes Pregaming

October is considered National Clergy Month - and the second Sunday of October is Clergy Appreciation Day. This holiday has been around since 1992 with a mission of uplifting and encouraging pastors, ministers, and religious workers. 

Did you know that nearly 77% of all Americans (318.9 million citizens) identify themselves as Christians? Certainly this number includes every one of us within the four walls of this building, yet imagine for every 100 people we encounter daily, 77 of them say they are of our faith. Of the 245.6 million Christians, we have 44,000 people serving as pastors, ministers, and religious leaders. In other words, one pastor serves an average of  5,581 members in - or out - of the physical house of God. Of course, the numbers are not broken down by religion (mainline Protestants, Catholics, nondenominational, etc.) but you get the point:  the pastor encounters a lot of people daily who may or may not see God living through actions and words throughout the week. 

It's easy saying #IamAChristian. The hard work is following ALL of God's commandments, not just cherry picked ones. pic.twitter.com/B7w0o3jM0y

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) October 4, 2015

Here at Mount Zion, we observe Pastor Green's anniversary on the second Sunday in December, so let us consider the seven hundred words or so as a sort of pregaming. As a younger man, pregaming meant getting ready for the larger event ahead; it happens every Saturday during college football season - every SEC fan does it. That meant loading up the trucks and SUVs with food, drinks, tables, charcoal (or wood), firestarters, tents, and anything else we need before the tailgate party and game at the stadium; for some brothers, pregaming was a time to begin the festivities even earlier - as in the night before!

How does this tie in with National Clergy Appreciation Month? 

1 Peter 4:10 reminds us that God has given each of us some special abilities; be sure to help each other, passing on to God's many different kinds of blessings.

Thank you for continuously studying God's word and putting it into expressed thoughts that we all can understand and carry with us throughout the week. 

Thank you for being who you are and what you do throughout the year. Trust us, you're appreciated more than you think or may ever know. By sharing God's love through the spoken word and manner in which you conduct your daily life, you are making a difference in a sin-sick world that sorely needs a light. Is it easy? No. That is what makes our pastor a special man. Keep on preaching and teaching God's Word to a people who need to hear it, and continue to live with a servant's heart that sets you apart from those who are in it for the fame, fancy cars, McMansions, or the big piece of Popeye's chicken. Consider today as pregaming before the anniversary date. As William Becton told us back in 1996, be encouraged no matter what's going on for He'll make it all right.