It was an interesting title for a conference, especially when most of the conferences these days are related to mega-churches. This one was named the “Ordinary Pastor’s Conference” and sponsored by my home church, Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX. The stated purpose was, “to encourage, instruct and bless the ordinary, average, vanilla flavored, mega-nuthin pastor and his wife.” The instruction was given early in the day that the one thing that was illegal was to ask another pastor how many he had attending his church. This conference was not about numbers, but about encouragement. For a first year conference it was well attended. More will attend next year as the conference becomes better known. Invited to lead a break-out session on “When All Else Fails . . . Pray,” I was unsure who might attend. Would I have a room full of ordinary pastors, or would I have less than ordinary pastors striving to become ordinary, or would it be extraordinary pastors fearful of becoming ordinary? All in all, it was a wonderful day, filled with affirmation. This much I re-learned: All pastors are ordinary. As they enjoy the prayer support of ordinary friends, they are empowered by an extraordinary God to be more than ordinary. Now that’s encouraging.
For more from Dr. Dan, go to www.discipleallnations.org/blog and read "Dr. Dan's Monday Morning Manna."
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