Come Apart or Come Apart

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Mark 6:31

I find it interesting that Jesus felt it necessary to take his disciples away into a desert place for rest.....

Come apart, Jesus said.......

Ministry is a most unique profession.....

Tis not a career for careers can be picked up and laid down...

The call never quits calling....

The call never rests....

The call seems to demand more and more of those that answer it.....

The spiritual meter of the called seems to do OK....

But the physical and emotional meters often are maxed out to the point of continued fatigue.....

Life for me has come to the place that the only way I get a day off is to leave town.....

Then on more than one occasion in the past year the leaving town thing did not work.....

A few months ago I took Tracie out of town for a couple of days of hideaway....

It took all day to clear the city limits and we arrived at our destination at 1 a.m.....

At 3 a.m. the phone rang......

And at 5 a.m. I was checked out at back on the road to home.....

Every minister has been there.....

Jesus seemed to know this and told his disciples to "Come apart".....

Seems to me.....

The minister who never Comes Apart will soon Come Apart.....

We all work hard.....

We all endeavor to maintain our spiritual life....

But we ignore the warning signs of our emotions and bodies.....

I have seen too many preachers Come Apart because they failed to Come Apart.....

Here are a couple of secrets the years have taught me.....

Coming Apart takes at least 6 days.....

It takes five days to disconnect from home and church and budgets and people and stuff....

On day six of a vacation the minster is finally disconnected enough be able to really recreate....

And we must recreate so we can re create......

Preacher Man....

Take that family and go for at least a week.....

It does not have to be fancy and expensive.....

But go.....

Disconnect and go.....

That church will make it without you....

Probably will do better the week you are gone than if you stayed and slopped your way through another Sunday....

The offering will probably be better with you gone too.....

The second thing I have come to learn is .......

Coming Apart cannot be done with church people.....

If one endeavours to Come Apart with church people he is insuring things will Come Apart down the road.....

If you go with the church people you cannot be you....

You will still be pastor....

Leave those folks behind.....

Go....

They need to rid of you for a few days.....

If you don't Come Apart you will Come Apart......

Preacher Man you need to take the time and go.....

Look around....

If you feel you absolutely cannot be gone...

You are already much less valuable to that church and your family than you realize....

You might fell you cannot afford to pay a preacher while you are gone.....

Let a preacher boy have a chance....

Either he will do good and surprise everybody....

Or it will be so bad the church will rejoice when you get back.....

Win win if you ask me....

You may not be able to afford a vacation......

Go home to mom's.....

Go to your mother n laws......

Go sit on a beach and listen to waves....

Go find some trees and watch leaves fall.....

Go to the library and check out a stack of books.....

Come Apart my friend....

Or you will Come Apart......

Tracie and just came back from a Come Apart.....

Our church was gracious and gave us a very extravagant 3 days.....

But then we Came Apart in grand style...

Last minute deals on Travelocity.....

Food from Sonic and bags of popcorn going down the road....

Walks down the beach.....

Naps......

We came home without spending all we had budgeted to spend.....

The services at home were blowouts....

The offerings were great.....

Visitors came.....

What more could a pastor ask for?

My brother....

Come Apart before you Come Apart.....

You probably need it much more than you will admit....

Blessings....

rks