What's Next?

The number one question I get this time of year is: What's next? Church members want to know what I plan to do now that the Christmas musical is over, choir members want to know what we are doing for Easter, and the pastor wants to know what my plans are for the coming year. Many people get stressed just by being asked what plans they have, but not a worship pastor.

Worship pastors always live out of season. While everyone else is planning what to do for the Easter block party, you can bet that your worship pastor is working on the final plans for the Christmas program. While you are enjoying the latest Christmas CD, your worship pastor is probably listening to patriotic music. I know from personal experience that the planning stage for a large Christmas program takes a minimum of 11 months preparation. This past program took almost two years from start to finish.

Planning months or even years in advance is necessary in order to complete any large scale project. The old axiom "When you fail to plan you plan to fail" is very true in almost every case. Yet some people will argue that planning does not allow for the Holy Spirit to move freely. When I hear that argument I am reminded of my seminary years...

One of my many jobs while at seminary was as a desk clerk in the men's dorm. I jokingly told people I was a bartender because many of the residents would stop by to talk to me about their day, their classes, their girlfriend or lack thereof, their jobs, their church, etc. Most of these men were serving as preaching pastors at local churches. One day two men were standing inside my small office talking about their current sermon series. One pastor asked another what he was preaching on the next Sunday. He responded that he really wasn't sure yet and that he probably was going to just let the Holy Spirit guide him on Sunday. I interrupted the conversation taking place directly in front of my desk and said, "Well God has known since the beginning of time what you should preach this Sunday.  You really need to ask Him before Sunday gets here what He wants you to say."

...I could not believe how small this man's view of God was at that moment. Do people really believe that God just wings it on Sundays? Why do people act as if God waits until His Holy Spirit is moving among people to decide what we should be doing? God knows exactly what He wants us to do and He wants us to spend enough time with Him to discover His plans. Planning is not eliminating God's ability to move freely, planning allows God more freedom when we are following His plan.

Randy Von Kanel baptizing
in the Caribbean Sea off of
Grand Cayman Island

I am always looking for the next "big thing" that God wants to do. This is probably a result of the training by my mentors. I had two wonderful mentors as I was beginning my ministry. They both taught me how to look for where God is working and how to have total dependance on God.

Dr. Randy Von Kanel, current pastor of Cayman Islands Baptist Church on Grand Cayman, was my pastor as a teenager. He started his mentoring when I volunteered for a summer mission position in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Recently Randy commented that he has always thought of me as his son in the ministry. I understand because I have always thought of our relationship as similar to that of Paul and Timothy. I can never imagine reaching the same level as Randy in any regard, yet Randy taught me to strive to be like Christ, not like any man.

When I started as a lowly volunteer music minister on staff at Temple Baptist Church in Big Point, Mississippi, Randy Von Kanel became my friend and life long mentor. I was somewhat afraid to make decisions when I first started, because Randy had a college degree in music while I was simply a seventeen-year-old high school trumpet player. Randy never once tried to micromanage the music ministry while I was there. He never suggested the songs or hymns that I should use. He never commented on how I directed the choir or the congregational singing. Instead, Randy focused on teaching me how to use my skills and education to disciple others.

Dr. Melvin and Gloria Wells
with a Thailand Handbell Choir

My second mentor was Dr. Melvin Wells while I was a seminary student. I served as a volunteer music ministry assistant at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Melvin was the worship pastor there at the time. He became like a second Paul in my ministry. Melvin taught me how to worship freely and how to love people. We are not anything alike in personality; Melvin is very laid back and relaxed while I am hyper and always on the go. But the way Melvin handled ministry and even conflicts showed Christ every step of the way.

Melvin was a risk-taker as well. One year he went on a month-long mission trip to Singapore just before Christmas. While gone, he asked me to lead the adult choir during their Christmas musical preparation. He was to return the Wednesday evening before the actual program, so I had the massive responsibility of making sure everyone was really ready for the actual program. If Melvin had been anyone else I probably would have been in panic mode the entire time, but his calm reassurance of my abilities allowed me to focus on the task at hand and not worry about what he would think when he returned.

Melvin also introduced me to another major influence on my life: his brother-in-law, Henry Blackaby. Henry's "Experiencing God" bible study radically transformed my ministry. I have taught the study to at least a dozen small groups throughout the years. Setting spiritual mileposts, seeking to do God-sized things, and looking for where God is at work and joining Him have all been such major contributions to my ministry style. Once you learn to recognize and listen to God's voice, it is easy to have complete faith that God will work out the difficult to understand details of life.

When I find it difficult to figure out what God is doing or what He wants me to do, I remember the seven realities that I learned from "Experiencing God":

• God is always at work around you.
• God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
• God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
• God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
• God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a "crisis of belief" that requires faith and action.
• You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
• You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

What's next? God has many things planned for the coming year. Look around to see where He is working and then go join Him for the ride of your life.