“Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night, in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands, in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord!
A shout-out to pastors who have been serving in the night watch – this is for you…
To you who have borne the heat of the day and the weight of the work and the fatiguing labor – well done!
To you who have borne with the complaints of the saints and the scorn of the world and the whisper campaign of the devil – well done!
To you who have lost relationships and have been accused and condemned, and slandered – Christ comforts you.
To you whose churches have grown and whose churches have shrunk and whose churches have closed – well done! You’ve fought the good fight. May you lift up your soul to Christ and find His peace. God’s not done with you.
To you who have wrestled with depression and self-accusation and the floods have rolled over your soul – there is One who stands with you!
To you who have grappled with doubts and struggled with fears and toiled with anxiety – well done!
To you who have gone down into the Valley of Elah and emerged with the giant’s head – well done!
To you who have labored hard in prayer and in the Word, with pleading and exhortation – well done!
To you who have said stupid things and then rethought and repented – well done!
To you who have said stupid things and have doubled down – repent!
To you who have said hurtful things that have wounded others and then have sought forgiveness and reconciliation – well done!
To you who have said hurtful things that have wounded others and have justified yourself – repent!
If you have failed in your pastoral duties, if you have bowed to temptation – seek forgiveness and receive it – and move on.
If you have not been as thoughtful and sensitive and patient and kind as you should have been – seek God’s forgiveness – and move on.
If you have allowed culture to mock you and bully you so that you aligned yourself with other than the Kingdom of God – repent and move on.
When you move on, the devil can’t move in. When you define yourself by your failures and stumbling and missed cues – the devil moves into your failures and snares your soul. When you move on, the devil can’t move in.
To you who have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, misquoted, and maligned – move on.
To you who have Zoomed and livestreamed and pre-recorded and closed and opened and moved outside and masked and socially distanced and moved inside and roped off every other row and tormented over whether to sing or not to sing – the Lord has never left nor has He ceased to rejoice over you.
To you who have fought The Mask Wars and have lived to tell about it – well done!
To you who will never see some of the people again due to the sifting and shifting that has taken place – I weep with you.
To you who grieve the departure of some of the people into the wilderness of the world – I grieve with you.
To you who mourn the emerging indifference of some of the people and the barrenness of their soul – I mourn with you.
To you who have kept Jesus and the love of God at the forefront of your ministry and have refused to bow to the golden statue of King Culture – well done!
To you who have refused to bow to the Golden Calf of religious and spiritual compromise – well done!
To you who have not given yourself to hatred and bitterness and resentment – well done! Hate and bitterness and resentment are like a motel flashing the VACANCY sign. The devil loves hate and bitterness and resentment. These are like the Presidential Suite to him – there’s so much room for him to stretch out.
“Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night, in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands, in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord!
Thank you for serving through the night watch – well done!
Tim Brown has been in some sort of ministry since February of 1973 – as a youth pastor, an assistant pastor, and a senior pastor. Tim planted Calvary Chapel Fremont in January of 1997 and continues to pastor there. Tim has been married since August of 1976 to Fran. They have three children and nine grandchildren.
