My first pastorate behind me, in the fall of 1972 we packed all our belongings and headed south to Yorkshire where I became the pastor of Bethesda Church in Swallownest, a village nestled between Sheffield, Rotherham and the M1, with a major road running through the middle of it. The “we” I speak of included the new addition to our family who had arrived earlier that year, our first child Charlotte Elizabeth, born in Dryburn Hospital, Durham in the early hours of February 9th.

Bethesda had been in the community since 1934. It was not a huge congregation – though double what there had been in Birtley – and never had been. It was a solid, steady church whose previous pastor had retired and they were now looking for younger leadership. They got that – I was 22 years old.

We were in Swallownest for four years, living in the manse/ parsonage right next to the church building and while my ministry seemed to help a number of people, I know I learned a lot too.

1. I learned that for a church to be effective it must harness technology. It almost sounds laughable now, but back then a radical move for us was recording our services on new-fangled cassette recorders and taking the recording to people’s homes so they could hear it. No fast-copiers in those days, but it worked.

2. I learned to do what is right and live with the consequences. I hit some major issues within the church and being a novice, this was the first time I had ever come across them. I knew that to deal with them would rock the boat, but I did what I had to do. Good leaders don’t shy away from tough decisions.

3. I learned that as Christians we speak a language of our own. I still smile when I think of the new believer who kept raising her hand during my Bible studies to ask questions. Truth is, I was preaching in a whole other language and was certainly not communicating with her.

4. I learned that getting kids out of their home setting for a week can be life-changing. We focused a lot on our children’s outreaches in Swallownest, much as we had in Birtley. My policy was to see regeneration from the ground up. During those years we spent some marvelous weeks at Bonsall Camp in Derbyshire and saw a lot of kids get really anchored in Jesus.

5. I learned that living beside the church is not a good thing. I became the odd-job man, the boiler lighter and the security guard. It also meant that whenever something was missing from our kitchen, it was probably because I had taken it over to the church kitchen to be used there.

6. I learned the incredible blessing of having good friends living nearby. For some of the time we were in Swallownest, my friend Ian Jennings was pastoring in nearby Doncaster. We loved having him and Barbara so close, but sadly after some time he moved on to another church, in south Wales. Weird note here, Ian is now the Anglican Rector of the parish that includes Swallownest.

7. I learned that God often opens unexpected doors to ministry. While I was in Swallownest I started receiving invitations to speak at conferences and conventions in other parts of the country, so that while Bethesda was my focus, I was able to function in a wider arena too.

Those were four good years, not spectacular, but solid which fits with the character of the church. I was invited back to Bethesda in the late 70’s to speak at the dedication of their refurbished building – and the photo above is from then.

While the past nineteen years of pastoring have been spent here in New York, I started out a world away at the Assembly of God in Birtley, County Durham, England. Both the town and the church had seen better days. With the pits closing down all around, this coal mining community was suffering incredibly high unemployment. The church to which I had been called now had 30 people at Sunday services whereas some years before that number was nearer 300.

It was July, 1970. There were challenges all around.

I only pastored that congregation for two years, but I learned a lot of things in that time.

1. I learned that God always provides. We had to get by on an understandably meagre income and yet we could tell story after story to this day of how God helped us through time and again.

2. I learned that however much some church members say they want things to change, most of them really don’t. All they want is a different outcome, but they want to continue to do things the same way. Pardon me, but isn’t that the definition of insanity?

3. I learned that people may applaud your suggestions, but that doesn’t mean they’ll lift a finger to implement them. Like when we agreed to change the seating layout in the church and had to move 300 fixed seats that had been screwed to the floor for decades. In the end I did most of it myself – without any power tools.

4. I learned to prioritize young people. We developed a strong children’s program and got a teen ministry under way. One of those teens is now a prominent church leader in the UK – not that I’m claiming any significant part in that.

5. I learned that the first benefit of Bible study is to the person doing the studying. We never had much of a crowd at our mid-week teaching services – like four to six people – but I put everything I could into them, so the time spent in God’s word enriched me.

6. I learned that preaching three times a week demands a whole lot of preparation. We had two Sunday services in addition to our Thursday evening Bible Study. I was a sermon machine, rolling them out. It was another world from preaching a couple of times a month which I had done prior to and during Bible College.

7. I learned that friendships keep you going. It was so good to be able to compare notes with friends from college who were starting out in ministry too. So good to know I wasn’t the only one finding it far tougher than I had imagined. And it’s great that we’re still connected to this day.

8. I learned to appreciate the other churches in the town. The local ministers’ fraternal reached out to me, inviting me to join them for their monthly meetings and I came to value each one of them – even dear old Father Joseph who couldn’t offer a closing prayer at one of our get-togethers because the poor guy had not brought a prayer book. Jesus doesn’t want us to be isolationists.

9. I learned to ask for advice and input from pastors around me who had been at it way longer than me. I gained so much benefit from men like Herbert Harrison over in Newcastle, Clyde Young in Sunderland and George Stout in Gateshead. They had a lot of time for this roookie pastor and were genuinely interested in being there for me. Guess that’s why I enjoy paying that bit forward nowadays.

10. I learned that you put in a lot of hours every week as a pastor. For the first couple of months I kept a time sheet, because since I was my own boss I wanted to be sure I worked a fair number of hours. I gave that up after a very short while and have never needed it since. I don’t make the mark on every level, but I am no slacker.

When we left Birtley in 1972, the church was marginally stronger but in all honesty not significantly different. Yet I was different. My training was continuing – out there in the real church world.

+ I sat in this chair a couple of hours ago and honestly don’t expect to move far from it before I go to bed early this evening. The Mets are not riveting viewing right now, but they’re a great excuse to sit and do nothing.

+ Our missions team has arrived safely in New Orleans, all 21 of them. Praying they have a great week serving victims of Katrina and in turn being built up themselves.

+ This morning officially launched me into my 5th decade of pastoral ministry. I guess this could well be the last, which doesn’t mean I’m planning an exit strategy. Just saying I don’t know where I’ll be physically, mentally or whatever else when I turn 70.

+ We were stretched thin with volunteers in Ronkonkoma today, with a number of key people vacationing or committed elsewhere, but we pulled it off. Good service.

+ Very happy to have Randy Altschuler share with us at both campuses. He’s standing for Congress as a Conservative/Republican in November. Great guy, principled guy, smart guy. Looking forward to seeing him elected and representing us in Washington.

+ Matt Margiotta has been leading worship for us in Ronkonkoma for most of the past two months. Love the guy. Great spirit, gifted worship leader – sadly he’s headed back south to school soon, so today was his last day with us for a while.

+ Over in Mastic Todd Davidson was back leading worship. Looking forward to seeing a bit more of him in the future.

+ 40th Anniversary cakes at both locations, but I swear I never touched a single piece. How’s that for self-control and the awareness of my WW monthly staff weigh-in tomorrow?

+ Enjoyed reading cards from some of the wonderful people that I am privileged to pastor. They really are too kind.

+ Started the teaching series Confessions Of A Veteran Pastor by talking about pushing through self-doubt and insecurity to achieve what God wants us to. Gideon was a great model of that. As the preacher said, God often takes a situation that is impossible and makes it plain ridiculous. Then he brings us through.

+ So, here’s to the past 40 years and now let’s get into the next 10 … and beyond?

Tomorrow morning I will get up early and do what I have done for exactly forty years this weekend, go preach at the church I am currently privileged to lead.

I’ll write a bit more about those years over the next few days as I’ve been thinking through some of the things I’ve learned in each congregation I’ve served, but for today I want to say how grateful I am to God for the joy of spending the whole of my working life to date doing something I love to do.

My life has been full of people – it has been all about people – and there have been outstanding folks alongside me every step of the journey.

Tens of thousands of pastors leave the ministry every year and the fact that I have kept going is nothing whatever to do with my being some kind of superhero. It has everything to do with the support I have received from three special people who have been with me for all or almost all of these years.

I would not be pastoring myself today if it were not for the love, support and encouragement I have received from the woman I met in Bible School, married before I graduated and who was with me from day one. Gill is a remarkable woman and a wonderful wife.

My two children have also been a source of great encouragement and support. They were born into a pastor’s home of course, but they have been my biggest cheerleaders all along the way.

I may be the pastor, but I couldn’t be that without them.

+ It’s 4.30 in the afternoon and I have been awake for more than 12 hours, but there’s still a lot of Sunday ahead as we fly out to Dallas this evening to spend a few days with Jonathan and the kids. Grandchildren are the best!

+ Not sure why I woke up so early, dozed off a bit around 5.30 I guess and then overslept by 15 minutes. Maybe I should havve just got up at 4.00am? Nah!

+ Loved the morning at Church At The Movies. Two great stories coming.

+ The first is that I met a first-time visitor who had run into one of our guys in the Apple store during the week. He was wearning one of our Keepin’ It Real church t-shirts and she was curious about it. She even took a photo! That conversation brought her to our Ronkonkoma campus this morning. Keep wearing your church shirts – and keep talking.

+ In Mastic I met a first-time guest who has just moved here from Missouri. I forget the exact wording, but he had found us by Googling something like Churches without church buildings. And it brought him to us. Seemed he had a good morning too.

+ Rohan did a first-rate job of leading worship for us in Ronkonkoma. He was clearly a bit nervous to start with, but he soon got into his stride. I’ve seen him do it loads of times in India – the guy’s good. Thanks to Matt for taking Rohan’s spot on the drums today.

+ Frank finished off our Family Matters teaching series with some superb stuff on parenting teens. The man’s a star. I maybe should be embarassed that we have such a wealth of teachers in one church, but I’m not!

+ Had friends with us from India overnight. They are visiting relatives upstate and came to see us. It was good to catch up with them and enjoy lunch together at The Curry Club.

+ Our set-up team really cranked it out in Ronkonkoma – they were outstanding.

+ Prayed over our New Orleans missions team, leaving next Sunday to help down there. 21 people all set for this adventure and another 13 headed down to Haiti six weeks later. Gotta love folks who get it.

+ Did I say Frank was great today?

+ Wish I’d heard that stuff when our kids were teens. I think they survived our amateur child-raising efforts anyway. Well, I’m extremely proud of them.

+ Fulfilling part of my promise to myself for this year by making more time for the family. I only got to see Ben and Emily once last year and that was not enough. So I’m going to give them my undivided attention for the next four days. I see plenty of swimming in my future.

+ Okay, time to shower and get out the door. An on time flight must be about due for me by now!

Looking forward to what I expect to be a long and rewarding day tomorrow as I make a one-day visit to Washington, D.C. An old friend I haven’t seen for several years, David Baird, is the lead pastor of www.thelifechurch.me just outside of the nation’s capital and I want to spend a few hours picking his brain.

My longstanding friend, Wally Odum, has made The Life Church his home base as he continues an exhaustive traveling ministry of encouraging pastors and churches all over the country. So I’ll get to hang with two great guys, eat some good food, reminisce, put the world straight and address a subject that is front and center for me right now – discipling new Christians.

David, like us, has been blessed with a continuing stream of people coming to faith in Jesus and I have been impressed by some of the things I’ve heard about how he helps these converts get grounded in the Christian faith and in the local church. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I figured maybe some of the things they’re doing well at The Life Church would be transferable and would work in NY. So we’ll see.

Road trip starts just after 6.00am and should end around 1.00am Wednesday.

+ Another full Sunday is winding down – well, I’m winding down whatever the day is doing.

+ Spent the first couple of hours of my morning at the Ronkonkoma campus, but left as service started to head over to the Mastic campus early.

+ John Bernor was teaching today. Man, he was good – I mean really good. Our Family Matters series is hitting right where folks are needing some Bible-based help.

+ It was a bit thin at Ronkonkoma – vacation time! – but I was happy to see new faces again. We need to set up a Meet The Pastors evening to get to know all the people who’ve started coming in the past couple of months.

+ Need to do the same in Mastic too. Big crowd there today.

+ Looks like our Haiti team for September is about in place. A number of first-time missions team members. Excellent.

+ Ate lunch at the Metropolis Diner. Like that place.

+ Arrived home around 2.00 and left again at 3.00 to get over to Bellport for the 5k Bellport Clipper Race.

+ Saw a number of friends over there. That was cool.

+ Running when it’s sunny and 84 wouldn’t be my favorite past-time, but I enjoyed the race.

+ Didn’t come in dead last. Waiting for the official results to be published.

+ I don’t run to win – that isn’t going to happen. I run because I can.

+ Now I’m shot, but this has been another very good day.

Thanks to the great 21st century innovation called Facebook, earlier today with incredible ease I was able to invite a couple of hundred people to join us at Church At The Movies on what will be a landmark Sunday for me.

Two weeks from now, July 25th, will mark 40 years since I conducted my very first service as a pastor – at the Assembly of God in Birtley, County Durham, England. A world away from Long Island, New York.

As a very young pastor looking out over around 250 empty seats every Sunday, plus a couple of dozen occupied ones, I would never have dreamed where my path in ministry would take me.

My only goal in 1970 was to build that struggling church into the first mega-church in the north east of England. Of course we didn’t talk about mega-churches in those days, so I guess my real dream was simply to develop the biggest church in that part of the country.

That little building on Edward Road never did become a mega church.

Forty years have gone and I still haven’t built one. Few people do. We know the names of those who pastor mega-churches – like Rick Warren, Craig Groeschel, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, Mark Driscoll, Ed Young  – we know them because what they have done is unusual.

Back in the 90’s I watched a movie that I constantly recommend – Mr.Holland’s Opus – it’s the story of one man’s mission to build something big in his lifetime and of his eventual discovery that generally the big thing is often simply the sum total of a whole lot of small things.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll probably say quite a bit about the 40 years that have passed and the years that are ahead. I’ll be celebrating every little detail I can remember, because they come together to make up something very special – and the best part is, there’s more to follow.

Despite the fact that I run fairly regularly, I haven’t entered a race for almost three years. The main reason is that most races are on Saturday or Sunday mornings and I’m totally committed both those days already.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no athlete and don’t expect to come near the top finishers in my category, despite moving into the 60 to 64 years old age range. It’s just the fact that after a lifetime of obesity I can at last run a race and cross the finishing line that is so satisfying.

As I warm up for Sunday’s 5K Bellport Clipper race, I’m being reminded that running on the road in temperatures of 80+ is way different to being on a treadmill in an air conditioned gym. This morning’s run kicked my butt, so tomorrow I need to go out and do better. No one is forcing me to do it and Jillian Michaels is not screaming in my ear. I have to push myself harder.

Living to our full potential is all about making good decisions and those are not always the most attractive. It’s taking an egg whites omelette instead of a burger when you eat out. It’s going to bed at a sensible time instead of hanging out half the night. It’s reading the Bible when there are a hun dred other things you could be doing. It’s choosing church before beach.

It’s taking control of your own life and your own destiny.

Pushing yourself is not optional.

Unlike their American cousins, whom they sometimes consider to be loud, the British are generally not great conversationalists. While they are unquestionably capable of weighty interaction with friends or colleagues, engaging a stranger is really looked upon as being quite unnecessary.

When sitting in the same room and pressed to acknowledge the presence of another person of the same species, the average Brit will be racking his brain for something coherent to utter. And I can guarantee that what will come from his lips when he eventually breaks the silence will be a comment about the weather.

Of course the unpredictability of the climate in the old country does lend itself to comment. The weather is always news.

Here in New York today the weather has definitely been news. Mid 90’s and humid is almost as hot as it gets for us and that’s the way it’s forecast to stay all week.

Standing in my drive earlier, I was trying to picture it as I had seen it on December 20th of last year with 28″ of snow, all of which needed to be cleared. It was difficult to pull that image from the back of my brain on a day when I was sweating from the simple effort needed just to stand there.

Seasons change – dramatically.

Life changes – sometimes dramatically.

God never changes – that’s dramatic!