The "P" word

Never been called the “P” word before. The title made me uncomfortable at first. It always felt like something you “are” rather than something you “do.” Like calling a person who drinks water a drinker. A person who breathes air, a “breather.” You my friend would be called a “reader.”
 
I’ve seen the title deified and trivialized by Pastors and members alike. Role identification and organization are essential for the motion of the movement at any given moment. I find however than when a name is assigned to anything, it becomes bureaucratic. Not sure if that is the right word. I’ll use it in a sentence:
 
“His mother, Olivia Caceres, sought asylum weeks later and — after enduring one bureaucratic hurdle after another, including a DNA test — was reunited with her son nearly three months after he was taken away.” --Thanks Dictionary.com
 
The “S” Word
All of this to say I prefer to be called the “S” word. That is a “servant.” It’s how I infiltrated the system and maneuvered my way into your pulpit. It’s how I became Associate Pastor, namely Associate Servant. This was not my doing to be quite honest. I just thought the whole infiltration maneuvering bit sounded kind of cool. It is the working of God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ll explain how.
 
Call me Jonah
Not because you “readers” are Ninevites, (no judgment if by some chance you happen to be Ninevite by blood, thanks genealogy.com) Rather because I purposed in my heart to become a disciple of Christ whether I was being paid to do it or not. After a year and a half as a Bible worker in Nebraska City, I received the unofficial training Moses received for 40 years after killing that Egyptian (No worries, my background check came back clean). Call me Jonah because I was certain God was not going to use me in the capacity of a Pastor. It was too complicated, and the time wasted on trying to “become” was time better spent “being” a servant. So I ran, thanks Jonah.
 
Coming Up Next
If you knew the story of how complicated it was for me to become a pastor, you would be amazed. It was the complication of permanently closed doors that proved to me and my wife that this was the path God had in mind. It was at every step of impossibility that I had to surrender my will to “give up,” and rest securely in the One who opens doors. Coming up next, I would like to share how I was able to be the servant God wanted me to become.
 
Pastor Fred