“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV).
“In a healthy organization, if you replace yourself, you’re always going to have a place.” – Andy Stanley
“So,” You ask. “What’s up with the new website?”
Great question. Let me explain. I’ve always enjoyed teaching others how to study God’s Word and how to teach and preach it. But about ten years ago I started to really get serious about developing a teaching team at our church. I was approaching 50 years of age and I wanted to pass on what I’d learned to younger men. I also wanted to develop a stable of preachers that could share the pulpit with me and to move our church away from the possibility of being personality driven (When you’re the church planter, this is always a risk).
In short, I started to work on replacing myself.
Now, before you begin asking whether I’m dying, leaving or retiring. The answer is “No.” Only the Father knows the day of my death and I’m still full of spiritual fire and vision for leading our church.
No, the reason I’m working on replacing myself is because that’s part of what it means to make disciples. Certainly, I feel called to share the gospel, lead people to faith in Jesus, and to teach the Word to them in order to equip them to maturity. But I also have a special sense of calling to raise up “faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
In the last five years or so, the Lord has given me not only a great teaching team, but He has given me opportunity to train pastors and teachers internationally in countries like Guatemala and Uganda. In addition, the Lord has given our church a heart to plant churches in our “Judea,” which is Eastern NC. So in 2015, we launched a new church in Rocky Mount, NC. Having two locations with two pulpits to fill has made the need for replacing myself doubly important.
It was these new opportunities in both our Judea and in the world that got me talking to our Executive Pastor, Jonathan Minter, about how we could put my daily Bible devotions, blog posts and sermons online. I wanted a site that was searchable by Scripture, topic and date. A place where a Bible student, teacher or pastor might find help and encouragement in their studies and preparations to teach and preach.
So, here it is! It is still a work in progress. We still only have sermons back to 2012 (we plan to have them all the way back to 1992 eventually). We’re also working on including sermon transcripts of the sermons for those who might prefer reading the sermons over listening or watching them, or even reading along while listening.
I want to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for His grace towards me in not only saving me, but also giving me this wonderful desire to teach His Word to others. I also want to thank Pastor Jonathan Minter for his excellent and hard work in building this site. He is also a gift of God to me.
May the Lord bless those who find this site useful. May they be equipped and encouraged in its use. May God get all the glory for it!
And may this article encourage you to consider how you are working to replace yourself!
This is great! I work in an environment that has a lot of different people. There is always a lot of noise, distractions and sometimes conversation you don’t want to listen to. I usually spend the day listening to books, music, sermons and Bible studies while I work. I will definitely add this to my repertoire. Thank you for being faithful and obedient to sharing the gospel.
Thank you for the encouragement, Susan!
Sounds awesome to me!!