The topic tonight was going to be the Texas Rangers baseball team. But we will save that for another day. Why the change? My congregation surprised me this evening by recognizing this October as my tenth anniversary here. That does not mean that I was thinking they forgot it. What I am saying is they went above and beyond the proverbial call of duty. So let me thank FBC Tatum on behalf of me and mine for their kindness. You are appreciated in ways you do not know. It was a great time of eating fish, hearing gospel singing, and being taken unaware by the terrific people in the congregation.

Doing ministry as a job is really one of the strangest jobs in existence. There are times when my greatest wish is to be totally honest about the bizarre aspects that come with this territory. Again, I do not say this to be mean or to disparage the work of ministry. One thing that I usually tell people is that it can be fairly easy sometimes to be a minister. There are also many times when it is the no win scenario. You could not pay some people any amount of money to do some of the things which come my way. I don't blame people for that. This is one reason why there must be a sense of divine calling to do church work. You would need to be assured of God's resources before you tackled this career. My most rewarding moments take place in doing ministry. But my all time lowest experiences also take place with church work. To quote Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." This is church life at its most basic element.

Ministry is a strange job all its own. Let me try to illustrate. You can read books or gain information from the business world that will help you do ministry. But doing ministry is not a business that one can just manage. You can study in the fields of behavioral science for help in carrying out the duties of a minister. However, being a minister is far more than doing counseling. You might even gain insight from athletic coaches for dealing with people in ministry. Yet, the minister is not a coach only. There are an unlimited number of educational disciplines one may study that will sharpen the skills of a minister. You will still discover that being a minister contains aspects of all of the above yet remains in a niche beyond them. It may help to study on public speaking in order to better teach or preach. Again, doing ministry is more than being a public speaker each week. Perhaps you get a glimpse of what I am trying to tell you.

What is the most important thing for the minister to know or learn? I can only speak for myself in this answer. The skills of doing ministry came very slowly for me. My concept of doing this was pretty much limited to the teaching/preaching area when I began. Any other skills that I do or do not possess are the result of lots of trial and error. You can be assured that my weaknesses stand out to me as much as they may to you. But just learning skills is not the most important thing that I learned. I needed to know my own personality or gifts in the way God wired me. One unfortunate truth of this was the discovery that He made me a little on the weird side. Let's hope there are not too many others out there like me. But you should also know that my confidence is that however God wired me means He can do stuff through me that few if any others can do. This is not meant to be bragging. It is just what it is.

Thank you again to all who shared in marking this anniversary. Being a minister is a weird and wonderful blend of making the moments matter in the lives of others. My greatest hope is to come through this treatment for my disease so I can return to active duty. We may return this week again to this topic. Some may want or perhaps some would need to know more of my views on ministry. Just be sure to know that I want to always do my best. Also be assured that there will be far too many times when that best will fall short. We can make each other better in church life by patience and mercy. We need that from God. We also need it from one another.

Bro. Trey