A Pastor’s Perspective

“Goals for 2010” by Mike Hill, pastor of Calvary Chapel Aberdeen.  Listen to Calvary Radio on 90.3 FM.

Good coaches encourage their players to set goals to improve their strength and skill.  Effective teachers inspire students to aim high toward academic success.  Concert conductors scale up their schedule to plan plenty of practice for the orchestra.  I also discovered a fruitful minister eyes eternity to help guide the future steps of their congregation.

The pastor at a church that I recently visited inspired the congregation to not only set temporal goals such as losing weight or getting more exercise but to set spiritual goals for the New Year.  The Apostle Paul was an extremely fruitful minister and accomplished great things.  How?  He set spiritual goals.  Though he knew that he was already “saved,” that is, his sins were forgiven through faith in Jesus and he was cognizant of his place reserved in heaven, Paul did not slip into spiritual lethargy.  Rather, Christ’s love burned within him, spurring him on to “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” and “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:12b, 13b).  He wanted to experientially know Jesus better and to reflect His character more fully (Philippians 3:10).  Great goals.  Jesus saves us as we are but desires to transforms us more like Him.

I am concerned about many of the decisions our current administration in Washington has made in 2009.  In addition, the attitude our leaders have expressed toward Israel is troubling.  After all, God promised to bless the people who bless Abraham and his descendents, but warned that He will curse those who curse His people (cf. Genesis 12:1-3).  I choose to be a blessing to Israel but our current administration doesn’t appear to share that conviction.  With all these decisions being made beyond my control, I decided an appropriate spiritual goal for 2010 is to dig my roots deeper into the One who is in control.  From the human perspective, it appears truth and righteousness is losing and evil is winning.  However, from the eternal perspective, Jesus is the “ruler over the kings of the earth” and good will ultimately triumph over evil (Revelation 1:5b; and chapters 19-22).  Therefore, my spiritual goal is to know Jesus better through the book of Revelation.  The word “revelation” means “unveiling.”  This book takes the “wraps off” of Jesus concerning His relationship to the Church and the future (Revelation 1:1).  I guarantee that you will get to know Christ better and experience a greater degree of peace concerning the future if you study and apply the teachings of this special prophetic book.  God has even reserved an extraordinary blessing for the one “who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).  God is basically telling us, “READ THIS BOOK!”  Daniel was instructed to “seal up” the prophecies he was recording until “the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4).  Interestingly, we’re told that John was informed, “Do not seal up the prophetic words you have written, for the time is near” (Revelation 22:10 NLT).  I can’t think of a better time than now to read and understand this particular book in the Bible!  

Would you like to get to know Jesus better?  Do you want to dispel fear about the future and experience a greater degree of peace in your heart?  Join me this next year as I incorporate key passages from the book of Revelation into these articles in 2010.  I encourage you to read the book of Revelation ahead.  It’s like knowing the end of a scary movie as you’re watching it—you don’t know how the hero is going to get out of the messy situation but you know that, in the end, the hero wins and the enemies are vanquished.  Jesus will return to the earth that He created to vanquish His enemies who have spurned His love and have refused to submit to His righteous rule.  Jesus will reign forever and His people will share in His glory! (Revelation 5:10; 11:15; 19:20; 20:15; 22:5b; Hebrews 10:29-31).  Jesus said, “Surely I come quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).  God’s goals will be fulfilled.