This week we are looking at one man’s journey through church planting and the nine lessons he learned during that journey. Make sure you catch his first two insights.

Today we’ll look at lessons three and four:

#3 - Problem: We didn’t take very many family vacations

Reason: We didn’t want to leave the church. And financially, we didn’t want to spend the money.

Solution: Budget for, plan and go on vacation with our family at least 1 week per year.

I have been guilty of this transgression before. And left unchecked, it is a real danger for me and I think it’s a real danger for most men in ministry. Jesus went out into the wilderness to get away from ministry and people. If the Son Of God had to get away to be alone, don’t you think we do?

Everybody’s idea of vacation is different. Some consider a long weekend down to the lake a good vacation. Some feel it has to be a more official destination. Whatever it is, taking time to get away with just you and your family away from the pressures and demands of ministry is essential. God call you to lead your family first, not the church. Remembering that is a critical issue. And I’m thankful that this was one of the lessons learned.

#4 - Problem: Frustration with lack of growth and numerical fruit.

Reason: Lack of contentment. Instead of being thankful for what was in front of us, we were frustrated because there wasn’t more.

Solution: Paul learned the secret of contentment, during times of plenty and times of want. We must find the balance of learning to be content without being complacent. We need to stop trying to figure out why things do or don’t happen in the church. When we sense the frustration and discouragement seeping in, we need to contact our accountability partners to pray and receive support and insight.

Here is another one that I would say tens of thousands of pastors struggle with throughout the country and not church planters. However, I would say that church planters have a unique struggle here in the sense that if it doesn’t fly, we feel somehow it invalidates our calling our our abilities to plant. I need to hear this word because I can get obsessed with numbers and use them as validation. However, our mission statement at Eternity says we will labor, not count numbers. In the end, we are rewarded and commended for our faithfulness to the labor, not for the harvest. Only God gets credit for that.

More tomorrow…