Will Langford

“ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. ”   Exodus 20:8-10 ESV One of the greatest ironies of my ministry was how often I felt guilty for taking time to rest.  I can’t even count the times I preached about the importance of trusting God, yet I hesitated to take time off because I feared things would fall apart.  I often encouraged others in our church to slow down, but I constantly...

“ For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God?   Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. ”   Galatians 1:10 HCSB   I just read this verse again, and boy, is it humbling!  Perhaps you can identify with this, but for most of my ministry, I carried a very quiet and relentless pressure… the feeling that I had to please everybody in the congregation!  Of course, I would not have said that out loud for anyone to hear,...

“ But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair .” 2 Corinthians 4:7–8 (ESV) Make no mistake about it... both pastors and ministry leaders carry a specific kind of weight, often unseen by the people under their care.  There’s the weight of teaching and preaching God’s Word, shepherding those who hurt and need direction, managing the unexpected,...