When God Says "No"

I was 33 years old and minister of evangelism at the largest, most prestigious church (of our denomination at least) in the state. A few months earlier, our pastor had left and the leadership had handed me the assignment of preaching every three Sundays, every Wednesday night, and doing the Tuesday men’s Bible study for 150 fellows. All of that in addition to my regular duties.

I loved it.

One day, the chairman of the pastor search committee visited my cubby-hole of an office. “Joe,” said Paul Moak. “Do you believe God wants you to be pastor of this church?” What a question. Definitely a stunner that caught me off guard. But I knew the answer.

“No, sir,” I said without hesitation.

“Neither do we,” he said. (That seems funnier now than it did at the time.)

“But there’s a movement to make you the pastor of the church,” he said. Read More