Oct. 8, 2020

Avoiding Burnout in Abortion Clinic Ministry

Avoiding Burnout in Abortion Clinic Ministry

Any ministry can lead to burnout but especially an intense ministry like sidewalk outreach at an abortion center. In this episode, Vicky and Daniel talk about how to avoid burnout and how to keep from getting crispy.

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Any ministry can lead to burnout but especially an intense ministry like sidewalk outreach at an abortion center. In this episode, Vicky and Daniel talk about how to avoid burnout and how to keep from getting crispy.

https://www.leadershipresources.org/blog/christian-ministry-burnout-prevention-signs-statistics-recovery/

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.799 I Am Yours, I am yours, I am yours. Send Me, 2 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.750 Lord, I am yours. Welcome to the Gospel Center pro life podcast and 3 00:00:10.789 --> 00:00:14.910 this episode we're going to talk about how to Avoid Ministry burnout in ministry at 4 00:00:14.910 --> 00:00:18.230 an abortion clinic. We're going to look at this from a biblical and practical 5 00:00:18.309 --> 00:00:29.059 perspective. So stay tuned. Lord, I felt show passis touch your heart. 6 00:00:34.619 --> 00:00:38.250 Welcome to the Gospel Center prayer life podcast. Appreciate you guys listening. 7 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:44.289 As always, we appreciate you guys commenting in the reviews, especially on Apple 8 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:48.450 Podcast, and give us a good review and sharing this podcast with other people. 9 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:51.119 That's a real blessing to us. So the other people are blessed to 10 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:55.399 listen to the content that we put out on a weekly basis. In case 11 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:00.640 you don't know, we put out a podcast every Thursday morning and it goes 12 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.960 out about five o'clock in the morning. So for your early risers you can 13 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.950 get to it pretty early, and for those of you who get up a 14 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:10.950 little later, you can access it anytime after five am. But of course 15 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:15.549 Vicky gets up at like crackadawn, the crack of dawn for the back of 16 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:21.140 Don Yeah, and so she's she's able to get to listening very, very 17 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:26.099 quickly. Anyway, please share the podcast and stick with us as we jump 18 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:32.420 into the topic of Avoiding Ministry burn out. Yeah, it's an important topic. 19 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:36.569 It is, because if you burn out, you fizzle out and you're 20 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:42.609 not effective anymore. We did a podcast some months ago about fighting discouragement. 21 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:48.079 Maybe doing that I do this will be maybe sort of along the same lines. 22 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:51.280 It's got some similar aspects, but it truly is a different topic. 23 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.000 Yeah, it is a different topic and it's a different dynamic that goes on. 24 00:01:55.560 --> 00:02:00.040 Yeah, it's this is more particular to people who are involved in everyday 25 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:05.909 ministry and just feeling some of the pressure of it. And the reality is 26 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:09.949 ministry burnout. Listen, I've been there. Yeah, I've been on the 27 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:15.229 edge of that, I guess, and by God's grace, was pulled back 28 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:17.900 from that edge just burning out. But it can creep up on us. 29 00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:21.699 Yeah, it can creep up on you don't even realize it. So we're 30 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:24.219 going to talk about some of the signs, yeah, of ministry burn out, 31 00:02:25.500 --> 00:02:30.650 some of the types of ministry burnout. We're going to talk about what 32 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:35.289 what to do about it right and we're going to talk about a little bit 33 00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:38.169 of what the Bible has to say. They're actually people in the scripture who, 34 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:43.090 from all appearances, look like they were on the verge of ministry burnout 35 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:46.199 or they had already gone into the crispy stage where we're going to we're going 36 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.319 to talk about we talk about that. Yeah, yeah, I agree. 37 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.919 So we have you've dug Vicki for a couple of articles about this, right, 38 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:57.560 or you just dug for one article and I found another article that. 39 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.509 I think both of these articles are pretty helpful and we can link them, 40 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:04.389 yeah, to this podcast, so y'all can look at these because they're good 41 00:03:04.389 --> 00:03:07.349 articles. Yeah, will link them in the description on the podcast so that 42 00:03:07.430 --> 00:03:10.949 you guys can check them out. You haven't written an article about this particular 43 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:15.740 subject, because why reinvent the wheel? Right? There's already a lot of 44 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:19.139 good articles out there now. Of course there's some articles that are out there. 45 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:23.580 You know about burnout, just in general work burnout. There's a difference. 46 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:27.370 I mean I know because I used to work in the kind of labor 47 00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:31.969 intensive field of doing hardwood floors and there's a burnout that's in that area of 48 00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:36.210 work. In our work is ministry. So I don't want to talk in 49 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:38.610 categories that the Bible doesn't give us. Our work is ministry, but there 50 00:03:38.689 --> 00:03:44.840 is a difference in that kind of physical labor and then this emotional Labor that 51 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.400 we do on the sidewalk and what you do in ministry. And these articles 52 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:53.159 are going to be typically coming from the perspective of a pasture and not really 53 00:03:53.240 --> 00:04:00.069 particularly sidewalk missionary right, or ministry. That has to do with the issue 54 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:01.349 of abortion, but we can. So we're going to bring some of that 55 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:05.389 exactly. We're going to bring some of that flavor into talking about these articles. 56 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:09.750 Yeah, so we'll share those articles with you guys again in the description 57 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:14.379 of this. But let's jump into some of the types of burnout. What 58 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.060 should we define? Should we define burnout? So you know you're a smart 59 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:19.339 person. Yeah, let's de find what that is. Some of you guys 60 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:24.930 probably already know because maybe you're in the midst of burnout. Yeah, I'm 61 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:27.689 there. Yeah, but yeah, let's let's define in it for him. 62 00:04:27.769 --> 00:04:30.370 Yeah, well, some one of the articles is written by Josh spurlock, 63 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:32.649 just so that y'all know, and we will link it, and the other 64 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:36.769 one by Kevin Hollern, I think is how you say his name, and 65 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:42.839 I like the definition that Josh, Josh spurlock gave. He said burnout is 66 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:49.560 a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Okay, 67 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.709 and he says there are three stages, okay, burn out. I 68 00:04:55.790 --> 00:05:00.589 think that's very important because, like our discouragement podcast, yeah, that's maybe 69 00:05:00.589 --> 00:05:05.149 a symptom of a stage of burnout, but it doesn't include the whole entire 70 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:12.339 picture of okay. So Josh spurlock says the first stage is stressed, feeling 71 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:17.339 stressed. The next stage is overwhelmed and the third stage is crispy, okay, 72 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:23.170 where you're totally burnt right and you are ready to quit, and that's 73 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:26.769 dangerous. If you've gotten to that stage, that's that's when people end up 74 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:31.170 leaving ministry because they are fried. Yeah, they've had it. So the 75 00:05:31.329 --> 00:05:36.279 process can be stopped at any point, Josh spurlock says, but once you're 76 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:42.040 in the crispy stage, people know something's wrong and that is when sometimes you 77 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.680 just really need to leave for a period of time or do something a little 78 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.079 bit more dramatic to get yourself back on track. Yeah, yeah, and 79 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:53.870 I'll say this. I've seen people through observation over the years who are in 80 00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:58.269 the crispy stage and maybe they don't know it themselves, but you can tell. 81 00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:00.990 It's like, man, you need to you need to back away right. 82 00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:04.339 And Not only do some folks that I've seen burnout from ministry and just 83 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:09.540 they back away from ministry, but they get disillusioned with God, they start 84 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:12.899 to get angry with the Lord. Yeah, and so that's a dangerous place 85 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:14.980 to be in. Yeah, yeah, you need to be careful. We 86 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:17.610 need to you know, self awareness is an important part of the Christian life. 87 00:06:17.610 --> 00:06:21.089 Yeah, are we aware of, you know, the stuff that's going 88 00:06:21.209 --> 00:06:26.329 on in our own minds and our own hearts? This is an intense ministry, 89 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:30.649 being out on the sidewalk at an abortion clinic. It's intense in some 90 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:33.920 good ways. Like, where else can you see a mom who was about 91 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.639 to kill her child change completely from want to kill her child to saving her 92 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:43.600 child and then even, in some of these situations, giving her heart to 93 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.750 Jesus, surrendering her life? And we've seen some dramatic transformations. Yeah, 94 00:06:48.269 --> 00:06:54.470 that is awesome. It's like extremely awesome. Yeah, but even you know, 95 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:58.389 kind of on the other side of this to be able to be on 96 00:06:58.470 --> 00:07:00.819 the sidewalk there to see that as awesome, but to be on the sidewalk 97 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:05.939 and to pour into a mom, into a family, and they still you 98 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:10.500 know, everything you've got, you pour your heart into this ministry, you 99 00:07:10.579 --> 00:07:13.339 pour your heart into this mother, you give her every reason to choose life, 100 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:15.850 and yet she still walks in that door and kills her innocent child. 101 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:23.610 That's extreme ministry right there too. That's it's that's something hard to deal with 102 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:28.329 in your minds justing. And so you're dealing with the spiritual warfare. Yeah, 103 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:33.079 you're dealing with a huge time commitment and with many people who are sidewalk 104 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:38.319 counselors. You're also dealing with trying to follow these women, and no one 105 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.519 can do all that. Yeah, no one can do all that. And 106 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.120 by follow you mean follow up with after they've chosen life and there, after 107 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:47.069 they've made that decision for life, to get them plugged into the resources that 108 00:07:47.110 --> 00:07:50.870 they need. Yeah, this is and that's why, when we talk about 109 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:56.550 the body of Christ working together and the different components working together, we've got 110 00:07:56.629 --> 00:08:00.819 to do the best we can to employ the whole body of Christ to help 111 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:05.699 in these different situations and to help in these different aspects of prolife ministry. 112 00:08:05.779 --> 00:08:09.019 Yeah, and I do it all exactly, and I know we're going to 113 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:13.290 get into other scriptural support, but I just the image keeps coming back to 114 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:18.569 me of the story of Moses when they're entering the promised land and they're fighting 115 00:08:18.810 --> 00:08:22.089 there the enemies and when he would hold what it was most it's right. 116 00:08:22.129 --> 00:08:24.610 Yeah, I get mostes and Abra him mixed up all the time. Yeah, 117 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:28.079 anyway. So, so as long as he held his arms up, 118 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:33.080 you know, toward heaven, they would win the battle. And if if 119 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.639 his strength started to drop in his arms would drop, they would lose. 120 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.559 They would start to lose and he couldn't do it. He could not hold 121 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.190 his arms up long enough and they were losing. But he had all of 122 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.629 these other people in the of the Lord's people, come and hold his arms, 123 00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:54.710 but in particular actually was Aaron and and a man by the name of 124 00:08:54.909 --> 00:08:58.779 her that came alongside Moses and held his arms up, yeah, so that 125 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.860 they could win the battle. Yeah, and that, of course, is 126 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:05.659 analogous to of course it's a real story that really happened. But the Lord 127 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:09.289 uses these Old Testament stories a lot of times, and New Testament stories to 128 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:15.090 teach US present realities. Yeah, that just as Moses could not do that 129 00:09:15.129 --> 00:09:18.490 alone, couldn't stand in the gap and do what he needed to do on 130 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:24.480 behalf of Israel alone, we can't stand on that sidewalk alone, right, 131 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.279 and we need, and that's one of the principles, that we need others 132 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:30.840 with us. We need others in this battle. We need to know, 133 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.799 because one of the ways that you get in that crispy stage is isolation. 134 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.269 Yeah, you feel like you're the only one and you know, the story 135 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:43.950 of Elijah comes to mind there, and we'll probably touch on that a little 136 00:09:43.950 --> 00:09:48.230 bit more. But Elijah is in one of these scenarios in which it's a 137 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.620 pretty intense battle. Yeah, and he sees a pretty extreme victory actually on 138 00:09:52.779 --> 00:09:58.139 Mount Carmel with the Prophets of bail. Yeah, and God answers by fire 139 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:01.059 and of course their false God doesn't answer because it's not a god at all. 140 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:05.899 Right, Elijah has US awesome victory in the children Israel come and they 141 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:09.769 slay the prophets of bail but not too long after that Elijah's running for his 142 00:10:09.889 --> 00:10:15.850 life from Jezebel and he's loathing his very life. So that's that's one of 143 00:10:15.889 --> 00:10:20.370 the dynamics that take that can take place because this is such an emotional ministry. 144 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:24.200 It's such a spiritual bad don't I mean, if you want to feel 145 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.559 spiritual warfare, go to your local abortion center. Yeah, the spiritual and 146 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:33.000 the emotional together tie into the physical. I like I said, I used 147 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.070 to do hardwood floors and worked for my dad who had a hardwood floor company, 148 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:39.629 and it's hard work. I'm we're pushing, actually being pulled by like 149 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:45.429 two hundred pound machine all day long. Wow, walking thousands of steps. 150 00:10:45.470 --> 00:10:48.110 I don't know how many steps a day I would work. Yeah, or 151 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:52.940 would walk the equipment. Every piece of equipment is heavy. It's like they 152 00:10:52.019 --> 00:10:54.620 put lead in these things, I don't know, but they're heavy, and 153 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:58.700 necessarily because they get into the wood and sand it. And I won't get 154 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:03.019 into all those details, but just to say it's a physical job and I 155 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:05.730 would come home from that physical job and I would be worn out. I'd 156 00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:11.409 be worn out physically, but not necessarily emotionally and spiritually. Right, I 157 00:11:11.490 --> 00:11:15.809 could still do certain things and I just wouldn't spent completely. Yeah, I 158 00:11:15.970 --> 00:11:22.480 come home from doing ministry on the sidewalk and I am spent emotionally, mentally, 159 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:28.559 physically, spiritually, all of that. I'm just done for sometimes where 160 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.200 I have to go and lay down on the couch take a little bit of 161 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.429 a nap just to recoup. And it's the mental, the emotional, in 162 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:37.710 the in the spiritual tie into the physical. So I say all that to 163 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:43.190 say that even, and I'll say this this is not just days where it 164 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:46.110 seemed like there were no baby save, but even days where it's awesome, 165 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:50.460 up a life was saved and we got to be a part of that life 166 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:54.580 being saved. Even that, though, was emotionally draining, right. So 167 00:11:54.779 --> 00:12:00.379 yeah, all of this to say that, guys, this is a necessary 168 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.330 ministry. And then we want to encourage you, guys, to be involved 169 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:05.529 in this ministry. And so none of this is to discourage you in to 170 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:09.210 say run from this Ministry as fast as you can. Know, run toward 171 00:12:09.289 --> 00:12:13.049 what God has called you to and there's grace available, for sure. Yeah, 172 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:18.360 but just be aware and be aware that burnout can creep up. There's 173 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.559 going to always be stress and there's going to always be kind of those first 174 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.480 two categories that you that you named out there where it's stressed and overwhelmed. 175 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:31.230 I mean I feel in some measure stressed and overwhelmed every day, right, 176 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:35.789 but I don't feel crispy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, if you don't 177 00:12:35.789 --> 00:12:39.629 deal with this stress and overwhelmed. But you know what you said that we're 178 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:43.269 not saying all this to discourage you and push you away from ministry. In 179 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:48.299 fact we're saying the very opposite, that pastors or anyone involved in an extremely 180 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:54.340 draining ministry are are in danger of burnout and they need those other people to 181 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:58.610 come alongside. Not even just people that are going to be out on the 182 00:12:58.690 --> 00:13:03.250 sidewalk, but recently we had a sidewalk counselor who needs help. She's taken 183 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:07.049 on so much and so she put out a plea publicly. Here's if you 184 00:13:07.210 --> 00:13:09.850 have a skill, we can use you, because she's hoping to pass off, 185 00:13:09.970 --> 00:13:15.799 delegate some of her responsibilities to others. And I read the responses and 186 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:18.759 most, if not all, I think I saw one out of all the 187 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.480 responses, said Oh wow, I'll pray for you. Yeah, well, 188 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:26.960 and my and and I put in a little bit Snarky, I must admit, 189 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:30.470 but I put in I pray that some of these people that are praying 190 00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:33.870 will actually step up and do, yeah, something, and so it's the 191 00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:39.230 encouragement to we are all needed if we love the Lord. We are needed 192 00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:45.019 to end this holocaust of abortion and there are many roles. Sidewalk counselors are 193 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:48.299 needed as well. Yeah, but there's lots of places where someone could put 194 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:52.700 again and help, yes, people to prevent hopefully they're burning out because they 195 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:56.730 are willing to be out on that sidewalk. Yeah, and that's a dynamic 196 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:00.450 that I think we should mention. If you're out there on the sidewalk. 197 00:14:01.129 --> 00:14:03.090 One of the things that we have done here in Charlotte, and it's all 198 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:09.200 been by God's Grays, is raising up mentors in the churches and, as 199 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.720 you guys know, if you're following any of the things that are going on 200 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.039 here in Charlotte, we've merged together with love life, who's a ministry that's 201 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:18.279 gotten local churches to come out and pray at the abortion center's all right, 202 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.789 and every week there are churches for that forty weeks of the love life prayer 203 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:28.429 campaign, there's churches that are out praying, but they're asking those churches to 204 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:33.870 take a step beyond just praying. Okay, we want you to identify in 205 00:14:33.070 --> 00:14:37.230 your churches pastors. Are there people that can be mentors? Are there people 206 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:41.299 that can be sidewalk counselors? And that mentor piece is really important because for 207 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:46.539 a long time here in Charlotte, with the cities for life and our counselors 208 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:48.940 here, they would do the sidewalk counseling and do the follow up up, 209 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:52.929 do the mentoring and all of that and it just that will burn you out. 210 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.090 So those of you who are listening, it takes work to pitch it 211 00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:01.289 to pastures, to pitch it to individuals. Hey, maybe you can't be 212 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:05.289 on the sidewalk, but can you be a mentor? It takes a little 213 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:09.159 work. But sometimes to delegate things we have to do a little bit of 214 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.200 upfront work to save ourselves a lot of the back end work. Yeah, 215 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.360 so you've got to do a little bit of asking, a little bit of 216 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.799 sharing. Hey, here's what the need is, maybe even a little bit 217 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.830 of roll defining, defining that role of what a mentor is for people. 218 00:15:24.549 --> 00:15:28.309 And then once they kind of get that vision and get that get that burden 219 00:15:28.549 --> 00:15:33.190 to be that, then it that delegated authority that now instead of you mentoring, 220 00:15:33.269 --> 00:15:37.340 you sidewalk counseling and mentoring the MOMS that choose life. You can now 221 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:41.580 hand them off to a mentor right and one of the things that we're doing 222 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:43.740 here, just a little plug in for what God's doing, is we're doing 223 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:48.539 boot camps, training boot camps for people that want to become sidewalk missionaries. 224 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:52.250 We talked some weeks ago about sidewalk counselors. Actually, sad what missionaries, 225 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:56.289 of people who want to be trained under love life as sidewalk missionaries, and 226 00:15:56.409 --> 00:16:00.529 we're training them to do sidewalk counseling, but we're also training them in mentor 227 00:16:00.690 --> 00:16:03.169 handoffs and helping churches to raise up mentors and all of that, and that's 228 00:16:03.250 --> 00:16:07.080 the sort of stuff that we're involved and that's why we merge together with love 229 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:11.360 life, is because we want churches to to take this burden the issue of 230 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:15.039 abortion, mentoring these MOMS, but also the sidewalk ministry and all these components 231 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.429 that are involved in reaching these women and discipling them, and we want to 232 00:16:19.350 --> 00:16:22.350 that those, those ministries go hand in hand and we want to influence the 233 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:26.429 local churches in the United States of America that this is a necessary ministry that 234 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:29.710 we all need to be involved in. So we're seeing a lot of traction 235 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:33.259 in that area. Praise God. Yeah, yeah, okay. So the 236 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:37.019 signs of Burnout, said our next our next major area that we should go 237 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:41.019 to. Okay, so we talked about the types of burnout, which are 238 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:45.700 just just touch on those stressed, overwhelmed and crispy and crispy. Okay, 239 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:48.210 yeah, and then the signs. What are the signs? How do you 240 00:16:48.289 --> 00:16:55.169 know if you're maybe moving toward crispy? How do you know if you're in 241 00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:59.009 that stressed category or overwhelmed category? So touch you on some of those. 242 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:02.879 Those spur luck does identify the signs and I really like how he does this 243 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.440 because it reminds us that there are warning signs. Yeah, and if we 244 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.880 pay attention to those warning signs, hopefully you don't end up crispy. Right. 245 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:17.109 So I like I like that he has them in stages. So Stage 246 00:17:17.269 --> 00:17:22.990 one, irritableness, anxiety and worry, high blood pressure, grinding your teeth 247 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:26.390 in your sleep, insomnia. So far I've got every one of these. 248 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:30.819 Wow, but I probably always had every real day some kind of a high 249 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:37.019 stressed person, increased illness, loss of appetite or stress eating, unusual heart 250 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:41.900 rhythms, skipped beach rapid pounding, struggle to concentrate and forgetfulness and headaches. 251 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:45.089 Okay, so a lot of people have experienced those things. A lot of 252 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.410 US feel stressed. Sure if this is a stressful world. Yeah, and 253 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:52.890 certainly the Bible will guide us, and we're going to talk about that later. 254 00:17:52.930 --> 00:17:56.769 There's certainly biblical principles to help to reduce and relieve that stress from a 255 00:17:56.849 --> 00:18:04.000 biblical perspective. But that stage one, and and so that stage was feeling 256 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:11.000 stress. Yeah, so stage two overwhelmed, and it's characterized by decreasing performance, 257 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:17.349 increase negativity, withdrawal and attempts to medicate the symptoms. Okay, so 258 00:18:17.589 --> 00:18:26.269 there's been late procrastinating, dreading returning to work, marital conflict, decrease sex 259 00:18:26.390 --> 00:18:33.900 desire, persistent tiredness, missing project deadlines, social withdrawal from friends and her 260 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:37.819 family, cynicism. That's when they creeps in and you can start to hear 261 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.609 it. Yeah, you know, we can maybe start to check each other 262 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:45.769 knowing that, knowing cynicism is a sign that you've reached stage two of being 263 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:49.450 overwhelmed, because so often when someone starts, they're just on fire, ready 264 00:18:49.529 --> 00:18:53.009 to change the world. They're excited about how God is going to use them 265 00:18:53.529 --> 00:18:56.799 and they start to come to a point where they're like kind of name calling, 266 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:02.079 yeah, and and looking at the people that they're dealing with. And 267 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:07.240 and it not with good eyes, right, with, yeah, critical and 268 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.950 judgmental and even condemning eyes, and that says cynicism creeps in, resentfulness, 269 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:22.789 increased caffeine consumption, increased alcohol consumption and apathy, just not caring anymore. 270 00:19:22.789 --> 00:19:27.819 Yeah. So those are all signs of Stage two, overwhelmed. Yeah, 271 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:34.740 and of course those are indications that I won't just say overwhelmed in the sense 272 00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:41.730 that mentally or with ministry, but those are signs that your relationship with the 273 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:45.809 Lord, yeah, is not what it needs to be in and all of 274 00:19:45.930 --> 00:19:49.569 these you can't give what you don't have, right. And if you've listened 275 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:52.960 to this podcast for any amount of time, I mean the name of the 276 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.240 Podcast is a Gospel Center, Prayer Life Podcast, you know that for us 277 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:59.200 the Gospel is at the center of what we do. Right, the Lord 278 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.880 is at the center of what we do, and if we're not connected with 279 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.519 him, then we can't, as we talk about often bring him into the 280 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:08.910 equation. If he's not in the equation in our lives. Yeah, if 281 00:20:08.950 --> 00:20:12.549 he's not at the center of our lives, then we can't bring him into 282 00:20:12.549 --> 00:20:18.109 the center or encourage these women and these men that we encounter the abortion centers 283 00:20:18.150 --> 00:20:19.950 to bring him into the center of their lives. Very true. So you 284 00:20:21.029 --> 00:20:25.180 can't give what you don't have. So your relationship with the Lord is vital. 285 00:20:25.220 --> 00:20:30.500 It is vital. There is a sense in which we can't do this 286 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:34.140 ministry. There's a sense in which we are overwhelmed and I think I may 287 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:37.730 have told you a couple of weeks ago that, you know, I feel 288 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:41.769 like with this endeavor, with raising up missionaries all across the country, yeah, 289 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:45.529 that we've bitten off more than we can choose. Right. Yeah, 290 00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:48.250 and you know what? Always feel like that though, ministry. I always 291 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:53.599 ministries, almost always biting off more than we can chew. But God gives 292 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:57.319 us strengthen our jaw muscles to chew it. Okay, I like that. 293 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.480 But he also read we are weak, he is strong. That was my 294 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:04.109 verse today, that was the story that I read today, where we rejoice 295 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:07.549 in our weakness because then his strength is revealed. Yeah, and I think 296 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:11.109 we are always sweek. If we're honest, it's not US doing this ministry. 297 00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:15.710 Is Standing there in obedience for God's ministry. Yeah, where the vessels 298 00:21:15.789 --> 00:21:19.660 that he's using? Yeah, absolutely. I think I've shared before on this 299 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:22.019 podcast. If I haven't, I'll share it again. If I have, 300 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:27.660 I'll still share it again. When before, just a few months actually, 301 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:32.259 a few weeks before, I came in full time with cities for life, 302 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:36.329 back in two thousand and fifteen again, as I mentioned earlier, I worked 303 00:21:36.369 --> 00:21:40.210 for my dad doing hardwood floors and again it's pretty intense, yeah, labor. 304 00:21:40.849 --> 00:21:44.970 But then the Lord called me into this Ministry and into, you know, 305 00:21:45.089 --> 00:21:48.599 are quotes full time ministry, because I do believe that every area of 306 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:52.839 a Christians life, no matter what work you do, it is full time 307 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:56.519 ministry. Should be anyway. It should be so. But there is a 308 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.160 vocational ministry, whatever you want to call it. When the word called me 309 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.430 to this, I remember texting right before, yeah, right before I was 310 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:07.950 about to make that transition, I was actually on my hands and heees doing 311 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:11.390 a set of steps, which is really hard work because you're using kind of 312 00:22:11.829 --> 00:22:15.859 rudimentary tools. You're using US scraper and you're getting this paint off and the 313 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.299 old varnish and stuff off to make these steps look good. I was doing 314 00:22:19.380 --> 00:22:22.460 that. I was by myself actually, because the other guys are gone to 315 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.140 another job anyway, and I was just thinking about this whole thing. I'm 316 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:30.769 going to take over this ministry. I've never run a nonprofit before, I've 317 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:34.569 never been the director of a ministry like this. I've never overseen thirty, 318 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:38.009 forty volunteers. I don't know if I can do this. I'M gonna have 319 00:22:38.049 --> 00:22:41.490 to do fundraising, I'm going to have to reach out to pastures, I'm 320 00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:45.480 going to have to raise up more volunteers, all of this stuff that I've 321 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.759 never really done before, and I'm, you know, crying out to the 322 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.720 Lord, like God him, can I do this and I equipped to do 323 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.799 this, and I remember a voice, you know, in my heart, 324 00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:56.759 in my mind, however you want to say. It was in like a 325 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.910 physical voice, and I knew it was the enemy's voice, though, saying 326 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:04.750 you can't do this, you're not equipped to do this, you're going to 327 00:23:04.869 --> 00:23:08.190 fail, there's no way you can do this, and I was just like 328 00:23:08.509 --> 00:23:12.059 feeling really in that moment, overwhelmed by that. Oh you know what, 329 00:23:14.019 --> 00:23:18.380 this voice is right, I can't. But some of them rose up in 330 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:22.460 me in that moment, and I believe it was the Holy Spirit. Yeah, 331 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:23.859 where I said, you know what, devil, this is like. 332 00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:26.609 Even said this out loud. I was by myself, so it wasn't too 333 00:23:26.650 --> 00:23:30.170 weird and I talked to myself anyway. But at this point I was talking 334 00:23:30.210 --> 00:23:33.049 to the enemy. I was saying, you know what, devil, you're 335 00:23:33.089 --> 00:23:36.609 right. This is a point in which I will agree with you. I 336 00:23:36.650 --> 00:23:40.089 can't do this ministry. I can't do all the things that are necessary, 337 00:23:40.130 --> 00:23:42.160 all the stuff completely outside of my realm of ability. You're right, I 338 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:45.640 can't, and this is one point where, devil, I will agree with 339 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.200 you. However, I agree also with the word of God that the grace 340 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:52.880 of God is sufficient. In my weakness, he is strong. So I 341 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.990 can't do this, but I'm not relying on me to do it, I'm 342 00:23:57.069 --> 00:24:00.670 relying on the Lord. So, Haha, devil, take that. Yeah, 343 00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:03.589 and you know, by God's grace, I feel like stepping into this 344 00:24:03.710 --> 00:24:07.829 role. There were things that I was doing that I'd never done before but 345 00:24:08.430 --> 00:24:11.339 began to do well, and of course, I applied myself and some areas 346 00:24:11.380 --> 00:24:15.460 and read some books and got some encouragement from the people. The point of 347 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:18.259 that is that the grace of God is sufficient, that yes, we might 348 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:23.809 be stressed and overwhelmed in some areas, but the Lord in His grace is 349 00:24:23.930 --> 00:24:29.329 sufficient through us as we yield to him. The problem is when we let 350 00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:33.730 the stress and we let the overwhelmed feelings take over and we yield to those 351 00:24:33.769 --> 00:24:37.930 things and we say, you know, I am stressed, I am overwhelmed. 352 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:41.319 The issue is really trying to do this stuff in the flesh, trying 353 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.440 to do it by the strength in the arm of the flesh. We will 354 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.440 fail if we do that. So we have to be in relationship with God. 355 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:52.279 Always tell people here's the three keys to staying in ministry for me, 356 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:57.390 and that is stay in prayer, stay in the word and stay in church. 357 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:03.910 Right because that other dynamic that you spoke about earlier with Moses and Aaron 358 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:07.299 and her coming by his side, is that we need other people and that 359 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:11.819 doesn't necessarily always mean that we need other people on the sidewalk with us. 360 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:15.339 I mean, certainly we want that and certainly that we should have that. 361 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:18.579 There should be other people instead of US just being out there by ourselves. 362 00:25:18.579 --> 00:25:22.009 Yeah, there should be other people out there with us. Yeah, but 363 00:25:22.130 --> 00:25:25.890 not just in that context. We need other people that are encouraging US along. 364 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:29.329 You know, we are blessed here locally, me and my wife and 365 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:33.289 our family at our church, to be encouraged on a regular basis of our 366 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:37.079 pastors and by the ministry leaders there and even given opportunities to share what God 367 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:42.119 is doing and just it's awesome. I don't think that I could have made 368 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:45.759 it without the encouragement that comes from our local church. Yeah, and so 369 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:49.549 that's an encouragement to you guys and it's one of the reasons why we major. 370 00:25:51.230 --> 00:25:53.390 It's a matter of fact. You can't volunteer with cities for life or 371 00:25:53.509 --> 00:25:56.670 even now love life, unless you're a part of local church. You can't 372 00:25:56.670 --> 00:26:02.309 become one of our missionaries and reaching out of the abortion centers in your city 373 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:06.500 unless you're part of a local church, because that's a very important component of 374 00:26:06.619 --> 00:26:10.220 getting the accountability and encouragement that you need so that you don't burn out. 375 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:14.660 Exactly exactly so then, because we don't want you to reach stage three, 376 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:17.299 Chris Right, we don't want you to be Christy. So you want to 377 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:21.250 hear what that characterized by? Yeah, it's bad. So it's characterized by 378 00:26:21.289 --> 00:26:26.210 depression, and that's why our discouragement podcast was really it was a symptom, 379 00:26:26.890 --> 00:26:32.250 and maybe a symptom, if you're feeling really discouraged, you may be heading 380 00:26:32.289 --> 00:26:36.799 towards the crispy stage. Yeah, sad knit chronic symptoms. So there are 381 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:40.319 chronic things going on. All of us feel depressed and discouraged at times. 382 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.119 So I don't mean to say that if you're discouraged that you're necessarily, you 383 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.190 know, about to crispy. Fred right, you're not necessarily, because be 384 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:52.869 fried yet. But if it's becoming chronic, you are chronically depressed, sadness 385 00:26:52.869 --> 00:26:56.589 or depression, you're feeling at all the time, stomach or bowel problems all 386 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:03.099 the time, mental fatigue, chronically, physical fatigue, headaches, and these 387 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:07.539 are all chronic. And a sense of hopelessness. Yeah, hopeless discouragement. 388 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:11.059 You just feel like this is never going to end. That's a sign you're 389 00:27:11.099 --> 00:27:15.210 on the road to crispy. Yeah, the desire to check out or run 390 00:27:15.289 --> 00:27:21.809 away from friends, work and perhaps even family. Yeah, and then occasional 391 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:25.089 thoughts about ending your life. You and there are are a lot of pastors 392 00:27:25.130 --> 00:27:30.720 I know do actually either's think of suicide or even attempts suicide or actually do 393 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.240 commit suicide, which is so tragic. These are people who loved God, 394 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:40.880 poured out their life for God, and then and and with wanting to kill 395 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.029 themselves. Yeah, so terrible state to be in and of course that's an 396 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:51.109 extreme that's an extreme manifestation. Right. The other things, depression especially, 397 00:27:51.150 --> 00:27:55.470 yeah, and kind of a sense of hopelessness, a sense of disillusionment. 398 00:27:56.109 --> 00:28:00.740 Those are things that really show, Hey, I'm in the burned out stage, 399 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:04.420 I'm in the crispy stage. Yeah, and you know, I'll just 400 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:10.099 from a pastor's perspective, because I was a pastor for some years. Would 401 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:12.650 encourage you to reach out if you're in that stage. Reach out to your 402 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:18.369 pasture, reach out to close friends, reach out to people who you're accountable 403 00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:22.410 to, godly people, God godly people, people that can give you godly 404 00:28:22.490 --> 00:28:26.250 counsel. Right, and of course acknowledging that you're at that stage is an 405 00:28:26.250 --> 00:28:33.440 important part. And this gravitation towards isolation is a really, really important warning 406 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.079 sign, like if you don't want to be around others, yeah, whereas 407 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:40.359 before you like to fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ and now you 408 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:45.269 don't. Yeah, that is a no one one. Emergency isolation is like 409 00:28:45.430 --> 00:28:49.670 a key warning sign. That's why this whole covid thing, I won't go 410 00:28:49.829 --> 00:28:55.819 on that track, this whole covid thing in the isolation and quarantining and all 411 00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:00.099 that stuff is such a difficult thing for many people to deal with, because 412 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:04.779 isolation is a sign of this and it's a sign. If you've got friends 413 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:08.019 that are isolating themselves, it's a sign you can pick up on and go 414 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:11.009 out and reach out to them, you know, but if they're already isolating 415 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:15.930 themselves anyway, I won't Rabbit trill on that. Yeah, but isolation is 416 00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:21.210 a sign of some very, very deep thing. So if that's you, 417 00:29:21.450 --> 00:29:25.559 if you're dealing with that, reach out to your pastor reach out to people 418 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:29.920 around you, people that are involved in the ministry that you're involved in. 419 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:33.640 Hey, reach out to me, reach out to Vicky. Let us know. 420 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:36.799 We want to encourage you best we can. Obviously, if we're a 421 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.150 good bit of distance away, I'd be hard for us to do any kind 422 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:41.910 of in depth, but we'd certainly love to talk with you and encourage you. 423 00:29:42.430 --> 00:29:47.630 But that connection to your local church is the most important connection that I 424 00:29:47.710 --> 00:29:51.910 think a person can have, beyond obviously direct family members and that sort of 425 00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:56.779 thing. Yeah, yeah, the the statistics are pretty staggering. Okay, 426 00:29:56.900 --> 00:30:02.259 fifteen hundred pastors. These are about pastors specifically, so don't des Ring. 427 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:06.819 They tell us as sidewalk counselors. Necessarily, but I think you can probably 428 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:11.769 see a similar, I don't know, similar trend your example. We do 429 00:30:11.970 --> 00:30:17.849 lose a lot of sidewalk counselors. Yeah, regular basis and and oftentimes the 430 00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:19.970 the reason is burn out. There burnt out, they've had it. So 431 00:30:21.170 --> 00:30:26.279 fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burn 432 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:32.160 out or contention in their churches. Fifty percent are so discouraged that they would 433 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.880 leave the ministry if they could. Not all of them can. Sometimes they 434 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.710 just have no other financial, yeah, way to survive, so they don't. 435 00:30:38.309 --> 00:30:42.309 Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the word is when they're 436 00:30:42.309 --> 00:30:47.390 preparing their sermons. Yeah, so, now that depends on how long they 437 00:30:47.430 --> 00:30:51.099 take to prepare their sermons. But but they're not in the word outside of 438 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:55.140 right. It's almost like this. Yeah, they're viewing God's word as their 439 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:57.099 job, right, which is a, you know, horrible place to be 440 00:30:57.220 --> 00:31:02.220 in as a yeah, that's truly awesome saying it. They're thirty five percent 441 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:06.970 more likely to be terminated pastors if they work less than fifty hours weekly. 442 00:31:07.250 --> 00:31:11.529 So isn't that interesting? It's the very system is is asking for them to 443 00:31:11.690 --> 00:31:17.650 put in outrageous amounts of yeah, him, and I think that not that 444 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:22.119 any kind of leadership is asking sidewalk counselors to do that, but I think 445 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.079 that stress is put on US ourselves. Yeah, because there's never enough time. 446 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:30.440 You can never put in enough time. Yeah, I'll share with you 447 00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:33.069 a dynamic that actually helped me, and this is this is maybe a word 448 00:31:33.109 --> 00:31:37.390 of wisdom for you guys and a principle that will help those who are you 449 00:31:37.470 --> 00:31:41.029 may be on the verge of burnout or just feeling maybe like you're seeing some 450 00:31:41.109 --> 00:31:44.470 of these signs or symptoms in your life or you want to guard yourself against 451 00:31:44.470 --> 00:31:49.259 it. Is Get yourself an accountability, encourage your person. Yeah, somebody 452 00:31:49.299 --> 00:31:52.980 I think you know as a young man. Actually, I'm not terribly young, 453 00:31:53.140 --> 00:32:00.140 forty years old, but younger guys find yourself an older man of God. 454 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:02.609 Somebody's been walking with God for a long time, whether they've been a 455 00:32:02.690 --> 00:32:07.890 pastor or a pastor or just you know, somebody's a serious believer, right. 456 00:32:07.970 --> 00:32:10.170 You don't want some you know, just nominal Christian, because that's not 457 00:32:10.210 --> 00:32:13.289 going to be very helpful. But it's my is walking with God, an 458 00:32:13.329 --> 00:32:16.200 older man and ask him. Will you have lunch with me? We have 459 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:21.079 breaks. Will you have call for you with me once a month and ask 460 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:23.799 me some questions. How am I doing with my walk with God? How 461 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:27.799 am I doing with my relationship to my wife? Ask Me, you know, 462 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.309 I asked I actually have my accountability guy who is a pastor, yeah, 463 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:34.630 and he's a little older than me, and he asked me these questions. 464 00:32:34.670 --> 00:32:36.750 We got through, we talking. I just kind of spill the stuff 465 00:32:36.789 --> 00:32:39.190 out to him. Somebody that you con vent to, somebody you can talk 466 00:32:39.309 --> 00:32:43.309 to, somebody you can bounce things off of, and I do that once 467 00:32:43.430 --> 00:32:46.539 a month and that is been very helpful for me. So that's something I 468 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:51.180 want to encourage you guys with. Have somebody that can they can hold you 469 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:53.819 accountable and encourage you in those areas. Yeah, that can be very helpful 470 00:32:54.180 --> 00:32:59.730 to keep you from getting to that level of problems. It's actually one of 471 00:32:59.809 --> 00:33:02.569 the when we get to the solutions, that it's actually one of the suggestions 472 00:33:02.809 --> 00:33:06.289 is an accountability partner. I don't know if they call it that. I 473 00:33:06.410 --> 00:33:09.049 like that word, though. There's an encourage your really hurage, you're really 474 00:33:09.130 --> 00:33:15.319 yeah, well, so with that. Yeah, this my encourager guy shared 475 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:22.920 with me this dynamic that happens in again, are quotes fulltime ministry. Is 476 00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:27.789 What happens, especially with men, is we're made to work, to do 477 00:33:27.910 --> 00:33:31.710 physical labor. We're made to and this is how I was again with hardwood 478 00:33:31.710 --> 00:33:36.470 floors, and I make the comparison there because these are two very different series 479 00:33:36.509 --> 00:33:38.109 of work. Yeah, is it. When I did a hardwood floor, 480 00:33:38.430 --> 00:33:43.380 I could step back and with all my physical labor and stuff and sweat and 481 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:45.059 tears and sometimes blood that I put into that, I could step back and 482 00:33:45.099 --> 00:33:49.259 say look, I produced that. There's that beautiful floor right. Here's that 483 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:52.660 beautiful floor, the result of your weaver. There's that happy customer, yeah, 484 00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:55.329 and all of that, and I can step back and say, with 485 00:33:55.529 --> 00:34:00.089 my physical work, I produced that right, and I could have a physical 486 00:34:00.250 --> 00:34:04.210 product to look at. Yeah, with ministry it's oftentimes not like that. 487 00:34:04.410 --> 00:34:07.449 Yeah, and so what we do is is, because we can't point to 488 00:34:07.530 --> 00:34:12.719 a physical thing that we produced, we sort of feel guilty that we've not 489 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:15.880 really produced much right. And sometimes it can be discouraging because, you know, 490 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:20.480 this area of ministry, maybe we saw, you know, a hundred 491 00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:24.550 and fifty moms go into the abortion center and only praise God with it's like 492 00:34:24.710 --> 00:34:29.429 last week we had eight babies that were saved, but that was amongst so 493 00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:31.190 many others that weren't saved, and that can be like, okay, we 494 00:34:31.309 --> 00:34:36.150 didn't really produce much anything right, and it can be discouraging and and all 495 00:34:36.190 --> 00:34:38.659 of that, and we can look at the negative and we get discouraged by 496 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:45.260 that. And so what we'll do is to compensate is will put more hours 497 00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:49.019 in then we even normally would with the job that involves physical that's what I 498 00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.900 do personally. I'm just stayed longer, just thinking, well, maybe the 499 00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:53.530 next one that leaves is going to tell me she changed her mind, yeah, 500 00:34:53.570 --> 00:34:57.570 and chose life. And and so, yeah, you're putting in more 501 00:34:57.610 --> 00:35:00.449 and more hours, you're becoming more and more kind of stress. Yes, 502 00:35:00.570 --> 00:35:04.010 often times you don't see the results, Ye, or you don't take it. 503 00:35:04.210 --> 00:35:07.360 You don't take a day to disconnect from ministry because you feel guilty. 504 00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:12.559 So we're driven by guilt. Guilt is a terrible driver for any kind of 505 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:15.079 ministry or work or anything. We should not be driven by guilt, right, 506 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:19.480 but guilt will set in if we don't feel like we've produced something. 507 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.949 will try to overcompensate with putting more hours in, maybe even given ourselves busy 508 00:35:22.989 --> 00:35:27.550 work or something like that, and we really have to guard against that and 509 00:35:27.710 --> 00:35:30.110 that's one of the things that my accountability guy asked me about. Are you 510 00:35:30.190 --> 00:35:35.150 spending time with your family or you spend in time disconnected from ministry? Because 511 00:35:35.190 --> 00:35:37.820 the if, if you don't, you're going to crash and burn. I 512 00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:43.980 think one of the things that you're talking about is unrealistic expectations and that is 513 00:35:44.380 --> 00:35:46.500 one of the things that spurlock list as a major cause and for me, 514 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:52.650 that to me, is one of the major causes of burnout in our sort 515 00:35:52.690 --> 00:35:58.409 of ministry. Unrealistic expectations. Yeah, so on the sidewalk, the unrealistic 516 00:35:58.449 --> 00:36:01.530 expectation of brand new person that I was training today said. So, how 517 00:36:01.570 --> 00:36:06.760 many saves, saved babies, do you see every day? As though we 518 00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:10.480 necessarily see us saved baby every day. Yeah, now, we often do, 519 00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:15.320 but to put the expectation that, Oh, if we don't see one 520 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:21.710 point five saved babies every day, then somehow we failed. So the expectations 521 00:36:21.829 --> 00:36:27.510 can sometimes not be realistic and can be one of the causes of burnout. 522 00:36:27.590 --> 00:36:32.139 Yeah, bad theology is another one that spurlock mentions and he specifically talks about 523 00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:37.260 when we have a workspace. Yeah, theology. Yeah, absolutely agree with 524 00:36:37.340 --> 00:36:42.820 that. If we're trying to earn our way to salvation, yes, something 525 00:36:42.900 --> 00:36:45.500 like that, and you can even be a subtlety in or back of our 526 00:36:45.579 --> 00:36:49.210 minds. Yeah, that we're trying to maybe cover up past sins, and 527 00:36:49.289 --> 00:36:52.650 that's especially true people that have abortion in their past. Yeah, whether it 528 00:36:52.730 --> 00:36:55.690 be a man that took his girlfriend, you know, in college or something 529 00:36:55.730 --> 00:36:59.210 for an abortion, right for an abortion, or a woman who actually had 530 00:36:59.250 --> 00:37:01.199 an abortion. Right, is it in the back of our minds, though 531 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:06.280 we know salvation is by grace through faith. Yeah, we could be out 532 00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:09.559 there on the sidewalk work into chatter, I don't know, chat to redeem 533 00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:14.840 our appoint exactly, and actually he lists that is that's so prevalent that he 534 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:17.030 listed as a whole second category. Yeah, for burnout. He calls it 535 00:37:17.110 --> 00:37:23.110 misplaced priorities, identity, identity, value and worth. So are worth is 536 00:37:23.150 --> 00:37:27.949 in question, something that happened in the past, and an abortion can do 537 00:37:28.070 --> 00:37:30.500 that. Yeah, and and you are no longer worthy. And so maybe 538 00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:36.739 you can learn God's favor by helping others not to have an abortion. Yeah, 539 00:37:36.820 --> 00:37:40.340 and while it there are reasons why a post aboard of woman should be 540 00:37:40.380 --> 00:37:45.210 out on the sidewalk helping others not to choose abortion, it's not because her 541 00:37:45.289 --> 00:37:49.010 worth is tied up in whether she's out there helping them or not. Yeah. 542 00:37:49.329 --> 00:37:52.449 So another one is poor. I think this is a huge one. 543 00:37:52.530 --> 00:37:59.280 Also, poor work and personal boundaries. And and by that, for example, 544 00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:05.599 someone tells you I've got this mom who just called, then her sister 545 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.400 and her cousin, and all three of them are in unplanned pregnancies and all 546 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:14.030 three of them need someone to talk to them today. And if someone came 547 00:38:14.150 --> 00:38:17.030 to me, the old me would have said okay, yeah, the new 548 00:38:17.150 --> 00:38:21.869 me says no, I can't, you can't. I will see if I 549 00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:25.630 can find three people that would maybe be willing to. But setting boundaries and 550 00:38:25.829 --> 00:38:34.579 learning to say no is really, really important. Right. And what is 551 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:37.579 one of the reasons why that we wouldn't say no? Well, you don't 552 00:38:37.579 --> 00:38:40.300 want to let people down. Yeah, you don't want disappointment, you don't 553 00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:45.730 want conflict and you don't want Miss Perceptions. I know people invite me to 554 00:38:46.730 --> 00:38:51.489 so many things. I train a lot of volunteers. Yeah, I know 555 00:38:51.809 --> 00:38:57.400 a lot of people and if I said Yes to every invitation I would never 556 00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:00.960 have a second to myself, and I'm an introvert. I need a lone 557 00:39:00.039 --> 00:39:05.280 time. Yeah, so I have had to learn to just say no. 558 00:39:05.800 --> 00:39:08.079 Yesterday someone said, Gosh, you should really come and visit our church and 559 00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:12.789 and I'm sitting there thinking I could smile and say sure, one day I 560 00:39:12.869 --> 00:39:15.429 will, but in the back of my mind I was saying another invitation, 561 00:39:15.510 --> 00:39:20.670 I can't do it. And finally I just said thank you so much, 562 00:39:20.829 --> 00:39:23.739 but I just want to be honest with you. No, yeah, I'm 563 00:39:23.780 --> 00:39:27.300 sorry, I'm not going to go visit your church. I've a church I 564 00:39:27.380 --> 00:39:32.059 really love and I'm going to go to my church on Sundays. So poor 565 00:39:32.139 --> 00:39:36.380 work and person boundaries really key, really key. I mean one of the 566 00:39:36.500 --> 00:39:39.090 personal boundaries can be, you know, if we're dealing with a mom that 567 00:39:39.170 --> 00:39:45.570 chose life. We've certainly dealt with situations where this mom needs housing. Yeah, 568 00:39:45.769 --> 00:39:49.409 and we've had counselors, and I'm not saying that they shouldn't have done 569 00:39:49.409 --> 00:39:51.969 this, but I know as for me and my family, there's no way 570 00:39:52.409 --> 00:39:55.519 it would have been a bad decision for me to say yes, I'll allow 571 00:39:55.599 --> 00:39:59.280 this mom to stay at my house. Now we again we've had counselors that 572 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:01.960 have opened up their houses to a mom that has chosen live. Of Praise 573 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:06.559 God, some people can do that. They know their boundaries and it what 574 00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:08.110 I know from the stories, it went well. Praise God for that. 575 00:40:08.309 --> 00:40:12.590 Yeah, but as for me and my family, that's not something I'm going 576 00:40:12.590 --> 00:40:15.789 to be able to do. I've got, you know, a lot going 577 00:40:15.829 --> 00:40:20.550 on just in my daily life and I don't you know, I've got up 578 00:40:20.630 --> 00:40:23.420 family of ten, so I don't really have the room practically. Also got 579 00:40:23.500 --> 00:40:27.340 young children in the safety is Shue. We don't know these people. They're 580 00:40:27.380 --> 00:40:30.460 strangers that he would be asking into our home. You're taking a chance. 581 00:40:30.659 --> 00:40:34.500 So I've made the decision. Me and my wife and even talking about it, 582 00:40:34.539 --> 00:40:37.809 and we have dabbled, I think, mainly driven by guilt, with 583 00:40:37.969 --> 00:40:42.530 the idea, but we've said no, this is not something that we're able 584 00:40:42.570 --> 00:40:45.730 to do. That's just not wisdom for us. Is there some time in 585 00:40:45.730 --> 00:40:49.170 the future, or maybe some of the kids are out of the house and 586 00:40:49.610 --> 00:40:52.679 they grow up and have their own families and all of that, we will 587 00:40:52.679 --> 00:40:54.760 be able to open our door? Yeah, maybe, maybe, sometime in 588 00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:58.280 the future, yeah, that will be wisdom for us, but for now 589 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:00.280 it's not. That's just a boundary that we've said not going to be taken 590 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:05.110 a mom into our home. Now, thankfully there are people that can, 591 00:41:05.469 --> 00:41:09.110 their ministries that can, so you know that resources available. Yes, setting 592 00:41:09.190 --> 00:41:14.989 personal boundaries sometimes does mean saying no to people who are asking wonderful things and 593 00:41:15.150 --> 00:41:19.699 asking really loving and good things of you. I get request all the time. 594 00:41:19.900 --> 00:41:21.739 Hey, I'd love to go hiking with you, a I'd love to 595 00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:25.380 go kayaking with you. That, for me is something in most cases I 596 00:41:25.460 --> 00:41:30.139 would rather not do again. My hiking, my kayaking are things I do 597 00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:35.329 you alone. To get with God. Part of my how I recharge. 598 00:41:35.369 --> 00:41:38.289 I've talked about that before, and if I filled it with other people being 599 00:41:38.409 --> 00:41:44.690 with me in those activities, I would lose that recharging benefit. If then 600 00:41:44.809 --> 00:41:49.599 becomes social which for me is kind of an energy drainer. Yeah, I 601 00:41:49.719 --> 00:41:52.239 can do it and I know I should do it and I love it in 602 00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:54.519 limited doses, but I don't love it full time and I have had to 603 00:41:54.639 --> 00:41:59.360 learn to say no to that. So say no without feeling guilty. It's 604 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:02.750 an important part of setting personal boundaries. And then the final leading cause of 605 00:42:02.829 --> 00:42:07.829 burned out is inadequate selfcare. We're not eating right, we're not sleeping right, 606 00:42:07.070 --> 00:42:12.309 we're not exercising. Yeah, we're not giving ourselves rest, not just 607 00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:16.059 sleep, but when you're not sleeping, rest, yeah, like a sabbath 608 00:42:16.179 --> 00:42:20.619 rest. Sure. Yeah. Well, one of the things is just rest 609 00:42:20.699 --> 00:42:23.820 of your heart and your mind, because this ministry and Ministry in general is 610 00:42:24.300 --> 00:42:31.969 very emotional and very mental. To disconnect from ministry, and a point that 611 00:42:32.050 --> 00:42:37.090 I was kind of tracking with earlier is that ministry never stops. It doesn't 612 00:42:37.090 --> 00:42:42.050 matter how much you try to disconnect. The reality is you're not just working 613 00:42:42.289 --> 00:42:46.159 forty, fifty, sixty hours a week, you're working the entire week, 614 00:42:46.679 --> 00:42:50.920 you're working every hour. Ministry is always going on in your heart, in 615 00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:53.880 your mind. But as best you can, and this is what my accountability 616 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:58.159 Guy told me, a matter of fact, the first couple of months when 617 00:42:58.199 --> 00:43:00.869 I came in with cities for life, I was starting to get in these 618 00:43:01.070 --> 00:43:05.829 areas right and even maybe getting close to the crispy area, yeah, where 619 00:43:05.829 --> 00:43:07.110 I'm starting to think, okay, should I really even be doing this, 620 00:43:07.670 --> 00:43:12.590 because I was trying to be out there on the sidewalk every day and I 621 00:43:12.710 --> 00:43:16.579 didn't have a day to just disconnect. And then my accountability guide told me, 622 00:43:16.659 --> 00:43:20.179 Hey, man, you need to take a day where you're not out 623 00:43:20.179 --> 00:43:22.820 there, where you're not involved in ministry, where you're disconnecting. Yeah, 624 00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:27.690 you can't save the world. God don't need you, he's using you, 625 00:43:27.969 --> 00:43:30.889 but we get in this mentality like we think we're more important than we are. 626 00:43:30.369 --> 00:43:35.050 If he wouldn't encourage me in that and told me to disconnect and take 627 00:43:35.090 --> 00:43:38.769 a day off, then because you know, in certainly Sunday would be a 628 00:43:38.849 --> 00:43:42.840 day off, but if you're in ministry like this and you're trying to share 629 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:45.639 with pastors and you're you're always asked to speak at churches and you're asked to 630 00:43:45.719 --> 00:43:50.760 reach out in these different contexts. So even on my Sundays I wasn't disconnected 631 00:43:50.920 --> 00:43:53.760 right, and so I started taking a day of the week off and that 632 00:43:54.079 --> 00:43:59.389 just change my life and I disconnected completely. And now to the point where 633 00:43:59.750 --> 00:44:05.110 you my cell phone is not even yeah, my access and then be important. 634 00:44:05.389 --> 00:44:07.510 The beauty of that is not only what it does for you, but 635 00:44:07.670 --> 00:44:09.659 what it does for others, because I have find I I agree with you. 636 00:44:09.820 --> 00:44:13.500 I think there's a lot of pride wrapped up in well, I can't 637 00:44:13.539 --> 00:44:15.420 take a day off. I'm too important, too important. God needs me. 638 00:44:15.659 --> 00:44:19.300 No one can do it. I do. But when you decide, 639 00:44:19.340 --> 00:44:22.980 okay, I have to take a day off for myself preservation, well, 640 00:44:22.980 --> 00:44:24.730 you usually have to delegate. Yeah, and what that does is it gives 641 00:44:24.809 --> 00:44:30.289 other people an opportunity to shine, to step up and to recognize their skills 642 00:44:30.730 --> 00:44:36.690 and the the joy of the benefits of ministry. Yes, sometimes we don't 643 00:44:36.690 --> 00:44:39.360 give them because we we think we can do it better. Right, yeah, 644 00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:45.159 exactly. So, so, yeah. So, what are some recovery 645 00:44:45.239 --> 00:44:49.480 tips if you're in this, I mean the the the biggest really recommendation that 646 00:44:49.519 --> 00:44:53.949 they make is don't get to the crispy stage if you can kind of see 647 00:44:53.989 --> 00:44:58.710 it coming. But what if you get there? What if you end up 648 00:44:58.750 --> 00:45:02.710 at the crispy stage? So so here's some recovery tips good. I believe 649 00:45:02.829 --> 00:45:07.699 this. Second author, Halleran, suggested spend time in prayer, in the 650 00:45:07.739 --> 00:45:12.619 word, more time and praying the word regain a lost vision for the ministry. 651 00:45:12.659 --> 00:45:15.539 I think that's a really good one. Okay, I get that every 652 00:45:15.780 --> 00:45:17.699 almost at least several times a week, or at least once a week, 653 00:45:17.739 --> 00:45:22.090 because I train new volunteers and I have to tell them what the vision for 654 00:45:22.170 --> 00:45:25.170 the ministry is. So I'm kind of getting that renewal of the Vision for 655 00:45:25.210 --> 00:45:30.090 the ministry on a regular basis. But I think it's very important to do 656 00:45:30.329 --> 00:45:34.849 that on your own. Stop comparing yourself to others. Facebook can be very 657 00:45:34.889 --> 00:45:37.559 damn oh yeah, absolutely. Every time I look at facebook I think, 658 00:45:38.079 --> 00:45:43.119 what do they have that I don't have? Why are there stories so wonderful? 659 00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:45.599 Why do they look so good? What is wrong with yeah, and 660 00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:50.150 I think that that is the danger of facebook for all of the there are 661 00:45:50.230 --> 00:45:53.829 good things with social media, but that's the danger develop Oh and in our 662 00:45:53.909 --> 00:46:00.909 ministry. Stop comparing yourself to others. Someone's value on the sidewalk is not 663 00:46:00.070 --> 00:46:05.739 determined by how many people they have seen saved. Yeah, by how many 664 00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:10.019 babies they have seen saved, by how many hours they're out there. That's 665 00:46:10.139 --> 00:46:15.380 that is not how God views their worth or their value, and so you 666 00:46:15.539 --> 00:46:21.289 shouldn't view your worth or value in that way either. Are you being obedient 667 00:46:21.409 --> 00:46:23.210 to God? Right, that's, I think, probably the most really big 668 00:46:23.289 --> 00:46:28.849 creous and obedience to the Lord. Yeah, and that's where you're worth, 669 00:46:29.010 --> 00:46:31.130 is in glorifying God. Are You doing that? Yeah, one of the 670 00:46:31.170 --> 00:46:37.000 things I'll say here as a sad note along those lines, because you might 671 00:46:37.119 --> 00:46:39.159 be, and I've had people reach out to me, you might be looking 672 00:46:39.199 --> 00:46:43.920 at what we're doing here in Charlotte, what God is doing, and you 673 00:46:44.360 --> 00:46:46.429 we're seeing. We just like I said, eight babies were saved last week, 674 00:46:46.429 --> 00:46:51.710 and some people that are out there it maybe even more hours than our 675 00:46:51.789 --> 00:46:54.949 teams are here, are not seen as many baby saved. There's different reasons 676 00:46:54.989 --> 00:46:58.829 for that. Is it because we're more effective, because we've got this all 677 00:46:58.869 --> 00:47:00.860 figured out of notice? Oh well, of course, yeah, we got 678 00:47:00.980 --> 00:47:05.139 it. Oh well, listen, we've learned some stuff and we certainly want 679 00:47:05.179 --> 00:47:08.340 to. This reason why we started the sidewalks for life website, because we 680 00:47:08.500 --> 00:47:12.940 want to help people to be most effective. Yeah, but there's other just 681 00:47:13.139 --> 00:47:16.090 practical things to you know, we've got down the road from the latrobe abortion 682 00:47:16.170 --> 00:47:19.530 clinic. One of the things is they do a lot of abortions. But 683 00:47:19.610 --> 00:47:22.369 that's true. It's the busiest abortion center in the southeast. So you're going 684 00:47:22.449 --> 00:47:24.730 to see there's so much traffic. Yeah, there is a lot of traffic. 685 00:47:24.929 --> 00:47:29.050 So if you're at an abortion and clinic that doesn't do as many abortions, 686 00:47:29.130 --> 00:47:34.199 and obviously there's going to be some differences, but also the scenario itself, 687 00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:37.119 we actually have access to be able to talk to the patients. There's 688 00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:42.239 an abortion center not far from here on windover that our friend Elijah reaches out 689 00:47:42.239 --> 00:47:45.630 at. Yeah, and it's far from the main road there where he has 690 00:47:45.670 --> 00:47:50.309 actually a public access. Yeah, and also it's a part of a business 691 00:47:50.349 --> 00:47:53.349 complex, or this abortion center is also associated with other businesses there. So 692 00:47:53.510 --> 00:47:57.630 you don't know who's going in for an abortion who's going in to get their 693 00:47:57.670 --> 00:48:00.900 teeth cleaned or something like that. So that makes it more difficult. And 694 00:48:01.260 --> 00:48:07.860 so and it's a lower volume abortion center to so the interactions are going to 695 00:48:07.940 --> 00:48:12.340 be less. So there's reasons why. So don't let that, which God 696 00:48:12.460 --> 00:48:16.170 intends to be an encouragement to you that God is saving babies on the trope 697 00:48:16.170 --> 00:48:20.969 drive or whatever other abortion center you're looking at and people are doing things for 698 00:48:21.050 --> 00:48:22.489 the Lord out there and you're seeing, they're seeing a lot of baby saved. 699 00:48:22.730 --> 00:48:25.889 Doesn't meant to be an encouragement to you rather than discouragement to you? 700 00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:29.880 So don't let that, which is intended to be an encouragement, become a 701 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:32.480 discouragement to you. Be encouraged that if God is doing it here, he's 702 00:48:32.519 --> 00:48:37.480 going to do it there. And even if you aren't seeing with your own 703 00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:42.590 physical eyes and confirming that babies are saved, I promise you your faithful out 704 00:48:43.110 --> 00:48:45.949 faithfulness out there, God is honoring it and babies are being saved in the 705 00:48:45.989 --> 00:48:50.789 Gospel is being proclaimed and you might not find out about some of these babies 706 00:48:50.829 --> 00:48:53.070 being saved until you stand before the Lord, but that's when it really matters 707 00:48:53.110 --> 00:48:57.900 anyway. So be faithful what God has called Youtube. If there are some 708 00:48:58.099 --> 00:49:01.420 things that you can change and maybe do a little more effectively than you do 709 00:49:01.619 --> 00:49:06.179 those things, but it's likely not that. It's likely there's some other things 710 00:49:06.260 --> 00:49:09.650 going on. So it's be encouraged. Yeah, good advice. So he 711 00:49:09.769 --> 00:49:14.449 also has focus on the positive and have fun. Yeah, and it's not 712 00:49:14.610 --> 00:49:19.210 like we should be dancing and laughing and and being inappropriate, but to joke 713 00:49:19.289 --> 00:49:22.849 with each other and to to find joy in the Lord with each other, 714 00:49:22.969 --> 00:49:27.800 I think is a critical part of not burning out. You're doing a very 715 00:49:28.039 --> 00:49:32.679 depressing in some ways and heavy ministry when you're a sidewalk counselor. But there 716 00:49:32.679 --> 00:49:37.719 are there, always are positives. Yeah, sometimes you have to look for 717 00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:43.269 them, but they're always there and having a sense of enjoyment of the people 718 00:49:43.389 --> 00:49:46.269 that you're out there with or enjoyment in the simple pleasures. There was a 719 00:49:46.389 --> 00:49:50.829 breeze today and it's a little bit cooler at those sorts of things, rather 720 00:49:50.869 --> 00:49:55.340 than focusing always on the sorrow and negative, absolutely keeping an optimistic outlook. 721 00:49:55.380 --> 00:50:00.619 Yeah, I know some of the deepest relationships that I have been able to 722 00:50:00.699 --> 00:50:04.059 cultivate have been out there on the side of Ye. We can enjoy each 723 00:50:04.059 --> 00:50:06.780 other. Yeah, we can have the joy of the Lord, we can 724 00:50:06.860 --> 00:50:09.449 encourage each other, we can share funny stories and things that are going on 725 00:50:09.570 --> 00:50:14.730 in our lives. We of course, don't need to be laughing like crazy 726 00:50:14.769 --> 00:50:17.050 people out there and chuckling and all of that, and we need there's a 727 00:50:17.130 --> 00:50:21.679 somber attitude that we need to have out there. Yes, certainly, but 728 00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:24.760 we can enjoy each other, we can talk, we can have fun, 729 00:50:24.920 --> 00:50:30.039 we can even sometimes we might crack a joke here and there, because we're 730 00:50:30.039 --> 00:50:34.119 human beings and we love each other and we love the Lord. We need 731 00:50:34.199 --> 00:50:37.429 to be intentional. We encourage our volunteers here locally to be intentional about encouraging 732 00:50:37.750 --> 00:50:42.710 each other. Right and so just. I mean we have biblical discussions out 733 00:50:42.710 --> 00:50:45.670 there. They're not heated, we're not trying to get in debate with one 734 00:50:45.710 --> 00:50:49.789 another, but we talk and we grow. Yeah, there on the sidewalk 735 00:50:49.869 --> 00:50:52.420 never group as much as as being a sidewalk. Yes, absolutely, in 736 00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:59.579 the so many wonderful spiritual discussions, this is a good one. Expressing gratitude 737 00:51:00.099 --> 00:51:02.980 not only to the Lord, as mostly to the Lord, but to each 738 00:51:02.980 --> 00:51:06.769 other. Hey, I'm just so thankful that you're out there. Yeah, 739 00:51:06.769 --> 00:51:10.210 I appreciate you so much, but at when you have an attitude of gratitude 740 00:51:10.210 --> 00:51:14.929 it becomes hard to be depressed. Yeah, you know, if you're expressing 741 00:51:15.010 --> 00:51:21.000 thankfulness then it just instantly do ease your your mood out there. I know 742 00:51:21.159 --> 00:51:23.159 one of the things I like to say around my house I like to pretend 743 00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:28.360 that I coined this phrase, but I don't think that I did. But 744 00:51:28.599 --> 00:51:32.469 your attitude determines your altitude. Your attitude determines your altitude. If you have 745 00:51:32.550 --> 00:51:37.429 a bad attitude, you're going to be low and man and everything's terrible. 746 00:51:37.469 --> 00:51:40.230 If you have a good attitude, yeah, your altitude is going to be 747 00:51:40.269 --> 00:51:44.550 high. You can be happy, you can to soar above the garbage that's 748 00:51:44.590 --> 00:51:46.900 going on right and you're going to see the good from a different perspective. 749 00:51:46.940 --> 00:51:52.699 So your attitude can determine your altitude, and an attitude of gratitude will help 750 00:51:52.739 --> 00:51:55.619 you sore high about that. That's sounding night. I wrote a book about 751 00:51:55.619 --> 00:52:00.300 a tower builder, okay, whose name is Tony, one of the most 752 00:52:00.380 --> 00:52:04.210 optimistic people I have ever met, and he used to tell me one of 753 00:52:04.329 --> 00:52:08.050 his things, his little mantras, was I get high being high, because 754 00:52:08.090 --> 00:52:13.769 he would climb heat. He's the Empire State Building Tower, okay, Maintenance 755 00:52:13.849 --> 00:52:16.400 Guy, tower whatever, not metance guy, that design er whatever. So 756 00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:20.760 he gets high being high, high, high, up in the air and 757 00:52:20.880 --> 00:52:23.960 what to most of us would be one of those terrifying things places we could 758 00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:29.639 possibly be. He finds joy in just being high up above and seeing the 759 00:52:29.719 --> 00:52:34.630 things that no one else has seen. Yeah, so gratitude, gratitude for 760 00:52:34.869 --> 00:52:37.389 what you do have, because they have plenty of plenty of absolute things. 761 00:52:37.469 --> 00:52:44.380 Always okay, and and so we'll get to like though, the last one 762 00:52:44.699 --> 00:52:46.699 that I that I really can relate to, and I think it's very important. 763 00:52:46.780 --> 00:52:50.820 Do activities that energize you. Yeah, for me it's Kayaking, for 764 00:52:50.860 --> 00:52:53.139 you it might be something else, but you really need that's one of the 765 00:52:53.219 --> 00:53:00.090 biggest remedies outside of scripture. So I know we're kind of running along here, 766 00:53:00.250 --> 00:53:02.730 but maybe we could hit on either a scriptural story or some scriptures that 767 00:53:02.809 --> 00:53:07.570 that can encourage us that you do not need to wallow in this place of 768 00:53:07.650 --> 00:53:14.400 burnout. You really can find God's help. Yeah, and yeah, well, 769 00:53:14.559 --> 00:53:19.440 Jesus is our ultimate example. Yeah, and I believe Jesus took some 770 00:53:19.559 --> 00:53:22.559 of these principles and of course he didn't get burned out because he was fueled 771 00:53:23.119 --> 00:53:27.670 by his desire to do the will of the father. Right, but you'll 772 00:53:27.710 --> 00:53:30.309 look in the life of Jesus in the Scripture here Matthew, Chapter Fourteen and 773 00:53:30.349 --> 00:53:34.789 verse thirteen. He says, now, when Jesus heard this, he withdrew 774 00:53:34.829 --> 00:53:37.510 from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself, but when the 775 00:53:37.590 --> 00:53:40.070 crowds heard it, they followed him on foot. So, Jesus, he 776 00:53:40.150 --> 00:53:43.619 slips away. Yeah, he's trying to get away from the crowd. He 777 00:53:43.780 --> 00:53:46.619 knew that he needed to get along with his father. And for a person 778 00:53:46.739 --> 00:53:50.420 like you and a person like me, there are times I'd just need to 779 00:53:50.460 --> 00:53:52.219 slip away, right, there are times where I just need to go and 780 00:53:52.340 --> 00:54:00.050 just do something other than ministry, disconnect. And so for you it's kayaking. 781 00:54:00.409 --> 00:54:02.690 For me it's taken naps. Yeah, not really. I do like 782 00:54:02.809 --> 00:54:07.250 to take naps, but just doing stuff, like around my house, play 783 00:54:07.289 --> 00:54:10.400 video games with my kids. Me and my boys actually do air soft where 784 00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:14.719 we shoot each other with plastic babies, lean cherous. I've seen the baby 785 00:54:14.800 --> 00:54:17.599 dangerous, but it's really fun and it's a way for me to unwind. 786 00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:22.400 So whatever it might be, fishing, hunting, who knows? And preserve 787 00:54:22.599 --> 00:54:27.150 time for that. Be Intentional, be intentional, N own it, time 788 00:54:27.710 --> 00:54:30.949 for yourself, doing what energizes you and in some way connects you to the 789 00:54:31.110 --> 00:54:37.150 Lord. That kayaking for me is very spiritual, right. I it's quiet, 790 00:54:37.190 --> 00:54:39.179 it's peaceful, it's with God. But be intentional about that need. 791 00:54:39.460 --> 00:54:45.420 Yeah, absolutely, and Jesus was intentional about slipping away go into a desolate 792 00:54:45.460 --> 00:54:51.300 place, being alone with him and his father, and maybe that's something for 793 00:54:51.460 --> 00:54:53.130 you guys that are listen that you need to do. You know, there 794 00:54:53.170 --> 00:54:57.650 are times, I would say, when it gets when it's getting pretty bad 795 00:54:57.690 --> 00:55:00.530 or you're feeling like you're getting toward that crispy states and you're going to burn 796 00:55:00.570 --> 00:55:05.369 out and be a crispy fried burnout. Yeah, that maybe you need to 797 00:55:05.449 --> 00:55:07.480 take a couple of days, maybe you need to slip away to the mountains 798 00:55:07.559 --> 00:55:15.000 for three or four days and just disconnect right and maybe leave your phone somewhere 799 00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.639 else. Maybe just, I don't know, give your give. I have 800 00:55:19.760 --> 00:55:23.829 a little cheapy flip phone that I use that only if very few people have 801 00:55:24.030 --> 00:55:28.869 that number. So I I disconnect day, I put my regular phone to 802 00:55:28.949 --> 00:55:31.469 the side and I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to 803 00:55:31.510 --> 00:55:35.269 worry about there might be some emergency I'm missing out on because I got my 804 00:55:35.389 --> 00:55:37.139 super top secret phone that if people need to get in touch with me, 805 00:55:37.260 --> 00:55:42.300 who really need to get in touch with me, can maybe you need to 806 00:55:42.340 --> 00:55:45.219 do that. Maybe there's some some things that you need to do to disconnect 807 00:55:45.500 --> 00:55:52.130 from ministry, disconnect from the heaviness of ministry, do those things. Ultimately, 808 00:55:52.210 --> 00:55:57.849 it comes, though, in getting alone with the Lord, with our 809 00:55:57.889 --> 00:56:04.559 consistency with him, bringing these things before God, not complaining, not murmuring 810 00:56:04.639 --> 00:56:08.960 before God. But you'll see throughout the psalms, you'll see even throughout Moses 811 00:56:09.039 --> 00:56:13.639 Ministry where he cries out to the Lord. There's this sense in which, 812 00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:15.519 as we started out, God, I can't do this, I'm overwhelmed. 813 00:56:15.559 --> 00:56:19.710 Yes, getting honest and bringing that before God and saying, Lord, I'm 814 00:56:19.710 --> 00:56:22.269 overwhelmed. Yes, you've called me to this ministry, but I'm overwhelmed, 815 00:56:22.309 --> 00:56:27.469 I can't do this in all own strength, confessing that, asking God for 816 00:56:27.630 --> 00:56:30.989 grace. That's often times for me where I get the break through. I'm 817 00:56:30.070 --> 00:56:34.820 just crying out to God and I'm confessing my need. The Bible tells us, 818 00:56:34.860 --> 00:56:38.019 and this is another important scripture for you guys to meditate on, John 819 00:56:38.139 --> 00:56:44.139 Chapter Fifteen. The Bible tells us that Jesus said to his disciples, I 820 00:56:44.260 --> 00:56:46.570 am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. He goes on 821 00:56:46.650 --> 00:56:51.969 to say that I am the vine, you are the branches apart from me. 822 00:56:52.690 --> 00:56:59.130 You can do nothing. That is the confession of every Christian, especially 823 00:56:59.210 --> 00:57:05.760 those who are involved in vocational ministry, that, Jesus, Christ is the 824 00:57:05.800 --> 00:57:10.719 vine where the branches. All we are is just fruit bearing and fruit holding 825 00:57:10.880 --> 00:57:15.750 branches, but we're really nothing at brands can't do anything if it's not attached 826 00:57:15.829 --> 00:57:21.150 to the vine right. And so making that confession before the Lord. Lord, 827 00:57:21.190 --> 00:57:24.030 Jesus, I can't do this without you. This is your ministry, 828 00:57:24.829 --> 00:57:28.909 this is your calling, it's not mine. I didn't invent this calling for 829 00:57:29.030 --> 00:57:32.380 myself, and the fruit that's born ultimately is intended to give you glory anyway, 830 00:57:32.460 --> 00:57:37.300 not to give glory to the branch. And so making that confession before 831 00:57:37.420 --> 00:57:40.219 Lord, bringing your your troubles and these things before the Lord is important. 832 00:57:40.260 --> 00:57:44.849 Again, having an accountability person that you can kind of build these things out, 833 00:57:44.849 --> 00:57:46.849 to embounce things off of us, off of is really important. So 834 00:57:47.010 --> 00:57:51.730 would encourage you guys with that. Don't give burned out. Yeah, keep 835 00:57:51.929 --> 00:57:57.730 keeping touch with the Lord on a regular basis and God's going to continue to 836 00:57:57.809 --> 00:58:01.079 use you, guys. So we do appreciate you guys listening and please do 837 00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:07.719 share this podcast and go out on our on our website. Check out sidewalks 838 00:58:07.760 --> 00:58:12.440 the number four lifecom's. We put out articles on a regular basis. Share 839 00:58:13.269 --> 00:58:16.309 this podcast, share there's articles. Reach out to us if there's things that 840 00:58:16.429 --> 00:58:21.429 you want us to cover in this podcast. We'd love to cover those subjects 841 00:58:21.469 --> 00:58:24.110 that maybe guys are struggling with have questions about. Reach out to me. 842 00:58:24.190 --> 00:58:30.059 D Parks at cities for lifecom, v COSSE ORG at cities for lifecom, 843 00:58:30.139 --> 00:58:37.940 for Vicki, and until next time, God bless me, ove for love, 844 00:58:42.650 --> 00:58:51.090 give me our loft for gratitude. I know it will cost me my 845 00:58:51.449 --> 00:58:58.840 life. Nothing's too precious. And some met you