The end of the year is always a great time to pause, reflect, and consider how you are using the time, talents, and treasure God has given you.

For us pastors, there are endless demands, and if we’re not careful, we can become driven by the tyranny of the urgent. The “best” can be sacrificed on the altar of the “good.” Here’s a list of questions I’m asking as I take time to audit my schedule and ministry duties:

• What does the Bible dictate as my main priorities?
• What does the Bible say about stewardship of time?
• What tools can help me to be more productive?
• What are my strengths?
• How can I sharpen and develop these for maximum use?
• What are my weaknesses?
• Are these things I need to delegate to others, or take time to improve?
• What are the necessities in life? The absolute non-negotiables?
• What activities are moderately beneficial?
• Which activities have the lowest cost-benefit ratio?
• What are the greatest time-wasters in my life – the time and energy ‘vampires’ in my life?
• What buffers do I need to put in place to avoid the tyranny of the urgent?
• Which activities have the highest cost-benefit ratio?
• If God gave me 50 more years on this earth, what would be my life goals and dreams?
• What are practical steps to achieve these goals?
• What do I want to learn about?
• What do I want to read?
• What is a realistic schedule to keep to attain these goals – daily, weekly, monthly, annually?
• Where can I cut corners, better multitask, and become more efficient?
• Where do I need to slow down, use greater attention and precision?
• What is my plan?
• What people serve as an example of effective use of time?
• What kind of accountability do I need to put in place to do these things?

All of these need to be answered with humility, in the spirit of James 4:13-17.

Last week I read through an old paperback called How to Save Time in the Ministry, by Leslie B. Flynn. Quoting one Christian executive, Flynn writes, “Pruning away unnecessary and unprofitable activities, like canceling subscriptions to some popular magazines and resigning positions in some organizations, seems advisable action to take once a year, and should be ruthless” (p. 44). That is exactly what I’m in the process of doing right now.

How to Save Time is a helpful book on time management, particularly for pastors like myself. His chapters address issues like the value of time, the importance of delegation, planning ahead, short and long-term scheduling, developing efficiency, starting earlier, punctuality and the need for rest. If I could suggest one improvement, it would be for the author to expand his biblical theology of time. It’s obvious Flynn has done his homework on the subject. The book is brimming with rich anecdotes on time management, but he devotes very little attention to explain what the Bible actually has to say about time (pp. 10-14).

Most amusing was Flynn’s description of the “cutting edge” technology available during the 1960s: “[The preacher] should investigate new methods in office equipment, including dictating machines, intercom devices, and copying machines…addressograph, folding machine, electric typewriters, Thermo-Fax copy machine, paper cutter, automatic sealing and stamping meter, tape recorder, adding machine, Kardex files, and for the larger church an electric bookkeeping machine” (pp. 52-54).

My, how computers, cell phones, and the internet have changed our lives! I feel rather spoiled and convicted, that to whom more has been given, more is going to be required! Entering 2010, we have unprecedented technology at our fingertips. Are we maximizing these tools for God’s glory, or are we frittering away the precious time we supposedly save through new gadgets?

This has been a very helpful and thought-provoking little book. I picked up 5-10 tips that may really improve my use of time. Next, I’m going to tackle David Allen’s book Getting Things Done.

Travin Wax has an interesting article today on technology and how it has changed our world. His examples show how the internet and social media have affected pop culture, politics, business, and religion.

His closing remarks:

We are living in the midst of a communications revolution. The only comparison that can be made is the invention of the printing press. Last time there was a communications revolution, a Reformation of the church took place. Will we see the new technology harnessed for the glory of God this time around?

I believe pastors and churches must strike a balance between embracing new technology while not putting our faith in it. We would be foolish to bury our heads in the sand and miss out on the opportunities technology provides, but we shouldn’t become mesmerized by it.

Technology has connected our world in unimaginable ways, but on a spiritual level there’s really nothing new under the sun. The deepest aspects of this world have remained constant: the nature of God, the depravity of man, the power of the Gospel, the role of the Spirit in conversion, the value of preaching, the need for prayer, the glory of the church, and the ruthless opposition of our Enemy. Our technology revolution has not changed these things in the slightest.

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• Why you should join Facebook

Urban, suburban, and rural. These are the three basic categories of communities in America.

Mega-churches tend to focus on and thrive in the middle category. Tim Keller has often emphasized the strategic importance of the first category. But earlier this week, he lit up the blogosphere with a post endorsing the last category – the rural community.

Keller says one of the best experiences for young pastors to seek is to pastor a small church:

Young pastors or seminarians often ask me for advice on what kind of early ministry experience to seek in order to best grow in skill and wisdom as a pastor. They often are surprised when I tell them to consider being a ‘country parson’ — namely, the solo pastor of a small church, many or most of which are in non-urban settings…

…Young pastors should not turn up their noses at such places, where they may learn the full spectrum of ministry tasks and skills as they will not in a large church.

Then he adds this very important clarification:

Nor should they go to small communities looking at them merely as stepping stones in a career.

Our town of Yucca Valley has a population of around 25,000. If you add all those in a 30-mile radius, which is about the extent of our reach, we have about 100,000 people. I don’t know if this qualifies as a rural community or not, but we are definitely on the smaller scale of things when compared to the Coachella Valley, the Inland Empire, and greater Los Angeles.

That being said, I strongly agree with Keller’s advice. In my opinion, pastoring a church of our size, in a community of our size, has been the ideal “first pastorate.” We are currently averaging about 60 on Sunday mornings and have close to 140 on our active rolls (which includes members, attenders, homebound, children, etc.). There’s plenty to keep me and our deacon team busy, and we certainly get to experience the whole gamet of ministry.

Yet, during college and seminary, I did serve in a mid-size church (500-750) for ten years. During that time, my wife and I had the opportunity to sit under and work alongside wise, godly men and women. We got wide exposure and helped in a variety of ministries including Sunday School teacher, janitor, outreach, deacon, planning social events, AWANA leader, and a pastoral intern. Serving at Placerita Baptist gave us a valuable snapshot of a healthy ministry and helped us avoid many of the common mistakes of first-time pastors (not to say I haven’t made my fair share!).

So maybe my advice would be this: invest yourself heavily in the local church during high school, college, and seminary. Then consider the adventure of pastoring a small church in a more rural setting.

We are very thankful for the church and community where the Lord has brought us. And I’m not making any plans to move on. As I think Spurgeon once said, preaching to 100 people is plenty to be accountable to God for. And with today’s technology, it’s not hard to get involved and have a broader level of influence.

Heed Keller’s advice. Consider the urban setting. But don’t rule out the rural churches.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. 2 Thessalonians 1:3

Paul overflowed with praise to God as he saw the faith and love of his fellow Christians in Thessalonica. Their perseverance brought thankfulness to his heart. I know how he feels, because yesterday, I had a similar feeling when I saw this same kind of faith and love put on display.

A woman in our church recently fell while taking two simple steps from her stove to her sink. In the process, she broke 2 ribs and is in terrible pain. After receiving medical treatment and coming back home, I spoke with her on the phone.

She said, “Pastor, I don’t like the pain, but I thank the Lord. God is good. I know the Lord had a reason, and He knows best. I thank Him for the good and the bad. He permitted it. My faith has never been what it is today.”

This is music to my ears. It brings joy to my heart and strength to my bones. Such praise to God is the highest reward I could ever dream of in this life. It is fitting for me to give thanks to God. With dear Christians in my flock demonstrating such faith and love, I have much reason to be thankful.

Al Mohler recently met with a group of young pastors and spoke very positively of his experience.

What characterizes these rising leaders in the church? In particular, what are the marks of young pastors in their 20s and 30s? Mohler shares eight features of this new generation:

1. They are deeply committed to the Gospel and to the authority of Scripture.
2. They love the church. They have resisted the temptation to give up on the church or to be satisfied with a parachurch form of ministry.
3. They are gifted preachers and teachers. They rightly divide the Word of Truth and they make no apology for preaching the Bible.
4. They are eager evangelists. They are driven by an urgency to see lost people come to know Jesus and become both believers and disciples.
5. They are complementarians who affirm the biblical roles for men and women in both the church and the home.
6. They are men of vision. They apply intelligence and discernment to the building up of the church and the cause of the Gospel.
7. They are men of global reach and Great Commission passion. They long to see the nations exult in Christ.
8. They are men of joy…They are not interested in complaining about the church. They are planters and fixers. They scratch their heads as they look at many denominational structures and habits, but they have not given up.

I pray all these things are true in my life and would continue to increase.