God is Good

I just came back from sabbatical. At the end of seven years of employment at Living Hope, a ministerial staff member is allowed to take a sabbatical. This time is for renewal and to hone some ministerial skills. For my sabbatical, my family and I went to East Kilbride, Scotland. We were there for five weeks. During that time, my responsibilities were to preach, speak at various events, and do some ground work before a team of our church heads over in October.

Here are some things I learned about life, ministry, and myself:
1. I cannot see how senior pastors do it. I spent lots of time preparing for the sermon and lots of time with people each week. How can senior pastors do that and lead a church? How can they do that every week? Wow, my hat goes off to all you senior pastors out there – i.e. Jason Pettus.

2. I just love the people of Calderwood Baptist church in Scotland. It was awesome getting to know everyone. It was great to be a part of their lives. Every week I heard beautiful testimonies from the people of Calderwood about how good God is. It seemed most conversations led to the point of God’s goodness. We as humans, especially as Americans, want to do things by our expectations. We want to know why and how everything happens. It was really heart warming as people would tell me stories from their lives…they would look at me with love and truth in their eyes and say, “God is truly good.” My response, “Yes, He is… all the time.”


3. The outdoors seemed bigger and OH so much bolder in color in Scotland. I was driving through Glen Coe. A range of mountains and valleys in the Highlands. There were many times on the road I would feel overwhelmed. Granted, driving on the wrong side of the road and sitting in the opposite side of the car is pretty overwhelming. BUT, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the environment I was in. I felt so small, so helpless, and so very insignificant. I would find myself singing, “Awesome God.” When Paul talks about seeing the evidence of God around you…in the Highlands of Scotland….you can’t miss it.

The ministry during sabbatical was great. I loved being with my family. Scotland and its people are great. But, what stood out to me most was the fact that God is good and His goodness is all around us. Savor that thought, think about your life, and I would encourage you to spend some time with God.

Jeff Carlisle
Missions Pastor