Heather Zempel, our Pastor of Discipleship, just listened to the Leadership Uncensored CD put out by creativepastors.com. She shared one thought that I thought I’d share with you

Ed Young said, “There are about 10-15 crazy people in every pastor’s life.”

That totally cracked me up! Here’s the funny thing…

I was walking down the street talking on my cell phone about an hour later and a woman started screaming at me by name. I kid you not! I had to put my call on hold. She started ranting and raving! It took a second, but I recognized her. She is homeless and if memory serves me correctly she’s caused a disruption at church.

Sidenote: we have a great ministry called InService led by John Hasler that ministers to the homeless every week. Our family makes sandwiches. We really want to reach up-and-outers and down-and-outers. It’s part of our DNA.

Long story short, I think this woman is crazy. I don’t say that with any anger or vindictiveness. She is either demon-possessed or mentally unstable. I was literally on the phone and she launched into a tirade. That has never happened to me before. I hope it never happens again.

What a timely reminder from Ed Young via Heather Zempel.

Crazy timing!

One more thing. Ed Young says, “Don’t let the whiners run your ministry.”

Here’s my advice: tune out the naysayers.

I’m not saying we don’t listen to constructive criticism. But we need to be very careful. I heard Erwin McManus say something a few years ago that I’ve never forgotten. He said, “Don’t let an arrow penetrate your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture.” That’s good stuff!