"Someone's hired me at last!"

During the Middle Ages, a German troubadour finally found a wealthy patron to give him a steady income after waiting in vain for possible sponsors. He wrote a poem in celebration. The first line, roughly translated, went:

"Someone's hired me at last, O all the world, someone's hired me at last!"

It wasn't a very poetic thing for a poet to write. It isn't a very spiritual thing for a pastor to say. Yet it expresses the sense of joy and relief that the waiting is over. A week ago today, Bethany Evangelical Church in Leigh, Greater Manchester, found reasons to take me on as pastor where others had found reasons to brush me aside. Many would expect my response to be a solemn religious phrase like "I accept the call". Yet all I can say is how thrilled I am at seeing God's sheer grace at work!

Soon, God willing, I will have a new status. I shall need to alter my details on this blog. No longer shall I be "freelance", but a serving pastor in an actual church setting. My address, my employment position and much else besides will be different.

It remains to be seen whether the experiences of recent months and years will cause me to approach the work differently from the way I did it in the past. Every true pastor, indeed every genuine Christian, hopes to learn and grow. We are the sum total of our past experiences but are also affected by the brand new things that God is doing in and through us. The voice from God's throne declares, "Behold, I am making all things new" (Revelation 21:5 ESV). May new things rejoice the heart of the church where I am appointed, too.