My Pastor Appreciation Month: What Does It Take to Fix a Broken Heart? (Part 1) Have you ever been so deeply hurt spiritually it directly affected every part of your life? So deeply hurt you cease to be able to operate in any capacity? This happened to me. Such injury causes one to wonder: Where do you go to fix a broken heart? Fortunately, by the grace of God, I was salvaged not by a message, but by a FAMILY of ministers. This 5-part series is dedicated to these saints. What Does It Take to Fix a Broken Heart? No two people are alike so it is fair to say no two broken hearts are exactly alike; however, in my case, it took five (5) extraordinary things to fix (repair, refit and refurbish) my heart. 1. An Extraordinary Pastor 2. An Extraordinary Pastors Wife 3. An Extraordinary Pastors Family 4. An Extraordinary Church 5. An Extraordinary Outreach Dr. Phil and Dr. Judy Byler in many ways became perhaps the most important pastors and friends my wife and I ever knew. When Phil and Judy met us, we were a spiritually broken family. I had lost my lifes dream of being a career chaplain and my wife was trying to love me through a deepening identity crisis. We had done some church hopping in an attempt to find a place where we could fit in, and by the grace of God, we decided to make a stand at the church where Phil and Judy were just installed as pastors. We could not have been in a better place. I soon discovered Dr. Phil was an extraordinary pastor. At the time Phil was already a seasoned pastor with nearly 30 years of pastoral leadership experience. An educator and gifted speaker, he was also a wonderful writer. These talents were eclipsed by his God-given ability to see through a person right into the depth of their soul and to rightly discern the deeper issues facing the individual. Phil was definitely more than a preacher and counselor. He was a man of numerous tent making skills. He was part construction designer, electrician, sound system specialist and more, but the one area he seemed to excel in best was the carpentry field. He once kidded: I never met a church building that couldnt use some improving. Shortly after becoming pastor of the church in Hinesville, Phil put his carpentry skills to the ultimate test. The church was meeting in a storage room of a prefabricated roller skating arena. The congregation wanted to find a way to turn the roller rink into a sanctuary, but no one had a real plan on how to go about it. Phil took to the challenge like a duck takes to water. Today the roller rink has been transformed. It is one of the finest sanctuaries and accommodate large crowds. Phils ability to minister to people took the concept of pastoral counseling to a whole different level. Ministers who were willing to put their trust in him were sometimes incorporated into the physical labor portions of ministry. In other words, one should not be willing to expect pulpit time if he were not willing to work because ministry often requires people to get dirty. Phil liked to see if someone was willing to get dirty by picking up a hammer and driving a few nails, or sweeping a dirty floor, or painting a wall. Shortly after Phil began to work with me, he ushered me into this work realm and soon discovered the depth of my spiritual and mental injuries. Phil already knew I was struggling. Although God made known to me the impending death of my active duty career dream, I struggled to accept the message was from Him. I was because I had witnessed the actions of the person who was ultimately responsible for my dreams death. I was resentful because I saw others I assumed to be less qualified, excelling in ministry and promotions. The anger and resentment were destroying. me. Pastor Phil soon found I was incapable of preaching, teaching, prophetic utterances, or any other facet of church related work. It was as if some one had switched off my ability to minister. He decided the best thing to do was to put me to work inside the church doing carpentry work believing the physical labor might be therapeutic. I was reared in the Texas Panhandle and familiar with tools, but when Phil gave me a hammer, I couldnt use it. I simply could not remember how to hold it. The same happened with a saw. I knew the tool, but I could no longer hold it properly or make a clean cut on any size or type of wood. The same happened when I tried to use a screw driver or paint. I knew the different brushes, but no longer knew how to hold a brush, or how to stroke paint evenly on any type of surface. I literally needed to be re-trained in the use of the tools. Restoration for me required a great deal of love, patience, and more patience, and more patience, and... At this time Phil was developing the CTTM Ministries, International. An apostolic leadership program which prepares ministers through coaching, teaching, training and mentoring processes. In the 4 years I was closely associated with him, Phil counseled and mentored me. Through prayer, through the Word, through the ministries of helps, Phil helped me get back on my feet. Phil was not the type of pastor to push someone into ministry until he knew they were ready. I often wondered if I would ever truly be ready again. That day came. Following a less than challenging Reserve operation, I returned to the church expecting to find some minor in-house job to be done. I entered the front door and saw Phil was leaving. He looked up at me and said: Good, Im glad youre here. Come on, lets go! We have ministry to do. Seconds later, I was in his car and he briefed me: Were en route to the home of a church member whose wife just died. I felt honored Phil was willing to let me be part of ministering to a family in need. I commented: We can handle this. Phil glanced over at me stating: Yes we can, but whats more important is I know you can handle it because youre ready. He smiled and said: Welcome back to ministry.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 19:39:25 +0000
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