The pastor’s heart
By Clarence Rempel, WDC Conference Minister
I rejoice in following
your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
Psalm 119:14-16
Rejoice, meditate and delight” are three delicious words that describe my lifelong growing appreciation for and engagement with the Bible. I was weaned on bedtime Bible stories like the Apostle Paul described his co-worker Timothy. “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).
As a father and now a grandfather I want my descendants to delight in the sacred stories. I want them to know the good news of Jesus ahead of the “gospel” according to Disney World. As a pastor I delighted in unpacking “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) “so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:17).
And now as Conference Minister I am excited about calling our churches to a more intentional and intensive engagement with Scripture called “Year of the Bible.” Our Assembly – “Shaped by God’s Story,” is our annual premier resourcing event for our churches. This year we are adding a day-long “Year of the Bible Launch.” I invite every congregation to send a delegation of five to ten leaders with the purpose of creating a team that would guide the congregation in a year of rejoicing, meditating, and delighting in “the word of the Lord” (Psalm 33:4).