I’m off for a couple of days to the Creiff Fellowship, a conference for church leaders held at Crieff Hydro.  There should be a couple of hundred of us.  The ministry is usually of a high standard, but to be honest, I am so exhausted after a very demanding month, that what I’m most looking forward to is relaxing!  I love going for a swim in the mornings before breakfast.  Also, it’s a great time to catch up with all my pals.  Being in the ministry is quite a solitary profession, in that we don’t get to see colleagues very often in an informal setting. 

Anyway, before I go I wanted to reply to the comment left by Pastor Mark Kelly of Indiana.  You can see his comment after the “New Year Resolutions” blog.  Hi Mark!  Thanks for the comment. 

Mark wonders if all our Bible reading is really for personal growth, even when we are reading and studying  for preaching.  I think there is a lot of truth in that.  Certainly, I can affirm that I’m the first person who hears my sermons, if you know what I mean.  I mean, I do listen to what God’s Word is saying, to me as much as to anyone else. 

I was struck by this description of Ezra (7v.10) “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.”  Ezra wasn’t going to be one of those “do as I say not as I do” teachers/preachers.  He studied God’s word in order to to do it himself and then to teach it.  It seems to me this is the right pattern for all ministers to follow.

Calvin says, quoting St.Augustine, “I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write.”

Finally, a wee personal word to Mark.  (If you go to his blog (via the comment) you’ll find a list of books he plans to read in 2009. ) Mark – that’s some list, brother.  If you get through half of them you’ll be doing well.  But I see you’ve completed three of them already, so maybe you’re a faster reader than me.  Maybe the answer is less time blogging, more time reading!