“A verse may find him who a sermon flies.”
    – George Herbert (The Church Porch, line 5)

George Herbert is one of my favorite poets. He was born on April 3, 1593 into a privileged Welsh family. He earned two degrees at Trinity College in Cambridge. In 1620 he was elected public orator of Cambridge and was elected to Parliament in 1624. However, in 1627 he resigned from public office and soon after began to prepare for ministry instead.

When challenged by friends who felt that the ministry was beneath his station in life, Herbert responded:

It hath been formerly judged that the domestic servants of the King of Heaven should be the noblest families on earth. And though the iniquity of the late times have made clergymen meanly valued … I will labor to make it honorable, by consecrating all my learning, and all my poor abilities, to advance the glory of that God that gave them; knowing that I can never do too much for him that hath done so much for me, as to make me a Christian. And I will labour to be like my Saviour, by making humility lovely in the eyes of all men and by following the merciful and meek example of my dear Jesus. (from Isaac Walton’s “Life of Herbert,” in George Herbert: The Complete English Poems; Penguin Classics, 1991, p. 282)

In 1630 Herbert took a small church in Bremerton which he helped rebuild with his own funds. He spent the final three years of his life preaching, caring for the people in his parish and completing the two major works for which he is best known today: The Country Parson, a work of prose which explores the personal life and ministry of the pastor, and The Temple, a collection and sequence of poems on Christian themes.

Herbert died from tuberculosis in 1633. He was only forty years old. On his deathbed he sent a collection of his poems to a friend with the following instructions:

If he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if not, let him burn it, for I and it are the least of God’s mercies. (from Isaac Walton’s “Life of Herbert,” in George Herbert: The Complete English Poems; Penguin Classics, 1991, p. 311)

This collection of poems was The Temple, published later the same year Herbert died. It is a beautiful book of poems, filled with startling imagery, ingenious wordplay, and rich devotional thought. You may be familiar with some of Herbert’s poems in hymn form, such as “Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life,” “The God of Love My Shepherd Is,” “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing,” and “Teach Me, My God and King.”

Herbert was also well-known for his Proverbs, some of which we still use today:

• “When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow.”
• “His bark is worse than his bite.”
• “Whose house is of glass must not throw stones at another.”
• “Good words are worth much and cost little.”
• “The eye is bigger than the belly.”
• “Half the world knows not how the other half lives.”
• “He that lives well is learned enough.”
• “He loseth nothing that loseth not God.”

I hope I have whetted your appetite to learn more about George Herbert. This is Holy Week, and over the next couple days I will be posting some of Herbert’s poems to assist you in your reflection on the events of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poems if you take them slowly and read them through several times, out loud if possible.

I invite you to come back later today and throughout the weekend to enjoy these poems by George Herbert. May God bless you this Easter season as you meditate on what He has done for you in Christ our Savior.

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for poems by Ray Fowler.

Today was the last day of the 2008 Desiring God Conference for Pastors, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota. This year’s theme was: The Pastor as Father and Son. The speakers were D. A. Carson, Crawford Lorritts, Greg Livingstone and John Piper.

These are great conferences with great times of worship mixed with great speakers delivering great messages. Not to mention the great fellowship you enjoy with other pastors! I have attended in the past and followed the conference closely when I could not attend.

Desiring God has been blogging the conference, and you can find a roundup of all this year’s conference posts here, including summaries of the messages. They are also posting the audio to the sessions for free. The messages are all good, but I would especially recommend Carson’s. And don’t miss John Piper’s tribute to his recently deceased evangelist father.

Related post: 2008 Desiring God National Conference

Crosswalk has a great story about a pastor who tried to resign, but the Lord had other plans.

Under the stress of the church situation — every church has its situation — the pastor felt he had taken all he could stand. So, he sat down and wrote a letter to every member of his congregation. He didn’t exactly resign, but came close to it. “Perhaps my work here is finished,” he confessed.

He printed out the letter and, against her better judgement, his wife helped him stuff the envelopes and apply the stamps. He dropped them off at the post office and drove home … and that was that. Or so he thought.

The next day, every single one of those letters was back in his mail box. The cost of postage had gone up that week and he had not put enough stamps on them.

The pastor stood there glaring at all those returned letters and recognized God had sent him a message. “It ain’t funny, Lord,” he called out, just before breaking into laughter.

HT: MMI

World’s ugliest dog. Meet Elwood, the world’s ugliest dog. The 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, who placed second in last year’s contest, was crowned the world’s ugliest dog on Friday, June 22. Elwood is also known for his uncanny resemblance to aliens Yoda and ET. “I think he’s the cutest thing that ever lived,” said Elwood’s owner, Karen Quigley. Really? Then why did you enter him in the world’s ugliest dog contest?

Global cooling. From the Canadian Financial Post: “Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on Earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the Little Ice Age, should be a priority for governments.” Maybe it’s supposed to get hotter before it gets colder? (HT: Instapundit)

Pastor-comedian wanted. A newly forming church in Edmond, OK is looking for a pastor-comedian. “The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon. We are thinking the church will be called Comedy Hour and be open Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.” The only qualification listed under job requirements is “must be very funny.” No, I am not applying.

Here are four ways on how to get rid of your pastor (from Richard W. De Haan, Your Pastor and You):

1. Say “Amen!” once in a while, and he’ll preach himself to death.
2. Encourage him and brag on his work, and he’ll probably work himself to death.
3. Offer to help out with the ministry of the church and request the name of a person with whom you could go share the Gospel – your pastor just might die of heart failure.
4. Get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher, and he’ll soon become so effective that a larger church will take him off your hands.

DeHaan concludes the list by saying: “If we terminated more apathy and fewer pastors, we would see greater results.”

Okay, everyone. You’ve read the list. Now go get rid of your pastor!

Related post: You Might Be a Pastor If …

As a fellow pastor, I got a chuckle out of Mark Roberts’ blog this morning. He mentions going to the Open House at his daughter’s school last night and seeing an oversized “No Whining” badge hanging on the wall.

How great! I wish I had a few of these, both to wear and to hand out to others. Yes, sometimes even I need to be reminded not to whine.

But now I’ve got to stop blogging and get back to finishing my sermon for this weekend. I always have to do a sermon. My church maaaakes me. It isn’t fair. Nobody else at church has to do a serrrmon. And they want a good one too. Every week. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Okay pastors, you’ve heard your word for today. Quit your whining and get back to your sermons – and I’ll get back to mine!