The following is the script from the Take Ten with Pastor Don Podcast on January 24, 2024.

I’ve always been fascinated by the man Nehemiah. We have a book in the Old Testament that he is given credit for writing.

Several years ago, one my spiritual heroes, Pastor Bob Westphal, did a summer long series on the book of Nehemiah. I’ve been a fan ever since.

I’ve read and re-read the book. I’ve taught from it many times and am still drawn to it today.

So much has been written about Nehemiah as a leader that I hesitate to write these things but I’m confident there is someone out there that will be helped, encouraged or challenged by these words.

Nehemiah was real. You can’t escape that.

He leads by example—Nehemiah worked right along with the folks on the wall. He didn’t set himself apart from the team. In chapter 4:21-23 “So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. {22} At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” {23} So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.”

My take on this is that Nehemiah remained at the ready, always prepared to respond to any challenge that came along.

He valued his team—In chapters 3, 7, 10, & 12 we find lists of those who worked with Nehemiah. I don’t know if these lists give us a complete roster of all the characters but you have to be impressed that Nehemiah could and would list the names of these folks. After all, most scholars think this might have been his diary of his time in Jerusalem. Why would he take the time to write all these names? Personally, I think he knew each one of them; knew their families; and valued them to the point of writing their names and praying for them as he wrote.

He led through prayer—I love chapter 1 of Nehemiah. There are some valuable lessons for us in this part of the diary. But the greatest picture there for us that Nehemiah was a man of prayer. When he heard the report of how things were in Jerusalem, he wept, fasted and prayed. He did this for four months before he did anything else. (We learn it was four months from what is said in chapter 2)

When he faced opposition in chapter 4, he prayed.

He heard God and obeyed God—In chapter 6 when the opposition became personal, Nehemiah was invited by a “prophet for hire” and encouraged to take a wrong decision. But God spoke to Nehemiah and he obeyed and didn’t follow the suggestion of Shemaiah. I don’t how God spoke to or impressed upon Nehemiah to not heed this man’s words but it happened. Perhaps even more important is that Nehemiah listened and obeyed.

He was self-less—In 5:14 we note that Nehemiah was appointed Governor of the region of Judah.  As a result of this he was entitled to an “allowance” but he chose not to take this.  The allowance he received would have come from a tax on the people. And even though earlier administrations heavily taxed them, he chose not to.  He even fed himself, his family and the 150 Jews who ate at his table from his own resources.

He was emotional—I love this part of the story. We’re never really told that Nehemiah became afraid during the time of opposition but he did keep guards posted. He did encourage the men to work with one hand and keep a weapon in the other. (We know what it means to “watch and pray” but this tells us to “work and watch!” We know that Nehemiah stood ready at an instant to jump into action. In 4:18 we read that the men who sounded the trumpet as a call to arms, stayed with him.

It would be safe to say Nehemiah had a fire in his belly.

Earlier in 5:6 Nehemiah became “very angry” when he heard the report of how some daughters had been sold into slavery to help pay debts.

When you get to chapter 13, the final chapter, Nehemiah exhibits some behavior that for some is questionable. But it provides a good chuckle for us.

In verse 21 he threatened to “lay hands on” some of the merchants if they continued their business on the Sabbath. And then in verse 25 he “rebuked,” “called curses down,” and “beat some of the men and pulled their hair out” for marrying the women of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.

The problem was they were deliberately disobeying the commands of God.

They were not to sell on the Sabbath. They were to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. This meant no work. It meant no markets. No working the fields.

And they also disobeyed the command of God about who to marry or not to marry. They were not to marry women who worshiped foreign gods.

He reminded them of what happened to Solomon and ultimately to the nation of Israel because of these things.

Some reading this might remember an incident in college football. The Ohio State coach, Woody Hayes, co-cocked a player from the other team as he was running the ball. Of course, this was wrong. And Hayes lost a prestigious job in college sports and promptly became the laughingstock of college football. There is no way you could justify behavior of that sort. BUT, if you were the athletic director or the President of Ohio State, you would want your coach to have a fire in his belly and to be emotionally involved in what he was doing. You would want him upset when he lost and you would want him to celebrate when he won. You wouldn’t be too happy to hear a cold, calculated response about losing or winning.

Too many of our leaders today give a well rehearsed response to everything. They don’t want those they lead to see them in their “real moments.” They want folks to think they always have it under control. I think Nehemiah laughed, cried, celebrated, expressed great anguish and yes, even anger when things warranted those responses. As a leader, when was the last time those you lead saw you real? As a follower, who would you rather follow, someone who wasn’t afraid to let you know they were real or someone who always kept their guard up and offered those calculated responses to everything? I know I would want to follow someone like Woody Ha….er Nehemiah.

I want those who follow me to know I’m excited about what God is doing. I want them to know that I cry with them and suffer right along with them. I can’t lead well from a distance. I want to be in the midst of those I lead, working with them, laughing with them, crying with them, praying with them, and celebrating with them.

Let’s learn from Nehemiah and allow God to use us to help restore righteousness in our world.

Take Ten with Pastor Don Podcast

December 20, 2023

Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey, pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.

(The following is the script for the December 20, 2023 Podcast, Take Ten with Pastor Don. It is the second and final podcast for the series on “Seasons.” The remaining “keys” will be posted here, on the blog, “IN PURSUIT” over the next few days. Any suggestions, or comments would be most welcome.)

Last time we talked about the topic of “seasons.” I was inspired by the fact that we were knee deep in the Christmas season and traditionally, this season always seems to bring with it changes.

Many of us change our eating habits, you know…Christmas cookies, fudge, and other goodies. We have more dinners and parties to attend than we do the other 11 months of the year.

We shop more for Christmas. We take time to drive around and view Christmas lights on houses near and far.

It’s a wonderful time of year but it also comes with many different things.

I started to go through a list of nine “keys” or “helpful hints” designed to help us move through the various seasons of our life. Not just the holiday seasons. Many of us will experience a change of season that involves more things than the weather.

We start new jobs, there will be new financial challenges, new schools, new co-workers. Many will put together a list of goals they want to fulfill in the coming New Year.

I’ve decided to only talk about a few of those keys. I will write about all nine of them and put it up on my blog in a day or two. You can find my blog by going to DonMcGarvey.com. My blog is called, “In Pursuit.”

I started off last time by mentioning the first “key” to help navigate new seasons.

It was “we must accept responsibility to do our part” in this new season.

Too often we talk about God leading us into new seasons, which is true, but then there are some who just sit back, waiting for God to do what it is they are supposed to be doing. We have a role to play in every new season that comes along.

We must be “all in” for things to work well. I have a friend who has been successful in many fields over his one hundred years. One time he mentioned to me how he was only “knee deep” in this new adventure. But there was a sparkle in his eye so I knew more was coming.

He simply said, “I dove in headfirst.”

So, whether you dive in headfirst or gradually work your way in, we all must take responsibility for our part in this new season.

Another “key” that I think is important is, “we must be flexible.”

Now being flexible is a challenge. Most of us enjoy the safety and comfort of routine. As a kid growing up, I knew Mondays were laundry and usually fried chicken for supper.

If mom was doing the laundry and if the chicken was frying, I knew it was Monday.

But sometimes a new season demands a new routine.

In Joshua 3, Joshua and his officers went through the camp of the Israeli’s encouraging them to prepare for moving into the Promised Land.

One of the things they said to the people was to be prepared because they were now going to travel a path that they had never traveled on before.

The Israeli’s had been doing the same thing over and over for 40 years but now was a new season. It was a path they had never been on before. Like our new season.

From now on, Mondays were going to meatloaf for supper and laundry might have to wait until Thursday. It’s a new season and we need to be flexible as we move forward in it.

The next “key” is to not forget the basics. The basics never change.

The basics are things like loving God, loving our spouse, loving our kids, and loving ourselves.

As God leads us into new seasons, He won’t change the basics. We need to continue to be firm in our disciplines.

The basics are the tools that have we have used to get to where we are. And the basics will continue to be tools to take from where we are today, to where God wants us to be in the days ahead.

The next “key” is that we need to hang on to the past promises of God.

God has promised many things to us. A new season doesn’t negate those promises. A new season simply may mean that God is going to allow you to head in the direction of those promises from a unique perspective. Perhaps even utilizing new disciplines and new relationships to help guide us forward.

Sometimes the promises of God take more than one season to come about. Sometimes those promises are spread out over several seasons but we need to hold fast to what God has spoken and to the dreams God has placed in our hearts. God will be faithful in every season. That won’t change.

The final “key” I want to talk about today is that we need to allow the peace of God to sustain us.

New seasons all bring new challenges. Some even come with stress, some come with unique challenges that are designed to stretch us, and to remind us that God is with us.

One of the great Scriptures in the book of Joshua is verse 9 of chapter 1. Listen:

Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Don’t be afraid of going where you’ve never gone before. Don’t be afraid of the changes that are looming on the horizon. God has already made a way for you, He has a plan, and He will go with you each step of the way on the journey in your new season.

Well, that’s our time for this time. Thanks for taking the time to listen and be part of the Take Ten with Pastor Don podcast.

If you haven’t subscribed, please take a moment and ring the bell. And as always, if you are comfortable with doing so, let your friends know about us.

Thanks again for listening, and God bless you!

(These “keys” are taken from the book, “God’s Timing for Your Life” by Dutch Sheets. It was written in 2001, published by Regal Books.)

(The following is a script that was used for the Take Ten with Pastor Don Podcast on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.)

Take Ten with Pastor Don

December 13, 2023

Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey, pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.

I’ve talked before, maybe several times before on the topic of seasons.

I was reminded this morning about how our lives are built around seasons.

Currently we are in the holiday season. It’s Christmas time for most of us while some are enjoying Hanukkah. Both are festive times for families and friends.

But there are others who are in different seasons. Seasons that may not be of their doing.

Some are in tough seasons grieving the loss of loved ones, trying to figure out how to move forward, some are in seasons of great change, while some may be in the final seasons of their time here on earth.

In our family, we are in a season of change. It’s a good change. Recently we celebrated the birth of our second grandchild. We are excited about this season but many changes have come and will continue to come with this new season. We look forward to these times and are more than willing to embrace this season.

I have several friends who are farmers. No one knows more about seasons than farmers.

They know seasons of planting and seasons of harvesting. But there are other seasons that come along. In between planting and harvesting, come seasons of preparation, there is even a season of waiting. Granted, it’s an active season of waiting but they must wait for the crops to grow.

Prior to planting, farmers need to make sure they have everything they are going to need in order to plant their crops.

They need to make sure they have the seed, and that the necessary equipment is ready to go. Breakdowns are expensive and sometimes bring about great delays in planting so this season of preparation is very important.

A few years back, my wife, Kris, and I were flying to a resort in Mexico. It was the month of January. We were excited to leave the cold and snow in the Midwest and were looking forward to the sun, blue skies, and white beaches.

I noticed on the plane a large group of travelers. It was a group of farmers. And as I talked with one of them, we talked about the preparation for planting and all the work involved with being ready. It was a season in and of itself. But he mentioned that this was a season of rest for many of them.

I suspect that many of us miss out on the season of rest because we think we need to be busy all the time.

Seasons come and go. Some are short, some seem to last forever. But we need to understand that just as God, the creator of nature and all things that grow, is also the creator of seasons in our lives.

Solomon wrote of it very well in Ecclesiastes 3. There we find the words that tell us there is a season for all things.

“A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time for war and a time for peace, and a time to love and time to hate.

Nothing, except God, is intended to last forever. All things change. Seasons come and go.

The end of one season is the beginning of another season.

If we pay attention to the marketers of our time, it will appear that some seasons run together. I’m not sure what Solomon would have said about that, but it’s something we must deal with in our world.

As we approach the end of our year, many are thinking about how they did with their New Year resolutions in 2022. Companies are examining how they did with their goals. And are giving careful thought to objectives and goals for the coming year.

It’s a season to ask ourselves questions about how we are doing. To ask, “Where do I want to be in six months, or this time next year?

We need to ask how we are doing with this current season. Are we intentional about what we are doing? Do we know what we need to learn in preparation for the next season? What changes do we need to make to keep learning and moving forward? How do we go about making those changes?

Over the next couple of Pod Casts, I’m going to talk about nine “keys” or “helps” to being ready for the new season.

Just as a tease, the first one is, “I need to accept responsibility for my part” in this next season.

Life isn’t a spectator sport. All seasons come with a “to do” list. We all must take responsibility for our part in each season. God will do His part, always, but we need to actively participate.

Each new season will require something different from us if we expect to grow and continue moving forward. According to Albert Einstein, we can’t continue to do the same thing over and over and get different results. It could be that in a season of rest, we need to learn how to say, “no” to some things that come along.

When we look back, we will see how God used the previous seasons in our lives to prepare for us the coming seasons.

And keep in mind, God promises to never leave us, to walk with us, to give us wisdom, power, and whatever else we may need to keep moving forward in the plans He has for us.

Well, that’s our time for this time. Thanks for taking the time to join us today. And thanks for subscribing to our Pod Cast. But if you haven’t, please ring the bell and subscribe.

Also, if you are comfortable with doing so, please tell your friends about us.

Thanks again for listening, God Bless you!