Tree of Life – Part 1
Can I Have Hope Again?
Spiritual burnout is a humbling experience. You are not only worn out physically, mentally and emotionally, you also have lost much of your hope and your ideals. You are well past over-engagement and over-reactive emotions, and now your blunted emotions are taking you further into disengagement.
You are now demoralized, depressed, and disillusioned. You might even be angry with God. In your growing state of helplessness and hopelessness you may have questions like these: “Will I ever have hope again?” “Will I ever trust God again as much as before?” “Am I ever going to get my zeal back again?” “I don’t even feel like going to church. Will that change in time?”
At Smoldering Wick Ministries we want to befriend you and help you in the direction of healing. One of the best ways we know to do just that, is to disciple you in “Tree of Life” living and ministry. By helping you plunge into the Tree of Life we will be helping place you in a position where the Holy Spirit can do His deep inner healing. Whether you ever return to the ministry will ultimately be your decision, but with healing from burnout and a sound life-giving approach to life and ministry, the desire to return to your calling may become strong again.
Your zeal, however, will be tempered by your wisdom and experience. No longer will youthful idealism that is exaggerated set you up for disappointment. No longer will insecurity haunt you as a ministry leader. No longer will you take people’s freedom away and try to make them over in your own image. No longer will you try to solve everyone’s problems yourself. No longer will you be driven to frustration by hard-to-get-along-with people.
We all love God with our whole hearts. Some of us, however, have loved and served God with an incorrect approach that has hurt us and our followers. If we are left disillusioned by our experience in the ministry, it is because we first believed in an illusion!
At Smoldering Wick Ministries we have free tapes, articles, and counseling to take away the illusions, and introduce people to the Tree of Life (Jesus). We also promote a number of books designed to educate leaders in the direction of the Tree of Life and a sound healing relationship with our Lord Jesus. Check out all these resources at the Smoldering Wick Website.
Kathy and I slaved away for twenty years, ministering in a legalistic denomination where the underlying operating system was fear and control. God in His infinite wisdom brought three people into our lives that changed our whole approach to life and ministry. Malcolm Smith, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, taught us the fallacy of legalism and religion, and introduced us to Father’s unconditional love in a way we had never understood it before.
While this mind and heart opening process with Malcolm was occurring, we met Ted Haggard for the first time. What impacted us powerfully was Pastor Ted’s way of thinking. It was about as far from our legalistic denomination as you can get. He was filled with love and encouragement. His views were optimistic, and truly life-giving. We were learning a whole new way of thinking! After moving to Colorado, we were introduced to Dr. Larry Crabb, all the pieces fell together and great inner healing continued in our spirits. This booklet is a compilation of what we learned through our burnout after 23 years in the ministry, and what we learned through the healing process. We hope, with Father’s grace and blessing, that this information will help you heal and, further, help prepare you for a ministry with the Tree of Life as the modus operandi.
We will begin with a look at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and see how this tree can mislead even the most sincere ministry leader. What happens when we are operating out of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Then we will take a close look at what the Tree of Life is all about, and what an incredible difference in thinking and living this tree makes in our lives. We hope you will read and study this booklet several times and plunge yourself into the Tree of Life in your personal life, family life, and your future ministry as God reveals what that will be. God bless you, and please do use your burnout as a launch pad into a brighter, properly fulfilling future.
I’m an elder in a church that just this past week has delt with pastor and staff conflict. This included bringing in the board of overseers. I discovered your site as the result of this. Proceeding with caution.
my name is samuel from india. i doing the indipent church ministriespast 12 year in india.i have 20 branches churches establish ofdiffrent of places in india. by god grace praise god want to yourfellowship.i seen your ministries website i like the your fellowship.iwill jion to your organestion. presently 10 missionaries doing theirgm ministreis various of villages in india.pl had for our missionaryministries in to your organestion. pl welcome to india visit to ourministries area. i will arranges a gospel meetings next year.pl prayand reply me. pl visit to our ministries web site;www.irgm.org ourvision is 1000 churches plant for our nation thankyou in christOUR VISION;1,1000 churches plant for our nation only.2,1000 missionaries send to throughout india.3,will be start orphanage4,will be start out reach clinic(for free treatment)5,will be start bible collage6,will be start pastors fellowship(for every month)7,poor helps(handicapped,widows,leprosy)8,every month free eye camp.THANKSIN CHIRSTPR.SAMUEL-INDIAWWW.IRGM.ORG
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Dear brethrenI take this wonderful chance to pass a word
of hello to you and hoping that you as well are doing.I am
also grateful to our Lord God for bringing us this far.In
addition to that I request to pass this idea across to you
that I have a project of caring for the needy and the
poor that emerged as a result of post- election-violence in
our country Kenya
the year 2007,but the big problem I have faced is that
they are on increasing in number rapidly and yet I am not
capable enough to meet their needs.As I was brought up in total poverty and my parents passed on in my early years
of my age.I suffered so much but after all God
helped me mercifully and lovingly throughout my tender age till
I became a pastor and know I am serving Him with all my
life.This brings difficulty to me to dismiss the project
because I know fully the problems which the need and the
poor encounter to make it in life.I have two cows which i
milk and sell to get some finance to meet their basic
and some simple charity which I get from my Church Elders.I
humbly call upon you to put our in your daily prayers
so as finally to get doors open for us to succeed in this
life saving project.I believe with God everything is
possible.May God bless you.Pastor Geoffrey