The same goes for Easter where we commemorate 40 days of Lent leading to Easter, (You don’t count the Sundays to have 40 days of Lent), Maundy Thursday, (Celebrating the Last Supper of Jesus with His disciples), Good Friday, Holy Saturday and then Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Just like Christmas, there is so much symbolism and remembrance required as you move through the season. But guess what? After the jellybeans and Easter candy are all gone and the leftover ham has all been consumed, the celebration of Easter must continue daily in the Christ follower’s life.

The climax of the season is Resurrection Sunday when we celebrate Jesus coming out of the tomb at dawn as He was resurrected from the dead. Maundy Thursday becomes our communion remembrance throughout the year as we reflect monthly or weekly, depending on your church, on the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross on Good Friday.

Good Friday is highlighted as we think about the body that was beaten and broken on our behalf and the blood that was shed for the remission or payment for our sins, (Hebrews 9::22). When Jesus said in John 19:30,” It is finished”, the Greek word meaning there is that our debt of sin was paid in full. The Greek word for “Tetelestai” was a common word used at the time of Jesus to record a debt that had been fully paid off. Jesus using the vernacular of the day declared on the cross that He had satisfied God’s wrath and anger against sin by placing the worlds sins, past, present and future upon Himself while on the cross and when Jesus said “It is finished”, He said God’s will and mission for His life was completed here on earth and then He breathed His last breath and died. So, the debt of our sin was paid in full, but Jesus still suffered death and Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pontius Pilate to prepare Jesus body for burial and place Him in Joseph’s family tomb. The disciples were despondent while Jesus was in the tomb through Holy Saturday.

On Resurrection Sunday, we discover that the grave could not hold Him. He rose from the dead leaving His burial clothes behind and supernaturally went through the stone that entombed Him. An earthquake occurs and an angel rolls away the stone to reveal to the women who were the first to come to the tomb that Jesus isn’t there anymore, He has risen, just as He said He would previously to His disciples. Jesus overcame death, sin and the power of Satan.

I say all of this to say this. Yes, Easter 2026 has come and gone. I put away our plastic Easter eggs yesterday, some of you put away Easter baskets that you use annually for your kids and grandkids, but the colored eggs are still there. What do we do with those hard-boiled eggs that the kids or grandkids colored? That has always presented a dilemma to me! But how will you live today and onward in 2026 with the effects of the Easter season?

As you celebrated communion at your church, reflect on Good Friday and all that Jesus went through leading up to and including His crucifixion. The false trials, the beatings, the mocking, Pontius Pilate referring an innocent man to be executed and the seven sayings on the cross. We celebrate the hope that Jesus gave to the thief on the cross that He would be with Jesus in paradise this day! As you take communion going forward, rededicate yourself anew to serve God and walk in confidence based on the finished work of Christ on the cross on your behalf.

When you think of the resurrection, think about when you became a believer in Christ, you began God’s resurrection work in your life with the gift of the Holy Spirit and the confidence of Philippians 1:6 that He will make you daily into the image of Christ until the day God calls you home. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. We walk daily with the benefits and the same power within that raised Jesus from the dead.

Each morning as we wake up as Christ followers, enjoy walking in the benefits of the Easter season. We have the assurance of our salvation, the promise that our sins are forgiven, the hope of eternal life with Jesus since He rose from the dead and is in heaven at the right of the throne of God interceding constantly on our behalf. We are daily being shaped and conformed into the image of Christ by our regenerated self-taking on the attitudes and servant heart of the Savior as we walk in this world as pilgrims and strangers.

So happy days after Easter!! May we look back on the reflections and remembrances that were a part of the season and rejoice daily and every Sunday when we gather to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.!! Happy days after Easter!

I was supposed to write and post a blog post on March 13^th about accountability, but our family’s world was turned upside down by the tornado that hit Kankakee County, Illinois, on March 10^th.

On March 11^th, at 5:30 in the morning, my wife was awakened by a text with pictures from our daughter showing her neighborhood severely damaged by an EF-3 tornado at around 5:37 pm on March 10^th. An EF-3 tornado has sustained winds of 150 mph, if you didn’t know. We immediately called our daughter to get the details of what had happened the previous night. The damage was substantial (See picture at the end of this blog post). My daughter, her husband, and four sons were hunkered down in the safest place they knew, their garage. To add to the story, my daughter was due any day with our baby granddaughter. My daughter’s family was told not to get into the crawl space because the damage from the tornado could entrap them. There was a man in her neighborhood who was trapped in his basement for twelve hours before being discovered under the debris from his house and rescued safely.

The storm started as a convergence along a cold front. The very warm air and the much cooler air collided over Kankakee County and started the tornado that would travel on the ground for 110 miles into Indiana, where there were three fatalities. In Kankakee County, one death was reported. The storm started as a severe thunderstorm with baseball-sized hail, shattering many windshields and back windows in cars as well as windows in houses. As my daughter’s family heard the baseball-sized hail coming down, they heard the roar of the tornado, and then there was just quiet. My son-ln -law stepped out of the garage as it grew quiet to see his neighbors’ homes on either side of his destroyed. Most of the two houses were just reduced to rubble, lying on the ground.

When I arrived at the site on March 12^th to help with cleanup, I wanted to cry. It literally looked like a bomb had gone off in their neighborhood. Houses were either destroyed or rendered unlivable because of the severe damage to the roof and structure of the homes.

The miracle is that if you look at a picture of my daughter’s neighborhood, you will see that her house remained standing and only had minor damage. By March 14^th, just four days after the tornado, power was restored and they were able to return to live in their home. Minor damage was done to the roof, garage, and cars but they had a house to live in.

As I worked on cleaning up the backyard, my eleven-year-old grandson stopped and looked around and said to me “God protected us”. I strongly agreed, it looked like God put His hand over their house, their shed, and their chickens as the tornado passed over and protected them from harm and severe damage to them and their house. Later, we sat around a table and my wife looked up Psalm 91 on her phone and as she cried, she read a few verses. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday – Psalm 91:1-6

Because my wife couldn’t finish the verses, she handed the phone off to our oldest grandson to finish reading. These verses fit so appropriately. God miraculously saved my daughter’s family, their house, their chickens while many of their neighbors will be displaced for months and some will move away to avoid the constant memory of what happened.

I have shared this story with many people in the last two weeks. One question that a 4^th grader brought up is this; “Why did God protect my daughter and her family and their house but not others in the neighborhood?” I want to speak to that for a moment.

The first thing we have to be mindful of is that God is ruler over all, He is sovereign and He does as He pleases. Because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world. Some of the consequences of sin is that every human being would have a sinful nature, that sin would separate people from God and that all human beings would die. Other consequences include weeds and thistles growing among crops and flowers; mothers’ who are pregnant would have pain in childbirth and the severe weather would be a factor in the world. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, hail, derechos’, and host of other damaging phenomena would be present in our world.

When I think of the sovereignty of God and my sin, I try to wake up everyday with a thankful heart. I deserve to be in hell because of my sin, and yet, by the grace of God, He redeemed me and calls me His own and allows me to live life and go through difficulties and suffering at times. All those trials and tribulations are to make a Christ follower like me more into the image and attitude of Christ. God is all powerful, present everywhere and all knowing, He can do and does do, whatever He desires.

Second, God gives common grace to everyone. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. The second part of that verse is saying that if those without Christ, God’s judgment is hanging over us, but not yet imparted upon those who do not know Christ, because God is a good, loving and gracious God who has patience and wants everyone to have the chance to trust Christ as Savior, (2 Peter 3:9).

Since God is on His throne and in charge of the universe, He graciously gives good things to his creation (James 1:17), and He allows good and bad things to happen on the just and the unjust according to Matthew 5:45, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Third, God often gives special grace beyond the common grace to His followers who are faithfully obeying Him. Psalm 37:23 and 84:11 are just two promises of that special grace and blessing.

This blog post will not attempt to answer the question of why God allows suffering at all and why is it that some suffer and suffer more than others and some do not suffer much at all. That is a blog post for a different time.

My conclusion is this. Our family and my daughter’s network of people witnessed a miracle and to God be the glory and thanks for His protection. For my children and grandchildren, it will be a lasting testament of God’s protective hand amid danger. My grandchildren have seen firsthand God working in the details of their life showing in a miraculous way how much He loves them and cares for them. In the aftermath, my children and grandchildren have seen the acts of kindness by two ministries; God’s Pit Crew and Samaritan’s Purse, working tirelessly in their neighborhood cutting away trees and cleaning up the debris for no cost at all. My family and others are seeing the hands and feet of Jesus in action.

Sometimes we think God is far, far away. Sometimes we wonder if He is there and if He is hearing our prayers. Then, at times in our life, He shows up as if out of nowhere, (though He is there all the time) and shows us in the most undeniable and tangible ways that He knows our name, He wants to meet a need or a desire and we are stunned and blessed all at the same time. How could this sovereign God who is working in the details of over eight billion people at one time, know the number of the hairs on our head and make Himself known in a personal way in our lives.

That my friend is the amazing God we serve! There is no other religion in the world that can make the claim of having a personal relationship with the Sovereign Creator of the universe and the creator of each individual in it. Marvel at how God reveals Himself to you and your family and praise Him for being the God that He is.

Psalm 8:3-4

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him

?

In this second blog on accountability, I want to stress the importance of focusing on our daily reminder of our accountability before God. There is no one who we will be more accountable to in this life or the next, more than God Himself. Notice what some scriptures say about this sober thought.

James 3:1

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

I have kept these verses in the back of my mind throughout my Christian life and especially my years of full-time ministry. Those who have the privilege of fulfilling their calling in leading a ministry and teaching the Word of God, will have to answer for all they taught and how they lived out the Gospel when they stand before the living God to give an account of your life.

I am not sure what that experience will look like. I know from I Corinthians 3, Paul says that our works will be placed before our Lord and those that God considered worthless will be burned up like wood, hay and stubble, but those works that are found acceptable in His sight, they will survive the fire and will be like gold, silver, and precious stone. Most likely, what remains will be part of our eternal reward in heaven. God will not judge us for our sin since all our sin is covered and removed by the blood of Jesus on the cross, but our motives, our attitudes and the resulting works that we do, will face God’s judgment and scrutiny when we pass from this life. This to me is a sobering thought and I keep that in mind as I counsel people, as I prepare lessons or messages to teach and my interactions with those I am ministering to. I do not think as Christ followers in the 21^st century that we take seriously enough how we will give an account before God when we stand before Him one day. The goal in all our life and ministry should be to glorify God and ask ourselves if He would be pleased with how we minister to people and teach the Word of God.

We must guard against the accolades that people place on us. When we forget that all the good that we do is a result of God’s Spirit within us and that He gets the glory, we are headed for BIG trouble. Romans 12:3 says “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Paul warns us against pride, acclaiming our talents and considering how good we are without humbling ourselves and realizing that any spiritual good we do, it all comes from God. Guard your heart from the pride that can creep into your life because of people’s compliments and adoration that they may pour on us. Give God the glory first and always.

We must guard our hearts so that we don’t get too low or discouraged when trouble comes our way. We, as ministry leaders, tend to blame ourselves for the failures in ministry that are often beyond our control. When we personally sin or fail, we must own it and seek forgiveness and reconciliation. We are NOT called to live perfect lives but blameless lives before our people, (Philippians 2:15). Part of accountability is admitting when we sinned or failed, take responsibility, seek forgiveness and you will gain a newfound respect with the people you reconcile with. Don’t ever be above admitting you are wrong and owning it. That is a sign of a great leader. I remember an adage that one of my youth ministry professors in college said that has stuck with me. Dave Adams said, “You are no better than anyone else and you are no worse than anyone else.” We are all who we are in Christ in our own unique way. Don’t ever forget that. He loves us as much now as He ever has in the past and ever will in the future.

In a letter that James Dobson wrote years ago he talked about an incident that occurred when he went to a Christian book seller’s convention and for the first time he saw all of his materials displayed and his picture all over the place. And he said, “I heard as it were almost an audible voice saying, ‘Jim, look around you. I have chosen for reasons that you don’t understand to make you visible and influential with My people. And in that sense, I am preparing to make the work of My Kingdom vulnerable to you. That’s why I’m telling you to be careful; think before you act; hold a tighter reign on your tongue and on your thought life than ever before. When your natural impulse is to become angry or vindictive, resist the temptation as much as possible, and keep your life free of willful and deliberate sin. You will soon be in a position to hurt my people. See that it doesn’t happen.’”

The more God grows our ministry the more responsibility we will be held accountable for. Luke 12:48 says “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” As you teach and minister to others this week, keep in mind that you are playing and working for an audience of One. If no one encourages you, or if someone criticizes you, or if you receive high praise, remember that you are doing it all for the glory of God and that should give us the greatest joy and peace we can ever imagine in this life.

We have pastors and ministry leaders in the church or parachurch organizations who feel lonely, isolated and / or burned out but left feeling they don’t know who they can talk to about these things. There are other pastors and leaders who are caught in a hidden habit of sin, and they need someone to come alongside they can talk to and help them walk with that habit of sin in order to overcome in their life before it destroys them, their family, and the ministry they are serving in. I heard of some pastors, sharing with their elders the struggles they were going through and instead of ministering to him, and providing resources and a listening ear, they fired him!

Pastors and ministry leaders need safe places to go and share their honest feelings without fear of losing their ministry positions, to feel loved and cared for in the good times of ministry and family, and the most difficult times of both. The best way for a pastor or a ministry leader to be healthy emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally and ministry wise is to have one or more people OUTSIDE of their ministry to safely share what is going on in their life.

I would say that what allowed me to stay in ministry for over forty years was first, a godly wife who loved ministry and was supportive and involved in ministry with me. She was my sounding board, my close partner in ministry and listened as I shared the ups and downs of meetings, relationships and ministry in general. A godly, supportive spouse is vital to the health of a ministry leader. No one can put a price tag on how valuable, how blessed and how important it is to have a partner in ministry who is a team player. The old adage is still true. “If momma isn’t happy, no one is happy.” I have friends whose wives decided they did not want to be in ministry, and those friends are no longer in full time paid ministry. One pastor and his wife ended up in divorce over the matter. You will not have a successful ministry without a wonderful spouse who is supportive and involved in ministry anyway they can be.

The second resource that was invaluable for me in staying in ministry with integrity and endurance was having an accountability partner and / or an accountability group. I was blessed most of my ministry life to have a group of like-minded ministry people who met monthly or every six weeks to check in on each other in a vulnerable and transparent setting outside of their churches. The bonus came when I also had a mentor who would encourage me but also give me a kick in the butt when I needed it most. If I had to choose one over the other, the accountability group would be my first choice. I found that it was easier to develop one or join one than to find just the right mentor. If you can find both, as I did a few times in my ministry life, you are beyond blessed. On my journey, I joined two accountability groups that were already in progress with the denomination I was in but on several occasions, where there wasn’t an accountability group, I started one. It still stands true that if you invite ministry leaders to meet for accountability, you will never be turned down. The hunger for a safe, confidential place to share your heart that is authenticate, non – judgmental, and accepting is contagious, it is hungered after.

Why is accountability so important in ministry. First, in our humanity as leaders and visionaries, we would like yes people to be all around us in leadership. The natural tendency to have everyone agree with us as a leader is a dangerous thing. I always strived to develop leaders for spiritual leadership who were gifted in areas that I wasn’t and see things from a different perspective than I did. This is important to get a well-rounded view of the vision you as the leader are developing to lead the ministry you are in and it goes a long way to hear other viewpoints and bring buy in to the vision by the spiritual leaders. The vision must become our vision, not just the ministry leaders’ vision to be successful. A pastor or a ministry leader must NOT have just yes people, people who will agree with you no matter what you say, as the only people surrounding you as a leader. The danger of everyone agreeing with you leads to pride and the thinking that it is all about me. Find people to put in leadership who complement your areas of gifting in which you are not strong in, and you will see great results. President Ronald Reagan, when he was in the White House supposedly had on his desk this quote attributed to President Harry Truman. “It is amazing what can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” Always keep this in the back of your mind to remind you as a ministry leader that it is not all about you. We can be our worst enemies because we have spots and gaps in our character and insight that we are blind to.

A second level of accountability is to your spiritual leaders. In one of the churches I served at, the elders did not ask for or require an accounting of how I spent my time each week in ministry. From day one and for sixteen years, I would send the elders a weekly report of how many hours I spent that week on ministry, who I contacted/visited, what meetings or ministry opportunities I attended within the church and in the community. I also included in that accountability report the praises and the negative dealings I had in that week. I always included in the report what the elders could pray for me personally about. I received feedback from time to time from the elders but my effort to seek accountability built a healthy and godly relationship with my elders and a close working relationship with them. They saw my heart, week after week in my accountability reports and it became an invitation to speak into my life and at times take on some responsibilities when they knew I was overwhelmed. I can’t say enough to putting yourself as a pastor or ministry leader under the care and support of the spiritual leaders in your church. You should view yourself and the other leaders as fellow servants for Christ in His work.

There is much more to share on this subject so I will continue this subject and thought next week. Some thoughts and questions to consider this week; To whom or to what group are accountable to and do you have a safe place to share anything that is going on in your life and have the feeling of being accepted, no matter what? Prayerfully seek out a group this week outside of your ministry if possible and if one does not exist, start one. I will give you more information of what goes on in an accountability group that breeds health and success in your ministry. Stay tuned!

On the other hand, we are living in one of the most isolated and protective periods in recorded history. People project themselves on social media other than their true selves. They avoid transparency for many reasons. Maybe they don’t think they would be popular or have as many likes if people “really knew who they were.” The result is they hide in isolation and loneliness for fear that, if they are transparent, they will face rejection.

Lack of transparency is a problem in our churches and parachurch ministries. I heard about a church this week that wants to change its church Constitution so that the church family no longer votes on the yearly church budget but gives the responsibility to the Elders to make the church budget. The church family is asked to put their trust in a few good men to create a yearly budget without the church family having a say in how the church spends its money. The primary issue with this lack of transparency is that the budget is not made available for the church family to review or have a say or a vote, which results in a significant lack of accountability.

If an organization, a spiritual leader, or a marriage is to be healthy, there must be a strong desire for transparency and accountability. I can list numerous Christian leaders, church leaderships, and marriages that have been destroyed due to a lack of sharing what is going on with money or direction of an organization, without letting those who are investing into the organization with their time, talents, and treasure. Where transparency as leaders is not displayed, sooner or later, something bad will surface, and the news will destroy that organization and/or the leader’s integrity.

In this day and age, where cynicism runs high and the reports of fraud and corruption run rampant, no organization or leader can survive without some level of transparency. How far to go in this idea of being transparent is a question for a different time. I want to overemphasize and scream at the top of my lungs, BE TRANSPARENT at all costs. To be fair, some people don’t read the church budget before voting and trust the leadership, and other people will want more detail than what is provided and presented at a meeting concerning the church budget. I have learned over the years that leadership in any organization must overcommunicate to build and maintain trust among its supporters. Hear me on this, the more you communicate, the more it answers questions and removes doubts for most people. It also displays publicly that your organization and the leaders are people attempting to be leaders full of integrity.

Integrity and trust are so important. You cannot execute the vision of an organization or ministry fully, have people fund it and support it, without its leadership seeking to be full of integrity and willing to share information to bring the followers along. Your vision will be like driving with an emergency brake on if you cannot bring the majority of your followers with you for the ride the leadership wants to take the organization/ministry on.

Here are some things to be transparent about as you lead your people to follow the vision God has placed in the leader’s heart.

1. Have a Biblical basis for your vision and mission for your organization/ministry. Why do we exist, and what is the purpose of our existence?

2. Have a clear understanding of the mission field where you are located and a strategy for ministry in that community.

3. Share with passion and transparency the information you have gleaned concerning the community you are endeavoring to minister to and with.

4. Share as leaders how you decided on the methods to be used to minister in and to the community your organization/ministry finds itself in.

5. Communicate the vision, how to support it (manpower, finances, etc.), and specifically how people can use their talents and spiritual gifts to accomplish the vision.

6. With that established, continually (Quarterly, Semi-annually) report to the followers and allow the followers to ask questions. In those meetings, communicate and communicate, showing the leadership has nothing to hide.

7. When you have followed these steps in a Christian setting, the leaders will go a long way in providing transparency and legitimacy to the organization/ministry, which leads to trust and integrity. You cannot operate very long without doing all you can to build trust and display integrity, and that is accomplished through communication and transparency.

I will close this blog post with this story. I had a parishioner in one of the churches I pastored who struggled with trusting the Elders. No matter what was said at meetings, put in print or communicated from the pulpit, this person believed the Elders had a hidden agenda, a secret plan behind the scenes. After several years of this person challenging the leadership in public meetings, our Elder team appointed another Elder and me to meet with this person to find out why he lacked trust in our leadership. This person had been on an Elder board at his previous church and was a part of a messy situation when the Pastor he had a part in hiring for the church failed. Because of the way the situation was handled by the leadership he was a part of, he developed a distrust for church leadership. He brought that experience into his new church and distrusted the current leadership. After several hours of sharing our hearts as members of the Elder board, and we said he knew all that we could share as leaders, he was convinced that the Elders did not have a secret agenda and that the Elders were communicating all they could to the church family about the direction and finances of the church. That quelled his distrust, and he was a valuable supporter of the church leadership for years after that. The moral of the story is that when you are faced with distrust and a concern for lack of transparency, go after it and be as transparent as possible. You will succeed beyond your wildest dreams, and you will never regret it.

Next week, we will explore the importance of accountability and, as leaders, the importance of seeking accountability to succeed in ministry or in the secular workpl

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