I know where he's coming from

Check out this blog entry from a pastor in North Carolina, A lot of the time we're scared. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that feels that way sometimes. Failure is scary, but there's something else that scares me even more, status quo!

The fear of status quo is part of what lead me to plant a church. I could've taken an established church right out of seminary, had a set and steady (although likely very small) salary and not had a lot of big worries. I could've comfortably pastored a church that would maintain.
But that thought terrified me!

A church plant has no room for status quo, it's sink or swim, grow or die. And that excited me. As much as I don't want to fail, I'd rather try something great and fail than live at status quo. I'm more scared of status quo than I am of failure.

A couple months before graduating seminary, I talked with the pastor of a pretty big church about a staff position. I was flattered that the pastor had considered me and during the conversation, I was dreaming of working in a big established church and a comfortable salary. As soon as I hung up the phone, I heard God say, "Donnie, I hope you enjoyed that conversation, hope it stroked your ego. You're moving to Gardner where you have no people and no money and you're going to like it!"

God was exactly right!