OK, I’ll admit my recent posts have been a bit heavy. Three weeks and four weeks ago, in the wake of a megachurch minister’s suicide, I wrote about the costs and burdens of ministry. Last week I lamented the lack of urgency for the gospel demonstrated by so much of the comfortable American church.

Hopefully there was a positive message in each of those posts, but today you won’t have to search for it.

Wanted: One generous donor with deep pockets willing to empty them for the sake of the gospel. Your gift would send every member of our congregation on a trip to Ghana or India or the Dominican Republic. While there, these affluent suburban residents of Ohio will see Christian work and meet Christian workers living in simplicity and sometimes need, facing pagan religions and often persecution. Maybe these Americans will encourage or help those they meet in the foreign land. If so, that will be a side benefit to the main purpose of the trip: to instill a sense of urgency for spreading the gospel in America where our abundance distracts us from the church’s primary mission on earth.

Mark and I met six years ago when he was on the search committee here at Christ’s Church. I had known of Mark for years from afar, but now I can say that he is a friend and mentor. Mark and I both share a deep love for the church, pastors, and the moving of the gospel forward.

Since last week many have been talking about the suicide of a megachurch minister in California. And quite a few have been writing about it. Perhaps no post has received more attention than that from a minister’s daughter who described the hurts and heartaches of her father.

“I’ve seen firsthand the beauty and pain wrapped up in a life called to ministry for almost thirty years,” she wrote on Facebook. And, as of yesterday, more than 43,000 had read her post. More than 34,000 commented. Almost 7,000 shared it. A few days later she admitted she’s been amazed and “slightly overwhelmed” at the response. The experiences shared by her readers have deepened her commitment to build the church and help those hurt by it.

Andrew Stoecklein, pastor of Inland Hills church, a megachurch in Chino, California, committed suicide last weekend. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. I didn’t really know Andrew, but I had met him twice. And I can’t stop wondering, What kind of pain was he in to take his own life?

I can guess at the answer. Most pastors I know live with the pressure that they can’t be really human. And this happens no matter the size of the church. These guys feel like they’re being held to an impossible standard. Many are put on a pedestal they never chose and don’t want.