That phrase is useful for wise discernment. “Wait for it” encourages delayed gratification. “Wait for it” guides us to take a deep breath and think more deeply. “Wait for it” has also become snarky vernacular to indicate a funny moment at the end of a video, or a punchline at the end of a joke.

“Wait for it.”

The childhood activity sheet of “connect the dots” was a fun way to help non-artists draw an intricate image. It involved carefully drawing a line from the dot labelled “1” to the dot labelled “2” and so on. The result was the tracing of a pre-arranged, designed image. Then you could color in the line drawing to embellish your masterpiece.

Next week, Virginians will vote on a Democrat-led effort to redistrict the state. The result, they unashamedly admit, will give the Democrats overwhelming representation in the state politically. They argue this is temporarily necessary to counterbalance what the Texas voters legislature did which resulted in more Republican representation (which Texas voters did in response to California’s gerrymandering).1

Bryan Cannon wrote The answer to authoritarianism isn’t gerrymandering2 in our regional Cardinal News. I urge you to read his article as he offers two reasons - one moral and one practical - to vote against gerrymandering in Virginia. Cannon knows what he’s talking about. He is “a democracy reform advocate who helped lead Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting reform effort from 2015 to 2021 and works on election reform initiatives nationally.”

This week, we received yet another mailer. We get at least two a day recently - one urging a “yes” vote and one urging a “no” vote. This mailer, though, was the “connect the dots” moment for me. In one mailer, the Left revealed why are they so audaciously attempting to reverse what 2/3 of Virginia voters set in place back in 2020.

So why are the Democrats really wanting to pursue this effort?

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Wait for it.

Here was the mailer, front and back:4

Connect the dots.

Update 4/20/26: I received a helpful reprimand in comments from Todd Fearer (see below) and have changed the following paragraph and added the one after it for clarity and accuracy. You can see the original in the footnote.5

Abortion. That is their ultimate target. If they can stack Virginia votes with Democrats, they will be able to influence the national abortion conversation and help pass (or block) national abortion legislation. There is already a Democrat-led abortion amendment that is up for vote this fall in Virginia to pass a constitutional amendment in VA to enshrine abortion.

I believe they want to change the national abortion laws as a result of SCOTUS overturning Roe. Stronger Democratic dominance in federal races can influence state elections and shape messaging and turnout. That’s why they say this gerrymandering will only be “temporary, emergency measure.” In other words, give us power to enshrine abortion at a national level and to use our influence to convince voters to do so in Virginia this fall, and we’ll gladly give up power after the 2030 census. Yeah, right.

The Democrats strategy? Two-prong:

1. Fear. They will take your rights away. Trump will gain more power. (When either party has no logical arguments and is low on logic, they resort to fear. Fear is an excellent motivator.)

2. Blame Trump. (The Left’s obsessive hatred for Donald Trump is almost comical if it weren’t so dangerous.)

That’s all they’ve got - fear and… Trump. They aren’t thinking of “fair.” Everyone knows this is unfair for Virginians. They’re not denying that. They claim it is necessary. For their agenda. To legalize the killing of innocents.

Connect the dots.

Sane political observers will admit that the Democrats have other agendas that are disagreeable and disturbing as well. It stands to reason that if given greater power in Virginia, they will have unfettered ability to silence dissent if this effort should pass.

Democrats already have an advantage in our state. They control six districts while Republicans control five.

I voted “NO”

I voted “no” today, and I was deeply disturbed to discover that the ballot read as follows:

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

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Here’s a great quote:

“Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”6

Who said it? Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, in response to a 2019 redistricting effort was halted by the Supreme Court. When her party has the reins, it’s apparently ok. That’s fair, right?

4

It was sent by Virginians For Fair Elections. Their website has the Democrat governor promoting the “yes” vote. The name of their organization is ridiculous. Fair, indeed. 🤪

I hope at least one of these books makes your list of books to read this year. It’s rare that I can recommend three consecutive books I’ve read. This is such an occasion! 🎺 [insert celebratory trumpet sound]

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

It’s hard not to be inspired, challenged and even chuckle at a book by C.S. Lewis. The Four Loves insightfully and quirkily unpacks our English concept of “love.” We use the same word to indicate our affection for pizza, our spouse, and our God. What does the word “love” mean in reference to each of these, and when does our love change from intellectual to sexual to spiritual?

In recent years, our culture has promoted the concept of “love is love” to excuse ungodly and perverted desires. Lewis’ book lances this unbecoming emotional boil and redirects our understanding by reminding us that the worship of love itself is idolatry.

“St. John’s saying that God is love has long been balanced in my mind against the remark of a modern author (M. Denis de Rougemont) that ‘love ceases to be a demon only when he ceases to be a god’; which of course can be re-stated in the form ‘begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god.’ This balance seems to me an indispensable safeguard. If we ignore it the truth that God is love may slyly come to mean for us the converse, that love is God.”

Lewis proceeds to unpack the kinds of love into categories and types that help us measure our loves appropriately and to direct them wisely toward what’s truly lovable. His four types are:

• Affection

• Friendship

• Eros

• Charity

His chapter on Eros was one of the most helpful and encouraging. “By Eros I mean of course that state in which we call ‘being in love,’ or if you prefer, that kind of love which lovers are ‘in.’”1 He helpfully disengages eros from mere sexuality (Lewis lovers should like that). “The real danger seems to me not that the lovers will idolize each other but that they will idolize Eros himself.”2

I “loved” how Lewis wrapped up his book by pointing us to Christ as the One Great Love. All of our loves - no matter how intensely felt or experienced or true - in this life will be subsumed in a more glorious, more real, and deeper actual Love when we meet Jesus face to face. That will be the wonderful surprise of heaven for us all. We will be most enamored not with heavenly rewards nor with relational reunions with lost loved ones. Rather, our Love will be fulfilled and enjoyed by the beauty and wonder of Jesus Himself.

Lewis was concerned that any should think heaven is simply a reunion. Lewis said, “But I must not end on this note, I date not - and all the less because longings and terrors of my own prompt me to do so - leave any bereaved and desolate reader confirmed in the widespread illusion that reunion with the loved dead is the goal of the Christian life. The denial of this may sound harsh and unreal in the ears of the broken-hearted, but it must be denied.”3

Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, by Ross Douthat

I read a review of Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious in the March 2025 issue of World Magazine. It said, “Believe is truly a Mere Christianity for the 21st century.”4 You already know my respect for C.S. Lewis after the previous review. I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the reviewer’s assertion about this book by Douthat, a New York Times opinion columnist. Those were high marks for a modern book.

Douthat’s book is fantastic. I highly recommend the read and encourage you to direct religious skeptics to it. The author presents rational, winsome and even scientifically-backed reasons for belief. He claims that any religion will do for starters. What is not acceptable is the mind virus and illogic of atheism.

Many evangelicals will stumble over the author’s broad invitation to the irreligious to simply start somewhere with belief. They’ll quote scriptures such as, “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it…”5 or, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”6 Rightfully so, Christians may cringe over Douthat’s seeming leveling of the religious playground.

However, Douthat is doing something imminently wonderful and shrewd in his book. He is leading people through the book to the wonderful conclusion that believing is the start, but that fulfilled belief eventually guides us to Jesus. He provides compelling logic to the spiritual seeker that only Christianity makes sense of belief.

“…if you find within human history (not just human myth and legend) a singular and well-attested happening, an especially dramatic and compelling story set in an especially earthy and human context, through which the order of the world was forever altered, a religious event that seems to stand out starkly from the historical record; if this event looks stranger and more credibly miraculous than other religious foundings; if the specific nature of its miracle seems to stand out from the wider range of stories about saints and sages and holy men and women; if its sheer strangeness still echoes down the centuries despite all the attempts at reinterpretation and domestication - well, then the simplest interpretation of that discovery is also the literal-minded one: that the resurrection really happened, that here God intervened in human affairs decisively, that this is the defining revelation of His purposes, in whose light the larger run of mystical and spiritual experiences across cultures and civilizations should be read. The reasonable thing to do is not just to pay attention but to believe.”7

His last chapter is wonderful in commending Christ to the reader. And, he honestly seemed to cower a bit under the implications of Jesus being the only way to heaven. I was disappointed in his sincere invitation to faith in Christ being followed by a mealy-mouthed word-salad in his conclusions. Where he’d seemed bold and intentional, his closing words seemed postured to not offend by commending generic belief in something rather than specific faith in Christ.

While I had some caveats his claims along the way, I still recommend the book with eagerness to you. God can hit straight licks with crooked sticks. There are portions of Mere Christianity with which I quibble as well, but God has used that book time and again to nudge the unbelieving toward belief in Jesus.

A Light on the Hill: The Surprising Story of How a Local Church in the Nation’s Capital Influenced Evangelicalism, by Caleb Morell

This is the story of a church on the edge of political power and intrigue. Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. is strategically located to influence and be influenced by our nation’s leaders and national movements.

This well-written and documented history of one church is an encouragement, a warning, and a helpful resource for encouragement to all churches. One reviewer said it well:

“Though well-known figures such as Billy Graham, Carl F. H. Henry, and Mark Dever play a large part in the story, they compete for space with previously unknown figures… Morell is making an argument: God is pleased to advance his kingdom through ordinary people carrying on quiet, humble, faithful lives in the context of the local church.”8

The book reads like a novel and an instruction manual simultaneously. You won’t be bored by lack of drama. CHBC has been led with humility in these past years by Mark Dever (of 9 Marks - though “marks” has nothing to do with there being eight other Marks…). Reading the church’s history is like reading that of American Evangelicalism itself. Stunning spiritual vistas are clouded by ugly small clouds of human failure. And yet, God in His mercy, preserved the church, and today its ministry shines bright on The Hill.

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It’s an unsettling truth. Pastors burn out. In droves. When it comes to fire in ministry, most pastors begin with the hope of experiencing flames like the burning bush that Moses got to encounter which was evidence of God’s presence. In that moment, Moses was astonished because “the bush was on fire but was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2) Sadly today, many pastors are on fire and unlike the bush, they burn up. To a crisp. None of us wants to burn out like that.

Continued studies (prior to COVID) reveal a conflagration happening in ministry:

• 75% of pastors report being “extremely stressed” or “highly stressed.”

• 90% work between 55 to 75 hours per week.

• 90% feel fatigued and worn out every week.

• 70% say they’re grossly underpaid.

• 40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.

• 78% were forced to resign from their church (63% at least twice), most commonly because of church conflict.

• 80% will not be in ministry ten years later and only a fraction make it a lifelong career. On average, seminary trained pastors last only five years in church ministry.

• 100% of 1,050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors had a colleague who had left the ministry because of burnout, church conflict, or moral failure.

• 91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry and 18% say they are “fried to a crisp right now.”1

During the height of COVID (2020-2022) the stress of ministry exploded. Think of it as an ember that had caught a piece of paper on fire suddenly catching the surrounding forest on fire. Churches witness their pastors shifting from chronic stress to a crisis in serving in ministry. According to a Barna study, 42% of pastors considered quitting in 2022 alone.2

The pandemic may have been the highest stress moment for pastors in modern history. Pastors had to juggle disparate opinions in their congregations about masks, social distancing, politics, and worldwide anxiety itself becoming a pandemic. The following all contributed to the flames:

• Political division in churches

• Rapid digital pivot (online church overnight)

• Health fears + funerals + crisis care

• Declining attendance + giving

• Constant criticism from both sides

My own church had met in Blacksburg Middle School since we were planted in 2003. The local school was beyond gracious with our 18 year stint of renting there. In March of 2020, when schools closed, and Virginia closed down public gatherings, we moved to live-streaming for the first time. After a few weeks passed, another local church generously offered the use of their facility on Sunday nights for our gathering.

We had begun construction of our first church building in the closing months of 2019, and during the rest of 2020 through spring of 2021, we met on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 p.m. By God’s grace, our construction was never slowed throughout those COVID months, and we worshiped for the first time in our new facility on Easter Sunday in 2021!

The stress and conflicting views related to COVID, the riots of summer 2020, the presidential election that fall all contributed to my own stress. I had (and have) strong opinions about masks, COVID management and politics.3 Serving in a community where a major university resides meant that our locality was saturated with left-leaning and often fearful (even hysterical) views during that these days. We lost church members over it. And yet our church experienced rapid growth since 2021.

In these post-COVID years, the percentage of pastors wanting to quit has dropped precipitously from 42% to 24%.4

Taken in historical comparison, pastoral burnout remained high. “An astonishing 40% of pastors now show a high risk of burnout, representing a nearly 400% increase since 2015…”5

Yet, just because there is stress, fatigue and what some may define as “burnout,” it does not equate to a mass exodus from ministry. In fact, burnout does not lead to quitting any more than it ever has. A Lifeway study revealed that in a study of Protestant pastors, only around 1 in 100 leave the ministry each year. “The percentage of pastors who leave for reasons other than retirement or death has remained statistically unchanged over the past decade: 1.3% in 2015, 1.5% in 2021 and 1.2% in 2025.”6

What are some takeaways?

1. Burnout ≠ quitting. We don’t have a mass exodus problem. We have a silent exhaustion problem.

2. Conflict is a top driver. Whether societal or within the church, pastors cited conflict as a continuing source of stress.

3. COVID didn’t create burnout - it exposed it. I would argue that many pastors left ministry during 2021-2023 that some studies are not picking up. And yet, many who may have wanted to leave found fresh strength to serve with perseverance during that time. I attribute that to the prayers of God’s people for their leaders and to the humbling that occurred in many spiritual leaders as a result.

4. Isolation has and remains a match that ignites the fires of burnout. My executive pastor did his D.Min project on pastoral loneliness and observed the commonality of isolation and a sense of friendlessness among pastors.

5. There is an “emptiness problem.” When pastors are empty, their constant pouring out results in their own hollowness.

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What is the real reason for burnout?

It is that last observation that I would identify as the real reason of burnout. The parental lesson that we’ve either heard or said ourselves is “you can’t play with fire and not expect to be burned.”

As pastors, we must remember the danger of “playing” with the fire of God. In scripture, God is described as a “consuming fire.”7 Hebrews 12:28-29 quotes that verse and qualifies that, “we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Moses is not described as playfully attempting to jump over or through the burning bush.

Burnout gnaws at pastors because we’ve ceased serving God acceptably. We have neglected reverence and awe. We have begun to view people with frustration or anxiety, ministry as taxing, and pressures as overwhelming.

In Jeremiah 2:13, there’s a sobering description of what has happened when emptiness prevails in someone’s heart:

“They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves — cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Pastors are empty because their cisterns are cracked. When that happens, it doesn’t matter how much water you seek to fill your cistern with. It will leak out.

Burnout is the natural result of cracked cisterns. Pastor, it is not the job that will satisfy you. It’s Jesus. Ministry satisfaction and fuel is not found in success, results, numbers or accolades. Do you want to see a bush that burns and is not consumed? Do you want to be safe beside the fire of God?

Take off your shoes today. God told Moses as he stood in consternation before the burning bush, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) Moses was alone before God. Pastor, get alone before God, and take off your shoes. Recognize the holiness and privilege of coming before the King of universe. Worship Him again in humility and wonder, astonishment and confusion (for isn’t a burning bush confusing?). Bring your consternation, your confusion, your upset and emptiness before Him.

I’d recommend you toss it all on the flames there. Let God burn it up. Let Him remind you that He is sufficient for you. Let Him refine your calling again by burning away all the dross of ministry expectations and disappointments. Then listen carefully. He will send the surrendered heart back into ministry. In spite of your objections, insecurities and fears, God sends you. Moses heard God’s firm command, “Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:12)

Whatever you do, don’t quit. God is faithful. He will quench the burnout with living water. Trust and re-surrender to Him today.

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“Who is this ‘Attention,’ and how much do I owe them?”

Ba-da-bum. 🥁

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