Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.” And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.” “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”

2 Kings 2:9-10

The heart cry of every Pastor, that God would give us at least as much, if not more, anointing than those who have gone before us.

Interesting that Elijah tells the young prophet that what he is asking for is hard. I think most of us ignore that part. I did! I still do!!

The “anointing” seems to be on others around me, and amazing things are happening through them. It doesn’t look that hard from the outside.

Better yet, I think it not really ours to get the anointing. We ask and Jesus gives.

Some hard lessons of pastoral and public ministry have honed in me the belief that what is ours is to steward the anointing.

Some seem good at seeking and getting, but not so good at stewarding it once received. Think of any outwardly successful pastor who eventually flames out in one way, shape or form.

Earlier in Elijah’s life, he learned the hard way too that what Elisha was asking for was not easy!

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

1 Kings 19:1-9

The lessons Elijah learned about stewarding the anointing were far more simple than we imagine, mostly. Check your own anointing stewardship against them in this way-too-busy-Easter season:

• What’s your internal thought life like right now?
• How much sleep have you given yourself this week?
• How much time have you invested away from the church or your office?
• Do your spouse, kids, family, friends, know where you are and when and what you’re doing other than “working” or “at the church”?
• What has your diet been like this week?

All just part of stewarding the anointing friends! What would you add?

To join us for the live blog of today’s sessions, click here.

I just arrived in New York City, Queens as a matter of fact. I am excited for this year’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Conference. I plan on live blogging and Twittering highlights, so follow along!

On the blog, I’m using CoverItLive and as for Twitter, follow me at here.

You have to set up a Twitter account and them “follow” me, but it’s worth it. Give it a try!

ht: Anne Jackson

I recently started driving a new car. It’s a 2001 black Ford Crown Victoria with the Police Interceptor package. It started its life as a Detective car with the Beverly Hills Police Department. Especially as a Chaplain, it’s a really fun car to drive!

The story of how I got it is fun in and of itself, but it’s not the point here. The Crown Vic replaces a 1989 Honda Prelude I had been driving for the last two years. It too was a really fun car. Sunroof and four-wheel steering. Forget the dime, this thing turned on a pinhead!

There are practical reasons for the change. Primarily, the Prelude was a two-door with not much of a back seat. Just not a family car. My 13 and 12 year old sons could no longer fit in the back seat. The Crown Vic is much more spacious and four doors work well for the family.

The biggest downside is the gas mileage, particularly in this economy! The Prelude was a sipper, where the Crown Vic is a guzzler.

Why upsize from a sipper to a guzzler? Well, bottom line is that the Crown Vic was given to me. So was the Prelude, but when the Crown Vic was offered, I knew I had to receive it. The fact that it’s a guzzler is a limit that I trade off for the family space.

It’s an analogy to me of how God gives each of us not just our spiritual gifts and abilities, but our personalities and physical bodies. When you mix all those things together, they come out with a design that includes your own personal pace of life.

I am a believer in Pastors discovering what their pace of life is and then living in that. The fact that most of us Pastors look at the pace of life of other Pastors and believe we must live at their pace rather than our own is a real problem. Too often, it leads to burnout, dissatisfaction, disillusionment and sometimes even more deeply staggering consequences.

What would happen if someone REALLY freed you to discover the pace that God has given you and then freed you to live by it? I want to round table that with you this week. Let’s talk some about what elements of life impact or help define what your pace of life is. Any initial thoughts?

I am not nearly as put together as I may seem. My penchant for being articulate in my speech often covers over my insecurity about being thought of as slow or stupid.

Whenever someone asks me if we can get together sometime soon to talk about “something”, I struggle with wonder about if “something” is me. Or something I did. Or something I said. Or didn’t say.

I want everyone to like me …. no, if I am going to demand honesty here, I want everyone to love me. Accept me. Approve of me. I am not always convinced that happens on the basis of who I AM instead of what I DO.

It’s true. I am a broken, messed up person. At the bottom of my heart is a real desire to serve Jesus with all I am, but too often, the crud above what’s at the bottom of my heart gets in the way. I have to work to push past all that so I can focus on Jesus and what He really wanst to do in and through me.

I love the way my wife succinctly states this truth …. “We’re all so twisted, it’s a wonder any of us can get out of bed in the morning!”

Anyone else? How do you state it?

When was the last time you got away for at least a couple days? Away from the demands and calls and emails and websurfing? Away from the emergencies and urgencies of your life and ministry?

I am right now enjoying a gift from our District Supervisor of a two day Pastor’s Getaway with our District. It’s located at a very nice resort in Pismo Beach. The meetings have been light, informal, fellowship-oriented and ministry minded. Their has also been plenty of time for relaxation and rest.

I am convinced that Pastors must do this intentionally in order to survive in the long run. So I pose the question to you?

When was the last time you did it? AND….when is your next time scheduled?