Now Jefe isn’t you normal hard working pastor. He does an excellent job at pastoring the Vision Baptist Church, but he is also the president of the Baptist College for World Evangelism. Between those two jobs, stress is definitely on the rise. On top of that he also travels out of the country almost every month to aid one of our missionaries. Last month he was in South Africa with missionary Kevin Hall, the month before that he was in Peru with his son, Chris Gardner, and this coming January he will be in Burkina Faso with Missionary Keith Shumaker.

As you can imagine pastoring a church, running a training center, and traveling all over the world can definitely bring on some major wear and tear.

With all he has going on, I am constantly trying to make sure he stays comfortable. If he is traveling and has to stay overnight somewhere, I try make sure that some essentials things are taken care of. He has to have an air conditioned room if it’s hot and no matter what the climate he has to have a fan.

When in an airplane I try my hardest to make sure he has an exit row aisle seat. I would love to always make sure he goes to 1st class but our budget really doesn’t leave any room for that.

Last month I bought a special cushion for him to sit on because of his bad back.
When we got back from a trip one time, the other guys in the office put a small refrigerator in his office and filled it with Diet Mountain Dew. They also are always trying to see what they can do to make him a little more comfortable to take away any extra stress.

You should always be on the look out to see what extra things you can do to make sure your 1st man stays comfortable. A lot of the times it’s the little things that make a big difference. Give attention to details.

It comes from the life of John the Baptist in the book of John and chapter three.
Verse 26- John’s disciples wanted to compete with Christ. A 2nd man does not compete but compliment.
Verse 28- John knew, respected and loved his place. He said, I am not the Christ. It was not a matter of dishonor but acknowledgement of his purpose in serving God.
Verse 30- John wanted to lift up Christ. He was humble and willing to decrease that Christ could be known.

John the Baptist definitely sets a strong example being a great 2nd man to Jesus. It’s not about us but about Him. As a 2nd man the ministry can’t be about my ministry. It has to be about serving the Lord and complimenting the 1st man’s ministry.

John the Baptist could have gotten prideful and desired to have the preeminence but he knew his rightful place. Make sure as a 2nd man you don’t take the preeminence. Do your job and take your correct place. Don’t try to advance yourself over what the 1st man wants you to be.

I was amazed to see the loyalty that Abraham had in his servant. First of all he trusted him to pick out a wife for his son and then he trusted him with all his goods.

I can remember when I was 21 years old and was living in Peru, Jefe and the whole family left for three months to attend his daughter Stephanie’s wedding. During those three months I was put in charge of handling all the bills and finances of both Jefe and his son Chris.

I can remember as a 21 year old student how neat it was for two successful missionaries to trust me enough to handle the money for both of their ministries. I am not sure I deserved that kind of trust but it was definitely very honoring.

Are you a person that your 1st man can trust with everything he has? Could he give you a key to his house or all his credit cards and not have to worry about you spending one single dime that he wouldn’t approve of.

Make sure you keep a testimony where people can trust in you. Never do anything that will cause doubt. Be above reproach and take better care of the possessions of your 1st man than you would your own possessions.

Philippians 2: 20-21- For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.

Paul could count on Timothy to fill in for him and care about the people as much as he did.

Being a 2nd man means that you will learn the way the 1st man likes it to be done and do it that way.

If the 1st man goes out of town he shouldn’t have to worry about how people from your church that are in the hospital are going to be treated. He shouldn’t have to worry about if people that need visiting are going to be visited or not. He shouldn’t have to worry about something being said from the pulpit that wouldn’t be in accordance with the way he usually teaches and preaches.

I know a lot of pastors that are nervous to let visiting evangelist and missionaries preach in their pulpits because they are afraid of how they will treat their church people. They are afraid they will be too harsh or mean spirited. The pastor should never have to worry about his 2nd man being that way. The 2nd man should know what is acceptable and what is out of line.

Make sure you learn your 1st man so that you will be able to represent him correctly when he is absent.

A lot of times when a person isn’t in charge or doesn’t want a promotion he may not put as much effort into his job like he should. Whether you’re a 2nd man to gain experience or a 2nd man for life, this should never be your attitude

The 2nd man should work at least as hard as the 1st man if not harder. He should make sure that every job the 1st man gives out is taken care of, plus he should be working on his own to come up with ways to make sure the 1st man is more effective.

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

We have to understand we work for the Lord and not for man. We should put in no less than 50 to 60 hours a week. Remember that should be our minimum not our maximum. With driving time and work time, the people in our congregation are easily putting in that many hours.

The ministry should never be considered a place where we can get away with doing less work. Make sure you work enough where God’s people don’t think you just took up a ministry job to have an easy life.

As a 2nd man I have to show people my total loyalty to the Jefe at all times. When I step out of my place and argue with him in front of others I am not showing a lot of loyalty.

If you are going to be a 2nd man, the one thing you have to learn to do is keep you mouth shut. You don’t have to shut it forever, but you have to learn when to talk.
There isn’t anything I can’t talk to Jefe about. His door is open to me 24/7 for anything I need. If I disagree with him he has provided plenty of time for me to talk to him without doing it in front on others.

When I am in front of others I want them to know I am behind everything he says or does. We can argue behind closed doors but when the doors open I want them to know that I stand behind his decisions and ideas 100%.

I never want someone to think there is a possibility of me siding with them against the 1st man.

Make sure you have the same attitude or leave.

I like these times when we are able to get away and see how the Lord is working in the lives of our missionaries.

Trips like these are also good training times. Jefe has the opportunity to be around a few younger missionaries, and they are always asking him questions about how to do the ministry better.

I have worked with Jefe for around 12 years now so there isn’t much of his training I haven’t heard. But as I have the opportunity to hear him again teach on things I have heard before I am convicted by my lack of work to put some of his key ideas into action. I have really felt like a great waster of time this week seeing a lot of things we planned years ago never to be accomplished.

As a 2nd man you must keep on track with the important things. You can’t let time pass without carryout the priorities that have been set in the ministry.

Just to keep you up to date, starting now I will be making sure I help Jefe put together training material and books we have talked about producing. I am rearranging my schedule to make sure those things are taken care of.

We don’t have much time. Make sure you are using your time wisely.

The lesson learned here is that we never need to give up on people.

I can remember when I just started turning my life over to the Lord there were a few critics. They didn’t have a lot of good things to say about me. Now, instead of trying to help me and bring me along, they only liked telling other people how I wasn’t a good candidate for the ministry. Instead of helping they just cast their ballots that I wouldn’t make it.

I am thankful that Jefe didn’t listen to them. I am thankful he saw past what I was and saw what I could become. Now some of those men or men like them look at me now and say, “Hey I wish I had a guy like that working for me.” But you know what, they never will because they are not willing to look past what someone is to what they can become. They only want the finished product. They will never have a band of men to follow after them because they were not willing to put their pharisee spirit aside to invest their life into someone.

If you’re looking to work with ready made Christians you really need to look for another profession. We need more men that will look past the insufficiencies of people and see what they can become. It is amazing what someone can become when they know they have someone that believes in them.

Jefe has a lot of guys that look to him for guidance and council because he at one time believed in them when no one else would. There are missionaries all over the world working now that others didn’t have a lot of confidence in.

We have students in our training center now that no one else believes in, but they came to the right man for second chances.

Might we have more 1st men that have the courage to invest time into people that love God and have a desire to become more than what they are now.

Exodus 17:8-13 “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

When God’s Man is in the midst of the battles of life, God uses the Second Man to strengthen him. In this situation Aaron was used of God by holding up the hands of Moses. As a pastor, it seems that we sometimes fight our battles alone. I am glad for the men that God has used to strengthen me in the midst of my hardships. They overcame the enemy because they fought the battle together. They struggle did not cause Aaron to run. The battle would strengthen their relationship.