We are all going to die.

And that is okay. Oh, I know you might say that Jesus is returning any day and will take the redeemed meeting with them that had not “slept” in the clouds. Statistically speaking, however, history is decidedly on the side of “it is appointed unto man once to die” for your fate and mine. And nothing is wrong with that. If we are comforted that Christ will come… why would it be any less comforting that we are a couple of heartbeats away from eternity?

But that seems to be the thing about being human. Death bothers us. Maybe it shouldn’t… but it does. It does a lot. It does so much that many Christian leaders fail to plan for their death. Erik Erikson notes that near the end of life one must deal with integrity versus despair— struggling with the impending threat of non-being. In ministry, people can struggle with this or more  confusedly, act as if one will never die and not train up a replacement.

I recall a former pastor who claimed to be referencing Jerry Fallwell when he expressed the belief that organizations rise and fall by their leaders. Within the context of his point, the pastor was actually saying that one should hardly bother to train up a replacement because things are going to fail anyway once that visionary leader is gone. I can’t help but think that was simply a justification of laziness and hubris, rather than doubts about his mortality. Curiously, Jerry Fallwell died, and our former pastor was pushed out of the church… without such collapse. Go figure.

But organizations and groups die as well. So do churches. So do websites. Times change and structures that were important at one time lose their purpose for being.

I am mentioning this because I am considering bringing this blog to the end.

Why? Am I nearing death?  It is certainly possible, but I have no reason to assume that.   But I am changing. For much of my time in the Philippines, my focus has been on Missions. It is my topic and passion. However, starting in 2009, I became administrator of a counseling center… and then registrar of a chaplaincy certifier. And then an instructor in a number of pastoral care topics. I find that much of my research in recent years has been in terms of pastoral care topics. My missions research has been growing stale. And those areas that I have been continuing to take seriously have been those areas of missions that overlap with other fields. These include:

• Contextual Theology (Missions Contextualization and Systematic Theology)
• Missionary Member Care (Missions and Pastoral Care)
• Interreligious Dialogue (Missions and Pastoral Counseling)

Additionally, I have been doing more in terms of Pastoral Theology (Pastoral Care and Practical Theology) and the somewhat related topic of Theological Reflection.

As such, I find less and less new to say on missions that I have not already shared in my over 1000 previous posts.

So does that mean that this is my last post. Probably not. But I will probably start a new blog that is more in the area of my newer focuses. 

Should I stop now completely? I am getting more views per day on average than I have ever gotten in my 8.5 years of doing this blog. It seems like that would be ending well. End with strength and transition.

But I understand the other side. One doesn’t want to let go. Like many ministry leaders… it feels strange to give up on one’s pet work or project. It always seems worthwhile to keep things going past their usefulness.

Maybe this blog will not end well…. just slowly peter out. Or maybe I will get a new fire in my belly and have more things to say.

Time will tell.