Category: Church

HOW to pray for your Pastor’s PREACHING

image credit: Daniel R on creationswap.com

I so appreciate knowing that certain people pray for me on a regular basis regarding the work I do in study and preaching.  It’s much

needed and greatly appreciated.  I can’t say that enough.But as Julian Freeman writes in this post, do people who pray for their Pastor’s preaching, really unde

rstand what they are praying for, or how they can pray more specifically and deeply?  I thought his points were so good, I wanted to list them here, so that you can consider a greater diligence in praying for YOUR Pastor’s preaching.  He writes…

So here are some ideas on how to pray for your pastor through the week as he prepares for Sunday. And in typical preacher fashion, they’re even alliterated.

  • Clarity. Your pastor is going to tell you what God says. The stakes are simply too high for him to get this wrong. Please pray for him, that he would be able to clearly discern what God’s word said to its original audience so that he can clearly communicatethat same message to you. If you want to understand the text, pray for your pastor to have clarity.
  • Conviction. Even if your pastor understands the word with clarity, there is no way that it will affect his heart apart from a work of the Spirit. Any conviction he feels apart from the Spirit’s work will be self-righteous and harsh; any lack of conviction because the Spirit does not work will result in a boring, lifeless sermon. If you want to feel the text, pray for your pastor to have conviction.
  • Compassion. Jesus taught the crowds because he had compassion and people became part of his flock. Pastors are called to be undershepherds like the Chief Shepherd. If we don’t have the Spirit of Christ giving us the heart of Christ for the people of Christ, we will be too harsh or too soft. If we don’t have compassion we will either hide the truth or hit people with it. If you want to know the heart of Jesus in the text, pray for your pastor to have compassion.
  • Creativity. Jesus taught in open fields with gripping parables. Paul engaged the philosophers with eloquent reason. Your pastor is a man who is called to explain the majestic wisdom of God to people every single week. It is hard to be creative week in and week out. He needs grace to communicate truth in a way that helps people engage. If you want to be gripped by the text, pray for your pastor to have creativity.

Some questions:

  • Do YOU pray for your Pastor?
  • What do you pray about when you do?
  • What points do you see above that will help you to do a more diligent job in doing so?

Start the conversation by answering these questions below…

Books from the PF Journal..

Rethinking Church Productivity – GUEST POST!

Loren Pinilis - www.lifeofasteward.com

I’ve made a new internet “friend!”  His name is Loren Pinilis, and he writes at www.lifeofasteward.com.  His focus is on personal productivity as it relates to life and spiritual stewardship.  His stuff is really good!  Check it out!  The following post is directly from his blog – reprinted in its entirety, with his kind permission!  Enjoy!

RETHINKING CHURCH PRODUCTIVITY!

I had great intentions. I had great motivations. But for years, I didn’t understand the way the church worked – and it made me part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

We were going through a period of exciting growth in our church, and everyone’s focus was on how we as a church could do more and more. More creative programs. More outreach efforts.

I had some good ideas about things our church could do to reach out to the community. I had people on the church staff commending me and telling me that my ideas were great.

It was exciting to share these ideas, to envision them being enacted, and to think of all the good that would come of them. We as a church could grow and do wonderful things.

Other People’s Efforts

But I realized something about my ideas. I was really good at coming up with stuff that wecould do, that the church could do – in other words, things that other people could do. Not me – because I was already so busy. I served on the tech crew, I taught a small group class, I played bass in the contemporary service – I was already doing a ton.

These great ideas were things for other people to organize and implement and evaluate and work at. I came up with the idea – it was the church’s job to make the rest happen. Sure, I’d be willing to volunteer – I just can’t do that much. I’m so busy, you see.

But as a leader of a small group class, now I’ve seen the other perspective. I’ve seen the brainstorming sessions when people get talking about great things that the class could be doing. Great outreach efforts. Great service opportunities.

They really are good ideas – but I know what it means when people talk about what we could do. The idea is suggested, and no one steps up to lead. Everyone just assumes that someone else, mainly me, is going to get the effort organized. Then when it comes time for the rubber to hit the road, very few people are willing to step up and do the work. We’re all so busy, you see.

Action, Not Ideas

We live in a culture that celebrates ideas and the dynamic leaders that propose them. And this focus downplays the role of the manpower that makes these ideas happen.

I used to think of the implementation as the simple part – the given part. I used to think of the church as just this nameless blob that takes in ideas and spits out end products. So naturally, I believed that the gap between where we were and where we wanted to be was going to be bridged by great ideas for new, exciting things for us to do.

Now I realize: the missing factor is action, not ideas. The church is not short on ideas for programs, they are short on manpower to use on those programs.

I can guarantee you my pastor and church staff are not sitting at meetings thinking, “Wow – we have so many volunteers. If only we had some ideas for things they could do.”

I’m proud of the ideas that I came up with, and my class came up with some wonderful ideas as well. But, I hate to say it, ideas are a dime a dozen. We have so many ideas in the church – I bet the staff is practically swimming in them.

When I came up with these ideas, I wasn’t really helping the church out. Without action, my ideas are useless. And in fact, they can actually create more problems.

Adding to the Workload

Church productivity is not just about getting things done. It’s about managing resources to be most effective. If the resources in a church are slim, you do the best you can. And the demands of ideas will always exceed the capability of your volunteer and staff workforce.

Ideas add nothing to your resources. In very rare cases, good ideas can make a church more efficient and free up resources. But the overwhelming majority of projects and ideas (like the ones I had) are not for ways to be more efficient but are about additional things for the church to do. They add to the workload instead of helping it.

Justified Passivity

I told myself that coming up with an idea is contributing to the process. Other people are volunteering and working – I can’t do that (I’m so busy after all). But my part is to come up with ideas for other programs that would really be great for the church to enact.

We can trick ourselves into being passive. We can justify our lack of effort by pointing to ideas that we put forward – ideas that will never receive action or implementation and will never help the church.

Frustration and Negativity

Generating ideas can lead to frustration. When my great ideas aren’t enacted by the staff, it’s easy for me to think that they don’t value my ideas or they don’t value me. In reality, it has nothing to do with that. The staff may really want to use my idea, but the church workforce is just so overworked and stretched. It’s an issue of a lack of manpower, not the quality of ideas.

I can then look at the current programs and begin to judge them. “I can’t believe the staff doesn’t value my idea – and they think this is the way things should work?” I look negatively at the leaders who are responsible for these areas.

And as a leader, it really breaks my heart when my class members look at me with frustration when their ideas aren’t put into place. They just can’t understand that I’m trying my best – I’m just up to my eyeballs with very little manpower to back me up.

Let’s make the mind shift from a church in need of ideas to a church in need of hands to help in the work.

How can we do this – and how can we show others how to do this?

Books from the PF Journal..

What DOES a Pastor do all week?

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

You may have heard the “joke” that people say… most of the time directly to the Pastor.  And believe it or not, I’ve actually had people who don’t know much about ministry say it to me seriously.

So what DO you do all week?

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the question.  I know that it’s a legitimate question when asked by some people, and I want to help them understand.

But I also know it can sometimes be a mocking or sarcastic question when it comes from the lips of others.

Either way, I’m writing this post to honestly answer the question, and help you understand what your Pastor has on his plate week after week.   I’m listing basic “categories” that a typical Pastor may serve within, and keeping a running total of the hours as we go…  Then, at the end, I’ll give some points of application.  HERE WE GO!

Sermon Preparation

Doesn’t sound like much to many people… but that just shows they’ve not done much public speaking, and even less sermon preparation.  Depending on the gifting and experience of the Pastor, a good, biblically faithful sermon can take upwards of 20 hours per week!  That’s HALF of a normal person’s work week!  I’ve honestly done it in less than 10 hours many times, but that’s not the norm.  For me it usually takes AT LEAST 15 hours each week to adequately study, pray over my preparation, prepare my own heart, and put together any illustrations, media, etc. that I may be using.

RUNNING TOTAL: 15 hours (average)

Discipleship

This might be one on one meetings with people, or with groups in some kind of training or study time.  Every Pastor is gifted differently and uses his time differently in this area.  On a larger church staff, the Pastor’s time devoted to this category is probably used more toward his staff or volunteer staff than with lay-people in the church.  In a smaller church, it’s usually done with up-and-coming leaders, or training of ministry leaders, as well as lay-people.  For me, this comprises anywhere from 6 to 12 hours in a given week.  To be safe, I’ll say 6 hours per week.

RUNNING TOTAL: 21 hours (average)

Counseling

In my view, counseling is part of discipleship, but I’ve listed it separately because it does have a different “flavor” than typical discipleship.  Also, not all Pastors do counseling.  Some refer these things out to an experienced Christian counselor with whom they have a relationship.  But if a Pastor does do counseling (family, marriage, pre-marital, individual), the norm is probably 2 to 3, 1 hour appointments a week.  For the sake of our total, I’ll say 2 hours.

RUNNING TOTAL: 23 hours (average)

Leadership Meetings

Elder meetings, Deacon meetings, various committee meetings, etc. fall into this category.  In my experience there is usually at least one of these a week, and they typically last for about 2 hours each on average.

RUNNING TOTAL: 25 hours (average)

Administration work

This is the basic organization that goes into the smooth operation of a Pastor’s life and ministry.  It takes more time than you might think.  For me, I spend most of Mondays doing administration, which will include returning or making phone calls, dealing with email or projects that need attention, doing follow-up from Sunday morning responses, connecting with leaders within the church for the sake of accountability or equipping, planning how to best use my time, etc.  Total time for me, 8 hours weekly.

RUNNING TOTAL: 33 hours (average)

Shepherding Ministry

This category is pretty broad.  It could include anything from hospital visitation to writing notes of encouragement.  Every Pastor will do these things to differing degrees based on calling and giftedness.  I’d say the average is probably 4 to 6 hours a week.  We’ll use 4 as a baseline for the sake of our total.

RUNNING TOTAL: 37 hours (average)

Weekly worship leadership

Unlike the rest of the church family who comes to worship services on an “off” day from work, the Pastor is actually doing his vocational tasks during the weekly worship.  I show up early to get final things checked off and ready, as well as preach the morning sermon and in some circumstances, perform other aspects of the worship leadership.  For me, this is 4 hours each week.  If the Pastor serves at a church where there are multiple services, the time goes up.

RUNNING TOTAL: 41 hours (average)

Worship Preparation

All that work done during worship requires preparation.  This will include preparation of prayers, communication with team members and those included in pulling off the service, possible preparation for the Lord’s Supper or baptisms, etc.  The degree to which a Pastor actually “prepares” depends again on his giftedness and his ministry team.  For me, this takes roughly an hour each week.

RUNNING TOTAL: 42 hours (average)

Other studies

The typical Pastor, in order to be a good shepherd, is in a constant state of learning – about the culture, the role of Pastor, the ministry of the church, the Bible, etc.  Most Pastors are studying something OUTSIDE their normal sermon preparation for future use or development of training classes, etc.  This could be anywhere from 1 hour to 5 hours per week.  For me, it’s typically 3 to 4.

RUNNING TOTAL: 45 hours (average)

Vision & vision casting

The Lead or Senior Pastor is usually the one who does the majority of the actual up-front “leading” in the church.  A HUGE part of that is casting vision.  In other words, he keeps the direction and purpose of the church in front of the people of the church all the time.  Some Pastors are better at this than others.  Others are still learning about it.  For me, I have to honestly say I’m still learning how to do this piece well… presently it takes at least an hour a week for me.

RUNNING TOTAL: 46 hours (average)

Prayer for the flock

Most Pastors spend prayer time each week lifting up the needs of their flock.  This will vary from Pastor to Pastor, but I’d guess the average is 1.5 hours per week.

RUNNING TOTAL: 47.5 hours (average)

Miscellaneous issues

Within the church there are also emergency situations that arise, benevolence cases to be involved with, conflicts, administrative struggles to address, conversations to be had, communication to initiate, fires to put out, etc.  This category is hard to define because it could be anything.  I’d say the average Pastor spends 2 to 3 hours a week dealing with this kind of stuff, as it comes up.

 RUNNING TOTAL: 49.5 hours (average)

As you can see, we’re almost to 50 working hours per week, and I feel I’ve been pretty conservative on most of my estimates.  There is a LOT that goes into the Pastoral role.  And this is only talking about hours worked, not the true “essence” of what it means to a person to carry this kind of load.

Some of the intangible pieces of his job that can’t be quantified, but should be kept in mind are…

  • The emotional nature of the work
  • The bearing of others’ burdens
  • The constant vigilance it takes to be discerning about people, situations, and possible dangers to the church family
  • The genuine spirituality the Pastor must constantly maintain for himself in order to lead well and with integrity
  • The pressures that being in ministry brings to his family
  • The frequent criticism that flock members seem to think is somehow O.K. to hurl in his direction because he’s the Pastor (I’ve had people actually tell me that it’s O.K. for me to be publically criticized because I’m paid by the church.  Somehow biblical teaching about how to approach interpersonal disagreements or offenses go out the window in that case… which I must say is CLEARLY not what scripture teaches).

Add to all this the normal stuff of life that everyone has to keep tabs on… things like:

  • The health and needs of his own family
  • Financial pressures
  • Extended family relationships
  • Health, diet, and exercise
  • and many more things

Looking through this list, and putting yourself in the shoes it describes, the common-sense person can easily see that the role is anything but a “one day a week” job.

APPLICATION

  1. Pray for your Pastor and his family.  They together carry a very heavy but vital role in God’s plans for your church family.
  2. Consider the value, in your life and the lives of others, of what this servant of God is doing… and thank God (and him).
  3. Cut him some slack.  He’s one man, with his own family and needs.  Don’t expect him to do everything the way you think it should be done, in the timing in which you think it should be done.  He simply can’t… and a wise Pastor won’t.  He’ll follow the Spirit’s leadership as much as he knows how.
  4. Trust him.  Most Pastors are genuinely trustworthy guys who care about the spiritual health and growth of the people under their care.  Of course they have their own personal quirks, and there are exceptions who are power-hungry or personally manipulative for the sake of their own left-over emotional needs.  But that’s the exception, not the rule.
  5. Recognize the unique weight of others’ burdens that the Pastor must bear, and that he is to do it joyfully.  Make his work a joy, not a burden by cooperating with his efforts in every way you can (Hebrews 13:7).
  6. Realize that though your Pastor may not have personally entered into your life (yet), he is doing so in the lives of others ,and again, he’s one man.  Pray that the Lord will use him in the lives of those to whom he’s ministering.
  7. Do what you can to regularly encourage him.  He needs it.
  8. Don’t forget his family needs encouragement and appreciation too.  They all make MANY sacrifices in order for him to do his job well.  Make it a regular part of your ministry in the church to lift up his family.

What do Pastors REALLY do? You know you wanna’ know…

photo credits: Colin_K on Flickr

Come on.  Admit it.   You’ve wondered this yourself.  Unless you are a Pastor, or related to one.  Then you roll your eyes at these kinds of comments.

If you think about it, it’s really a natural comment for anyone to ask of any profession that is not their own.  For example, I don’t REALLY know what brain surgeons do.  Yes, they do surgery on brains, but I’m sure there’s much more to it of which I’m completely unaware.  I’m not aware of the strain that the necessarily-flexible schedule can be on his life and family.  I’m not aware of the diligence with which he has to maintain his education, learning the newest and best techniques continually.  I’m not aware of a ton.  I admit it.  I’m sure there are brain surgeons all over the world who have just stopped rolling their eyes and are glad to hear that someone understands (tongue firmly in cheek).

But back to it… what DO Pastors really do?  It’s a question asked by those who are curious, at the best end of the scale, or by those who are suspicious and/or pessimistic on the negative end of the same scale.  Pastors live interesting lives… as “employees” of the local church (a term I very much dislike… but don’t know of a better alternative), and as “members” of the church family.  They have responsibilities and the need to be accountable for those responsibilities, but also need the trust and freedom of a loving church family that enables them to have a flexible schedule in order to make snap decisions with the wisdom that God provides, meet needs that arise instantaneously, and still remain balanced and healthy in their relationship with their families.

What do Pastors really do?  Hmmmmm…. what DON’T they do?  Well, brain surgery for one…

Here’s an article that I came across that is very helpful in thinking about this issue.  I think I’ll probably write more on the issue in the future as well (my wheels are turning as we speak… ouch).

The power of a Dad’s worship…

The following is an article I came across last week, and it powerful.  It is written by a Christian man who lost his earthly father in 2010.  I’m quoting the entire article because it’s so powerful to me.  May the example of his father be an example to the rest of us fathers…

Dads… you have GOT to read this!

Dads, Sing Like You Mean It Because Your Kids Are Watching

by STEPHEN ALTROGGE on MARCH 13, 2012

[This was written by a man in my church named Keith McCracken. May we be inspired by the example of Keith's father.]

My father was a wonderfully eccentric man. He was a quick witted recluse and a virtual Picasso of mechanicalia. He worked third shift (11:00PM to 7:00AM) for 37 years (without missing a day or ever being late) so as to avoid having his talents “supervised into obscurity.” To most people outside of his family he was hard to understand and blissfully unconcerned with anyone else’s opinion of him. But despite all of that he was very overt about his faith in, and love for, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Though I hold many cherished memories of him, perhaps the most vivid was his excitement over singing certain hymns. By all accounts he possessed at best an “average” voice when it comes to uniqueness and tonal quality. But he sang his favorites with a conviction that was beyond convincing and was by far one of the loudest and most joyful voices in a congregation of approximately 350. I remember looking up at him and “checking him out” while he was singing… “Is he for real?” I would wonder. When he would catch me looking at him he would simply “lock-eyes” with me and sing all the louder while he broadened his grin to match proportion with his pleasure.

He wouldn’t just sing hymns at church either. I can think of many times when the two of us would be welding up a go-kart frame or swapping an engine on a Saturday afternoon and he would spontaneously break into a hymn. In my teens and early twenties I actually found it annoying given the perplexity of some of the situations we would be deep into. But then again I would eventually come around and sing with him anyway. I just never managed to muster the joy he got out of it. I didn’t think about it then but I can see clearly now that he was blessing me with rich God honoring doctrine. That he was lovingly cramming truth into my psyche that would not return void in my soul.

The now heart-softening aspect of these memories is that I am standing here in my church singing these same time impervious truths in front of my children. I catch them looking up at me and I wonder if I am anywhere near as good an example as he was. I get caught up and overwhelmed when I recognize the blessing that God had granted me in an earthly father. How diligent Dad was to bless me in an eternal way without ever making a point to tell me that he was doing it.

Jack McCracken passed away on March 9th of 2010 from pancreatic cancer. The last day I saw him alive was March 8th. We were alone and I was brutally tired from all that had preceded. He could not speak or even open his eyes but the nurses assured me that he could hear so I just prayed for him and encouraged him to trust in Jesus and look for him to come soon. When my nephew arrived I felt comforted that dad would not be alone and I decided to return to my parents’ house and get some rest. I asked my nephew for just a few moments alone with dad and I grasped his hand firmly, kissed his forehead and said: “You did a fantastic job as my father and I am so glad I got to be your son. Thank you for taking me to church. But more importantly thank you for going to church and being joyful there. Thank you for singing like you meant every word… You have no idea how that still affects me… I love you dad.

I stepped back and whistled a “call” he had taught me when I was very young. It would not have been discernible to anyone in a crowd but it meant “I am right behind you” and “I am coming.” I hugged my nephew and thanked him for coming then drove to my parent’s home. Three hours later I was awakened by a phone call from my nephew telling me that “Grampa was gone.” I slumped back into my chair. I wept bitterly. Then I cried out to God for comfort and without much thought I began singing one of Dads favorite hymns…“Jesus paid it all.” As I was singing I began to hear Dad’s voice singing with me… Not as any kind of haunting specter or communion with the dead kind of thing. Much more like a perfect echo… I began to envision his face and felt like I was a little kid again looking up at him. His grin was broadening and his voice was getting louder. I began to thank God over and over for the gift he had given me in my earthly father and the gift of salvation that he had granted to both dad and I. I just laid on the floor and prayed then cried, then sang then prayed some more. I have no idea how long I spent in that state but I can tell you that God granted me peace through it.

Now almost two years later I am still unable to sing a lot of those “old-Baptist” tunes without experiencing the “echo” of my father. I count it a privilege to sing these rich truths in tribute to the one true God; but I also experience the benefit of knowing I am fulfilling the scriptural command to honor my earthly father as well.

I decided to write this all out first as a means of expressing for myself what is sometimes difficult to verbalize. And secondly as a means of encouragement to the fathers in this church. Please sing like you mean it on Sunday morning. I am not asking you to “fake” anything… but rather embrace the very meaning these songs were written for. Seek to express your joy in your Savior Jesus Christ by singing in response to what he has done for you, and in agreement with the truths imbedded in these songs. Neither am I encouraging you to do this specifically for your children’s benefit but first for yourselves with the added comfort of knowing how much it will affect your children. I am simply encouraging you to worship in spirit and in truth. Sing strong because that is what God wants from you. Trust God to bless your children with the echo

You can find the original article HERE

Good Churchmanship – an article worth reading

In my daily reading I came across this blog post that is worth its weight in gold… if believers will take it seriously.  Here’s an excerpt…

There is another idea, a similar one, that has been much on my mind recently. Churchmanship is a virtue that may also be fading into history. We all lead busy and multi-faceted lives. We have obligations at home and at work and we have relationships to nurture with family, extended family, neighbors, friends. Somewhere in that mix is commitment to a local church. For some people church ranks so highly that ministry always comes first, even at the expense of everything and everyone else; for some people church barely ranks at all and receives only the few moments that are left over when everything else has been taken care of.

Between these extremes is the virtue of good churchmanship. The good churchman is a Christian who truly and wholeheartedly dedicates himself to his local church, to the community of believers he loves. This is the Christian who who loves those people, who serves them, and who prioritizes them. This is a fading virtue we would do well to recover and to call one another to.

Tim Challies gets it right… and goes on to say what a Good Churchman IS… you should really, Really, REALLY read the rest of his post, and you can do so HERE!

Back from sabbatical: some first thoughts…

Wow… returning back to full time work at the church after a 4 month sabbatical (refresh, renewal, rejuvenation) is an odd thing.  Not just the “getting used to” being on the job again… but the inability to actually formulate my thoughts and gleanings.  There is so much that happened, so much that is still bouncing around inside my brain and chest that it’s hard to put it together.  However… there are a few things that come to the surface immediately when I consider the major lessons of the time away…

  1. “Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable.  It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.”  That is a quote from one of the most shaping, important books I read while gone (and it wasn’t even on my reading list to start with – thanks Matt!).  ”The Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazzero was a God-send for this experienced, but worn-out Pastor.  It spoke things that I’ve known intuitively for a long time, but could never articulate clearly… and things that my dear gift-of-a-wife has taught me for years.  I’m still processing… but I’m sure that the ideas of this book will be surfacing in my discipleship, counseling, and preaching from here on out.
  2. God Himself is sufficient for every need – be it emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical.  My wife and I have always believed that, but our sabbatical taught it to us in new ways.  After quite a handful of very emotional, painful years for personal reasons, we both found great healing and comfort in the LORD alone.  Mindi especially had one particular weekend alone that was transformational.  There was a great deal of emotional, spiritual, and mental healing that happened.  It was suggested that we seek some kind of counseling while we were away, which we did consider… but our hearts were inclined more to seek counsel from our divine Counselor, and He was faithful in so many ways.  Physically, we both dropped 30 pounds or more (3 clothing sizes).  I include that ONLY because we couldn’t have done it without the LORD’s prompting and empowerment.  I can’t really explain it adequately.  It wasn’t a “grit your teeth and do it” kind of thing… though there was plenty of self-control needed.  It was a gift from the Lord, plain and simple.  His provision of the mindset, strength, and motivation to keep at it (in exercise and nutrition) are nothing short of a miracle to me.  Thank You Father.  (While I’m at it, I want to thank the LORD for the provision of the information that is being taught by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  Though I don’t believe he professes Christ, the LORD is using his knowledge greatly in our lives.)
  3. Rest is a good thing.  This should be pretty obvious to all of us… but in this go-get-em-till-you-drop culture, it needs to be said.  Like I said, there are things that happened in my soul that I can’t quite define yet… but I know that some of the rejuvenation I feel came solely from the lavish gift of so much time away from my responsibilities at the church.  I am a firm believer in sabbaticals now… for every Pastor.  I’m not sure yet how often and/or how long is best… but I believe in them.
  4. My family is the BOMB! – The time I was allowed to spend with my wife and kids, uninterrupted and unhurried
    was an unbelievably gracious gift.  Our relationships grew as I would never have imagined just because of our availability and proximity to each other.  During the sabbatical my oldest son married too.  My wife and I had the privilege and honor of having a short series of premarital conversations with him and his (then) fiance, Hanna.  What a blessing and gift!  And I was allowed to officiate their marriage ceremony and pray God’s blessing over them.  My heart is overflowing!  It was wonderful!  Soon they will be back from their honeymoon and living in the same town we do (until we move 35 miles away to be nearer our church family, which I hope is soon)!  What a blessing… my family is the BOMB!

“Rock Star” Pastors – really?

I’m on sabbatical (translation: I’m resting),
so this is a pre-scheduled post for your encouragement, education and enjoyment! 

I was recently reading a post by James MacDonald regarding “Celebrity Pastors.”  Do you know what he is taking about?  It’s those guys who are well-known throughout the Christian realm, have out tons of videos (on disk and the internet), and seem to have a “following” of sorts.  It could be anyone from Rick Warren, to John Piper, to Mark Driscoll, to FILL-IN-THE-BLANK.

There have been all sorts of criticisms of those guys (as you might imagine) and it all really comes down to motives in the heart of that particular man.  As James wrote about this, he had some very good points.  Here’s one of the quotes that grabbed my attention…

The issue is not celebrity, but how one arrives there and how they steward that influence.  I realize that he, like all of us, will account to Christ for how he allows his influence to be used and how he treats every minister of the gospel, every Christian, and every person outside God’s family.

If you’d like to read the entire letter from James MacDonald – you can do so HERE.

What I would die for – the Bible (sermon audio)

You can find the next to next to last installment of our “What I Would Die For” sermon series – “the Bible” by downloading or listening below.

THE reason for rest, renewal, restoration, and refocus

As many of you know, I’ve been granted a sabbatical by my church family… beginning late October, until March 1st of next year (2012).  I’ve been doing my best to prepare for it, so that the time away has the best possible benefit for me and my family, as well as for my church family.  In doing my preparation, I came across a 63 page packet that the Navigators use to prepare their staff members for times of sabbatical (if I didn’t already need a rest, reading that would have caused me to need one).  One paragraph in that packet stood out to me… and is ringing in my heart and mind as I consider sabbatical…

In Christian work, the messenger is the message. If we don’t embody the message, the morals, and the model, it’s
probably time for a sabbatical: an extended time of rest, reflection, and realignment. Someone in a secular role
could have an affair, struggle with an addiction, or be distant from God, and still be effective. But in a Christian
ministry, this would be hypocritical.

This resonates with what the Lord placed in my heart long ago.  Of course I’m not perfect, not completely sanctified… but as a minister of the gospel I have to be the kind of “work in progress” that gives people reason to hope, not reason to roll their eyes.  The point this paragraph is making is that when in the course of ministry weariness, fatigue, wounds, or even sin have become obstacles to my life reflecting the message accurately, then I need a break – either to rest, renew, restore, or refocus.  It’s vital… and I’m thankful for it.