I love and hate the book of Job. I love it because it poses challenging pastoral questions--like being tested by God or God's tolerance for the devil--but I hate it because it challenges my understanding of what it means to have a pastoral spirit.
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Some modern church leaders fancy themselves businessmen, media
figures, entertainers, psychologists, philosophers, or lawyers. Those
notions contrast sharply with the way Scripture portrays spiritual
leaders.In 2 Timothy 2, for example, Paul uses seven different metaphors to describe the rigors of leadership. He pictures the minister as a teacher (v. 2), a soldier (v. 3), an athlete (v. 5), a farmer (v. 6), a workman (v. 15), a vessel (vv. 20 21), and a slave (v. 24). All those images evoke ideas of sacrifice, labor, service, and hardship. They speak eloquently of the complex and varied responsibilities of spiritual leadership. Not one of them makes leadership out to be glamorous.
Continue reading Pastor, Are You Wanted to Wash Others' Feet? by John MacArthur.
You know the story. The man has been believer in Christ for decades. To all outward appearances he's a man of Christian faithfulness and integrity. He has maintained a reputation as a fine example of public and private faithfulness to the things of God for decades. Then, without warning, it all collapses into a sinkhole of sin. Everyone wonders how it could have happened so quickly. In most cases, it soon becomes known that--like most sinkholes--the problem didn't develop overnight.
Continue reading Pastor, Are You Falling Into the Sinkhole Syndrome? by Don Whitney.
The other morning I got up early to write, but while waiting for the coffee to brew, I turned on the TV. Big mistake. As I clipped through the channels, I stopped to watch the movie Freedom Writers. Again.
Continue reading Pastor, Is Your Marriage Killing Your Ministry? by Caryn Rivadeneira.
I'll admit that I like to pull a Scarlett O'Hara when it comes to the less attractive side of church leadership, like getting the parking lot paved or turning in a budget. "Fiddle dee dee!" I shrug. "I can't think about that now! I'll think about that tomorrow..."
Continue reading Pastor, Are You Bothered by the Business of Church? by Nicole Unice.
The benefits of focusing on what you've got, not what you lack.
It's true confession time. I struggle to be thankful.
I've been reading a lot in the Old Testament recently (for a class; I'm not so holy.). One of the themes that has jumped out at me again and again throughout the Pentateuch and Historical Books is how often the Israelites respond poorly to God's grace and generosity.
This has happened to me again and again. I'm sitting in some huge meeting with hundreds of the Lord's people representing churches across our state or country. A large number of preachers are in the audience. The speaker is sounding forth on some subject of importance to us all.
Continue reading Pastor, When Something Doesn't Sound Right, by Joe McKeever .
In some of the old TV Westerns of the 1950s, the desperados (always in black hats) would be making their escape with the stolen loot from the stagecoach robbery. Suddenly someone on the posse chasing them (usually in white hats) would shout, "We have 'em now! They've ridden into a box canyon!" And everybody knows there's no way out of a box canyon.
Continue reading Pastor, It's Time to Pray! by Greg Laurie.
The first step that a man can take to free himself from the prison of pornography is to confess. Confession moves beyond denial, minimization, normalization, justification and rationalization to a right understanding of one's own brokenness. It refuses to celebrate and revel in the sin, and is the first step toward reestablishing communion with God and others. Because pornography has such an isolating effect on men who are intent on hiding their problem, it is important that this confession be more than between him and God.
The movie The Soloist tells the story of the friendship between Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man with an undiagnosed mental illness, and Steven Lopez, an LA Times columnist. In one scene Steven spends the night on the streets with Nathaniel. Rats scurry around them on the street as people weep, laugh, brawl, jabber, stagger, and embrace.
Continue reading Pastor, Here Is Why Repentance is Always Good News, by Mark Buchanan.
