Do you ever feel as if you are under relentless attack? These attacks could be from Satan or Satan’s emissaries. Let’s be honest, sometimes Satan uses enemies within the church. Ezra faced such attacks. Remember Ezra’s task was to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. As he undertook this task he came under attack. Consider the relentless nature of the attacks he faced.
How are you living proactively? Specifically, in what ways? It seems the best way to answer this question is to share a definition so that we’re all on the same page. One definition states: the “action to control a situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened.” As pastors are we controlling the situation or merely responding to it?
Pastor Tim’s note: On this Mother’s Day, let us pay honor to all mothers and especially be aware of the unique burdens placed on pastors’ wives.
“What are these wounds? I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Zechariah 13:6).
We live in a world that bombards us with incessant visual stimuli and noise. It’s easy to become addicted to noise without realizing it. We often turn the radio on in the car when we drive. We leave the TV on, even though we aren’t watching it. And our cell phones are seldom silenced. Not only do we live in a noisy world, but we live in a busy one as well. Our time saving devices (cell phones, computers, faster internet connections) relentlessly remind us that we should get more done in less time so that we have more time to get even more done. As a result we are addicted not only to noise but to hurry. John Ortberg says that, “Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart.” So, what do we do?
If somebody were to suggest that you take a break from ministry would you accept it as a meaningful suggestion or an unwanted piece of advice? Ministry breaks tend to come in two varieties.
I recently read Andy Stanley’s book, Visioneering (God’s blueprint for developing and maintaining personal vision). I recommend the book, as you consider vision casting. The book is worth the read, just to get to chapter seventeen. In this chapter Andy discusses distractions.
This past Sunday a lady walked up to me after the morning service and said, “Thanks for the sermon.” That simple statement was like extra frosting on a cake, a cherry on a hot fudge sundae. Pastors need to hear encouraging words. Why?
Encouraging words do just that, they encourage. All of us need encouragement. Without it the well soon runs dry.
Joe McKeever gets real with advice learned by the hard experience of many Easters.
Here are 12 things we church leaders do on Easter Sunday that undermine our effectiveness in reaching people for the Lord Jesus.
7 Leadership Principles Life Has Taught Me— “Happy for You to Learn from My Experience”
Written by Ron Edmonson
I love principles. Perhaps this is one reason I spend so much time reading Proverbs. Principles aren’t always “guaranteed,” but they are often proven by time and experience.
Principles can help us learn from one another. We can benefit from another person’s experience.
Here are a few principles of ministry I’ve experienced:
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Mondays are not usually great days. I mean, only the sickest of optimists looks forward to Monday morning, right? And, for pastors, Mondays have special import. Mondays, you see, are the number one day that pastors resign. Why, you ask? Well, they were hoping Sunday would turn everything around and it didn't.
How to love your church’s monthly business conferences
Written by Joe McKeeverPastors and church leaders are all too familiar with those monthly church business conferences that can be mind-numbingly boring at times and at other times can rip open a fellowship of believers and leave it in shreds. Their unpredictability has caused many a church leader to look for ways to dispense with them, everything from simply forgetting to have them to amending the constitution and by-laws to say the church will have only quarterly or annual conferences to outright canceling them altogether.
Last month I attended the Louisiana Baptist Evangelism conference. At the conference I heard a sermon that was encouraging and convicting to me. This sermon was about our attitude toward people.
Evangelist Phil Waldrep preached from the neglected passage in Rom. 16. In this passage Paul sends greetings to various people with whom he was associated. Almost half of the chapter was devoted to “greeting” these people. To be honest, the passage is somewhat monotonous to read. Bro. Phil shared three truths that made this passage come alive.
Last week I visited with a pastor who acknowledged he is living in a cave. He went through a painful exit at his previous church, is suffering with health issues, and his family is struggling with financial challenges. The story could represent anyone who serves in ministry. This pastor added a detail that all of us should heed. He admitted he is living in a cave (Tim’s interpretation). He acknowledged that the pain and discouragement he has experienced has caused him to withdraw. So, at the present moment he is a cave dweller.
The past few weeks I have been supplying for a small church near my home. One Sunday, while returning from this pulpit supply, I pondered the good and bad side of serving as a pastor. For the past six years I have been a servant to pastors rather than a servant to one local church. This has allowed me to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes when you take the distant view of things you see things you never saw before. Thus, I contemplated the things I miss and the things I do not miss about pastoring. Last week I wrote about the things I DON’T miss. This week I will discuss the things I DO miss about being a pastor.
The past few weeks I have been supplying for a small church near my home. One Sunday, while returning from this pulpit supply, I pondered the good and bad side of serving as a pastor. For the past six years I have been a servant to pastors rather than a servant to one local church. This has allowed me to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes when you take the distant view of things you see things you never saw before. Thus, I pondered the things I miss and the things I do not miss about pastoring. This week I will discuss the things I do not miss about being a pastor. Next week, I will discuss the things I miss.
How to Stop Being a People Pleasing Pastor or Leader
Written by Ron EdmondsonAfter a post about people pleasing, I received the following email:
Ron,
Have just finished your blog post “7 Casualties of a People Pleaser in Leadership. “ I recognize I am a People Pleaser Pastor. How do I turn the tide on this? How do I stop? I am seeing tension mounting on the team. There is frustration on our staff and it is even spilling over to our spouses, and my vision has hit a brick wall. I really want to move away from this but I am finding it most difficult.
Signed,
One frustrated pastor
Criticism hurts, especially the non-constructive kind. We tend to stay away from such critics. But is that the wisest choice? Should we draw close to them instead of pulling away from them? In this post I explore the idea of not shunning your critics.
Biggest Mistakes Pastors Make on Sundays (and how to avoid them)
Written by Charles StoneFor pastors, Sunday can be the most draining day of the week. Intense people interaction, teaching or preaching, seeing our critics, trying to remember names, and attempting to put our own problems aside to listen to other peoples’ problems add up to a stress-filled day. The very day we want to be at our best requires more from us than any other day. As a result, we can easily make one or more of the 5 biggest mistakes pastors make on Sundays. Evaluate this list to find out how many you make. I follow the list with some suggestions on how to avoid them.
We are facing a new year? With the coming of a New Year we often consider New Year’s resolutions. That means change! (Or does it?) Change is hard to initiate.
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