A gracEmail subscriber writes: "I am a pastor attending seminary, currently serving in a United Methodist Church that desperately wants me to stay with them to help revitalize the system. I am honestly worried whether denominations have run their course. I see wonderful nuggets of greatness in most of them. But I've been wondering if it would be better to extract the best parts from the various denominations and start over without the worst elements of each. In this day and age should we be trying to renovate or innovate as far as the church is concerned?" * * * All denominations are human … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
REDUCING A PASTOR’S STRESS
A Methodist pastor writes that he was just diagnosed with ulcers due to stresses created by misguided Christians. He asks if I believe it possible to engage in ministry and remain physically and spiritually whole. He has two dozen clergy friends who died from heart failure or had bypass surgery before age 50, and a dozen more who left the ministry due to vicious attacks from other Christians. He asks for my thoughts. * * * It is sad to hear stories such as you relate, with which I promise I can identify by personal experience in years past. Jesus taught us that those who live godly will … [Read more...]
LONG RANGE PLANNING
An acquaintance was recently asked to lead a committee charged with producing a five-year plan for his Lutheran church. He searched the New Testament but found nothing about long-range planning. My own investigation yielded the same results. Throughout the Gospels, for example, Jesus simply goes about doing the Father's will. Jesus' miracles and parables, his encounters and teachings, occur almost incidentally. "As he was going along," the Gospel writers will say, "a certain woman came to Jesus" -- and the next thing we know something happens about which we still read and talk 2,000 years … [Read more...]
WHEN WE SUFFER UNJUSTLY
A couple long involved in Christian ministry have been mistreated by other believers who misconstrue their motives and question their laudable service to Christ. As a result, they feel abused, abandoned.and betrayed. Does Scripture offer any encouragement, or light to put this in perspective? * * * At some time, we nearly all will find ourselves in a similar situation. Now is a good time, while the sun is shining, to fortify our minds and hearts for that occasion. Here, as always, Jesus is our ultimate and trustworthy example. Peter points to Jesus, as he encourages believers who are walking … [Read more...]
WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE
A preacher writes that his ministry is under attack, his church is in turmoil and his church leaders are torn between Christ and legalistic religion. He feels deserted, exhausted and as if he is in a wilderness. Can I offer any encouragement? * * * Wilderness time can provide meaningful spiritual preparation and training. God readied Moses to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage during 40 years as a wilderness shepherd. Elijah found inner renewal in the wilderness. David attuned himself to God's heart while away from people with his sheep. John the Baptist ministered in the wilderness. Jesus … [Read more...]
ATTENTION & APPROVAL
A Methodist couple involved in sacrificial ministry write that they sometimes feel "on the shelf," and that their efforts frequently go unappreciated. Perhaps these words of encouragement to them will connect with some other hearts which share this couple's godly desires and human frustrations. * * * Never forget that God is using and will use you both, according to his sovereign will. Part of my problem (and perhaps I am not alone in this) is in regarding as meaningless the one-on-one encounters and small, obscure events, the daily good deeds and common acts of obedience which go … [Read more...]
SCHOLARSHIP AND PIETY
A Christian worker bemoans the fact that religion professors too often do not instill faith or encourage piety in students, and that the academic study of the Bible in institutions of higher learning sometimes even diminishes faith and stifles spirituality. A religion professor responded, in effect, that scholarship and piety do not mix. * * * Every disciple of Jesus is called to a life focused on God, patterned after Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. When that life is healthy and unhindered, it manifests itself in a bouquet of beautiful traits, including inner faith, personal piety, … [Read more...]
BIBLICAL HELP IN PREACHER SEARCH
A Northeastern subscriber writes, "Our pastor has retired after a lengthy tenure and we are seeking a replacement. Can you offer any biblical suggestions to help us in this process?" * * * I honestly know little to suggest from a biblical standpoint concerning the search process itself. The modern institutional church with buildings, budgets and professional staff is an invention more recent than the Bible, so we lack specific scriptural guidance in these matters. However, we can derive a biblical picture of the kind of person we might wish to occupy the pulpit and to provide leadership … [Read more...]
TEN TRAITS FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS
"I want to serve God as the preacher or pastor of a local church," someone asks. "Do you have any suggestions for my personal and professional goals?" * * * Following are ten traits of successful Christian leaders -- not necessarily "success" as the world measures it -- which I have adapted from a "want list" I drafted for our congregation several years ago in a search for a preaching minister. The scripturally "successful" Christian leader is an individual who: 1. Evidences a warm personal commitment to Jesus Christ as living Savior and Lord. 2. Desires to follow the Holy Spirit, by … [Read more...]
GATHERED IN JESUS’ NAME
While considering Jesus' promise in Matthew 18:20 to be present wherever two or three gather in his name, a gracEmail subscriber thought of two questions. "If a specific gathering lacks the Lord's presence," he asks, "how can we know that he is not present, and what is the cause of his absence?" * * * One might suspect that Jesus is absent from a meeting when nothing is accomplished that requires his presence or participation. This is true regardless of the gathering's stated purpose -- whether for prayer or for praise, to make decisions or to make converts, to study the Bible or to equip … [Read more...]
