Posts Tagged ‘Pastoral Ministry’

Recently I traveled by train from Kansas City to Jefferson City, Missouri to preach at the Legislative Prayer Service, marking the opening of Missouri’s Legislative Session. For some time I had been looking forward to traveling on the locomotive, anticipating a warm throwback to yesteryear. My trip fell short of a Humphrey Bogart movie, but I did enjoy traveling by rail.

Business was slow—real slow. So slow, in fact, the attendant spent all his time at an adjoining booth. He had books and magazines stacked and papers strewed. He looked as though he was settled in for what he hoped would be an uninterrupted afternoon of travel.

As I reflected on the Amtrak attendant’s pattern of service, I saw an analogy to how many Christians—myself included—often live the Christian life. Read more

How does a pastor most healthily balance ministerial service with family time? This tension is felt by all who serve the church, and resides just under the surface in many congregations. Sadly, many men leave the ministry due to erring one way or the other in what is often a delicate balance.

We must protect our families, but we need not sequester them. Balance is hard to find, but perhaps these five principles will help. Read more

Pastors are called to preach sermons, not deliver rants. Too often God’s people are subjected to the latter, but it is the former they truly need. This distinction struck me several years ago, while co-preaching a conference with several other pastors.

I sensed we were in for a rant when one of the speakers declined a microphone, assuring the sound-booth attendant he would be sufficiently loud without it. When his moment to preach came, he did not disappoint. I was as amazed at his volume as I was disturbed by his handling of the text.

Pastors are called to preach sermons, not deliver rants. What differentiates the two? Read more

Discouragement is not an emotion with which I am very familiar, but over the past several weeks I have felt it acutely. My sadness has been induced by the steady drip of ministerial sex scandals and the destruction they have wrought.

In fact, I have found myself not wanting to check social media, dreading to learn about the next scandal. Most prominently, the Ashley Madison expose has shaken church after church, ministry after ministry, and family after family. And, as Russell Moore has written, it is likely just the beginning.

Aspects of all of this are truly baffling, and we find ourselves asking, “How could he…?”. Yet, upon sober reflection, we are reminded of how dangerous our sin nature truly is; and that Total Depravity is not just a theological point, but a malignancy within each one of us. Therefore, we must intentionally guard our hearts, and one way of doing that is to meditate on the catastrophic ruin that accompanies sexual sin.
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As a pastor, few things warmed my heart more than church members telling me they prayed for me daily. Their simple act of prayer both encouraged and reassured me. It encouraged me to know they were standing in the gap for me spiritually, and it reassured me to know they loved my family, the church, and me enough to do so.

Now that I a member of a local church, God has been impressing upon my heart the importance of praying regularly for my pastors. They are men called by God to serve his flock, and they regularly bless my family and me. The least I can do is pray for them faithfully. There are many Biblical reasons why we should pray for our pastors, but let us consider just these four. Read more