Tag Archives: pastor

Pastors

What your pastor needs today…

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As you worship today or any other day, remember to pray for your pastor. Here’s what he needs today:

  • He needs your prayers. The spiritual forces of evil has him as a target and the greatest response you can give is by praying for him.
  • He needs your encouragement. There seems to be a countless number of critics but not enough encouragers. Be an encourager.
  • He needs your support. Pastors need to have godly, loving supporters as he leads the church in the best way he knows. When he has godly people who he knows are with him, he can make good, thoughtful, and prayerful decisions for God’s church.
  • He needs your love. In a world of darkness and difficult ministry, he needs the love of Christ through His Bride. Would you share your love for him today?
Jesus, ministry, Missions

Some Truth For Our Pastors

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I have just finished a little over a nine-year pastorate at a church that I have absolutely Worshiploved. Leaving on the best of terms, I feel good about the future for this church and her work of the gospel. One thing I do want to say about pastoring is that it is hard work, and a pastor who serves is serving a very difficult and challenging calling. As a result, I will always appreciate the local church pastor. That said, whatever your role in the church, here’s a few truths that I want to share with our pastors but that I think that everyone should hear.

Pastor, remember this:

  • You are a minister of the Word. It’s very easy to get tied down with administrative tasks and pastoral care duties, but you are called primarily as a minister of the Word. This means you are called to teach, train, rebuke, counsel, and preach the Word. The ministry of exhortation cannot be second place. Sure, there’ll be critics who want a pastor to be a glorified chaplain, but this can weaken the church in the long run. Pastors who minister faithfully through the Word of God can see a more mature, healthy, missions-focused church.
  • You are to love people. I once had a pastor say over and over again, “if you can do people, you can’t do ministry.” He was the best “people person” I have ever known, and he is now in his 26th year at the same church. Loving people takes on many forms, but this does include spending time with them. Of course, this doesn’t mean that primary focus on the Word should suffer, but you do need to see church members regularly. Whether it’s counseling, home visits, office visits, lunch, or any of the above, enjoy time with your church family. You won’t regret it.
  • You are loved. God loves the pastor and called him to minister in a unique setting and time. It’s tough and lonely work at times! However, remember that when Elijah was at his lowest point, he felt alone and helpless, but God reminded him otherwise with ministering spirits. Ministry can be lonely, but you need to be reminded that God uses a variety of ways (including his church) to show you how deeply, sincerely you are loved.
  • You should remember the weak. There are many people to love on and minister to on a daily basis, but those who are already mature don’t always need your full attention. However, the baby Christians need your attention more, and as a lead discipler in your church, you are responsible for them whether this is delegated or not. Sure, their lives might be messy, but be patient with them, love them, and help them to walk a deeper walk in Christ.
  • You need to develop leaders. You may have one, ten or a hundred leaders, but you are all part of the same team. Make sure that your followers are sitting on the right seats on the ministry bus, and then commit to the task of equipping and empowering them. You can’t overcommunicate your vision, and you can’t underestimate their willingness to be challenged. Be there for them when they struggle and when they succeed. After all, you are in this together.

Obviously, this is not a complete list and maybe I can add to it much later. However, I hope that this is encouraging and helpful. Let’s all pray for our pastors, as they lead the church!

Fran

God's Goodness, ministry

Ten Things a Pastor Should Do: #3 Take one or two days off a week, and be sure to take vacations.

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When I was younger and new in ministry, I used to brag to myself (and others) that I would work constantly without vacations, days off, or breaks. My goal then was that no one would outwork me in ministry- now I can see that this was such a fleshly, prideful mindset!

Truth is, ministry is hard work. The demands of ministry do not end at 5 pm and then begin again at 9 am. Often, the burdens of ministry are with you all of the time, hanging on your shoulders day and night, weekdays and weekends, during and outside of shadow walkingyour family “time.” There are late night phone calls, as well as emails, Facebook messages, text messages, and visits. The clock never stops for sermon and bible study preparations, and the constant dripping of the C.A.V.E. Dwellers can get on your nerves as well. There’s no surprise that statistics show the average tenure of a pastor to be three to four years. It’s true that there’s a high burn out rate in the ministry.

All that said, let me now be Captain Obvious for a minute: you can’t work all the time and not have time for rest. Rest is very important, even vital for the long term work of ministry. Rest is built into God’s creation, when He rested on the 7th day. Jesus often took time away from the crowds to rest and pray in quiet places (see Mark 6:30-31). We are likewise called to the Sabbath principle, a time of rest from life itself and to time with the Lord (Lev 23:3). Basically put, rest is important to God and it should be important to you.

So take that day off (or sometimes even two). Take that vacation with your family, even being willing to miss two Sundays in a row. Date your wife regularly. Break away from the cell phone, your witty Twitter posts, your snarky Facebook comments. Disconnect from the current routine and reconnect with God and your family. Remember that your relationships with God, your spouse, and your family are your prime importance and calling. After all, once you refresh yourself, you will be much more healthy and ready for the demands of your call to ministry. Now go rest!

Pastor Fran

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One way to stay encouraged: an encouragement drawer!

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Everyone goes through ups and downs in life. Sometimes we feel like we’re on a mountain top, looking around in seeing that everything is going right. However, there’s also times when we feel like we are in the lowest of the lows, the valleys, and in those times it seems like nothing can go right!

We can all identify with both perspectives in various degrees, but for now I’d like to speak to the second situation, the valleys of life. No one is immune from being down about our circumstances. When we look at Scripture, we can see many examples of God’s people getting discouraged about things going on around them. Elijah is one example that comes to mind, when he felt as if no one was following God and instead was following the false god, Baal. The Apostle Paul at one point in his ministry was deserted by everyone, and in spite of all of the work that he had done, he felt as if he had almost no one that he could turn to for support in time of need (see 2 Timothy). The point is, that no matter how you serve the Lord, He has called you to ministry. However, sometimes ministry and life’s struggles can be discouraging. So how do we stay encouraged and focused on the Lord?

Of course, we know the need to be in the Word and in prayer. Here’s an additional help: as a pastor, I got some good advice from a member a few years ago to keep an encouragement drawer. An encouragement drawer is just that- a place to store notes, cards, drawings, and other forms of encouragement from some of God’s people. When I get down or discouraged, I open up my encouragement drawer and remind myself that first, God is always with me, and second, God’s people love and appreciate me. Having an encouragement drawer is a visual reminder of the love that God has for me.

Today, my drawer has encouragement from people who have served together with me over the years. Some of these people are now with the Lord. Others have moved away to other places. But one thing is sure, their encouragement still lives on today. Fellow Christian and especially pastors, let me wholeheartedly urge you to you get an encouragement drawer. I pray that it will help you as God has allowed it to help me!

Romans 15:5-6, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”