…by Thom Rainer.
There are no ‘do overs’ in life and ministry. But there are always opportunities to learn, correct and improve. So I decided to share with you seven of the key mistakes I made as a senior pastor. Obviously, the list is not exhaustive. Seven just seemed to be a good, biblical number.
Thom’s humble reflections are a worthwhile read.
HT: Dan Green
Tagged as // Ministry, Pastoral Care, Reflection, Tom Rainer
Filed in // General
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David Murray has put together a quick check-list of questions to ask yourself as you examine and test your “call” to pastoral ministry. His motivation? Him continually being asked, “How can I know if I am called to pastoral ministry?”
Here are the six questions:
Be sure to read David’s explanation of each question.
Tagged as // David Murray, Ministry, Pastoral Care
Filed in // General
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In a couple of really helpful and extremely practical posts David Murray outlines what his “normal” week of pastoral ministry looked like, and what one of his “normal” pastoral visits looked like. If you’re in the ministry or preparing to enter the ministry then I’m confident you’ll be blessed, if not challenged, reading those posts.
Whoever says pastoral ministry is easier than a typical 9-5 job doesn’t know what happens Monday to Saturday!
A “normal” week of pastoral ministry
A “normal” pastoral visit
Tagged as // Church, David Murray, Ministry, Pastoral Care
Filed in // General
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…according to David Murray who offers some thoughts on answering the question, “Preach or Pastor?”
He notes:
“…most congregations will be able to tell you which way their pastor has answered that question: ‘He’s a great preacher, but we never see him,’ or, ‘He can’t preach, but he’s a wonderful pastor.’”
I agree with David Murray’s post but sadly I suspect there is a third category; those who can’t preach and who don’t visit and pastor their flock either.
Tagged as // Church, Ministry, Pastoral Care, Preaching
Filed in // General
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“[Many churches] are forgetting that the power is in the Word of God, not in methods, and that the Word is addressed in the first instance to the mind. The Word was intended by God to be intelligible, and only as we understand it does it get into our bloodstreams and into our hearts, and show up in changed lives.” – R. C. Sproul
Tagged as // Church, Church Growth, Culture, Evangelicalism, Means of Grace, Ministry, Pragmatism, R. C. Sproul, Relevance, Word of God
Filed in // Quotes
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…Nathan Eshelman, Pastor at the Los Angeles RPCNA, wants “Happy Presbyterians”. To aid his cause he offers 6 steps in this video for writing a proposal to your session. Here are his 6 steps:
Watch the video for his explanation of each point.
Tagged as // Church, Ministry, Nathan Eshelman, Presbyterianism
Filed in // Videos
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…Phil Johnson reminds us in this “Pulpit Highlight” from the recent Shepherds’ Conference.
Tagged as // Church, Ministry, Phil Johnson
Filed in // Videos
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…are four stages of software development that David Murray suggests can parallel the preacher and his sermon preparation.
Tagged as // David Murray, Ministry, Preaching
Filed in // General
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When you gather together on the Lord’s Day are you being served or do you come to do the serving? Consider this excerpt from Michael Horton’s Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church
The church has a very narrow commission. It is not called to be an alternative neighbourhood, circle of friends, political action committee, social club, or public service agency; it is called to deliver Christ so clearly and fully that believers are prepared to be salt and light in the worldly stations to which God has called them. Why should a person go through all the trouble of belonging to a church and showing up each Sunday if God is the passive receiver and we are the active giver? It’s like being expected to look forward to Christmas when you are always giving but never receiving any gifts…
When Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist and began washing the disciples’ feet, Peter was confused and asked, “‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand’” (John 13:6-7; emphasis added). Afterward? After what? Jesus is referring to his ultimate act of service at Golgotha, which Peter so often rebuked Jesus for talking about as they were nearing Jerusalem. Peter was ready for action: a coronation or a revolution, but not Jesus’s crucifixtion. True to character, Peter protested, “‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me’” (v.8).
Not only once upon a time, on a hill far away, but each week the Son of God comes to serve us. We may protest. We may think that it is we who need to serve God rather than vice versa. Nevertheless, Jesus tells us as he told Peter that this is actually an insult, a form of pride. We are the ones who need to be bathed, clothed, and fed, not God.
Tagged as // Books, Church, Gospel, Means of Grace, Michael Horton, Ministry
Filed in // General
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As I said earlier this week, I’ve been reading William Symington: Penman of the Scottish Covenanters. After discussing Symington’s work, The Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ, Blackwood quotes Symington’s clear pastoral concern that one could read his work and only have an intellectual interest in Christ.
“Be it then the concern of all who read these pages, earnestly to seek such an interest in what the Saviour has done and is still doing…Let them not regard [these] as matters of curious speculation, or content themselves with mere doctrinal belief… They must become the subjects of saving faith…
Let not the reader, then, rise from the perusal of these pages, without seriously and conscientiously asking himself these questions: – Am I interested in the atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ? Have I faith in the sacrifice of the great High Priest? Has my soul been sprinkled with His precious blood? Does He plead in my behalf with the Father?… Were I called, at this moment, to recline my head on the pillow of death, could I indulge the comforting assurance that the advocate within the veil…would present on my behalf the request, ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am’ [John 17:24]…? These are solemn questions. Let no one neglect to put them to himself.” [This quote, although reproduced in the aforementioned book was originally found in Symington, William. The Atonement and Intercession of Jesus Christ (pp. 301-303)]
What an example to follow, not only when academic work is undertaken but even in ministry. Men, don’t deliver lectures this Lord’s Day, rather preach Christ from all the Scriptures!
Tagged as // Books, Gospel, Ministry, Preaching, William Symington
Filed in // Quotes
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