Pastor Connect 2007

Listen! God Has Spoken

Many voices compete for our attention, clamoring to be heard. Family and friends. Institutions and individuals. Politicians and entertainers. Voices without and voices within. All are speaking. But one voice above all others deserves our attention. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds ...

Shepherding the Church

We are all aware that Scripture compares a pastor’s relationship to the church with a shepherd’s relationship to a flock of sheep. In fact, the word pastor literally means shepherd.

A shepherd obviously carries a heavy responsibility. While his specific tasks might easily number into a dozen or more, all of them could be summarized by two words: feeding and leading.

The shepherd must care for, give food to, and provide medicine for his flock. This is feeding. He must also protect them from danger, keep them together, and direct them in the proper way. This is leading ...

Trivial Pursuits

A Russian Christian once visited the United States, and his host took him to a World Series baseball game. When the game was over, the American asked his foreign visitor what he thought. His response was telling. “I’ve never seen such first-class devotion to such a second-class cause.” Too often that could be said of my life. My passions have often centered around trivial pursuits—things not particularly evil themselves, but oftentimes pathways to evil because they usurp the vital in my affections. The enemy of the best is often the good. Dangerous Small Things Sinful Idolatry Is it ...

Ineffective Pastors: Part 3 of 3

What causes a pastor to be ineffective? Charles Bridges wrestled with this question almost 200 years ago in his classic The Christian Ministry: With an Inquiry Into the Causes of Its Inefficiency.[1] In his discovery he specified ten character flaws which hinder ministerial effectiveness, and his insights are as true today as they were in 1830. 7.   Spiritual pride It has been observed that spiritual pride is the sin of young ministers. Paul warned Timothy against appointing an immature believer as an overseer: “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and ...

Ineffective Pastors: Part 1 of 3

What causes a pastor to be ineffective? Charles Bridges wrestled with this question almost 200 years ago in his classic The Christian Ministry: With an Inquiry Into the Causes of Its Inefficiency.[1] In his discovery he specified ten character flaws which hinder ministerial effectiveness, and his insights are as true today as they were in 1830. 1.  Devoted half-heartedly to the ministry Whole-hearted devotion to the work of the ministry is essential to spiritual success. The resolution of the apostles was to “devote [themselves] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). After charging Timothy ...

Deliberate Reading

Great leaders are usually disciplined readers. Reading widely and reading well serve the mind as good nutrition and aerobic exercise serve the body. Too many church leaders have flabby brains. As Os Guinness says, we have fit bodies but fat minds.[1] The primary remedy for our mental obesity is deliberate reading, which involves deliberate choices as to when, what, and how we read. Deliberately Choosing When to Read Reading, for many, is like exercise: something we know we should do but simply have not made a priority. The best solution to this is to schedule time to read. For ...

Light and Heat

“He was a burning and a shining light.”
– Jesus on John the Baptist (John 5:35) In a sermon on John 5:35, Jonathan Edwards insisted that two things must be married in the heart and life of a preacher: light and heat. He must not only shine, but burn.

If a minister has light without heat, and entertains his auditory with learned discourses, without a savour of the power of godliness, or an appearance of fervency of spirit, and zeal for God and the good of souls, he may gratify itching ears, and fill the heads of his people ...

Truth-Teller or Calf-Maker?

Are you a truth-teller or a calf-maker? Every preacher is one or the other. It all depends on what drives his ministry and determines the content of his preaching and teaching. What motivates you? What is your message? Consider Paul’s example. He was driven by one ambition—to please the God who tests the heart—and devoted to one task—to be faithful to the message God had entrusted to him. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with ...

Six Marks of Biblical Eldership

In the New Testament, the elders in the early Christian churches (Jerusalem, Ephesus, Crete, etc.) were mature and godly men. They were blameless and free from reproach; they served together in overseeing the church; they knew, taught, and defended the truth; and they served as shepherds (pastors, Eph. 4:11) of God’s flock.   The words elder and overseer are used interchangeably, with elder probably denoting character and maturity, while overseer denotes function. For both terms, the main verb describing their task is poimaino, or shepherd (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2).   1.      Elders are mature and blameless men ...

Affirming the Value of Hymns

It is tragic that perhaps the most divisive issue in the church today is worship. Most of us as pastors are painfully familiar with the “worship wars,” and we’ve have had to wrestle through our decisions about what worship styles and music types our churches will incorporate.   As a relatively young pastor, I have a high appreciation for contemporary music. Our congregation is predominantly young, and our corporate worship is fairly contemporary, although we consistently blend contemporary and traditional music.   But I also appreciate traditional forms of worship—especially hymns—and there are several reasons I think it would ...

Test the Spirits

Famous architect Sir Christopher Wren was once contracted to design a large town hall for Windsor, just west of central London. The blueprints called for large pillars to support the high ceiling of the building. Upon completion of the project, the leaders of the city expressed a single concern to the architect: They wanted more pillars in the building.   Wren’s solution was genius but deceptive. He answered the demands of his clients and built more pillars—ornate and beautiful pillars which look impressive. But the pillars support no weight—in fact, they do not even reach the ceiling!   When ...

Will I Ever Be a Leader of Prayer? 3/5

George Müller, even while in bad health, managed to maintain deep, prayerful communion with the Lord. He recounts: "During my stay at Plymouth, I was stirred afresh to early rising, a blessing, the results of which I have not lost since. I was led to it be the example of the brother in whose house I was staying, and a remark which he made speaking of the sacrifices of Leviticus: 'Even as the refuse of animals was not to be offered up, so the best part of our time should be especially given to communion with the Lord.' ". . . By ...

Will I Ever Be a Leader of Prayer? 5/5

"There is a Church, with its wondrous calling and its sure promises, waiting to be roused to a sense of its wondrous responsibility and power. There is a world with its perishing millions with intercession its only hope." - Andrew Murray Every believer must see the multitudes as Jesus saw them. Our hearts then will break. We will pray with the compassion of Christ. And God will raise up an army of laborers that will bring God's kingdom to the hearts of men. It is to this end that we must pray. We must pray that His kingdom come and ...

A"Feather's Weight" Ministry?

The preacher must be surrendered to God in the holiest devotion. He is not a professional man; his ministry is not a profession; it is a divine institution, a divine devotion. His aim, aspirations, and ambition are for God and to God, and to such a man, prayer is as essential as food is to life. The preacher, above everything else, must be devoted to God. The preacher's relations to God are the insignia and credentials of his ministry. These must be clear, conclusive, and unmistakable. No common, surface type of piety must be his. If he does not ...

Potential, But Nothing More

At the beginning of Saul's life, he was budding with potential and on his way into the history books, but at the end, we find him poisoned by shame, jealousy, and disobedience to God. "There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish.a mighty man of power. And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people" (1 Samuel 9:1-2, NIV) In his younger years, Saul was probably ...

Worth Being Concerned About

"As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, 'Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.' "But the Lord said to her, 'My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these ...

A Brilliant Communicator or a Loving Servant?

"Too often Christian leaders shut themselves in their studies, become students, bookworms, Bible works, sermon makers, noted for literature, thought, and sermons; but the people and God, where are they? Out of heart, out of mind. "Preachers who are great thinkers - great students - must be the greatest of pray-ers, or else they will be the greatest of backsliders, heartless professionals, rationalistic, less than the least of preachers in God's estimate." - Excerpted from E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer (Moody Press, p. 33) How easy it is to substitute learning for love, books for prayer, and sermons for service. May ...

A Man of One Thing

"A disciple can be forgiven if he does not have great mental ability. He can be forgiven also if he does not display outstanding physical prowess. But no disciple can be excused if he does not have zeal. If his heart is not aflame with a red-hot passion for the Savior, he stands condemned. "After all, Christians are followers of the One who said, 'The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up' (John 2:17). Their Savior was consumed with a passion for God and for His interests. There is no room in His train for half-hearted followers." - William ...

Your Church's Greatest Need

“How wonderful and blessed is the divine appointment of the first day of the week as a holy day of rest. Not (as some think) that we might have at least one day of rest and spiritual refreshment amid the weariness of life, but that this one holy day, at the opening of the week, might sanctify the whole, might help and fit us to carry God's presence into all the week and its work.” – Andrew Murray, The School of Obedience , pg. 51 (Moody Press) Doesn't the nineteenth century sound good on paper? Surely Murray would realize that ...

Showing Off Humility

It is significant that Scripture assures us that the same God who must resist the proud always stands ready to give grace to the humble. The Bible advises men and women to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. It is my opinion that if our humility had to show itself only under the hand of God, it would be a relatively easy gesture. For example, if the Lord should say to me, "I am coming to stand at the front of the church and I expect you to kneel before Me," it would be an easy thing for ...

Avoid the Graveyard

The erosion of character usually begins with neglect: we stop reading the Word, or worshiping with God's people, or taking time to meditate and pray. We stop hungering for holiness and exercising spiritual disciplines. We stop making sacrifices that show our special love for Christ and His people. We do our job mechanically, because our heart isn't in it. In time, we even find ourselves "making arrangements to sin," convinced that what nobody knows, we can get away with. The process is deadly: first the drifting, then the secret sinning, then the hidden eroding of character that ultimately ...

When the Holy Spirit Hits Home

It was into the home that sin first came. It is in the home that revival first needs to come. Revival is desperately needed in the church . . . in the country . . . in the world; but a revived church with unrevived homes would be sheer hypocrisy. It is the hardest place, the most costly, but the most necessary place to begin. But before we go on, let us remind ourselves again of what revival really is. It simply means a new life in hearts where the spiritual life has ebbed--but not a new life of self-effort or self-initiated activity. It is not ...

Beholding the Glory of Christ

Spiritual disciplines are structures we build into our lives to keep us beholding the glory of Christ. Rather than being ends in themselves, the disciplines (celebration, service, Bible study, silence, prayer, etc.) are actually pathways through which we can see Jesus. There are five guidelines that can help us grow to effectively use the disciplines: 1) Remember that the disciplines are more internal than external. Spirituality is not measured by check-boxes or lists of accomplishments, but by a renovated heart, and a renewed mind. 2) Both regular, small doses, and occasional, large doses are necessary. You might choose to have ...

Professionals or Servants?

In the atmosphere of hurry in which we live day by day, we are in danger of losing our souls and the secret known by Paul -- "to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). The routine of the years may bring us sometime to the verge of perfunctory automatism, and that first call of the Spirit may seem faint and far away. A preacher of the gospel is a transmitter of truth and thereby open to the peril of familiarity in holy things. . . . We traffic in holy things, eternal realities; it is ours to make them communicable to people. We are ...