Leading Your Church Through Suffering
Excellent advice here from Matt Chandler on leading your church through suffering.
September 03 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
“The Minister as Shepherd” Book Review
I first read “The Minister as Shepherd” in seminary as part of a class on Pastoral Ministry. As I was preparing to move down to Cool I decided to pick up this classic book on Pastoral Ministry and read it again, which turned out to be an excellent decision. The Minister as Shepherd was originally a lecture series that Charles Jefferson delivered in the 20’s on the topic of pastoral ministry. While the lecture series is nearly 100 years old, the truths that Jefferson presents are timeless. For example, he spends much of the first few chapters arguing for the current need for shepherds:
A few things are certain. We live in a universe created by a Shepherd God. The Lord is our Shepherd. Our world is redeemed by a Shepherd Savior. Our Elder Brother is a Shepherd. The man whom humanity most needs is a shepherd. Every messenger of Christ is sent to do a shepherd’s work. We are to stand at last before a Shepherd Judge. God is going to separate the good shepherds from the shepherds who are bad. The questions which every pastor must meet and answer are three: “Did you feed my lambs? Did you tend my sheep? Did you feed my sheep?”
The rest of the book is filled with powerful and practical counsel for shepherding. Some of this counsel comes in the form of warnings, some as encouragements but all are perfectly suited for the minister who desires to be a shepherd. I’ll close with one of my favorites:
If a man is dependent on the applause of the crowd, he ought never to enter the ministry. The finest things a minister does are done out of sight and never get reported.
August 30 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
Seven Mistakes to Avoid in Ministry
These were some great thoughts from Thom Rainer on what he would have done differently in the early days of ministry:
1. I would spend more time in the Word and in prayer. I would follow the biblical pattern of the church leaders in Acts 6:4: "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry."
2. I would give my family more time. No one remembers the church committee meetings I missed. My family still remembers those times I was too busy for them.
3. I would spend more time sharing my faith. Paul told the young pastor Timothy to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5). Those words apply to all pastors today.
4. I would love the community where I lived more. I would try to live more incarnationally. I would prayerfully seek to see how I could serve the community rather than see it as a population pool of prospects for my church.
5. I would lead the church to focus more on the nations. I would lead in helping our church grasp that missions is more than just an annual offering.
6. I would focus on critics less. Most church members have no idea how many criticisms and "suggestions" a pastor gets each week. It can be overwhelming and distracting. Though I would be willing to listen, I would not obsess about every negative comment that was made about me.
7. I would accept the reality that I can’t be omnipresent. So many people and groups want the presence of the pastor. Saying "no" can be difficult, but it can free the pastor to focus on some of the priorities noted above.
HT: Vitamin Z
June 18 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
Ministry Idolatry
Driscoll asks 11 questions about ministry idolatry in this video:
- Attendance idolatry: Does your joy change when your attendance does?
- Gift idolatry: Do you feel that God needs you and uses you because you are so skilled?
- Truth idolatry: Do you consider yourself more righteous than more simple Christians?
- Fruit idolatry: Do you point to your success as evidence of God’s approval of you?
- Method idolatry: Do you worship your method as your mediator?
- Tradition idolatry: What traditions are you upholding that are thwarting the forward progress of the gospel?
- Office idolatry: Are you motivated primarily by God’s glory or your title?
- Success idolatry: Is winning what motivates you at the deepest level?
- Ministry idolatry: Do you use the pressure of ministry to make you walk with God?
- Innovative idolatry: Does it matter to you that your ministry be considered unique?
- Leader idolatry: Who, other than Christ, are you imaging?
HT: Justin Taylor
June 18 2010 | Blog | 1 Comment »
The Trellis and the Vine Book Review
I’ve been looking forward to reading The Trellis and the Vine for a long time now, ever since Mark Dever said that it is the best book he has ever read on the nature of church ministry.
The Trellis and the Vine is a powerful metaphor for the church. The trellis represents the structures of the church (buildings, committees, etc.) while the vine represents the actual work of the church which is making disciples. It is not that we don’t need the trellis, but rather that trellis work often takes over for vine work. Vine work is people intensive and is very hard to measure, while trellis work is measurable because it deals with things, structures, finances, etc., which is why it’s so appealing to work on the trellis.
What I loved about this book is that with every page I found myself saying, “That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking!” There is something intuitive about the metaphor of The Trellis and the Vine that just makes sense. The authors write:
We will be arguing that structures don’t grow ministry any more than trellises grow vines, and that most churches need to make a conscious shift – away from erecting and maintaining structures, and towards growing people who are disciple-making disciples of Christ.
At it’s heart The Trellis and the Vine is a call for Christians to be involved in the ministry of making disciples. The following quote from pages 26-27 is really worth the price of the whole book and is a perfect summary of what the authors are calling their readers to:
Imagine a reasonably solid Christian said to you after church one Sunday morning, “Look, I’d like to get more involved here and make a contribution, but I just feel like there’s nothing for me to do. I’m not on the ‘inside’; I don’t get asked to be on committees or lead Bible Studies. What can I do?”
What would you immediately think or say? Would you start thinking of some event or program about to start that they could help with? Some job that needed doing? Some ministry that they could join or support?
This is how we are used to thinking about the involvement of church members in congregational life – in terms of jobs and roles: usher, Bible study leader, Sunday School teacher, treasurer, elder, musician, song leader, money counter, and so on. The implication of this way of thinking for congregation members is clear: if all the jobs and roles are taken, then there’s really nothing for me to do in this church. I’m reducted to being a passenger. I’ll just wait until I’m asked to ‘do something’. The implication for the pastoral staff is similar: getting people involved and active means finding a job for them to do. In fact, the church growth gurus say that giving someone a job to do with the first six months of their joining your church is vital for them to feel like they belong.
However, if teh real work of God is people work – the prayerful speaking of his word by one person to another – then the jobs are never all taken. The opportunities for Christians to minister personally to others are limitless.
So you could pause, and reply to your friend, “See that guy sitting over there on his own? That’s Julie’s husband. he’s on the fringe of things here; in fact, I’m not really sure whether he’s crossed the line yet and become a Christina. How about i introduce you to him, and you arrange to have breakfast with once a fortnight and read the Bible together? Or see that couple over there? They are both fairly recently converted, and really in need of encouragement and mentoring. Why don’t you and your wife have them over, get to know them, and read and pray together once a month? And if you still have time, and want to contribute some more, start praying for the people in your street, and then invite them all to a barbeque at your place. That’s the first step towards talking with them about the gospel, or inviting them along to something.”
Of course, there’s every chance that the person will then say, “But i don’t know how to do those things! I’m not sure I’d know what to say or where to start.”
To which you reply, “Oh that’s okay. Let’s start meeting together, and I can train you.”
I loved every part of The Trellis and the Vine and would highly recommend it to anyone involved in church leadership. It really is a must read book for church leaders.
Here’s a video of Mark Dever introducing the book.
May 31 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
What About Worship?
There are few issues in the church that are as controversial or as emotional as worship. Having served as a worship pastor for a number of years I’ve seen some of the best and some of the worst from God’s children when it comes to worship.
When it comes to worship Bob Kauflin is one of the most knowledgeable, humble, and sincere men I know of who has written on the topic. That’s why I appreciated this video of a conversation between him and his senior pastor CJ Mahaney on some of the lessons they had learned from there 30 years of leading worship together.
This is a longer video, but if you’re involved in church leadership at all or are connected with your church’s worship ministry watching this video would be an hour well spent.
April 09 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
What Can Burst Your Church Bubble?
A church is a delicate thing, like a bubble, easily burst. Inside that bubble is a safety zone of immense significance for people. Inside that bubble sinners can receive grace according to the biblical gospel. They can start seeing God in a new way, they can see themselves in a new way, they can grow and change and enjoy the adventure.
The deal-breaker inside that bubble is not personal sins. They don’t have to burst the bubble. The deal-breaker, such that a pastor and elders must intervene, is making the internal dynamics of a church indistinguishable from the surrounding worldly environment of blame-shifting — what we see constantly in political discourse, for example. The thin film of differentiation, our true “separation” from the world, is the gospel of grace in both our theology and our sociology.
A wonderful place to be, a precious treasure to guard, and, for all its weakness, a mighty force for good.
HT: Vitamin Z
March 24 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
The Pastor in Private
“The better the man, the better the preacher when he kneels by the bed of the dying, or when he mounts the pulpit stairs. Then every self denial he has made, every resistance to sin and temptation will come back to strengthen him and give conviction to his voice. Likewise, every indulgence of self, every compromise with evil, every unworthy thought – word – or deed will be there at the head of the pulpit stairs to meet the minister on Sunday morning. To take the light away from his eye, the power from his brow, the ring from his voice, and the joy from his heart.” – Clarence Edward McCartney
March 10 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
The Pastor’s Charge
A good friend of mine recently sent me an e-mail encouraging me to listen to CJ Mahaney’s sermon from the 2009 Gospel Coalition meeting on “The Pastor’s Charge”. By God’s grace I was able to listen to the sermon during a week of unbelievably intense ministry and was profoundly blessed by it. I would highly recommend it to anyone involved in Pastoral Ministry or to anyone who just loves their pastor and wants to know his life a little better.
You can also find the podcast version of the sermon under “The Gospel Coalition 2009” podcast series on iTunes or Zune Marketplace.
HT: Bible Places Blog for the above picture.
March 03 2010 | Blog | No Comments »
A Bitter Sweet Providence
The following is a letter which we recently sent out to the congregation of Emmanuel Baptist Church regarding my recent call to come and shepherd the flock of Cool Community Church in Cool, CA.
Dear Emmanuel,
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since I first came to EBC to serve as the Pastor of Student Ministries. Many things have changed in the last five years, most notably the size of my family. When Amy and I first came to Mount Vernon, we brought ourselves and our luggage. Over these last 5 years the Lord has added to our family first with the birth of Micah in 2006, then with Cody in 2008 and this April we will be expecting our third boy, Luke.
While many things have changed over these last five years, one thing has remained the same: we still have a deep love for Emmanuel Baptist Church. In fact, that’s why we came here from California in the first place. I still remember my first conversation with the search committee and the unexplainable love which immediately welled up inside of me for this church.
As a pastor, my desire has always been to shepherd whatever flock God places me in. Over the course of the last few months the Lord has made it clear to Amy and me that He is calling us to care for another flock back in California. For us, this parting is a bitter sweet providence as we look forward to what God will do in the future and as we say our goodbyes to beloved friends.
In June, we will be packing up our house and our 3 kids and moving back down to California to take on a Senior Pastor role at Cool Community Church in Cool, CA (yes, the name of the town is “Cool”). Cool Church is a warm, loving body of believers located about 45 minutes outside of Sacramento and about 90 minutes from Lake Tahoe in Gold country. Cool reminds me a lot of Conway because it is in the country and yet relatively close to the city. Cool Church was started as a Village Missions church 30 years ago and recently joined the Evangelical Free denomination.
The last five years here at Emmanuel have been filled with joy for both Amy and me. We will always look back on our time at EBC with great love and affection and we look forward to visiting in the future to catch up with all of our friends. In the meantime, please continue to pray for us as we work to sell our home, get ready to have our next baby, and continue to minister through the rest of this school year.
‘Til Sin is Bitter Christ Will Not be Sweet,
Drew Buell
February 28 2010 | Blog | No Comments »