Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
“57% of pastors say their spiritual formation takes a back seat.” (Standing Stone Ministry)
Pastor friend, how do you respond to that statement?
After giving out the Word yesterday and ministering to the needs of many last week, how are you personally growing in Christ? How is Christ being “formed in you”?
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).
At the point of salvation, Christ comes to dwell in the believer (John 14:20; 17:23; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27). Christ is “formed in us” as the Holy Spirit, as Ron Lynch says, “knocks out of us what doesn’t look like Christ.” This is an ongoing process of daily surrender and learning Christ. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
So sad! I read again of another pastor quitting the ministry.
Pastor friend, are you tempted to do the same? Has that urge become more frequent in recent days or weeks? Do you have long hours, days or weeks of feeling depleted, down, discouraged, distraught and disappointed? Are you living in a land of unbelief?
Simply put and perhaps hard for you to swallow, but may I say, “Don’t Quit!!!” This not the answer.
1. Run to the cross! Get on your knees and open your Bible to Matthew 26-27. Audibly and slowly read each line; fix your gaze on Jesus as He makes His way to the cross. Linger there. Once you do, then meditate on Hebrews 12:1-3 and the following passages that reveal to us what Jesus did for you as your substitute—John 10:11, 15, 17-18; 15:13; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 9:12.
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
Ironwood Camp, Newberry Springs, CA
What is a pastor’s greatest need?
A new, cutting-edge podcast?
The latest book by his favorite author?
An increase in salary?
More in attendance on Sunday morning?
A break, as in, “I just can’t seem to catch a break!”
A pastor’s greatest need and most beneficial blessing is . . . prayer!
Pastor, is the quiet place, alone with your Heavenly Father, the dearest place on earth to you?
Is prayer an activity to you or is it your life? In other words, do you have a prayer life or a life prayer?
Since one of the most telling marks of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth was prayer, so must it be for us, His ministers. Jesus prayed alone, all night, with others, on the mountain, in agony, with his disciples, at the tomb of Lazarus, on the cross, etc.
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
“What do you do for fun?”
This question was posed to me by Sam Brock while riding in his 1946 Jeep Willys on a tour of Ironwood Camp, Newberry Springs, CA.
Pastor friend, may I ask you the same question . . . what do you do for fun?
Whether you are enjoying days of sunshine or stormy weather in ministry, you need to have a release, a time for fun! You need it, your wife needs it, your family needs it, your church family needs it!
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
As we gathered around a firepit sharing how God had worked in our lives during the weekend Couples’ Conference at The Wilds, I was reminded again why these events are so important to the health of a local church.
1. The continual spiritual growth of the flock.
Listening to each one transparently share how the Word had worked in their lives, I thought, “Not only does this affect their personal growth in Christ, but it will have an edifying influence upon the marriages and families in our church!”
2. The bonding of believers’ hearts with one another.
This group was made up of couples who have been a part of this local flock from two to fifteen plus years. They knew each other, but now they know one another on a deeper level that will lead to greater discipleship, to passionate prayer, to mutual accountability, and a maturing, genuine love.
3. The blessing of sharing in the safe church.
Saturday night, the following lyrics griped my heart as it was ministered in song:
Jesus, Shepherd, loving Shepherd, sent
from heaven to earth—
You have sought us, found and brought
us safely into Your Church.
The world talks a lot about safe places. The local church should be the safest place on earth as the body of Christ gathers in Christ to live out the “one another’s.” I watched this happen in our group as they shared their testimonies in a segment of safety in Christ.
Pastor friend, the health of the flock you shepherd will be greatly enhanced as you spend time with them and they with one another, especially in camp settings like The Wilds. As you plan for 2024 events, build into the church calendar these kind of body growth times that will mature the flock!
As a pastor, Monday may be a day to rejoice because Sunday was a day of victories, but if so, be cautious. Even if Sunday was a “downer” day in your eyes, be cautious.
After any victory, you are vulnerable for defeat. Just ask Elijah. He had just seen the mighty power of God on magnificent display which wrought a great victory at Mt. Carmel! Then, upon hearing the subsequent news of Jezebel’s threat (1 Kings 19:1-3), he became discouraged and ran for his life!
There we find Elijah thinking unbiblically, living in unbelief, asking God to kill him, tired, weary, depressed, engaged in self-pity, and feeling like a total failure (19:4-10).
With a heart to encourage pastors, this has been a frequent inquiry.
May I share a recent response in hopes of encouraging you, too?
While engaged in a morning conversation with a pastor of over 40 years experience, I asked, “What keeps you encouraged in ministry?” His reply took him back to his early days. He said, “I had an old pastor say to me, ‘If I had to do it over again, I would spend the first hours of the morning in prayer and Bible study.’ Being young and cocky I bypassed his exhortation and set out to push programs in ministry; to get the job done my way.” With tears now coursing down his cheeks, he said, “In the past five years, God has broken me and made me become a man of intercessory prayer.”
Pastor, there is no greater place to be encouraged in ministry than at the feet of Jesus! John 15:4-5 records the blessed, encouraging, directive words of Christ as He spoke to His disciples in the Upper Room, and now to us, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Psalm 73 depicts Asaph wrestling over the apparent prosperity of the wicked in this life versus the sorrows of the righteous. His viewpoint changed when he went into the sanctuary of God (73:17). Spurgeon says it so well in his Treasury of David commentary . . . “His mind entered the eternity where God dwells as in a holy place, he left the things of sense for the things invisible, his heart gazed within the veil, he stood where the thrice holy God stands. Thus he shifted his point of view, and apparent disorder resolved itself into harmony.”
Where is your “sanctuary”? Yes, we are indwelt now by the Trinity (John 14) in the inner man so we do not go to the temple to meet with God, but where is that place to which you resort to cry out to God . . . to share your burdens, your anguish, your sorrows, your discouragements, your need of abiding in the Vine? Where’s that quiet place that in the midst of your darkness you run to your God whose ear is open to your cry (Psalm 34:15)?
Asaph ends Psalm 73 with these words, But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works (73:28).
Pastor friend, after a long day serving on Sunday, the Lord is waiting to meet you in the sanctuary to encourage your heart, to hear your burdens, and to receive your praise.
“If I had to do it over again, I would spend the first hours of the morning in prayer . . . .”
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
“I’m a visionary. I make a plan, execute the plan, and then ask God to bless it!”
Pastor friend, is that you? If we are all honest, we have said something along those lines in our ministry lifetime.
As revealed last week, my wife and I are launching out into a new field of ministry (Post #1, Post #2, and Post #3). This is a step of faith., and one we believe is totally of the Lord’s initiative.
I am greatly intrigued by a truth from the life of Christ that I cannot clearly grasp, but it speaks volumes to me. In John 5:19, we read, Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. And He goes on to say are recorded in John 5:30, I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Here is Jesus, very God, saying that He cannot do anything of Himself, only what He sees the Father doing, and He does nothing of His own initiative.
Pastor, we put so much pressure upon ourselves that is not pleasing to God. Our expectations, the expectations that we think the congregation has for us, the accomplishment of our goals, the false fulfillment of achieving our goals, all lead to a potentially frustrating, discouraging ministry. This path could even lead to a degree of fallout in the ministry.
Men, look at Christ, the Head of the Church, the Head of the local church you pastor. He did nothing of His own initiative, only what He saw the Father doing. Therefore, each of us as pastors must spend time in the prayer closet with our eye upon Him through His Word hearing from the Head of the Church, and then following what He initiates.
With all due respect, everything does not rise and fall on leadership. Everything rises and falls on God. Therefore, keep your eye on Him. What He initiates, He provides for, He is responsible for the results, and He gets all the glory! What you initiate, you have to provide for, keep it propped up, and you get the glory! You may get some results, but your reward is here, not at the Bema. It’s the difference of Christ pastoring His flock through you or you pastoring your flock through you. . . and then asking God to bless it!
There is nothing wrong with planning, setting goals, and executing the plan . . . as long as it was of Christ’s doing, His initiative, gleaned by abiding in the Vine (John 15:1-16)!
What has Christ initiated in the ministry where you serve?
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
“We can endure anything because God knows the rest of the story!” This thought came to my mind as I was preaching from 1 Timothy 4.
Ministry life has many blessed days, but they are accompanied at times by difficult, complex days (months or years) that may tempt you to bail out, to quit, to move on to another place, get discouraged, sulk or become bitter.
Monday’s Ministry Encouragement: Written to encourage you, my friend in ministry, to be refreshed and renewed as we live for Christ and look toward the Bema.
“She’s the pastor’s wife!”
Being married to a pastor comes with a multitude of blessings and challenges from every direction. Today’s blog post was written by my wife, Denise. I share it here today in hopes it will encourage the wives of pastors.
fromapastorsheart.com 