There is one verse in Scripture that gives us God’s intentions of calling pastors into the service of His church and its Ephesians 4:11 which states, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” The word that the King James translates as “pastor” is actually the word for “shepherd” and that is … Continue reading →
I want to speak to pastoral care in the context of ministry within the role of serving as a pastor. So here I wish to bullet a few points to consider. • Too often the image of a pastor is built around a “leader-executive” role, but not that of a shepherd. The pastor is expected to focused on getting butts … Continue reading →
by H.M.S. Richards The Lord has given to every man his work. It is his business to do it and the devil’s business to hinder him if he can. So surely as God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder you. He may present other things more promising, He may allure you by worldly prospects, … Continue reading →
There is encouragement for you in the account of Jesus speaking with Peter as recorded in John 21:15-19. Peter was discouraged, he felt defeated, and not exactly engaged in the mission that he had previously responded to when the Lord called him. The focal point of this narrative is in John 21:17 when Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” … Continue reading →
In 2006 I was working at a local hospital as a chaplain and taken back by a high number of patients who could express and articulate their personal belief in Jesus Christ and convictions in biblical doctrines, yet who also had no involvement and fellowship in any church congregation. Many of these same individuals also shared stories with me of … Continue reading →
I can remember one of my Old Testament professors discussing the difference between leaders who pull and leaders who push. He explained the difference by sharing with the class something he witnessed on a trip in the Middle East while he was traveling from a teaching assignment in Israel to a new teaching assignment in Ethiopia. He explained that when … Continue reading →
David Jones was a British teenager who wanted to make a career out of his love for music. He was playing and performing his music before he ever graduated from school. He became a leader of several bands and finally recorded his first album. The album received positive reviews by England’s harshest music critics, yet it sold little. In a … Continue reading →
I consider myself an advocate of house churches, but I have long been perplexed by books, blog posts, and statements that claim an identifying mark of a house church is having “no pastor” or no leader. Usually the flip side of that coin is often explained as “the priesthood of all believers” and everyone in the house church is involved. … Continue reading →
I read an account from a church pastor who recently had some work done at his home by an electrician. The electrician asked him, as the homeowner, “What do you do for a living?” To which he replied, “I am a church pastor.” The electrician, while still working with the wires in the man’s ceiling said, “So you are a … Continue reading →
I am an advocate of doing church simply and a believer in the God ordained pastoral calling. However, I realize that there are voices in organic, simple, house church movements who reject the roles or at least the position of a “pastor” as belonging to institutional church. (I spoke to my concern of pastoral clergy criticism in my blog post “Critics of … Continue reading →
Several years ago I left traditional institutional denominational church pastoral ministry and received a lot of criticism from my colleagues on planting a house/organic church fellowship. Criticism from my fellow traditional ministers didn’t surprise me as much as the criticism I received from other organic church advocates, including random unexpected emails and even letters chastising me and trying to correct … Continue reading →
Somewhere along the line of my journey with CrossHope Chapel, it occurred to me that my calling in this mission was one of an “organic pastor” in philosophy, approach, and ministry. I want to give you a definition for the term “organic pastor” which is a term that I like to use when talking about those called of God to pastoral … Continue reading →