Tag: leadership

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If I’ve got the Spirit, Why Do I Need Training?

This is a common question among Pentecostals. In fact, many Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians will gladly acclaim an inspired and gifted preacher who falls short on knowledge of the Word. This may sound somewhat patronizing, but it may be that Pentecostals would prefer to feel the Word, rather than think about the Word. I’m not opposed to feeling the Word. The preached Word of God should provoke a range of emotional responses from lamentation to rejoicing. But, the authenticity of the emotional responses should correspond to the veracity of the preached word.

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Are You a Lazy Pastor?

My last blog was the most read and shared that I’ve ever written. It struck a nerve among over committed and over worked ministers. But even as I was writing it I worried that some would use it as an excuse to justify sloth. So, please allow me to offer a few suggestions by which a pastor may examine his/her self as one who has been “approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

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I Quit

I typically don’t write blogs like this. But right now my heart is bursting. I have given my life to Christian ministry. I love God and his people. I usually tell people that I have no regrets. But here I confess that I have some regrets.

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Lessons Mother Taught Me

My observations of contemporary parenting are well known among those I serve as pastor. It seems that most parents are taking the path of least resistance in rearing children. When I hear a parent, say “I just can’t control my child” I think (sometimes out loud) “What a wimp!” The issue is not control, it is engagement and discipline. By the standards of contemporary parenting, I was reared “old school.” My mom and dad certainly didn’t have any trouble “controlling” me and my two brothers. With a snap of dad’s finger we came to attention.

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The New Bible Challenge

As a child and teen reared in church I was not taught to read the Bible critically. The first article of our church’s Declaration of Faith states that we believe “In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.” This being the first article in our statement of faith is not incidental. It suggests that the Bible has priority; that all other statements of faith proceed from our confidence in the veracity of the inspired Scripture. Therefore, the words of Scripture are to be accepted by faith. As a teen I began reading the Bible in earnest. When I read “difficult” passages – Joshua’s genocide of Canaan, or Samuel’s execution of the Amalekite king – it never occurred to me to read these texts critically. In other word’s I was never taught to ask questions.

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Integrity in Ministerial Education is a Missional Concern

“It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, …And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil ” (1 Timothy 3:1-2, 7).

I have been involved in various aspects of denominational ministerial development for twenty years. During that time I have been honored to be a part of many great advancements, each advancement hard fought because of resistance from denominational leadership and credentialed clergy. The culture of our church from pulpit to pew is anti-intellectual, anti-education. It is this culture that will send our church spiraling downward towards irrelevance as we seek to engage the 21st century with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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