Hello all,
I have been thinking about what it is to really follow Jesus lately. As a result of this I wrote a short article titled, “Being a True Disciple of Christ”. It was a bit long to place on my blog, so I put it on my main website. You can access it on the link below.
Link to article http://www.passionaustralia.org/truedisciples.html
God Bless,
Dave
Had an interesting conversation with a good friend the other day. We were talking about Evangelists and Pastors. One statement I thought was pretty good so I thought I would share it.
“Evangelists look to God and ask how to reach the people for Christ. Pastors look at the people and ask God how to bring them closer to Christ. If the Evangelist takes his eyes off God he struggles and if the Pastor takes his eyes off the people he struggles”.
Of course this is only a very generalised statement, but it reverberated inside me. As someone who is primarily gifted as an Evangelist, I find I need more time alone with God than most people. I need to regularly sit in God’s presence and talk with Him. As a result of these times I then move out and do the things God places on my heart.
I find I struggle when I get too busy with things (including ministry) because I miss out on that time with God. I find too busy for me is doing a lot less things than most people. I am sure at times people don’t understand this, but it is just how I am wired.
I guess in a way this is a bit like Jesus Himself. In the midst of His busyness, He always took time out to be with the Father. The Bible tells us that He only did what the Father in heaven was doing. I can relate to that as I find that this time alone with God not only refreshes and empowers me, but it helps me to be more focussed on a few things and be much more effective in them.
I’ve been reflecting on my most important ministry lately. As someone who is primarily an Evangelist who is working that out as a church Pastor, I have been looking at the role the church needs me to be and the role I am called to be.
In the midst of all of that I was reminded that before I am an Evangelist or a Pastor, I am a Christian, a husband and a daddy. The most important things I have to remember is my personal relationship with God and then to be loving and sowing into the life of my wife and kids.
The greatest thing we can do as ministers is to love God and then love and care for our families. I think at times we can get caught with the things we are called to do and forget the things we are called to be - in my case a Christian, a loving supportive husband and daddy.
My primary calling and ministry in this life will always be to my family. I am called to do things outside my home in the church and the community, however, first and foremost I need to love my wife and kids and encourage them to love and seek God in everything they do. If I have done this, then I have been a success as a minister and a family man.
Each of us as Christians have a calling on our lives, that goes without saying, but we need to be sure we don’t get so caught up in fulfilling our calling that we neglect our families and building a stable and healthy home life.
After all, when I am on my death bed I am not going to wish I spent more time in the office. I hope I will be looking at my grown kids (and grandkids) and saying how proud I am off them and being thankful I spent so much time and energy sowing into their lives.
God Bless,
Dave
I have been thinking a lot about what a Pastor is and what they should do. Here are a few of my thoughts on what being a Pastor is. I am sure the list will change over the years, but I thought I would share my first list now. Just to keep it simple they all start with the letter P.
1. Prayer
For me prayer is the foundation of any ministry. I believe it is a key if you are caring for peoples emotional and spiritual health. I pray for each of my church members by name every week and then ask for wisdom on how to minister to them so they can grow in Christ.
2. Praise
As a Pastor I think we need to have an attitude of praise. We need to recognise where our blessings and help comes from and give all the glory and praise back to God. Psalm 100 talks about praise and the attitude we should have towards God. Remember an attitude of praise is infectious, pass it on to your flock!
3. People
1 Peter 5:2 talks about being an overseer of your flock and caring for and serving the people God has placed under you. As a Pastor we have to genuinely love and care for people and really want what is best for them. We need to get along side people and encourage them to be all they can be for God. If you don’t have a heart for people (most of the time!), there is a good chance you are not called to be a Pastor.
4. Public
As Pastors we need to strive to get the balance right between our people and the public outside the church. Matthew 28:18-20 (Go and make disciples of all nations…) can be our guide on this. The “go” tells us we have to get out there to where people are at. The “making disciples” means building mature followers of Christ. I believe this is best done in a church / home group environment.
5. Person
As Pastors we need to remember we are human. We are not someone who runs around with their undies on the outside and wears a cape! We are just like everybody else, but we have a call on our lives to Pastor a church. We need to remember to take time out and rest because at times the weight of caring for a lot of people takes its toll. Remember Elijah in 1 Kings - he asked the Lord to take him home after a big effort…when all he needed was a rest and some cake!
6. Positioning
As Pastors and leaders of the church we need to be seeking God to see where He wants our church to be positioned in the spiritual landscape of our suburb or town. Does God wants us to focus on one area of the community? Does He want us to reach out to families or youth or older people? Proverbs 3:5-6 talks about leaning of God’s understanding and Him showing you the right path. Leaning of God’s wisdom is key to finding the church position He wants you to be in.
7. Preparing
At the heart of being a great Pastor is preparing people for the future. Being a Pastor has a lot in common with being a parent - you need the train the people up in the way they should go. Helping your church members to build a solid foundation of daily prayer and Bible reading, giving them solid Biblical teaching from the pulpit and living out a godly life in front of your congregation will grow in Christ. It will also enable them to cope during the storms of life when they come.
Hello all,
Here is a message I did the other day. It is titled, “The message of the cross” and is based on 1 Corinthians 1:18.
http://www.passionaustralia.org/messageofthecross.html“>Link to full text of message
God Bless,
Dave