7 questions from a bi-vocational pastor

Posted on by
11

“And because (Paul) was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tentmakers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:3-4).

Paul was a bi-vocational preacher. A self-supporting apostle.

He received occasional help from the churches he had begun, and he taught that the minister of the gospel has a right to be supported by those to whom he is ministering. (Those who insist otherwise would do well to read the Bible before pontificating on it.) But, it would appear that mostly he paid his own way.

A bi-vocational pastor is one who holds down two full-time jobs, the one at church and the other one which pays most of the bills.

Either his church is small and cannot afford to pay him a full salary, or he has started the church himself and it has not grown to the point of self-sufficiency, or he feels called to a bi-vo kind of ministry.

Don’t miss that: “he holds down two full-time jobs.” That’s not a typo.  Ask any pastor trying to do this.  They know.

Continue reading →

What the carnal mind will never “get” about worship

Posted on by
Reply

Can we talk about worship?

Here are a few quotes to get us started. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any of them, having found them in that motherlode of fascinating quotes, real and imagined, solid and made-up-on-the spot, the internet.  Smiley-face goes here….

1) From actor Brad Pitt:  “I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, ‘You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I’m the best, and then I’ll give you eternal happiness. If you won’t, then you don’t get it!’ It seemed to be about ego. I can’t see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.”

There is a reason this makes no sense to you, Mr. Pitt.  The Apostle Paul put it this way: “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.  Nor can he understand them, for they are spiritually appraised” (I Corinthians 2:14).

Don’t mean to be harsh in that assessment, but it explains why so many on the outside look at Christian worship and shake their heads. They just don’t get it.

Let me repeat that: They. Do. Not. Get. It.

2) From a blog in which this guy talks about religion. Someone asked him why God wants us to worship Him.  He answered,  “Everyone likes being praised. It’s a huge ego bump, after all. But why does God need it? I mean, what kind of egomaniac needs millions of people all over the world praising his name? Isn’t that a little arrogant?

Short answer: Yes.”

He went on to make a case for God being egotistical.  Oh, and he thought he was being pro-God.

He should spare God the compliment.

Continue reading →

The highest accolade

Posted on by
1

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you…. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus…..” (Philippians 2:19ff)

As I write this, I have just come from the office of my E-N-T doctor.  For two decades this good man has looked after our family and has done life-saving surgery on me twice.  I find myself thinking that as I age, he too will make that decision which I made five years ago, and retire.  Anyone else can retire and we’re fine by that. But not our doctor.

He reaches age 65 next month. So I asked the big question.

“I’m not even remotely thinking of retiring,” he said. “I love my work too much for that.”

I’ll tell you how much he loves his work.

Every morning of his life he attends 6:30 am mass to pray for his patients.

Ten years ago, before performing cancer surgery on me, he gathered his team around and said, “Reverend, would it be all right with you if I prayed?” Are you kidding?  That is just about the finest gift anyone has ever given me.  (I reminded him today I am ten years cancer-free.)

You do not need me to tell you–but I will anyway–that his staff and colleagues adore him. When he had stepped away, one of the OR nurses whispered, “He’s my doctor, too.”

Later, after leaving his office, I thought of Paul’s words about young Pastor Timothy: “I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”

Continue reading →

Can the Lord trust you?

Posted on by
Reply

(Variation of this title: “Has the Lord trusted in you for your salvation?”)

“….for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).  “Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14).

Listen to the typical Christian witnessing and you’ll hear him ask “Are you trusting in Jesus?”  “Have you trusted in Jesus for your salvation?”  Or some variation of that.

It’s a good question. It just doesn’t go far enough.

Even if the witnessee assures that “Yes, I’m putting my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,” there is still an issue to be settled.

Is He putting His trust in you?

Continue reading →

How tiny churches do things

Posted on by
3

Not long ago, I was worshiping with friends in a small, rural and very old church not far from our family home in North Alabama.  The building was erected in 1857 and has been used by various congregations over the decades. Presently, it’s a Baptist church. The members, mostly retirees, treasure its quaintness and its unpainted exterior and try to keep things natural.  The building has no electricity, no nursery, no cushioned pews, and no frills of any kind.  A few kerosene lamps can be seen here and there, and out back are the toilets.  Since the church activities consist of one service each Sunday at 8:30 am, I’d be surprised if the facilities are ever used.

The members don’t demand a lot of their church and appreciate what they have found, the fellowship. (Some go on to other churches in town later in the morning.)

The pastor of that little congregation is a retired minister only a couple of years shy of his eightieth birthday. But he’s still sharp and energetic and it seems to be a good union.

While I was there, they did something most unusual.

Continue reading →

12 changes the pastor should make occasionally for his mental health

Posted on by
2

“…that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

Like everyone else on the planet, we preachers get in ruts.  That’s not all bad, because sometimes we need to put it on automatic and not to have to make critical decisions about mundane things.  The morning ritual of showering and dressing, the drive to the office, and such should not require our undivided attention.

But from time to time, we need some variety. Our outlook needs refreshing. Our output needs sharpening. Our spirits need an uplift.  Our days could use a new perspective.

Here are some quick fix-its for the pastor’s mental health….

Continue reading →

Favorite pastime: Hedging our mortality

Posted on by
2

In the opening of Tim Keller’s new book, “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering,” he quotes a writer in The New York Times Magazine during the time of the Beltway Sniper, a fellow who was shooting people at random throughout the Washington, D. C. area.

Ann Patchett wrote:
“We are always looking to make some sort of sense out of murder in order to keep it safely at bay: I do not fit the description; I do not live in that town; I would never have gone to that place, known that person. But what happens when there is no description, no place, nobody? Where do we go to find our peace of mind?

“The fact is, staving off our own death is one of our favorite national pastimes.  Whether it’s exercise, checking our cholesterol or having a mammogram, we are always hedging against mortality.  Find out what the profile is, and identify the ways in which you do not fit it. But a sniper taking a single clean shot, not into a crowd but through the sight, reminds us horribly of death itself.  Despite our best intentions, it is still for the most part, random. 

And it is absolutely coming.”

In the early 1990s after we moved to New Orleans, I tried to assure my mother that she should not be concerned about our safety in this part of the metro area. “The murder rate in Jefferson Parish is about the same as in Jasper,” the nearest town of any size to our Alabama farmhouse.

Continue reading →

I know Whom I have believed. And a few other things.

Posted on by
2

“For this reason I suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Some things you know and you know that you know them, and there is no need for anyone to say otherwise.

Try to convince me that, say, Lois Kilgore McKeever never existed. In spite of the incredible arguments you might mount and the truckloads of old records you might haul from the courthouse annex, I remain unconvinced and for a good reason.

I know her. She’s my mama.  She birthed me and did ten thousand other things for me until God called her to Heaven nearly 2 years ago.

Some things are settled forever and to debate their existence, at least for us personally, is an exercise in foolishness.

Imagine someone trying to convince a Christ-follower there is no God simply because he has never met him! Sheer foolishness.

Continue reading →

The wonderful power of soft answers

Posted on by
1

“A soft answer turns away wrath; but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

Someone is angry at you all out of proportion to the situation.  Their energy in attacking you catches you off guard and your first reaction is to strike back in self-defense.

What to do.

My friend Bobby started ministry as a musician, then became a missionary and later a pastor of several churchs. These days, he and I are both doing retirement ministries. Our friendship is a half-century old.

Recently Bobby was telling me of a time during his church musician period when he was going to a program in another church. To get there, he had to meet friends at the junction of a couple of roads.  He arrived early and pulled off the highway, stopped in front of a house, and killed the engine. A few minutes later, a man burst out of that house, waving his fists and shouting all kinds of profanity.  He ran to the car and around to the driver’s side, still hurling his threats.

Bobby rolled down his car window and let the man finish.  Then he said calmly, “You don’t remember me?”

Continue reading →

When the roll is called up yonder, it won’t be a list!

Posted on by
1

“I am mindful of…your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice….” (2 Timothy 1:5)  “You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermnogenes” (2 Timothy 1:15). 

A pastor friend sent a copy of his resume’ which I am passing along to a couple of preacher-hunting churches.  At the top, he posted a lovely picture of his family, and inside introduced their children in an interesting way: “Elizabeth the writer, Silas the Shooter, and Sarah the craft queen….”

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, which became the final epistle from his long ministry, he remembers certain individuals and is rather specific as to why.

Timothy he remembers as “my beloved son.”  These two men, the old mentor and the young protege, have a history.  In Acts 16:1 they meet and quickly bond spiritually.  Timothy accompanies Paul and Silas for the balance of their “second missionary journey.”  At various times as Paul writes to churches, Timothy is alongside him (2 Corinthians 1:1; Philippians 1:1;Colossians 1:1; and the two Thessalonian letters).

Continue reading →