PastorHelps

From Victims to Victors

Redemption's best testimony in the Bible may be the sons of Korah, who wrote Psalms 42,44-49,84-85 and 87-88.Their Levite dad was Moses' first cousin, but rallied 250 leaders against him.The next day God sent a sudden sinkhole to swallow Korah.Numbers 16:32 implies the destruction of his household, but 26:11 says "the children of Korah died not." What victims they were! Per Num.14:29-31, they were under age 20.Their parents were taken suddenly, and it was obvious the Lord had done it. This memory haunted them: "We will not fear, even though the earth be removed"(Ps.46:2).Their psalms testify their redemption from victims to victors.

Here's my historical novel: Soon after Moses gets three orphan nephews, God says no outsiders shall enter the Tabernacle(Num.18:4,7).So Korah's sons "live" in the front corner of its court, guarding its door in shifts.They wrote in Ps.84:10, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." They used to live in Korah's tent, until they heard and heeded Moses' warning to "get away from the tents of these wicked men"(Num.16:26). They echo this event in Ps.88: "I am counted with those who go down to the pit"(v.4), "from my youth I suffer your terrors;I am distraught"(v.15).God evicted the sons of Korah, but gave them a new lease on life.

Their psalms show their 4 steps from victim to victor:HURTS of REBELLION- admit our hurts, being honest with God about them. HOLINESS of WRATH- acknowledge His holiness, although it hurt us. HEALING of REDEMPTION- appropriate His healing our hurts to redeem our service; as they passed through the valley of tears, they made it a spring(Ps.84:6). HAPPINESS of REJOICING- announce His help! "Hope in God,for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance"(Ps.42:5,11).

Old Testament stories are for our example(1 Cor.10:11).Korah's sons' redemption from victims to victors exemplifies Romans 8: "We know God works all things together for good to those who love Him, called to His purpose"(v.28). "What (victimizations) shall separate us from the love of Christ?"(35)."In all these things we are more than victors through Him who loved us"(37).

What's a Pastor to Do?

Pastors realize early on that it's impossible to meet all the expectations. You could not do everything that everyone expected if you used all 168 hours each week! Besides, expectations can be mutually exclusive. One may expect you to always be in the office, in case someone drops by who needs you. Another may expect you to be out of the office to visit prospects, members,hospitals and nursing homes. What's a pastor to do?

Concentrate on the Lord's expectations, and you will meet enough of the others in the process. What does the Lord expect a pastor to do? Amazingly, the word "pastor" occurs only once in the New Testament. So if we do what it says there, we will be on target in meeting the Chief Shepherd's expectations for his under shepherds. Ephesians 4:11-12 says God gave pastors to the church "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry." It is not our job to try to do all the work of ministry. Much more ministry is needed than one man can do, even with a staff to help him. All Christians are ministers, so our job as pastors is to help them do their job. Instead of trying to be the star player, we are to be player coaches.

The "pastors" of the first church understood this (Acts 6:1-4). As the numbers and needs grew, they handed off the work of the ministry, so they could do the priorities of pastoring. "We will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." It worked! The laity did the ministry, needs were met, complaining turned to contentment,the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly.

It worked then, and it works now. 50,000 churches in the U.S. were examined by the Rainer Group. Only a few were Breakout Churches (Thom S. Rainer, 2005, Zondervan). "These leaders, like the Twelve in Acts 6, seek to equip others for the work of the ministry...All of the breakout church leaders in our findings achieved the Acts 6/7 level" (p.28).

Pastor Pointers for Resumes

Getting a pastorate may require your resume. I see a lot of them! Our active file averages 100. I also observe how search commitee members react to resumes. I see this at two strategic times. First, a search member peruses our files to select those to take back to the committee. Second, when I meet with the committee at church,I hear their questions or comments on their resumes. I offer these pointers:

NEATNESS- A messy resume is a quick reject!                                                                              

BREVITY- Summarize! 2 pages will suffice.If the Lord is in this, times will come to share details.             

CONTACT INFO- At top, right under your name. Include address, phone(s), email.                              

PAPER- White, unstapled (to facilitate copying).                                                                            

PICTURE-Optional, but probably won't copy well (can be individual/couple/family).                         

OBJECTIVE- First category after contact info. Include the position sought.                                  

MINISTRY EXPERIENCE- From present, backwards.Church name, position, starting & ending yrs.         

EDUCATION- Institution, degree & date. Most recent, backwards.With 2 degrees, omit HS.                      

SECULAR EXPERIENCE- Only if it was significant OR you have little ministry experience.                

MILITARY-If you served, it's worth mentioning.                                                              

DENOMINATIONAL SERVICE- Significant entries are worth mentioning.                                             

HONORS- Any big ones? Don't sweat the small stuff!                                                               

REFERENCES- An optional ending, especially if they have name recogition. 2-4, with contact info.      

COVER LETTER- Optional, especially if extenuating circumstances.

Decide how discreetly or widely to share your resume. Ministry friends? Your seminary placement office? State/local offices of your denomination? You may send it yourself to committees which ask or advertise, otherwise have someone who knows you to send it with a cover letter.

Church Programming: More Sprint, Less Marathon

Church program years start in the fall, so summer is crunch time for planning. Try a new paradigm this year: shorter durations, per church consultant Ken Callahan. Church programming tempo is a relic from agrarian and industrial cultures, whose mindset was "marathon." The programming they thought of and attended was for the long haul. Today's technological culture has a "sprinter" marathon, and prefers the short-term dashes. Churches still schedule and program for the marathon mindset. Most of our events are weekly/monthly/year-round.

This puts us increasingly out of step with the sprinter mindset prevalent today. Seven of ten kids today are sprinters. So are most people moving into our church fields! To help your older marathon generation see why we must transition to sprinter programming, ask about their grandchildren. Their fun times and best memories with their grandkids are the one-time events, not the repetetive things. My two oldest and I will never forget our Friday evening at the K.C. Royals baseball game; it was thirty-five degrees, but we were on the front row behind first base!

Callahan says two-thirds of church events should be one-time or seasonal. About a fourth of our events (and most courses and sermon series) should be short-terms of 3-5 sessions. Anything over five times is long-term, so limit these to a tenth of your events, which leaves under five percent of events for weekly, monthly or year-round.

Semantics can help your transition from marathon to sprinter programming. Even for ongoing events, treat each session like a one-time event. Make it stand on it's on, so people who missed the last one won't feel left out, and those who can't come next time won't feel left behind. Sermon series are okay (with many strategic advantages), but promote and preach each message with its on topic and title.

A Dad Fit for a King (Father's Day sermon)

With Mother's Day past, start thinking on your Father's Day message for June 17. Here's a skeleton you can flesh out:

A Dad Fit for a King (1 Sam.16-17)       a 3-act play on David's dad, Jesse                                                 

INTRO:"I have provided Myself a king from among his sons"(16:1)

Act 1: Kingdom Transition(1 Sam.15:35-16:13) He's GODLY...in services(16:2-3)..in sanctification(4-5)   

He GOVERNS...their showing up("made them to pass," 8,9,10)...their shaping up(11-13)

Act 2: Kingdom Tragedy (16:14-23)He GUIDES...their play(14-17)...their work(18-19)                           

He GIVES...generously(20-23)...strategically(17:17-18,bread & cheese will get his boys w the brass!)

Act 3: Kingdom Triumph(ch.17) He GUARDS...from words(25-27)...in deeds(32-35,38-39)                      

He GRACES...with God's covenant(26,36-37)...with God's conquest(43-50)

CONCL:"Whose son?"(55,56,58)  "the son of Jesse"(58), a dad fit for a king                                        

Because he had a giant of a father, he could face and fell giant foes.  Fathers, let's be dads fit for kings!

INVITATION: The Dad fit for the King of Kings, wants to be our Heavenly Father.

Kingdom Pastor? OR "King Dumb" Pastor?

Seminary gave me the impression that my job was to build (up) the church (I pastored). Two "church growth" decades reinforced this. Besides all the books and articles, this is what was recognized and esteemed. Conference speakers were introduced as having "built a great church." Search committees and churches calling us expected us to do it there. So I worked hard at it, with relative success. Then God burst my bubble!

I knew that Jesus used the word "church" only three times.The Lord focused my attention on what He said the first time He did (Mt.16:18). Jesus says, "I will build my church." Ouch! I had been usurping this role. Since building the church was His responsibility, no wonder my it had been so draining for me. If building the church is His job, what is ours as pastor? It's in the next verse, which starts with a conjunction to tie it back: "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom." He already told us to "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Mt.6:33). So as we seek first the kingdom, He will build His church. Instead of being a kingdom pastor, I had been "King Dumb."

Speaking of "my church" or "our church" may tip our hand as church builders. My goal had been our becoming a regional church with 1,000 attending, acknowledged as the "leading" church in the area, the "best" in every aspect. I had to repent at the next meeting of our local pastors' conference. For the next three years I was a kingdom pastor. Then God gave more kingdom opportunity, moving me to a work with almost 100 churches here. Blogging is a way for me to help kingdom pastors elsewhere.

Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it (Eph.5:25), but not as an end in itself. It is a means to the kingdom. Jesus said "church" just thrice, but "kingdom" over 200 times (e.g., Mt.4:17, 23; 9:35; 10:7; 24:14; Lk.10:9-11; Acts 1:3). The kingdom is what was preached by the forerunner (Mt.3:1-2), the twelve (Mt.10:5,7), the seventy (Lk.10:1, 9-11), the church's first evangelist (Acts 8:12), its greatest missionary (Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31; Col.1:13) and his associates (Col.4:11).

The kingdom is what is to be preached by end-time Christians (Mt.24:14), which might include us!  Does the roster of kingdom preachers include you? Or are you still trying to build the church? Are you a kingdom pastor,or a "King Dumb" pastor like I was for so long?