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“Other Little Ships”

April 5, 2013 in Pastoral Ministry, Preaching with 1 Comment

It was early in my first pastorate. There were two Sunday morning worship services. My father’s custom had been to preach two different messages. So that’s what I did.

It wasn’t long before I found myself in a jam. Before I started pastoring, I wrote a new sermon every couple of weeks. But it was a whole another thing to produce two new sermons every Sunday.

I needed a second sermon idea one week. Reading through a book of sermon outlines (Can one actually read a book of sermon outlines?), I stumbled across one entitled, “Other Little Ships” from Mark 4:36. In the King James Version it reads: “And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.”

Jesus was on the main ship. But that there were other little ships traveling with Jesus to the other side. So it is in Christianity, went the argument. When you get on the ship with Jesus, there are other little ships that must go with him, like church membership, discipleship, worship, fellowship, and stewardship.

Get it?

I thought this idea was brilliant. I preached it confidently. And I thought it went over well. After the service, however, a sister walked up to me and showed me her Bible. I don’t remember what translation it was. But it read “other little boats,” instead of “other little ships.” I couldn’t say anything. She smiled knowingly and walked away.

I learned several lessons from this “shipwreck.”

* Do not preach someone else’s outline or sermon without giving him credit for the work. (After being embarrassed, I wish I had given the author credit for that outline!)

* Sermon outline books may be helpful to see how another preacher handles the text, but they should not be used to steal material. Warning: Sermon outline books thrive on lazy preachers. So do sermon websites.

* Do not preach a message that can be easily trumped by a just simple comparison of translations. Focus on meaning. Don’t play with wording.

* Textual preaching, which lifts words, phrases, or sentences from the text without considering the context of the passage, is not the most faithful way to preach the word of God.

* Do your homework. Study hard so that you will be fully ready to preach and will not have to take shortcuts.

Have you ever had an “Other Little Ships” moment? What do you do to avoid taking shortcuts in preparation? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

The Bottom Line of Christian Ministry

April 3, 2013 in Ministry, Pastoral Ministry, Pastoral Work, Preaching with 4 Comments

In the business world, the bottom line is the last line of a financial statement that shows profit and loss. It is about whether the company is earning or losing money. And, as they say, the bottom line is the bottom line.

Every field of life and labor has a bottom line. In business, it is making money, earning profits, and increasing revenue. In education, it is passing tests, making grades, or earning a degree. In sports, it is winning games, awards, and championships. Everything has a bottom line.

What is the bottom line of Christian ministry?

You would think the answer to this question would be assumed. A ground ball. A no-brainer. Unfortunately, many pastors and churches suffer from an identity crisis, a lack of gospel mission, and misplaced priorities. We need to get back to the basics.

In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth” (ESV).

The bottom line of Christian ministry is to please God in everything you do. Ultimately, the only thing that truly matters is whether or not you will be able to end your ministry by hearing the Lord say, “Well, done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).

God pleasing ministry requires personal earnestness.

Paul instructs, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved” (2 Tim. 2:15a). Christian ministry deserves your best. You should live and minister with the blood-earnest conviction that if it bears God’s name, it deserves your best. The goal is to present yourself to God as one approved. God is the final, ultimate judge of the success or failure of your ministry. He is our target audience.

Note that Paul did not challenge Timothy to be better than anybody else. He says, “Do your best…” You don’t have to compare yourself with others, compete with others, or come in ahead of others. Just give God your best – nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. If you give God your best, it will sustain you when the work is difficult, frustrating, and tiresome. And you will be an approved workman.

God pleasing ministry requires ministerial excellence.

As Christian workmen, we must be on guard against ministerial sloth. Ministers often fail not because of a lack of giftedness, opportunity, or resources. We fail many times because we are lazy about the things of God. Godly living, humble service, wise leadership, unconditional love, steadfast endurance, sound doctrine, intercessory prayer is hard work.

Paul exhorts Timothy to be “a worker who has not need to be ashamed.” The concern is about shame before God, not man. You can be a smashing success with man and a horrible failure with God. You can be a famous minister and yet stand before the Lord and have to introduce yourself (Matt. 7:21-23). So live and teach as a workman that can present his finished work to God without shame.

God-pleasing ministry requires faithful exposition.

The pastor’s primary and central work is stated in 2 Timothy 4:2a: “preach the word.” The imperative is all-important: “preach.” So is the object: “the word.” We must not preach personal opinion, trendy theology, political viewpoints, motivational speeches, self-help advice, popular psychology, or sociological theories. We are called to preach the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. To do this faithfully we must be “rightly handing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15c).

God’s word is marked “Handle With Care.” The way you handle God’s word is the way God will handle you. Proverbs 30:5-6 says: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” So labor not to mishandle God’s word. Cut it straight. Don’t add to the word. Tell the truth on God! Fully give yourself to diligently explain and exhort the truth of scripture to the glory of God.

The Danger of “Church Growth” Books

January 24, 2013 in Books, Calvin Miller, Pastoral Ministry, Quotations with 2 Comments

0805440984.01._SX50_SCLZZZZZZZ_It struck me one day in a Christian bookstore that most of the “church growth” books I picked up in that store were not books on vision but on image. They hadn’t been published to help me see the world in a particular way but to help the world see me – were I a megachurch pastor – in a particular way. They were books that enticed the pastor of limited self-image to be like somebody else the world admired. What a cul-de-sac of emotional poverty this is. These books were published to serve the idolatries of megapastor wannabes. – Calvin Miller, O Shepherd Where Art Thou?, p. 4

What is a Bishop?

January 17, 2013 in Leadership, Pastoral Ministry with 16 Comments

What is a bishop?

This is a often asked question I get. It’s a new question about an old term.

The word “bishop” is biblical. Different churches and denominations have used it to refer to church leadership and government throughout church history. Yet I often get questions about this term, as it has invaded Baptist ranks. Local churches within self-governing Baptist congregations have become consecrated bishops.

As far as I can tell, this trend began with the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship – a loose denomination of Charismatic Baptists. At least, this is when I caught wind of it. It wasn’t long before other upstart groups began making bishops. Then many pastors started naming themselves bishops. Baptist bishops are now everywhere. (For the record, I do not know of one White Baptist pastor who calls himself a bishop. Apparently this is a trend primarily among African-American Baptists.)

I recently saw an interview where several bishops were asked their take on the rise of “illegitimate” bishops. For all that was said, the interview did not seriously address the biggest question about bishops (or any subject): What does the bible say?

So what does the Bible say about bishops? What is a bishop? How does the New Testament understand the office of the bishop?

Answer: A bishop is a pastor is an elder is an overseer.

These terms are different ways of describing the same office: the pastor-teacher. The term “elders” (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:6) emphasizes the leader’s personal character. Pastors are to be mature, godly men. The term “bishop” (Phil. 1:1) or “overseer” (Acts 20:28) emphasizes the leader’s ministry task. He is to oversee the congregation of saints he is appointed to lead. And the term “pastor” (Eph. 4:11) emphasizes the leader’s ministry philosophy.  He is to lead, feed, protect, and care for the congregation as a faithful shepherd. The New Testament uses these terms interchangeably to describe spiritual leadership in the church.

For instance, Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:17):

”Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” – Acts 20:28

Paul instructs the elders to watch over and care for (shepherd, pastor) the flock of God in which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers.

Paul writes to Titus:

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you… For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach.” – Titus 1:5, 7

Likewise, 1 Peter 5:1-2 says:

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight…”

Did you get that? Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd (pastor) the flock by practicing oversight.

The bottom line is that the Bible does not teach a leadership hierarchy in which bishops are over overseers who are over elders who are over pastors. There are only two biblical offices in the church: elders and deacons. Elders serve by leading. Deacons lead by serving. In the New Testament, deacons are called deacons. But elders are called pastors, overseers, and bishops. Different terms. Same office.

There are two mistakes we make in regard to the biblical terminology for pastoral leadership. First, we ignore the biblical terminology. Likewise, we misuse the biblical terminology. And this misuse of biblical terminology has led to the development of artificial congregational and denominational hierarchies. But our terminology should be a faithful representation of our doctrinal convictions.

I do not make these points to attack any person or group. I have friends who have been consecrated as bishops. I respect them. But I disagree with them on this point. More importantly, scripture disagrees with them. Isn’t that what matters the most?

We should strive to be biblically regulated Christians and churches. This requires that we refuse to embrace practices that are not biblically justifiable or contradictory to scripture. And we must be on guard against a fleshly preoccupation with titles. Our goal as pastors should not be to get “elevated” to the office of a bishop. May we be content to simply be faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Feel free to offer your comments on this post and please share it with friends who may find it helpful. 

God or Goliath?

November 9, 2012 in Church life, Pastoral Ministry, Quotations with 0 Comments

Ministers aren’t kidding when they talk of troubles. It’s the truth. Pick any ministry you want, and there will be enough problems in it to occasionally jerk the most optimistic person down off his toes. Ministries are few and far between that have no troublesome concerns stalking in the wings. More than likely, the best church you know about could be destroyed overnight if the right person made the wrong move. Even the best situation is fragile. Whether we know it or not, churches live on the brink. Something could go wrong at any time.

If you are going to survive in the ministry, you have to decide to see the good and give it a major portion of your time. Much of the spark of ministry is lost because we, being very human, focus too long on the problem and too little on the progress. It’s so easy to glance at God and gave at the Goliaths. Along comes a troublesome issue or a cantankerous person, and before we know it, we are zeroing in so intently on the problem that worry muscles in and closes off our view of the steady progress that is still passing us by on the other side.

- Joseph Seaborn, Jr., A Celebration of Ministry, p. 21

I Want More Than Four More Years!

November 7, 2012 in Pastoral Ministry, personal stuff, Shiloh with 8 Comments

Four years ago, a monumental election took place. And right in the middle of the election, the economy collapsed.

But I was not paying attention.

I had monumental issues going on in my life and ministry that I was preoccupied with.

During the summer of 2008, I was engaged in a process that would eventually result in me becoming the Senior-Pastor of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville.

The Wednesday after the election of Barack Obama, my installation services began. I totally forget to mention that the nation had elected its first black president the day before. My guest speaker saved the day by mentioning it in his opening remarks.

Sorry.

In my heart and mind, a much bigger event was taking place. I was beginning a new pastoral journey in a new setting with a new congregation.

Four years later, I feel the same way.

This week marks four years since I was installed as the pastor of Shiloh.

I am blessed to serve a great people. I know that pastors are obligated to say that. But this is not yearbook talk for me.

The congregation was coming out of a difficult season, when I arrived. Aspects of my leadership were different from what the congregation had grown accustomed to over the pastor fifteen years. And I was a different face and voice from the other side of the country.

I braced myself for the fact that the congregation would not even begin to like me for at least five years.

How wrong I was.

Immediately, the saints of Shiloh embraced my family and me. They have loved, supported, encouraged, prayed, and blessed us beyond measure.

I am grateful. But I am not satisfied.

Obama got four more years.

I don’t want more years. I want decades!

My prayer is to go to heaven from the Shiloh Church.

May the Lord grant us many more years of fruitful service together as pastor and people for his glory!

Happy Anniversary, Shiloh!

I love you.

Remembering a Life-Changing Meeting on November 5

November 5, 2012 in MSMBC, Pastoral Ministry, Special days with 3 Comments

Twenty-two years ago today, the Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles took a chance on a seventeen-year-old boy preacher.

It was a Monday night. November 5, 1990. It was about eighteen months after the former pastor, my father, died. The church gathered to select its third pastor.

For the record, the church did not meet that night with to select a high-schooler as its new pastor. I was not on the agenda that night.

After a yearlong search, the pulpit committee presented three names for the church to consider. (I was not one of them.) And they would recommend one of the three to the church.

The committee was so sure the congregation would select their recommendation that they instructed the moderator, Dr. E.V. Hill, to take nominations from the floor. I was nominated, along with several others. (The was audible laughter when my name was offered.)

Anticipating this meeting for months, I did not plan to attend. I even made alternative plans to make sure I would be preoccupied. But I changed my mind in the last-minute. I wanted to see what happened firsthand. And I wanted to vote for the man who would be my next preacher. I planned on voting for the one I would most want to listen to preach each week.

During the meeting, I was not allowed to vote. The voting age was 18.

So I sat back and watched. And I could not help but notice that most of the people were writing names on the pre-printed ballots. After the votes were counted, I handedly won over the other five candidates. However, the bylaws stipulated that the pastor had to be elected by 75% of those in attendance.

So they voted again. This time, there were just two names. Me and the committee’s recommendation. I handedly won again.

Let me be clear. This is a testimony, not an endorsement. I would not recommend any congregation to make a teenager its pastor.

I had preached weekly for the past two years. And I was eager to have a permanent preaching assignment. But I was not ready for pastoral leadership. Actually, I still feel that way many weeks. Who is sufficient for these things?

Yet the congregation made this radical call and did not look back.

For almost eighteen years, the Mt. Sinai Church family loved me, nurtured me, and encouraged me in my work among them.

They refused to let me fail. They refused to let me down. When I tried to resign, they even refused to let me quit.

Mt. Sinai was not a perfect church. And it was not an easy assignment. Some of the worst days of my life were the challenges I faced as a young pastor trying to lead the congregation.

When I turned 21, a group of leaders even rose up to put me out! But the overwhelming love of the congregation suffocated every move they made. In response to every thing done to hurt me, the congregation made a definitive statement to affirm their love and support.

Four years ago, I had to stand before that congregation and announce that the Lord was sending me away to my present pastoral assignment. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Yet the congregation’s love and support and prayers never changed, even though their hearts were broken. So was mine.

I could easily write a post every day about the ways Mt. Sinai blessed my life, family, and ministry.

The Lord used these precious saints to make me a man, a Christian, a preacher, and a pastor.

Today, my heart is filled with grateful praise for the precious saints who took a chance on this young preacher.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. – Philippians 1:3

Every Pastor is a Translator

October 25, 2012 in John MacArthur, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching with 23 Comments

It was my first extended vacation from the first church I served.

I really didn’t want to take the time off. But, wisely, the men insisted.

With my first Sunday off, I decided to visit Grace Community Church to hear Dr. John MacArthur, Jr. I would often attend the Sunday evening service at Grace. But I had never been there on a Sunday morning.

That morning, Dr. MacArthur was preaching about the family. The conclusions he drew from the scriptures affirmed convictions I already held.

However, for some reason, I became angry as I listened to the message. I felt that Dr. MacArthur, whom I had (have) never met, was being harsh, insensitive, and uncaring.

These feelings startled me. Biblically, he did not say one thing I disagreed with. So why was taking this message the wrong way?

My mind began to drift. Rather than listening, I started looking around.

All of sudden, it seemed that I was surrounded by families. A husband, wife, and children sitting in front of me. Sitting behind me. Sitting on the pew beside me.

I then began to understand what I was feeling.

Dr. MacArthur preached a strong word to challenge the families of his congregation to stay together and be what the Lord orders Christian families to be. I felt he was being insensitive because he was not factoring in the issues represented in my congregation.

But my congregation was not there. His was. And he was doing what he was supposed to do. He was preaching to the congregation the Lord had assigned to him. It was my job to explain the word to congregation and to exhort them to live it out.

John MacArthur was preaching to families that needed to be challenged to stay together. I was preaching to single parents, broken families, and young people who had never met their fathers.

We were both heading for the same destination. But we had to begin at different starting points, considering the different people we shepherded.

That day, as I sat in worship, I learned an important lesson: Every pastor is a translator.

Truth is truth, whether I experience it or not. And we can and should learn from anyone who is teaching the truth.

But all preaching is venue specific. We must interpret, translate, and apply the word for the people the Lord has called us to.

As a result of that experience, I determined to learn everything I could from John MacArthur and his church and then go home and “color” what I was learning to speak directly to my congregation.

This is what every pastor must do, no matter what context in which you minister. Be yourself. Start where you are. Use what you have. Preach with confidence in the sufficiency of the scriptures. And trust God to do what you cannot do.

We do not need to abandon the word of God to meet people where they are. There is no reality our people face that the word of God cannot reach. But we must speak the word to our people where they are, believing that God’s word will never return to him void.

Do you agree? Join the conversations in the comment section. 

Is It Really Worth It?

August 30, 2012 in Leadership, Pastoral Ministry with 0 Comments

I am not a confrontational person. I loathe conflict. I prefer peace and quiet. Yet I accept the fact that some conflict is inevitable. Some conflict is necessary.

A pastor should not look for fights. Men of God must not be quarrelsome (2 Tim. 2:24). At the same time, we must not run from the fights we must fight. We must show up for the battles that matter. We must not stoop at standing time.

Tough decisions, difficult conversations, loving confrontations go along with the territory. It’s called leadership.

But a servant-leader must know when to push an issue and when to let it alone.

I love the way Proverbs 26:4-5 states this tension. Verse 4 says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” Verse 5 adds, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

Huh? Which is it? Do you answer a fool according to his folly or not?

This is what it means to be wise. Knowing when to answer and when not to answer. Knowing when to take a stand and when to keep your seat. Knowing when to die on a hill and will to stay in the valley.

When I am facing potential conflict, I often remember two questions a professor talk me to ask.

How sure am I that I am right?

Do not wade into a conflict if you are not confident that your position is right. This is easier to decide if it is a matter of biblical truth. But most potentially controversial issues have nothing to do with black-and-white scriptural issues. They are about secondary issues that have nothing to do with doctrine.

Godly leaders do not let small issues to become big issues without a strong conviction that their position is right. Don’t be mystical about this. I am not talking about “the-Lord-told-me” kind of certainty. I am talking about covering the bases of wise decision-making.

Have you thought this out? Have you done your homework on the subject? Have you prayed about it? Have you received godly counsel? Have you given yourself time to be sure?

Don’t go forward until you are convinced you are doing the right thing the right way at the right time.

How much does it matter?

You may be absolutely sure that you are right about this matter. But you must still consider what difference this issue makes. Vance Havner used to say that a dog can whip a skunk any day, but it may not be worth the stink. Are you fighting a skunk? Are you shooting flies with canons? Are you making a mountain out of a molehill?

Humility is required to respond properly when you are wrong. But much more humility is needed when we are right! So is patience. And love and gentleness and discernment.

Bottom-Line: Some things are not worth the trouble.

The decision may be easy. But it can make your life and work unnecessarily hard.

Don’t waste leadership equity on trivial things. Invest in the things that matter the most.

Considering these two big questions – How sure am I that I am right? And how much does it matter? – Is the potential conflict you are facing really worth it?

Pertinent Precepts for Pastors

August 30, 2012 in Pastoral Ministry, Quotations with 6 Comments

I am reading J.D. Grey’s Epitaphs for Eager Preachers. It was written before I was born – in 1972. I recently saw it on the pastor’s shelf where I was preaching. And the title caught my attention.

The late Dr. James David Grey was the pastor of First Baptist Church of New Orleans for 35 years and president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention in 1951-52. At forty-four, he was the youngest person ever elected to the SBC presidency.

Beyond that, he apparently went by initials. Way cool.

Early in the Epitaphs, Grey quotes an anonymous piece called “Pertinent Precepts for Pastors” about the activities and appearance of the preacher.

Here it is…

Pray every night and shave every morning.

Keep your conscience clean, and your linen.

Let your light shine and shine your shoes.

Press your advantages, your opportunities, and your trousers.

Brush the cobwebs from your brain and the dandruff from your collar.

A delinquent debt in a parish is like an addled egg in an omelet.

Be poor in spirit but not in vocabulary.

You can’t put fire in your sermons unless there is fire in your heart.

It is better to lose a good fight than to win a bad one.

Call in the homes of men if you would have men call in the House of God.

The approval of God is more to be desired than the patronage of a rich, unscrupulous pewholder.

Always be content with what you have but never with what you are.

J.D. Grey, Epitaphs for Eager Preachers, pp. 20-21

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