Category: Christianity

Seven Ways to Heal Your Pastor

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 7 Ways to Heal Your Pastor.001

 I shared a blog article from Thom Rainer yesterday on Facebook called “Seven Ways to Hurt Your Pastor”. I shared it, not to make a point nor to direct it at anyone, but simply because I agree with the article. I received quite a bit of feedback from sharing it which prompted me to write this post. I have experienced all of the hurts that Thom Rainer listed as well as some that are not there but I thought it would be good to write a article from the other perspective. I used the word “heal” in the title because it’s a pseudonym of “hurt” but what I mean is how you encourage your pastor. Having pastored a church for 5 1/2 years now, I’ve not only experienced some hurts but also some encouragement. This list may surprise you because it doesn’t included saying how good you thought the sermon was or how good of a person you think he is. It’s different than that.

This is how you encourage your pastor:

1.  When you’re faithful

There is nothing that encourages your pastor more than your faithfulness. It’s true that when you don’t come it can be discouraging but when you’re there, when you’re faithful to worship, it lifts your pastor’s spirit in ways you’ll never know. The pastor spends his entire week getting ready for Sunday. Oh, there’s a lot of things we must do throughout the week with church administration, helping the hurting and making disciples but there’s nothing like Sunday morning worship. We look forward to it all week long!

Also, when you’re faithful in your giving. Nothing will put a knot in your pastor’s stomach on Monday morning quicker than a bad offering report from Sunday. But, the opposite is also true. Nothing makes a Monday morning sweeter than when your pastor sees the offering report and you were faithful to give. Now, he can go on through his week without financial worry nagging ruthlessly at his subconscious.

Your faithfulness is amazing!

2.  When you’re loving each other

Every pastor has stories of watching church people shred each other in disagreement and conflicts. But, when you love each other, I mean really love each other, it is incredibly uplifting to your pastor. Not only when you say “I love you” but more when you treat each other in genuine love in how you act, live and cooperate. To see you do that, makes your pastor feel like you’re loving him.

3. When you’re telling others

So many people come to church just to get something out of it, but to watch you and hear your stories of how you are telling others about Jesus and inviting others to the gathering of the church is uplifting and inspiring. Not only is this true of how your pastor feels but also how others in the church feel. It’s encouraging to see you living your life for Christ and with His heart for others. Your pastor knows that this happens as God’s Word works in your heart like it’s working in his and he knows that you’re truly “abiding in the Vine.”

4.  When you sacrifice

When your pastor sees you pour out your life when it’s not easy, that’s so encouraging. It’s at this moment he remembers that he’s not doing this alone and it’s not all up to him. Sometimes he feels like everyone is expecting him to spend his life  (and sometimes his family’s life too) for the Gospel but when you live a sacrificial life it let’s him know you’re willing to spend your life too. I can’t tell you how uplifting it is for your pastor when he gets to serve with you in this kind of way (instead of just serving you).

5.  When you pray

It’s always encouraging when you tell your pastor you’re praying for him but that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean when your pastor sees you come to prayer meetings, praying at the altar, or even better, when he finds out that you took it upon yourselves to have a group prayer time without him planning it or asking you to do it. I can’t put into words what that means to your pastor. Again, he’s reminded that he’s not alone and he’s reminded that people are impacted by Christ and following Him.

6.  When you Worship

What I mean by worship is when your pastor can hear your voices filling the worship center, when you raise your hands (those of you who do that sort of thing) and when you’re so focussed on Christ that the tears are running down your face. It is so encouraging when you worship with smiles across your face and joy beaming from your countenance. It so makes a pastor remember why he’s doing what he’s doing and that the Word is bringing return. (Remember, Sunday is the day he’s always working for and toward.)  There’s nothing like people worshiping God is Spirit and Truth!

7.  When you love his wife

Many pastors wives don’t struggle because of people disrespecting or being unkind to them, they struggle because they so often feel left out. As awesome as it is for your pastor to see you interacting with each other, especially outside of church services, it’s incredibly uplifting when you invite and include his wife. Nothing breathes life into your pastor more than when the church is breathing life into his wife. When she has joy in the ministry so does her husband.

Do any of these surprise you? 

Much more than verbal expressions like, “that was a nice sermon” when you’re walking out the door Sunday, the above are ways that you can be a huge encouragement and even bring healing to some of the hurt your pastor has. Try it out, you’ll make a difference.

 

21 Days

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Tomorrow (Wednesday, February 19) we will begin 21 days of deliberate prayer as a church. This is a challenge for all who are willing to join in (and I hope you’re willing) to begin to pray in unity for specifics people or topics each day. Each day I will update on this blog the prayer for that day and I’m asking you to join in prayer with me.

Here’s some ways you can get involved:

  1. Participate in praying (deliberately)[1] each day. 
  2. Share this with someone else you know or someone else in our church. Share this link on Facebook. (Wouldn’t it be awesome if this went viral?)
  3. Click the “follow” button to the right on this blog and receive an email each day as it is updated. 
  4. Leave comments on the blog page each day about your prayer, who you’re praying for and how God may be working in your life through prayer.
  5. Come to 10:30 AM worship service ready to enter into a season of prayer with your church family.

The goal of these 21 days is not to pray self-centered prayers but Christ-centnered, others-minded prayers. John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5:14, ESV)

I’ll leave you with these words from E.M. Bounds written in his famous book on prayer:

“What a world of natural praying there is, which is selfish, self-centered, self-inspired! The Spirit, when he prays through us, or helps us to meet the mighty ‘ougtness’[2] of right praying, trims our praying down to the will of God, and then we give heart and expression to his unutterable groanings.”

Can’t wait to see what God does in us and through us because of just 21 days!

[1] Deliberate prayer is a time when you stop and devote your full attention to praying to God. This is not in the car, at your desk at work, ect. This is taking the time to do nothing else but pray.

[2] Luke 18:1 “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Up all night

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As a pastor, every normal occurrence that I have in ministry comes in spurts. What I mean is that it seems that people get sick and I visit the hospitals in spurts. People pass away and funerals come in spurts. People coming to faith in Christ and baptisms often seem to come in spurts. People joining our church seems  to come in spurts. And, people seem to have difficulties and struggles in spurts. Or, maybe it’s just that I hear about them or I am asked for help during these struggles in spurts.

Either way, when I find myself in a spurt of difficulties and struggles I always find myself less trying to counsel and more trying to simply encourage. By the way, if you’re a pastor or a counselor please know this: when people come to you with there struggles they don’t need you to try to fix their problems. You and I are not able to do that anyway. What they need more than anything is to be encouraged. Encouraged to do what?

  1. To continue. Sometimes people just need to be reminded that they need to just keep going. What they are dealing with is a season and seasons end.
  2. To remain faithful. Someone who’s struggling must be reminded that God is up to something. He is always working out HIs plan (to glorify Himself) and that’s especially true when we’re struggling. So, keep strong in your faith and trust in Him. Everything, in the end, will always be okay.
  3. To fight the Philippians 4:8 fight. What I mean is this: sometimes the biggest struggle is the one that is going on in our mind and emotions. So, those who struggle must fight for what they’re thinking and make sure it is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praise worthy. Then, you’ll have the ability to continue and even smile during trial.
  4. Let God have it. Earlier in chapter 4 of Philippians Paul states that we should be anxious for nothing. (If you’re human you struggle with that command.) But, I was reminded tonight why we can give “everything by prayer and supplication” to God.

One of our men prayed something at church tonight that struck me and I told him I was going to steal it. (So, thanks Nate!) Here is what he prayed:

“Help us to cast our anxieties on you because you’ll be up all night anyway.”

This is why we let God have it; because He’s always at work. This is not a religious crutch but an absolute truth. God never sleeps and He’s always inviting us to leave our anxieties on Him. Because He not only can handle it, but He does.

Heart Healer

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broken heart

Jesus was asked in Matthew 22:36 what the greatest commandment is. You probably remember His answer; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Do you think that’s a lot to ask? Really? God wants me to love Him with all that’s inside me?

Well, before we can come to any conclusions about how this can happen we need to deal with a couple of truths about the heart. First, we all have a heart that’s under attack! That’s right, your heart, as is mine, right now, as your eyes are reading these words is under an attack.

In his book “It’s Your Call,” Gary Barkalow explains that there are three aspects that every person who encounters Jesus Christ through His Gospel will live out:

1. The Truth

Every person is faced with the truth of God through general revelation and then more directly through the special revelation of God the Son. In Psalm 19, the psalmist tells of how the creation speaks of who God is and all the people of the world can see, or hear, this truth. Hebrews 1:1-2 states, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” We are all faced, at some point in our lives with the truth.

2. The Heart

Did you know that you and I were born with a broken heart. Maybe you’re like me. As I read Jesus’ words that I must love God with all, I instantly know that in and of myself I’m unable to love anyone with all; except maybe myself. That’s because we are all born with hearts that are separated from the One who gave us our heart, soul and mind. Thank God, He came after us so that can be remedied!

3. An Assault

Then, those who respond to the Gospel of Jesus and place their faith in Him, both for eternal life and this life now, will undergo an attack from the Evil One himself. The Devil wants to disrupt our relationship with God through Jesus Christ in any way he can. (By the way, that’s why it’s so important to armor up!)

So, how does a broken heart love anyone, much less God, with all?

That brings us to the second truth; it’s a process. Paul Tripp says it this way, “God has chosen that our growth be a process, not an event.” 

How do we begin on the process to love God will all? As stated above, first, armor up with God’s armor to deflect the fiery darts of the devil. (Ephesians 6) Secondly, realize that you and I have a serious tendency to compartmentalize our hearts. That is, we will choose to only give God certain parts of our heart; the parts we feel comfortable giving Him at the moment. If you’re wondering how this works just remember, we’re all master of compartmentalizing our time too. We’re very good and deciding that God only deserves a certain amount of our time. So it is with the heart.

Where do we start?  By remembering that God is the great heart healer. You can trust Him with your heart! As you realize the parts of your heart, soul and mind that you’re not giving Him, learn to trust Him with those parts too. And remember, God is always the great heart healer and He will never, ever break your heart.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

His love is greater than any broken heart.