Pastors and Pain Part 6

I know, it seems as if we need a lot of help.

Pastors need to pursue Jesus - HELP US
Pastors need to be encouraged in their Call -HELP US
Pastors need you to love the Church-HELP US
Pastors need you to bring people to Church- HELP US

It seems like a lot but its not really, but there is one more way you can help us.

Respect the Pastors Time.
Know this about every Pastor.............

They all have Families
They all are busy in Ministry
They all struggle to shut work off
They all (OK many) are ADD and our brains are always at work.

Meaning the light is ALWAYS on and someone is ALWAYS home.
and we need to shut down, turn off, tune out and were not going to use LSD to do such.

What we need is help and here is how.

#1 Be Responsible - Get in a Life Group
So many believe that the Pastor is the Church and the church is the Pastor meaning that every need they have is to be directed through him. But this is not true. We have specifically designed our life groups to perform much of the work of the ministry.
Discipleship, Benevolence, Visitation, Hospitalization, Prayer is all a function of Life Groups. If you are an Owner of newlife and not a part of a Life Group you will be irresponsible in thinking that the Pastor should perform these functions for you.
Be Responsible, Get in a Life Group

#2 Be Respectful - Of his person
A Pastor should never be viewed as someone who is there at YOUR beckoned call.
He as a human needs his own time. Find out what that time is and respect it.
For me my days off are Fridays, my Jesus days (Prep days) are Saturday and Monday.
I do most of my counseling on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and business work on Thursdays.
Because of a Pastors Heart he will try and answer your phone calls at home, talk to you on his prep days, and give up his days off meaning he needs you help.
Be Respectful - of his person.

#3 Be Relational - Towards him.
Every Pastor is Human and if every TIME he meets you your NEGATIVE it will affect the way he relates to you. If every TIME he meets you your asking for HELP it will affect the way he relates to you. If every TIME he meets you your ENCOURAGING it will effect the way he relates to you.
The time you spend with him greatly impacts the way he views his work with you.
Ask yourself, when I spend time with the Pastor, how does he view me and how can I help him be encouraged by me?
He knows that there are negative times in our lives and he is OK and will do his best to encourage you. But all the time gets discouraging.
He knows that you need help and will sacrifice himself to do such, but all the time, it gets burdensome.
Every good relationship is built upon a balance of life, negative times, needy times, and
needful times (encouragement).
Be Relational -towards Him

this will make his time with you beneficial for both and will help to keep Him in the work of God.

Let Him pursue Jesus
Lift up His Call from Jesus
Love the Church the way Jesus Loves her
Bring People to Church
and Respect his time.

Do these things and you will go along way to being a blessing not only to the Pastor, but to the church.

I love you guys and can't wait for Sunday

Pastors and Pain Part 5

We have talked over the last few days about how to Help your Pastor and today is no exception. In fact this one is a big one for him.

Bring new people to church

There is nothing more exciting for a Pastor than the opportunity to share the Love of Jesus with a new face. Its not that there is anything wrong with the old faces but really our call is to find people far from God and when we have that opportunity it is so exciting. So how can you help in Bringing new people to church?

#1 Introduce them to the Pastor Personally.
He wants to know them and the best way is for YOU to personally introduce. This helps the pastor by allowing him to rely on your relationship to both of you in building a relationship with that new person.

#2 Explain the Pastor to them Personally.
Sit with them in their first sermon and help them understand who the Pastor is. It is easy to get offended at the work of God and so its important for them to know when I am serious and why, when I am joking, why we do we do. Help them know the Pastor.
and if your going to bad mouth him or excuse his behavior. Don't invite anyone as you have deeper issues that don't need to destroy the work of God.

#3 Allow the Pastor to Minister to them Personally.
Don't be jealous if the person you bring to church begins to spend time with the Pastor.
Don't be controlling of that person unless you meant to invite them to YOU and not Jesus. Let the Pastor love them his way, let the Pastor learn their needs and minister to them as he is led.

Anyone who comes to a Church will need to know the Pastor. Help him know them when you bring them.

Bring new people to Church
Love the Bride (Church)
Encourage the Pastors Call
Let the Pastor Pusue Jesus

Tomorrow is the Last one, get ready

Pastors and Pain #4

Every Pastor I meet, Loves the church he Pastors.
He lives and breaths church life.
He loves the call of the church to reach the lost.
He loves the cries in the church to heal the hurt.
He loves the Christ of the church to save mankind.

But what no Pastor loves is the Cutting of the Church. As the Bride of Christ, you hit the wife, you hit the husband and where I grew up that could get you punched.

How can I help the Pastor? Fall in Love with the very one Jesus Loves.

Be Supportive of Her. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Be Sacrificial for Her. (Ephesians 5:25)
Be Submissive to Her. (Ephesians 1:22)

If your struggling with the church, your relationship with Jesus will be bad as well.
You can't love the husband and hate the bride and you can't know the husband and not know the bride.

It breaks my heart to see people who claim to know Jesus cut the church mainly because of what the church has done for them.

#1 It has loved them when they were not lovable.
#2 It has lived for them when they were living for themselves.
#3 It has lifted them up even when they wanted to stay down.

Imperfect as she is, she is still His bride and He loves her and would never talk about her the way some do. One day she will stand before the Lord in All her Glory and will be honored for her love, labor, and life.

This church has changed my life. I love her. I have loved her for years. We have been through a lot together. God has led us on many journeys together and Love will hold us together.

You want to help your Pastor - Love the Bride
                                                  Let Him pursue Jesus
                                                  Lift up his Call

Tomorrow we will talk about new People.

Pastors and Pain Part 3

If the first step in helping your Pastor is to help him pursue Jesus, the next is a little more personal. While his pursuit of Jesus will benefit you, the next one protects him.

If you want to help your Pastor, Encourage His call to Ministry.

There is not a day that goes by, especially Mondays, where a Pastor does not wonder if he is doing the right thing. He might have an amazing Sunday but focus on the one negitive that happened causing him to think that he should quit.

This is Satans Plan, Smite the Shepherd and the Sheep will scatter. If he can get 3,000 pastors to quit every month there is a lot of confused and scared sheep out there.

So how can you encourage a Pastors call? Let me start with what not to do.
Do not tell him he is awesome. He knows better.
Do not tell him to stick it out. He will feel trapped.
Do not take him to lunch. He will get fat.

Temporary feelings of adequacy are waisted in a Spiritual Battle. Satan will just turn your good words into pride and soon the Pastor will fall.

So how can you encourage his call.

#1 Trust His Leadership.
I am not saying "Drink the Juice" but if the Pastor has given you no reason to not believe his leadership, you have no reason not to.

The problem is some people are not trusting people and many others see things through the pain of thier past or they have thier own agendas.

I am grateful for the many people who have trusted me through some very difficult transformations though they may not have fully understood why, they can see the truth is where God is moving me to move us.

#2 Try to follow His lead.
The messages that your Pastor brings every week is one that he beleives God has led him to give to you. Don't say good message try to live it. Try to do something with what God gave him.
Nothing encourages a Pastor more than to see you applying the truths God has given Him.

#3 Talk to Him with Respect.
If the Pastor has shown evidence of Gods call in his life, you might want to be careful how you talk to him. DAvid was careful with how He dealt with the Lords man, Elisha showed the dangers of disrespect towards a man of God. The Pastors call is a special one and worthy of great respect.

He is not your buddy, though he is your friend.
He is not your puppet to manipulate, though he is moved by your needs.
He is not your stepping stone to God, though he ought to be closer to Him than you.

Every week as a Pastor seeks to Follow Jesus, he seeks others who are seeking Him too. And when we find them, we find encouragement in the call of God.

#1 Help Him Pursue Jesus
#2 Encourage him in his Call from Jesus.

Do these two things and you will help eliviate the Pain a Pastor feels.

Pastors and Pain Part II

Every Month, 3,000 Pastors leave the Ministry, meaning that every month, 3,000 churches are left shepherd less. Paul's warning becomes very real at this time when he warned the Ephesian Elders that when he leaves wolves will come to devour the flock and weirdos will rise up and try to take control of the church. (Acts 20:29-30)

This could happen to any church at any time as Satan is working over time to destroy the Shepherd. (Matt 26:31) So knowing the Pain of Pastoring, let me encourage you with five things that will keep Him strong in the Lord and Loving Life.

#1 Help Your Pastor Pursue Jesus
A Pastors job is not 9-5, it never shuts off. Not because he can't but won't. We are constantly pursuing Jesus. We want to know Him more that we can help you know Him more. We want to love Him more so that we can help you love Him more. This is a 24 hour a day process for us and if done right takes time.

But if we are doing other things we are not pursuing Jesus.

How can you help your Pastor Pursue Jesus?

Take care of the Physical work of the Church. (Acts 6:4)

The building projects.
Take care of the maintenance of the building. The broken things, the dirty things, the new things.
A building ought to represent the body, meaning that the way we show physical respect of the building is the way we show spiritual respect to the body (the church).

The body projects.
Take care of each other, minister to each other, love each other.
A healthy body is one where the whole body cares for the whole body.

This gives your Pastor time to pray and prepare messages
It allows him time to meditate on Jesus rather than mediate men.
It allows him time to study about Jesus rather than saw a board.
It allows him time to survey the community rather than steady the church.

If your Pastor is allowed to pursue Jesus every week it can only mean greater things for everyone.

Tomorrow we will talk about another way to help your Pastor but don't move forward until you do all you can to do #1.

Have an Awesome Day

Passion and Pain and Pastors

Over the last few weeks I have met with several Pastors and noticed some things that I felt were important enough to share.

#1 Every Pastor I met................Loved Jesus
#2 Every Pastor I met................Believes in His Call to Ministry
#3 Every Pastor I met................is devoted to their Church
#4 Every Pastor I met................wants to see new people come to Christ and Christians grow in Grace.
#5 Every Pastor I met................Loves their wife, Kids, friends, and family

Truth is I am encouraged by their PASSION for all of these things, but I noticed something else.

#1 Every Pastor I met...............feels as if he is failing God
#2 Every Pastor I met...............Believes He is called but questions himself
#3 Every Pastor I met...............has church problems. (people, buildings, money)
#4 Every Pastor I met...............is struggling with the hurt caused by people who leave
#5 Every Pastor I met...............is aware of the need for Family/ministry Balance, and     has to work hard to keep that balance.

Truth is I am encouraged as well by their PAIN for all these things.

It has shown me that their passion overrides their pain because they keep fighting
It has shown me that though others may have given up and fallen away they are willing to take the pain as the end goal is more important than personal discomfort.
It has shown me that there are still men out there who are willing to risk it all for the Kingdom.

Praise God for men who don't neglect their First Love
Praise God for men who believe in themselves
Praise God for men who LOVE their CHURCH
Praise God for men who care more about souls than self
Praise God for men who put their FAMILIES FIRST over others

We are blessed to have Pastors in our lives and tomorrow I will help you understand how an Owner can help their Pastor

Have a Great day and see YOU ALL TONIGHT!

Real Power

This morning I met a lady that I went to high school with. Her name is Penny. I am not sure of her beliefs but I know this, every time we meet, its a positive experience.

Her attitude is positive
Her facial expressions are positive
Her work ethic is positive

She is always helpful, always hopeful, always happy.
She loves her husband and her life.

I would trust what she says.

She makes me want to know more about her and why she is so upbeat.

How powerful is that?

This is what I would love to see in Church

Many Penny's

Helpful, Hopeful, Happy people
Who love their husbands and wives, who Love their children, who love their church, who love their life.

Trustworthy people

People who are often asked about the reason of the hope that is in them.

Lets be that church

A Letter to newLife from PRob

Exciting times indeed.
Yesterdays Double Baptism (one near drowning)
The Red Road Trip
Prayer
Laborers

It Never Gets Old.

People being Saved, Stepping up to Baptism, Maturing to Service

Exciting times indeed.

Whats up this week?

Thursday Night Hot August Nights!
     Special Prayer for those far from God
     Special Songs for those close to God
     Special Preaching for those following God

Sunday's are always Exciting, Especially if you Bring someone who does not know Jesus.

It Never Gets Old

Have an Awesome Week

HOT

Its gonna be a warm one today so I thought I might encourage you with a few things.

#1 Watch your Attitude - Heat can easily cause us to lose our testimony.

#2 Give someone a Drink of Water - Its a Bible Thing. Prov 25:25

#3 Enjoy- We only get a few days like this a year. Don't complain, bemoan, or whine one of the best days we will have this year. Enjoy the sunrise, the sudden warm up, the air conditioning, and hopefully we will be done quickly tonight and we can all enjoy the sunset.

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

What a MITY gift

This was the extent of a note dropped off in the offering plate Sunday.

Miss Kathy,

Thursday night was so Enlightening for me. I Just feel Different inside.

I had a yard sale on Saturday with a lot of old things from my last marriage "in 2001".
I really forgave him from my heart.
I'm giving all to the church. 84.50.

Thank you from my heart  (Name withheld by the Pastor)

Luke 21:1-4

1And he (Jesus)  looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

² And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
³ And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
⁴ For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Jesus pays attention to People and how they Give. vs 1-2
Jesus notices the amount they give. vs 2
Jesus responds to the depth of the gift. vs 3
Jesus praised the one who Gives. vs 3-4

God is going to do amazing things with $84.50 this week thanks to a woman who gave her all.

A Letter to our Super Heros

I know it gets a little crazy for you but you need to know..........

There is not a child you have loved that has not been eternally impacted by it.
There is not a moment you have sacrificed that has not been externally noticed by us.
There is not a pain you have felt as you see their broken hearts that has not been shared.
There is not a word spoken in Jesus name that is lost, void, empty, waisted.

What you do every week ministering to the children of this church is Amazing.
You are making a HUGE impact.
Jesus is using you to change their little world by giving them a Great Hope.

While you may not fully understand your impact this side of eternity, that's not the world we work in. Its the Heaven side we work for!

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Fulfill His Will this Next Sunday and Keep Sharing Jesus with the little ones!

A Letter to newLife from PRob

Hey newlife there are a few things that I want to share to start your week with.

#1 Prayer on Thursday was the best prayer meeting I have ever been involved in.
You were passionate about not only "what" you were praying for, but "who" you were praying with.

#2 Yesterday was Awesome as so many stepped up to take ownership of their church. I can't wait to see how God uses you for doing so.

#3 There are a couple of men whom God is burning a fire in and its spreading quickly. I can't wait for Sunday afternoon.

But more important that what has happened and what is happening is what will happen when the people of God become more Christ like and less Crowd like.

I can't wait for Thursday!

Have a GREAT Day

Turn and Burn

Sometimes God speaks so loudly its as if He is yelling at me and here is what I heard

1 Samuel 17:30 (KJV) And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

David had just had an encounter with his brother over Davids anger towards Goliath challenging God's people and his brothers unwillingness to step up and be a man. Eliab berated David calling David selfish and self centered out of Eliabs own conviction.

But what I love is this.

When faced with an angry/convicted brother, David does not hesitate to get back to the real issue – Goliath.

It would have been so easy for David to have gotten his feelings hurt, or lash back, or sulk off and dwell on it the rest of the day, but David knew that the real issue was Goliath.

Here is the question..............

Am I waisting my time thinking on the insignificant in the Kingdom - (Eliab) or am I Kingdom Focused today?

Today I am turning towards another and dealing with whats Most Important.

How about you?

Something Big is gonna Fall

This morning I awoke to the stark realization that I still don't get it. Let me explain.

Yesterday in my devotion I read in 1 Samuel 17, the passage describing Davids righteous anger towards Goliath for challenging His God and His confusion towards why the men David looked up to were doing nothing about it.

and these are the stupid questions I asked myself.

Am I as Eliab and Jealous of another mans blessed life? No
Do I feel as if God has rejected me for another mans blessed life as Eliab? No

In all honesty I thought this passage was about me and yet I found no application and then last night I met with David himself. (His real identity is hidden) And David said to me "Is there not a CAUSE?" and my response to him was but we don't want to upset anyone.

DOH

When a man is challenged about His fear, failures, and selfishness it always angers Him.
1 Samuel 17:28 (KJV) And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

Eliab’s reaction was to attack another man because of Eliab’s perception that life had cheated Him and David was only making Eliab feel worse. So Eliab chose to cut David down to size by portraying David as Prideful, Arrogant, Unfaithful, and having to always be the center of Attention.

and Davids reply? Is there not a cause?

Yesterdays devotion was not for me to apply to me, but to apply to David.
So David - Go for it
No Excuses
Yes there is a Cause?

Yes the men will react negatively but its only because they know their wrong.
They know their doing nothing for the kingdom. They know their protecting themselves. They know their too afraid to actually live by faith and give even one hour to serve the King.

But if only you step down into that valley with a sling and a stone, newlife is gonna have a Party on Goliaths chest, but know this, your not alone.

I am with You!
There is a Cause!
Lets Roll

Why Difficult Trials are for our Benefit

Relationships are made Stronger

Matthew 14:32 (KJV)  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Notice the words, THEY were come into the Ship.

Jesus and Peter - Together
Even when we step out in faith an fail, Jesus is all about drawing closer to us.

Calm Ensued

Matthew 14:32 (KJV)  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Trials do end. I know it doesn't seem like it but they do and when Jesus is involved that which seemed to sink you will dissappear.

Worship Perfected

Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him,

Real worship.

No music, just praise

Not pointed towards Mans feelings or emotions because the trial is over. But when we go on a Journey to experianced Jesus and we are closer to Him and calmer because of Him we cannot help but Cry Out to Him as our Savior.

Faith Renewed

Matthew 14:33 (KJV)  Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

They had their moments of doubt, but this experience renewed their faith in the Love and Life of God. And forever changed them.

I know that it seems as if trials never end, but it might be because you won't stop rowing, bailing water, and whining. If Jesus put you in the boat, Jesus will bail you out.

Pray to Him, in faith and wait for Him to bring the calm.

He will and it will forever change your life.

Have an Awesome day of Boating

Jesus wants to know...........

Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

I don't know why we ignore the fact that Jesus is very much alive and knows what is going on in our lives. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us and through the Holy Spirit He is with us and in us. (Heb 13:5 and John 14:17) and so it should not surprise us to have Him question the level of our faith.

Why do we doubt His Love?

Why do we doubt His Life?
Why do we doubt His Living Today?

It might be a good thing to take inventory of our Faith level and maybe pump it up a little as well as question where and why we are doubting Him as Faith is the Substance of things HOPED for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN.

While Jesus would never question the crowd on the level of their faith, He does question ours.

Lets fill it up this week and if you want, share with us how your going to do that.

Have an awesome day

CSI and the Proof of our Lives

This morning I was thinking.......
If we took the words of Jesus seriously, "Greater love has no man than this, to lay down His LIFE for his friends" Wouldn't there be a body of evidence? Wouldn't there be a trail if Sacrifices to Prove Love is happening?

Help me. Other than Jesus,  Who has laid down their life for you?
And how have YOU laid your life down for another?

Would CSI come looking at you for evidence or would they be looking for you as a murderer?
Help me see the evidence just make sure it's a dead body and. Of. Just some lame Christian who says he loves yet lives.