An Unforgettable Easter

Holidays, particularly religious ones, carry with them a lot of memories that invoke various emotional responses.

 
Easter reminds me of decorating Easter eggs with my mother using the PAAZ egg dye kit.  I remember seeing my grandparents every Easter at their house.  We enjoyed egg hunts and Easter baskets.  I have very fond church memories from various Easters.  I received my first real Bible from my parents one Easter - a bright yellow "Good News" one, which still sits on my shelf today.  I was baptized by my pastor on Easter Sunday, 1982.  I remember big Easter musicals the weekend of Palm Sunday, singing hymns like Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and always having a new Sunday-best outfit to wear.  I especially liked a green sports coat I was given when I was in about the 5th grade.  Our church had a cross outside each year, and on Easter Sunday we would all bring fresh flowers to fill it up with color.  And I recall every year ABC playing Charlton Heston's The Ten Commandments from 7pm-11pm.

My family now has some of our own holiday practices, many of them similar to those of my boyhood.  We have never done the Easter Bunny with our children.  We weren't terribly opposed to it, but church jobs always required one of us to be out of the house early Sunday morning before children awoke, so we made it our habit to give our children Easter baskets from us on the Saturday before Easter.  We chuckled then and still do now thinking about when our then 5-year old came home from church one Easter and said, The children in Sunday School were talking about some bunny coming to their house this morning!  What are they talking about?

Easter offers wonderful opportunities, whatever your practices, to talk with your children about the essence of the Christian message - that God loved a sinful world so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have a forever-relationship with Him.

Don't underestimate what children can absorb.  One of the church-misnomers of our time is how we send middle and high school students to school where they learn algebra, chemistry, history, and foreign languages, yet we bring them to church and think that all we should do is play games with them thinking that they can't yet absorb the great truths of the Bible.

And don't miss opportunities with your own family members and other people in the community to share biblical truths about the gospel message. 

The church of my youth never did sunrise services, but we did do Easter musicals.  Perhaps my most vivid memory of an Easter season was when I was in the third grade.  Our church did a musical called Hosanna the weekend of Palm Sunday.  I still have the cassette tape from that performance.  My grandparents came to attend with us, and I sat directly next to my grandfather.  I will never forget that when they came to the scene where Jesus was dying on the cross, my grandfather began quietly sobbing.  Tears streamed down his face.  At that moment, in my little nine-year old thinking and feeling, I was deeply struck with the fact that this stuff is real to him.  This matters to him.  His life has been changed by the cross.  He loves and respects God.   I remember that moment like it happened last week.  And I doubt I will ever forget it. 

Don't underestimate how your faith and your love for Jesus, shown in your own unique way, can deeply impact the life of another person - even a child.  Thirty years from now they may be remembering you this Easter.

Greg Laurie: The Jesus Revolution

 

4 Signs of Christian Revival

What my generation called “The Jesus Movement,” Time magazine called “The Jesus Revolution.” They were right. Revolution involves a dramatic change, a return. The same can be said of revival. Simply put, a Christian revival is a return to New Testament Christianity—the way we who follow Jesus should always live.

We need another Jesus revolution, and I believe we will see one in our lifetime. But to experience revival, we must first wake from our sleep.

So many in the church today are spiritually asleep. They are settling for a watered-down form of the Christian faith. This is not the form of the Christian faith that changed the world in the first century—the faith that changed families, countries and cultures. As evangelist and Bible scholar G. Campbell Morgan once stated: “Organized Christianity that fails to make a disturbance is dead.”

Read the entire article here at Decision Magazine.

Learn more about the movie here.

The Church’s Lane is the Whole Cosmos

"Recently, a denominational leader said to me that the best thing that the Church could do to handle the challenges of this cultural moment would be to 'stay in its lane.' That the so-called 'culture wars' have been grueling, and the Church is
primarily called to spread the Gospel. That when it comes to the most controversial issues, the best strategy is non-confrontation and to focus on what is most important. 

I think I know what he meant. There’s certainly truth to the idea that Christians overemphasize politics. As I’ve said on more than one occasion, politics makes a lousy worldview. In a culture without better answers to life’s biggest questions, politics too easily assumes the place of God, determining everything from our values to our sources of truth to who we’re willing to associate with. When Christians embrace a political identity rather than a Kingdom identity, the riches of Christ are exchanged for the porridge of political gamesmanship. 

However, telling the Church to just 'stay in our lane' and out of politics is an equally unhelpful answer. Typically, the 'stay in your lane' mandate is only applied to unpopular issues, like abortion, marriage and family, or religious freedom. No one ever tells the Church to stop fighting against sex trafficking, or to no longer dig wells for communities without fresh water, or to cease sustainable economic development in impoverished nations. Christians should absolutely engage worthy causes because the Lordship of Christ and the implications of the Gospel demand it, not because they are deemed culturally uncontroversial. 

Read the entire article by John Stonestreet and Kasey Leander here at BreakPoint.

Image courtesy of Pexels.

2 keys to the recent growth of the rural church

 

GREAT ARTICLE ON RURAL MINISTRY

"Planting and leading a church in a rural context first requires an understanding of the community. If we enter these close-knit, deeply rooted communities with an air of pride or arrogance, we will most likely fail. . . .

One life at a time, we are sensing a genuine Gospel optimism for small-town renewal.

When churches are planted with an understanding of the community around them, and leadership models are built around honoring the community and integrating it with the life of faith, no one knows all that God might do. What we do know is that God wants to do much, and He is opening wide the doors into rural areas."

Read the entire article by David Pinckney here at The Christian Post.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

A SIMPLE WAY TO PRAY FOR PASTORS BEFORE WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND

 

Chuck Lawless offers 5 ways to pray for your pastors this weekend:

One of the most important things we can do for our pastors is pray for them, especially as they prepare to proclaim the Word. Use these Bible texts to pray today for pastors—particularly, for your shepherd—in preparation for worship this weekend:

1. Pray they will stand before God’s people with a pure heart.

• 2 Corinthians 1:12  For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God’s grace.

2. Pray they will speak the gospel boldly.

• Ephesians 6:20b  Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.

Read the entire article here.

Picture used by permission from Pixabay.

The Church’s Duty to Remain Open

 

John MacArthur and the elders of Grace Community Church, in Sun Valley, California, announced July 24 on the “Grace to You” blog that the church intended to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) and thus would defy Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 13 order closing indoor operations of churches, fitness centers, hair salons and several other types of venues in counties showing an increase in COVID-19 infections. The blog, which laid out the Biblical case for the church’s duty to gather, prompted county officials to threaten repercussions, but as of press time, the church was continuing to meet with both indoor and outdoor seating. The following is excerpted from the blog. 

Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16). Grace Community Church has always stood immovably on those Biblical principles. As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. Therefore, we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands. 

“The Biblical order is clear: Christ is Lord over Caesar, not vice versa. Christ, not Caesar, is head of the church.”

Some will think such a firm statement is inexorably in conflict with the command to be subject to governing authorities laid out in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Scripture does mandate careful, conscientious obedience to all governing authority, including kings, governors, employers and their agents—in Peter’s words, “not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable” (1 Peter 2:18). Insofar as government authorities do not attempt to assert ecclesiastical authority or issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law, their authority is to be obeyed whether we agree with their rulings or not. In other words, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 still bind the consciences of individual Christians. We are to obey our civil authorities as powers that God Himself has ordained. 

Read the entire article by John MacArthur here at Decision Magazine.

Coronavirus Christianity

I usually appreciate Richard Blackaby's perspective, and today is no different . . .

"So, how should we respond to the coronavirus?

First, watch for God’s activity. God is always at work around us! But He often does His best work in crises. When facing a deadly pandemic, people may be more open to talking about life and death. Our mortality, generally a taboo subject, suddenly becomes front and center in people’s minds. People who were fiercely independent may suddenly have needs you can meet. People with whom you might never have been able to talk with about God may suddenly be open to spiritual discussions. Keep your spiritual senses attuned to such opportunities.

Second, make the best of changed routines. Last Sunday, our church services were cancelled due to health concerns. So, I drove to my parents’ house and watched the live stream service from our church while eating breakfast with them. My parents normally attend the 8:00 service on Sunday mornings, so I rarely see them. But yesterday was different. I typically have a frenetic travel schedule. As a result, I am constantly out of shape and needing more exercise. Last week, 12 of my spring speaking engagements were cancelled or rescheduled. I now have two months at home. I have thus commenced a rigorous exercise routine and a healthier diet. I am also using the free time to study and write. There are some Christian classics I have had on my “to read” list for a while now. A pandemic may finally afford me the time I need to read them! Rather than bemoaning what I’ve lost, I’m excited about what I’ve gained."

Read Richard's entire article here.

Posts for Churches about Coronavirus

Should Churches Submit to Government Demands to Shut Down Services? by Bruce Ashford


COVID-19 and Church Leadership by Baptist Press staff

Churches Worshiped Online, Onsight by Diana Chandler


Picture used by permission from Pixabay.

Quote of the Day

“We’re not acting out of fear, we are acting because we are responsible. Have confidence in the Lord. Most of the time we talk about going to church, but God is giving us an opportunity to be the church. I’m here for you, you’re here for me, and we’re here for one another. This is God’s day. This is God’s time. Trust.”  – Dr. Don Wilton

If I can get spiritual content online, why should I physically gather at a church on Sunday?

Why Honor Your Pastor - Pastor Appreciation Month

I wrote the following post several years ago but always re-post it in October. It has been one of my most-viewed blog articles through the years. . . .

Dick Lincoln once said, "Church at its best is as good as it gets, and church at its worst is as bad as it gets."  No one understands this reality more than pastors and their families.

Every October I consider writing a post about Pastor Appreciation Month.  However, being a pastor, it seems awkward.  John MacArthur said it well when teaching his church about honoring pastor-elders, "I feel a little bit awkward up here telling you that you need to honor elders of which I am one. Obviously I could be accused of a conflict of interests and I could also be accused of having a self-serving motive. So I want to put in an immediate disclaimer on any of those things. I'm trying to teach you the Word of God."

I will bite the bullet this year and write a post with the hope of eventually providing encouragement to some man of God out there serving his church.  Hopefully, persons from other congregations will read it and the article will spur them on toward love and good deeds toward their pastors.

Worthy of Double Honor

Through the years we have tried to teach our children to honor certain people.  We have explained that to honor someone means "to treat them special."  The Webster Dictionary defines honor as "high estimation, respect, consideration."

One of those persons I believe deserving honor are pastors of congregations.  Michael Miller shares great insights in his article The Importance of Honoring Your Minister.

Jesus said in John 13:20, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives [or welcomes] whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” 

There is some correlation between the way we treat those who represent the gospel and the Word of God with their daily jobs and the way that we treat Jesus.  They handle the Word of God and teach it to your family weekly.  They pray for you regularly, talking to Jesus on your behalf.  Treat them with honor.  In some way, if you love your pastor you are loving Jesus.  If you beat up your pastor, you are beating up Jesus.

The Bible says that the pastor-elders are worthy of double honor (1 Timothy 5:17).  John MacArthur explains from this verse, "Paul here is saying then that you are to make sure that one who is over you in the Lord, who feeds you and leads you, is honored. An elder is to receive honor, that is respect and remuneration as fitting and necessary. That forms a true estimate of his worth in a tangible way." 

MacArthur shares more from God's Word on the subject of honor as he explains 1 Timothy 5:17 in his sermon The Sheep's Responsibility:

"So, there's kind of a flow here. Elders are worthy of honor. Elders are worthy of honor with remuneration...hard working excellent elders are worthy of double honor. Hard working and excellent elders who major in preaching and teaching are particularly worthy of respect and remuneration. So every faithful shepherd is to be appreciated, respected, admired, honored and supported.

The first thing that the congregation is to give to the leaders, the elders, pastors, is respect that incorporates care in remuneration...to support them, to double honor them, being generous, not just a bare minimum so they have to scrape by, but showing great generosity and respect and admiration to them knowing they will be good stewards of what you give them.

What is the congregation's responsibility? Respect, admiration, honor, appreciation. Secondly, and this builds right on that, esteem your shepherds, esteem them. He says down in verse 13, "And that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work."

Paul exhorted believers to show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10).

A godly pastor with good character who teaches the Word of God and leads the church is worthy of your honor.


Pastors are Struggling

Much has been said and written in recent years about the current negative state of affairs for many pastors.  The statistics are staggering:

1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.

• 80% of pastors believe their ministry negatively affects their families. 
• 90% feel they are not qualified to deal with ministry demands 
• 45.5% of pastors have experienced burnout/depression and had to take a break from ministry. 
• 1 out of 3 pastors will be fired or feel pressured to resign during their career.

In August of 2010, the New York Times ran an article about pastors.  Included in the article was the following: "Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could."

In my own denomination's state convention, leaders have become alarmed by the suicide rate of pastors in our state. 

Pastors leaving the ministry share that their top two reasons for leaving are (1) they are tired of dealing with unrealistic expectations of people, and (2) it is difficult for them to provide financially for their families. 

I have heard through the years of more than one CEO of companies who became pastors.  When asked which was harder, they always say pastoring.  And the reason given is the same.  In a business you have employees.  In a church, you work with volunteers and have to deal with their emotional expectations.

Bo Lane, author of the book Why Pastors Quit, shares on his blog Expastors, "Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I appreciated, there were more things that happened along the way that made a negative impact on both myself and my family. It took many years of forgiving myself and others and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt." 

I once heard Pastor Jack Hayford say to a group of pastors, There's not a pastor in America who doesn't wake up at least one Monday a month and say to himself, "I've got to find something else to do with my life."  No, his statement should not be taken literally, but it does raise the point that most pastors struggle periodically to stay on the altar.  They became pastors because of a sense of calling, and they have to keep that sense of calling before them.

My first year of full-time ministry, I met a salesman for Olan Mills.  He shared with me that he was an ex-pastor and that his family got tired of living in what pastors call "the fish bowl."  I remember thinking, "How sad," and not understanding what he meant.  A decade and a half later I understand. 

My mother, a pastor's daughter, told me years ago, I don't think anyone really understands what pastors and their families go through unless you have been one or been the child of one. 

Because of these realities, pastors need your encouragement.

Pastors and their Families Need Encouragement 

The word "encourage" simply means to fill with courage.  When you encourage someone, you do or speak something into their life that fills them with courage.

Your pastor needs your encouragement.  He may not admit it.  He may not ask for it.  But he needs the encouragement you can give him.

He has received the anonymous letter that scalded him.  His wife has been criticized for any number of things.  He has heard "why didn't you visit me?" - a title of a chapter in one of Thom Rainer's early books on church growth.  He has been rejected by those who told him that he did not meet their expectations.  And he has looked at his wife and children and thought, "I am sorry to put you through this.  I should have been a banker."  Yes, he needs your encouragement.

I grew up in a church that regularly honored and recognized their staff members.  I recall various Sundays each year when staff members would be called up on the platform, recognized for a specific number of years of service, and given gifts of appreciation.  I grew up hearing the story of how the young church plant that became Edwards Road Baptist Church, my home church, took up a love offering for their first pastor.  When they called him to come be their pastor, they wanted to give money to him and his family to help make a down payment on a house in Greenville.  That small congregation in the 1960's gave him $10,000.  They had a great spirit of honoring the man of God.

The first church my wife and I served full-time worked at recognizing us in the fall.  Every year they secretly took up love offerings for my family for Pastor Appreciation Month and again in December.  Each year between the two offerings, they gave us between $4000-$5000.  For a young, newly-married couple, that was a great tangible blessing.  I remember our paying a car off with one of those love offerings.

I still have letters of thanksgiving and appreciation in my filing cabinet given to me years ago by church members.  The current church we serve has honored us with special meals in recent years.  Some church members gifted artistically have given me pieces of original art they drew for me, which brings me joy.  A few church members through the years faithfully sent my family gift cards to restaurants each year during PAM.

One year during October a church member realized that the windows in our house were all old and cracking.  She called around to members of the church, asking for pledges to purchase windows.  They soon surprised us and hired a man to replace every window in the house with new insulated windows.  We felt loved by their tangible gift, and we remembered that gift many times as we looked out our new windows.

One church we served, though a good church in many ways, did a poor job of honoring their pastor publicly.  I served as the associate pastor and did not expect recognition.  However, it saddened me each year when October rolled around and the church did nothing to honor the senior pastor.  He loved the church and worked hard to serve them.  All of the years I worked for that church, the church recognized him publicly three times - and I initiated each of those recognitions for him.

The first time I asked the chairman of the finance team to meet me for lunch.  I knew that the pastor wanted to take a cruise to Alaska, and I challenged the man to have the church take up an offering to make that happen, which they did.  The second time was when the pastor was about to have his 25th anniversary at the church.  The business administrator and I discussed the matter and knew that if we did not make it happen, no one was going to do anything publicly to honor him.  So, we got the staff together and threw him a church-wide anniversary party that we planned from top to bottom.  My wife drove to Haywood Mall to pick up the anniversary present that we picked out for the church to give him.  And thirdly, on his 60th birthday, I emailed the leaders of the Personnel Team and Leadership Team and told them, The church needs to do something special for him this week. 

Why did I initiate those three things?  Because he deserved to be honored - and to be honored tangibly.  Because it pleases the Lord to honor the pastor.  Because it is good to show gratitude to the man responsible for leading the church - even if you don't agree with him all of the time.  Because it encourages the pastor, and he needs encouragement.

Jesus' Gifts

Why don't some people think of honoring their pastor(s)?  I think for some it is simply a casual attitude that takes the pastor for granted.  They may not see the pastor as a gift that Jesus has given that local church (Eph. 4:7-12).  How do we treat the gifts that Jesus gives us?  Many people are ignorant of the stress and sacrifices that go along with the call into vocational ministry.  They have the attitude, "He chose to do this for his life.  Why should I help him out when no one helped me out?"  Other people do not view the office of pastor as a professional position deserving respect, one that he spent years of schooling and money preparing to do.  Instead, they see it as a work-for-hire one.  I have sat in the local restaurant and heard it said, "We hired him, and we can fire him." 

The apostle Paul, on the other hand, wrote about pastors, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor [should be respected and paid well - New Living; should be considered worthy of an ample honorarium - Holman Christian Standard] , especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,”^[a] and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (New King James Version)

One pastoral counselor recently wrote that pastors are going through a dry season in our country.  Instead of working in opposition, church leaders, congregants, and pastors need to build bridges toward each other in love, respect, and unity.



What Can I Do?

Consider writing or emailing your pastor an encouraging note.  Remember that hand-written ones tend to show more thought than emails.  Pray for your pastor and his family regularly.  One year on my birthday, a good friend told me that he decided to fast and pray the entire day in honor of my birthday, interceding on my behalf.  Ask God to show you a specific, tangible way to show love to a pastor or church staff member in your life.

Years ago, Focus on the Family began encouraging churches to recognize their pastors in special ways during the month of October.  Focus on the Family's website for pastors offers some great helps in planning ways to appreciate your pastor(s) during the month of October.  Check it out here.  They also offer a Guide to Clergy Appreciation Month.

And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!  (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)