Reminiscing on the Team Work

I start this blog with a prayer request – pray for your pastor!  On September 20^th, Friday, at 9 am I will be standing in front of panel for an assessment, “defending” my doctoral thesis.  I had waited for this moment over 6 years. 

Preparing for the project assessment I am reading through my work, and can’t help but feel nostalgic about the teamwork we had developing in 2005-2009.  From a personal ministries convention in Windsor led by Eustace Williams in 2005, focusing all churches on the need to evangelize unentered counties, and territories in Western Ontario, leading to district-wide campmeetings, to pastors coming together to offer training in different churches, so their talents would be shared by all.

I have not given up the dream for such a teamwork.  It is a biblical mandate – the doctrine of unity – the eschatological necessity for churches to work together!  So, I invite you to pray for unity, for cooperation, for teamwork, among pastors, ministries and church departments, and among churches.  Pray that our shared vision would be greater than a single church, greater than one individual ministry.  Our goal is the Kingdom of God for which all churches and ministries are to work together!

As we enter this new fiscal school year, we feel the need for alignment, teamwork and cooperation even more with the ACES church school moving into our facility.  Teamwork often goes against individualistic self-expression, because it is about common goal, and not self.  The invitation of Jesus to FOLLOW Him is based on self-denial (Mat.16:24)  and, as pastor Bob Winsor emphasized in his sermon last Sabbath, it has to happen daily (Luke 9:23) “deny yourself, pick up your cross daily!”  This week as I ordered the week of prayer reading I was blessed to see the general title “And they FOLLOWED Him!”   I just finished reading “I am a follower” by Leonard Sweet, and ordered the new Adventist book on leadership “As I follow Christ.”  This revival of emphasis on following Jesus is also a reminder of the teamwork, as we ALL follow the SAME Jesus!  We are going together toward the same destination, following the same leader – Jesus Christ, and that makes us a team!

This year’s evangelistic harvest series will be a team effort of 10 pastors working together in London, each presenting reasons to believe.  Pray for the planning and preparation.  Are you also a team-player?  How’s our teamwork?

Looking into the future for our church

Elders met together last Monday of summer, prayerfully considering what changes we dream for as the outgrowth of the revival.  This week Sabbath School affirms that true revival produces reformation.  This is how you know that a revival took place – things change for the better!  Consider stories in the Bible of kings who led the nation of Israel through the revival.  Things moved from bad to better, from good to great.  A revival and reformation moved people closer to God.

I listened to elders talk and jotted down notes, trying to capture the hope we all have that one day, soon and very soon, our church family will be the Body of Christ it was designed to be, filled with people who are:

-          compassionate for others

-           living to GIVE and not to GET

-          excited about this church family, united

-          genuinely caring for the Gospel mission

-          totally involved and invested in God’s Kingdom

-          relevant to community needs.

As we considered commonly used excuses from those who do not come around, like “I don’t need to go to church to have a relationship with God,” or “as long as you are a good person, you don’t need to belong to any denomination;” we wish that our following Christ, as leaders, as members of this church would be so evident, that people would want to belong to this Body of Christ, that people would see the benefit of church in developing and growing the relationship with God.

We understand that “the bare product” of our church is not programs or events, but genuine following Jesus. That’s what people want to see.  As we consider the new generation coming of age, we recognize that they want to see or journey, not hear our dogma.  So, we will endeavor in every meeting to create a space where people, young and old, can safely exploit their questions, doubts, concerns, without fear of ridicule or judgment.  We see our church becoming a place where no conversation is off limits, where we all listen, all are engaged in dialogue, before we attempt to give answers or teach.  And if we teach, we will teach what we learned from Jesus as we follow Him daily.

As we move into this new fiscal school year, as kids enroll in schools, let’s remember we are all students-disciples, we are all followers of Jesus.  His words were simple “follow Me!”

10 Things Pastors Wish Their Congregations Would Do

As I am away on vacation and will see you all in a month time, I wanted to share my wish list.  It is best expressed in points outlined by Dave Gemmel, NAD  Ministerial director.

1. Pray for your pastor. The pastor is the spiritual catalyst for the church. That makes the pastor a great big target for the enemy. Pray for the pastor’s spiritual health, for protection, for wisdom. The most affirming words that a pastor ever hears is “pastor, I’m praying for you everyday.” Romans 15:30, 2 Corinthians 1:11.

2. Affirm your pastor.  Pastoring may be one of the most difficult jobs in the world these days. Pastors live in a highly concentrated environment where they see the results of sin on a daily basis through caring for humanity. While the average person may see a death, injury, illness, or family conflict occasionally, the pastor lives through these things on a weekly basis. Those little notes saying ‘pastor, you’re making a difference,’ may be the very thing that helps your pastor make it through another day.  Acts 4:36

3. Bless the pastoral family.  Pastoral stress leaks into families and is enough to test all the family bonds. Add to it a few wild expectations about how a pastoral spouse and pastoral kids are supposed to behave and you have a recipe for a family meltdown. Bless the spouse & the kids. Return a faithful tithe so that the pastor is secure in getting a regular paycheck. 1 Corinthians 9.14

4. Release the pastor from constant ministry so renewal can take place. Pastors who go 24/7 for days, weeks, and months on end will inevitably self destruct. Mandate that your pastor takes weekly breaks for spiritual renewal as well as annual extended breaks for study leave and vacation. It is a small price to pay for the rich spiritual energy that results. Matthew 14:23

5. Talk with your pastor, not about or around. Complaining about the pastor to someone else is corrosive for the entire church family. Writing anonymous critical notes to the pastor are acts of spiritual terrorism (by the way pastors just thrown them in the trash can without reading them). Follow Matthew 18: 15-17 principle: if there is a problem, talk directly to the pastor. If no resolution found, bring a spiritual leader with you to seek resolution. And only then, if resolution is not found, bring together a larger group to dialog with the pastor. Challenge privately. Affirm publicly.  

6. Forgive your pastor for falling short of your expectations; because no pastor will perfectly satisfy your ideals. Remember that your vision of what a pastor should be is unique to you. Everyone else in the congregation also has unique expectations. Many of the expectations are mutually exclusive.  Your pastor will also make some mistakes. Extend to your pastor the same grace that God extends to you. If your pastor knows that he/she practices ministry in a safe, grace filled congregation where stagnancy is deplored, church will be transformed.  Matthew 18:21,22.

7. Feed yourself spiritually.  Don’t expect to live on a limited spiritual diet of thirty minute weekly sermons. Going seven days without eating makes one weak. Even with the best sermons you will spiritually starve to death.  The role of the shepherd is not to stick grass in the mouths of sheep but to lead the sheep to green pastures. As you listen to the sermons your pastor preaches be inspired to get into the word yourself everyday in prayer filled Bible Study. Psalm 23:2     

8. Bond with a small group.  Don’t expect the primary pastoral care to come from the pastor. It is mathematically impossible, and primary care is not his/her role. Regular spiritual support occurs in small groups. When you are plugged into a weekly small group you will grow together, pray for one another, care for one another, and support one another through all the ups and downs of life. The pastoral staff and lay pastors can serve as a safety net for those not in small groups as well as care for those in life transitions.  Matthew 18:20

9. Follow Jesus. The pastor is not the CEO of the congregation, that role is reserved for Jesus. Take your cue from the pastor in being a follower and follow after Jesus. Following Jesus things will be different. Help the pastor flesh out the vision and then do your part to turn the vision into reality. Hebrews 13:17

10. Exercise your spiritual gifts. Pastoral gifts don’t do much by themselves. However if you let those catalytic gifts energize your gifts, you will come alive spiritually.  Let the pastor equip you so that your church family can reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure the fullness of Christ. Take advantage of the teaching and ministry opportunities at your church. Place yourself in optimal places for spiritual growth. Ephesians 4:11,12

Revival for witnessing

As I read through the Sabbath School lesson this week I was asking myself “how seriously do we want the revival?”  the word is used and abused, mostly for personal gain.  Biblical concept of “revival” is about putting on Christ (Col 3:10; Gal 3:27), being born anew, being revived by the Spirit for a new life (Rom 8:11).  Revival is about receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is not for selfish use, but to be witnesses.

Do you want a revival?  Do you want to be a witness?  These are synonymous!  The ancient Biblical Greek word for witness was “martyros” from which our English word martyr is derived. Followers of Jesus were martyrs for the sake of witness. Followers of Jesus began their day with a prayer “Lord Jesus, what is my cross today?”

I want you to think of the Cross of Jesus.  In the words of apostle Paul “I die daily” (1 Cor 15:31).  On the cross our self dies, success dies, leadership abilities die.  OUR strength – nailed to the cross, OUR desires – nailed to the same cross!  OUR weaknesses – nailed to the cross.  We sing “I love to tell the story...”  What stories do we love to tell?  Mostly stories about our success, about our happiness, about our deeds....Is that really the witness???

I love to tell the story...of Jesus and His love.  Revival by the Spirit brings us to the cross, where we see the right perspective, where things of this world grow dim, where burdens and anxieties of materialism are tossed away.  At the cross we are invited to die to self.

Leonard Sweet, a theological poet, in his reflection on being the follower, has a chapter entitled “from ‘show me the money’ to ‘count the cost.’  He asks a question of how many would pay attention to a call “sell your dream house and follow me [Jesus] into this lower-income neighbourhood.”  Most western Christians would never dream that God may ask such a thing.  He challenges modern Christian to be cross-bearers, and not cross-wearers.  In our Adventist culture of simplicity, modesty, born from the holiness movement of 19^th century, we do not wear jewelry, even if it’s shaped as a cross.  But do we carry the cross of Jesus? Do we witness?  Do we go where Jesus goes?

We don’t take over Jesus’ ministry now that he is gone.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit He is still here, being sent, going, in His Body, the Church being Christ to the world. Witnessing we are called to is not an abstract stories telling about doctrinal statements, it’s more that carrying His words.  Witnessing is being Christ to the world around us, it is to embody His life in us, and show His face.

Be revived for such a witness, for Christ to be formed in you!