Today’s Buzz: Football, Real Pastors of Genius, Front Row Church Seats, and Valid Reasons to L
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Thu, September 20, 2007
- Viewed 155
- (18) comments so far
Bible and Football
Are you ready for some ... Bible study? A glance at the bulletin for the Pleasant Valley church in Little Rock, Ark., reveals a full schedule of Monday Night Football — and a full slate of faith-based discussions before kickoff. “The Power of Service” is the topic when the Redskins play the Eagles. “Good News and Good Deeds” precedes the Titans and Saints. Cowboys versus Bills? That’s “Casting the Vision” night. The men’s ministry at Pleasant Valley has hosted game-night Bible studies for at least 10 years, said Jason Donoho, a church member who coordinates the weekly meetings. More here...
Real Pastors of Genius
Today we salute you “Pastors who download their sermons off the internet and read them verbatim.” You share those funny illustrations like they actually happened to you. O’ master of the keyword, you’ve even opted for the pro-subscription with the matching powerpoint and video vignette. You are bold to tell your staff that 2-days a week are devoted to sermon preparation, but you’ve figured out that in 5 minutes you can pull down someone else’s work. Original greek? Not for you- more like original geek - cause you’ve memorized all the central pastor sermon urls. Some may ask “Don’t you have any original thoughts or words for our congregation?” The answer, “Of course I do, I picked a great sermon out of the list.” Now you too can wake up on Sunday morning when your congregation does, show up 5 minutes before, and feel refreshed and ready to read. Here’s to you “Pastors who download their sermons off the internet and read them verbatim.” (OK if you don’t get this, then you haven’t been getting enough football with your Bible lately) Sarcastic, but funny from here.
Synagogue Deal of a Lifetime Auction
The Dallas News reports: Just in time for the Jewish high holidays, two lifetime front-row seats to services at a synagogue here are being auctioned off on eBay. The bidding starts at $1.8 million. Besides getting to schmooze up front with the rabbi, the lucky winner’s family name will be engraved on Seats 1 and 2 of Row 1, Section DD, at Temple Emanu-El. The winner also will receive free parking, two custom-made prayer shawls and yarmulkes, and a hefty tax write-off. Plus, the winning bidder can pass the seats down to his or her children. “It’s a gift that goes from one generation to another,” said Rabbi Kliel Rose, who came up with the concept with a little bit of chutzpah and the help of two congregants who work in advertising and marketing. More here. (Thanks Kirk for the heads up).
What VALID Reasons Are There For Leaving a Church?
Voice of the Sheep asks the question. I’d love to hear your answer. They write, “What valid reason(s) can you give me for a pastor who is serving at one church to leave that church and go to another church. Let me go ahead and eliminate some of the obvious reasons, such as excommunication, being fired, leaving to start a new sister church with the support of the current one, a change in theological beliefs which run counter to your current denomination (either a change on your part or the church’s), and the dissolution of your present church (notice how only one of the reasons I came up with is positive?). Beyond these, can anyone offer any viable explanations for a pastor leaving one flock for another? And merely saying, “being called by God to another church”, is not going to satisfy my question. I am sola Scriptura all the way, so there will have to be some biblical basis for any other reasons that I am willing to accept. I am not saying there are no other reasons, just that I can’t think of any (biblical ones, that is).” Well???? Let’s hear it! (Leave your comment below).
That’s it for today… have a great one!
Todd
In today's buzz, we'll talk about merging Bible and football; real pastors of genius, a synagogue that is auctioning off lifetime front row seats; and really... are there valid reasons why pastors go from church to church?
Comments
if you want a Globally Recognized Avatar (the images next to your profile) get them here. Once you sign up, they will displayed on any website that supports them.
Stewart on Thu, September 20, 2007
On good reasons to leave… how about “Honor thy father and mother”? Many young pastors (like myself) serve churches far away from home. I can imagine at some point God calling me closer to either my parents or my in-laws in order to take better care of them as they age.
On auctioning seats - most churches I know could auction the back rows - not the front. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
Jan on Thu, September 20, 2007
I think a valid reason could be that you are in a congregation that will not recognize or follow your leadership.
If you can no longer move forward in ministry… that is reaching the lost, authentic worship, etc. I think that could be a sign that it’s time to go.
Another is lack of provision. If you can’t provide for your family, it may be time to go.
Jan on Thu, September 20, 2007
Got another one. We left a ministry for the sake of our children.
It was a cross cultural situation, and the youth influence was very negative.
We felt that our children would be adversely affected and that our priority should be to them first.
Mark Broadbent on Thu, September 20, 2007
Hi Todd
To be honest, I am disappointed this one isn’t more obvious…
I CAN MAKE DISCIPLES BETTER SOMEWHERE ELSE
One of the big problems with pastors is that we believe we should be faithful to an institution or an organisation. The Bible doesn’t teach institutional or organisational faithfulness.
The truth is, if I am faithful to a church that is not making disciples, then I am being faithless to the mission that Jesus has given me.
Pastor Tony on Thu, September 20, 2007
I preached a sermon recently on the subject of leadership. A part of good leadership is follow-ship. I encouraged our congregation to do one of the following things when they find themselves at odds with the pastor / leadership….
1. Fire him. If he’s in doctrinal error (and unrepentant) or if he’s in personal moral failure (and unrepentant), then he needs to go. Congregations not only have the right, but the responsibility to terminate their pastor’s emplyment at this point.
2. Follow him anyway. It never ceases to amaze me how churches will say to a pastor, “You’re the man” when they vote for him. Then when he suggests even the slightest adjustment to schedule or program there is a big upheaval.
3. Find another church. You probably drove past several on your way to the one you’re sitting in today. And you’re welcome to visit one of those fine churches next week. You may NOT, however, stick around and cause dissension and discord (Prov. 6).
All of that to say….if that’s good advice for church members, it’s good advice for pastors.
One of the things I encourage men in ministry to consider is this: is this a church you would attend if you weren’t on the staff? If it isn’t, what are you doing there?
Peter Hamm on Thu, September 20, 2007
Mark,
The only problem with that is if you’re burnt out you might not see things clearly, move to a new church, love it for a while, get burnt out, then move on again, re-starting the cycle…
Also “The Bible doesn’t teach institutional or organisational faithfulness.” Considering all of what the Bible says about church structure, I just don’t think this is true.
Tony, I LOVE what you say, but again, we must be patient, and know that we shouldn’t make emotiona decisions in the heat of the moment…
slw on Thu, September 20, 2007
You’re crazy Todd. The Spirit led me to take another church is the ONLY biblically valid and spiritually obedient reason to move.
Leonard on Thu, September 20, 2007
Some times they have just finished what they were asked to do. There are many people whose strength is transitioning a church, healing a church after a split or crisis, helping a church get to a specific level or stage, when they are done they leave.
Sometimes a church simply outgrows a pastors ability to lead it.
metanoia on Thu, September 20, 2007
I will echo the thought that if you can make disciples better someplace else, then it may be time to go.
I would add that sometimes your part of God’s vision and plan has played itself out and it is time to allow someone else the opportunity to “take it to the next level.”
This is consistent with “apostolic” kinds of ministry where they plant, allow someone else to water and let God give the increase.
I served a church for 6 years. I felt all along that I was there for a reason. When I fulfilled the reason for my being there, I prayerfully asked the Lord for something else and sensed in a distinctive way that it was time to go and let someone else come in for the next phase of God’s plan.
Leonard on Thu, September 20, 2007
cause it gets hard
Gman on Thu, September 20, 2007
No one has cited one of the biggest ones especially for some poor youth pastors ...
The biblical principle that the worker is worth his wages .... And that some churches just pay poor and after years of no pay raise or not being able to provide for a growing family ... I’d say that might be one!
I’ve seen alot of churches low end on youth pastor salary and yet he or she has a family to support and their own expenses and all this for less than $25 0000 yr and their college loans ...
Something doesn’t seem right!
bobby on Thu, September 20, 2007
Tony,
A quick thought on something you said:
“...is this a church you would attend if you weren’t on the staff? If it isn’t, what are you doing there?”
At one point I agreed with this, but now so sure anymore. I think sometimes God may put us in a church that isn’t our ideal either to stretch us personally in some way, or because we have something to offer to that church to bring it closer to a church we would choose to attend.
Jeff on Fri, September 21, 2007
Well said, Bobby. My wife and I were talking months ago, and I launched into a list of things that I hope my next church has if/when I move. Eventually I caught myself, because basically I was saying that I hope all the hard work to get my future church to exhibit those things I thought it should exhibit would have already been done.
Peter on Fri, September 21, 2007
I’d agree with that last comment from Bobby. I know that some people are called to be on staff at a church they would not choose to attend - sometimes even a church that is dying. God calls people to places that we would not choose for ourselves and they’re not always what we’d consider (at the time) ideal. However, we can learn a lot from those experiences.
As for a valid reason, I think some of the above are valid - the leader has accomplished what God called him to that place to do, the people are not willing to follow (in which case he’s not leading), and sometimes people are just told to step down for a while to take care of other business (family being an excellent example).
—
Regarding the synagogue seating - while the price is outrageous, from what I understand of synagogues, this is a somewhat common practice. I seem to recall reading an article in a local paper discussing this with the coming of their holy days.
—
With regards to the sarcastic take on pastors who take other people’s material and preach it - the practice of that just makes me sad. I have been blessed to have pastors who make it very clear that they do not do this. They use illustrations, jokes, current events, etc. but are relatively clear that they were not the original source. When they give personal accounts, you can tell that it actually happened because they were involved. I just don’t know how those people can do that. I’d rather have a pastor get up and say that he didn’t prepare a message and just turn over to a time of worship and prayer than have him preach someone else’s words or worse, “let the Spirit lead today”.
Good insights for this day and lots of stuff to comment on. Thanks for the thoughts.
Pastor Steve Nestor on Mon, September 24, 2007
When your back is against the wall, it is easy to cut and run. If you firmly believe that God has placed you where you are, then stay put. I have been fighting the urge to leave my current church for months due to the people’s lack of response to my efforts, but God keeps telling me to stand my ground. One by one, the trouble makers are leaving, as God cleans house. Unfortunately, they will land someplace else and become some other pastors problem. I’ll pray for him or her, as I will those who depart.
Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >
Post a Comment