Pastoral Pitfalls and Pitiful Pastors

A few years after I had left the ministry, a co-worker came and asked if I wouldn’t mind talking and praying for her friend who was going through a challenging time. I wasn’t a pastor any longer – I was working in the IT department at a local medical clinic – and I was far from the pulpit and far from giving this lady the advice I thought she deserved. Or so I felt.

Prior to this, I was employed as an associate pastor for a number of years, working in churches throughout Oregon, Iowa, and California. Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I loved, 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 and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt.

As I talked and prayed with this lady, I couldn’t stop thinking about the whys behind leaving the ministry. The whys – not just for me but for the countless pastors who resign or are handed their pink slips – are quite shocking.

It’s true that some pastors fall into temptation and yet others simply feel it’s their time to call it quits. But often it goes much deeper than that. And the stats reveal much.

Most pastors are overworked.

90% of pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week and 50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job.

And 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid.

Most pastors feel unprepared.

90% feel they are inadequately trained to cope with the ministry demands and 90% of pastors said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like before they entered the ministry.

Many pastors struggle with depression and discouragement.

70% of pastors constantly fight depression and 50% of pastors feel so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Wait, this is huge. Let’s pause here for a moment.

This means that half of the 1,700 or so pastors who leave the ministry each monthhave no other way of making a living. Their education and experience is wrapped up solely in the work of the ministry.

So, not only do pastors struggle with their choice to leave ministry, they have to worry about how they are going to feed their families.

Speaking of families, most pastor’s families are negatively impacted.

80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. 80% of spouses feel the pastor is overworked and feel left out and under-appreciated by church members.

Many pastors are lonely.

70% do not have someone they consider a close friend and 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.

And then there is this:

50% of the ministers starting out will not last 5 years. 1 out of every 10 ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form. And 4,000 new churches begin each year while 7,000 churches close.

The statistics speak for themselves. Working in ministry – whether you’re a full-time pastor or a lay minister balancing a job and a church – can be challenging. Families suffer, discouragement and depression – amongst a gamut of other things – runs like a river in the lives of those who sacrifice their own life to the cause of the church.

This is the reason why we started ExPastors.com – as a way to explore the whys behind people leaving the ministry and to provide support and encouragement for those who have left or are considering calling it quits. Read some articles. Share your own story. And let the conversation begin.

Source: Studies compiled by the Schaeffer Institute

HONOR

Let's first define the word "honor. "

hon·or

ˈänər/

noun

1. high respect; esteem.

"his portrait hangs in the place of honor"

synonyms:distinction, recognition, privilege,glory, kudos, cachet, prestige, merit,credit; More

2. a privilege.

"the great poet of whom it is my honor to speak tonight"

synonyms:privilege, pleasure, pride, joy; More

verb

1. regard with great respect.

"Joyce has now learned to honor her father's memory"

synonyms:esteem, respect, admire, defer to, look up to; More

2. fulfill (an obligation) or keep (an agreement).

"make sure the franchisees honor the terms of the contract"

synonyms:fulfill, observe, keep, obey, heed,follow, carry out, discharge,implement, execute, effect.

Honor is not earned, honor is freely given. Proverbs15:33 says "Fear of the Lord teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor." You cannot demand honor but you can choose to give it even when it is not reciprocated. In fact if you look at Proverbs 15:33 again you would notice that humility preceeds honor. We also find the same pattern in Proverbs 18:12 where it says; Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor. Isn't that interesting? Humility first, then honor! Honor is given not based upon your age, your experience, titles earned, but rather upon how God sees us. When we honor people's gifts and callings rather than their flesh we have a much greater appreciation for them because that's how God sees them. When we look at the flesh then that taints our view of the person and that causes us to put them into a box in our thinking toward them. 2 Corinthians 5:16 tells us "So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!"

Look at Matthew 10:4 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. Both prophet and righteous men are mentioned in this verse. I believe that the prophet is representing the "five fold ministry" in Ephesians 4:11 and the"righteous man" in this verse represents the body of Christ or the church. The point is that, as you honor people in the ministry or in the pew, you recieve back that same honor that you are giving out.

Sometimes we confuse honor with recognition. When we demand recognition because we are feeling dishonored, we can easily be offended. If we don't honor ourselves, then it's going to be very difficult to give honor to others. When you look in the mirror today, take a good look at rely man or woman of God, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You are anointed, gifted and called so walk in honor of this knowledge. Then when you walk out your door and see others, give them the same honor by seeing them as God sees them. Learn to become an honorable person.--by Pastor Randall Burton

All scripture is taken from the New Living Translation

What Should You Do When Your Plans Seem Hindered?

1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

Have you ever pursued something that you believed was God’s will, yet obstacles seemed to keep you from doing what you thought you were supposed to do? If you have, don’t feel alone, because many people have been in that same position! Even the apostle Paul felt this way from time to time! But what should you do in times like these?

Today I want you to particularly notice the word “hindered” in the verse above. It comes from the Greek word egkopto, an old word that was originally used to describe a road so deteriorated and broken up that it was impassable.

Have you ever driven down a road on your way to your destination, only to discover that the road you’re driving on is too full of ruts and holes to continue your journey? As a result, you have to turn around, go back, and find another route to get where you are going. Well, that is exactly the image the word egkopto portrays to us!

Paul uses this word to describe hindering forces that kept him from going to see the Thessalonians. There is no doubt that this means Paul was on his way to see them — not once, he says, but twice. But the journey became so filled with danger and unexpected bumps that Paul had to turn around, go back, and rethink his strategy on how he was going to get to the church at Thessalonica. Can you think of a time when you encountered something like this in your own journey?

But the word egkopto means even more than this! It was also used in Greek times in an athletic sense. It was used to portray the moment when a runner comes alongside another runner and literally elbows him out of the race. Although the second runner was running a good race, he is shoved out of the way by the aggression of his fellow runner. As a result of this action, the runner who was elbowed loses the leading edge he previously held.

This categorically means that Paul understood Satan’s tactics. The enemy had tried to make use of dangerous and unexpected bumps along the way to throw Paul off track and to elbow him out of his spiritual race. In fact, Paul was convinced that Satan had specifically engineered these unforeseen and unanticipated hassles to keep him from getting to the Thessalonian church.

When these two ideas are combined together, the primary idea of the word “hindered” becomes that of an impasse so severe that it prohibits you from going where you need to go or an aggressor who unkindly elbows you off course in your spiritual race.

Paul is actually saying:

“...Satan created an impasse that kept me from coming to see you.”

“...Satan put obstructions in my path to prevent me from getting to you.”

“...Satan cut in on me and prohibited me from visiting you as
I wanted to do.”

“...Satan tried to elbow his way in on me to keep me from
coming to see you.”

When something happens that seems to prohibit you from doing the will of God, remember that you are not the first to encounter such difficulties. Others have been in the same quandary. In time, however, the devil’s attack ceased, and the way for them to move ahead became clear. In the same way, you can be sure that God is going to empower you and give you the wisdom you need to get where you need to go!

Don’t despair — the story isn’t over yet! Don’t throw in the towel and give in just because you’ve hit some kind of impasse. The devil has never had the last word on anything, and he isn’t going to have the last word on this situation either. Regardless of what the devil has tried to do, it’s time for you to remember that what God promised SHALL come to pass as you hold fast to your faith in Him!--by Rick Renner (Sparkling Gems)

15 Keys of a 'Make it Happen' Team Culture

All of us want to be part of a team that is successful, accomplishes goals and gets things done. But a “make it happen” team culture is only possible if we, as individuals and leaders, are truly committed to do our part in helping create that team culture.
So here are 15 keys I’ve found for how each of us can contribute to that end:

1. Your yes is yes, and your no is no. Do what you say you will do.

2. You take responsibility before being told.

3. Solve problems, and create solutions. Always. Instead of creating problems and delaying solutions.

4. Show up early—for everything. As I tell our team: If you are early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late.

5. Always leave meetings with action items and clear next steps.

6. No blaming others.

7. Place a priority on execution, not concepts, moving always toward completion and the finish line rather than just another idea.

8. Create small, nimble teams who work together—no more than three people on a project.

9. Distribute clear lines of authority throughout the organization, always directly connected to responsibility and authority.

10. Encourage working together. Constantly create a collaborative spirit and environment.

11. Model a high trust factor. I have to admit, this one is difficult for me. The “I’ll just do it myself” mentality doesn’t help. 

12. Keep a consistent “leaning in” posture and spirit. Desire to learn, always get better and constantly improve.

13. The leader leads. Whoever the organizational/team leader is, they have to model all of these. Walk the walk, and talk the talk.

14. Let it permeate from the bottom up. A make-it-happen team may have a strong alpha leader, but if the team fears but doesn’t respect that leader, it won’t work. Bottom-up means mutual respect across the organization.

15. Meetings are the exception, not the norm. Meetings for meetings' sake are killing most organizations. Only schedule a meeting if you absolutely have to. And there is nothing wrong with that. But I've found quick stand-up meetings, hall run-ins and collaborative conversations to be way more productive.

KINGDOM THINKING

Kingdom Thinking

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)

By the time you're 17 years old, you heard no, you can't, an average of 150,000 times. You've heard "yes you can," about 5,000 times. That's 30 nos for every yes. That makes for a powerful belief of "I can't." From the book The Answer by John Assraf and Murray Smith

Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding California has remarked, "The Father is much better than we think so we need to change the way we think." I believe this to be an accurate statement.  How we see others and even ourselve is very important in how we conduct our lives. I believe that if we could just change one culture in our life it would set us on a path to health and freedom. That culture is a culture of HONOR! When we begin to see ourselves and others the way that God sees us it will change our value system and align us with the Heavenly Fathers values.

How do you see yourself? How do you see others? Maybe it's time for a change.

The Brain And Spirituality

Thicker brain sections tied to spirituality: studyBy Andrew M. Seaman | Reuters – Mon, 30 Dec, 2013

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For people at high risk of depression because of a family history, spirituality may offer some protection for the brain, a new study hints.

Parts of the brain's outer layer, the cortex, were thicker in high-risk study participants who said religion or spirituality was "important" to them versus those who cared less about religion.

"Our beliefs and our moods are reflected in our brain and with new imaging techniques we can begin to see this," Myrna Weissman told Reuters Health. "The brain is an extraordinary organ. It not only controls, but is controlled by our moods."

Weissman, who worked on the new study, is a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University and chief of the Clinical-Genetic Epidemiology department at New York State Psychiatric institute.

While the new study suggests a link between brain thickness and religiosity or spirituality, it cannot say that thicker brain regions cause people to be religious or spiritual, Weissman and her colleagues note in JAMA Psychiatry.

It might hint, however, that religiosity can enhance the brain's resilience against depression in a very physical way, they write.

Previously, the researchers had found that people who said they were religious or spiritual were at lower risk of depression. They also found that people at higher risk for depression had thinning cortices, compared to those with lower depression risk.

The cerebral cortex is the brain's outermost layer made of gray matter that forms the organ's characteristic folds. Certain areas of the cortex are important hubs of neural activity for processes such as sensory perception, language and emotion.

For the new study, the researchers twice asked 103 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 how important religion or spirituality was to them and how often they attended religious services over a five-year period.

In addition to being asked about spirituality, the participants' brains were imaged once to see how thick their cortices were.

All the participants were the children or grandchildren of people who participated in an earlier study about depression. Some had a family history of depression, so they were considered to be at high risk for the disorder. Others with no history served as a comparison group.

Overall, the researchers found that the importance of religion or spirituality to an individual - but not church attendance - was tied to having a thicker cortex. The link was strongest among those at high risk of depression.

"What we're doing now is looking at the stability of it," Weissman said.

Her team is taking more images of the participants' brains to see whether the size of the cortex changes with their religiosity or spirituality.

"This is a way of replicating and validating the findings," she said. "That work is in process now."

Dr. Dan Blazer, the J.P. Gibbons Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, said the study is very interesting but is still exploratory.

"I think this tells us it's an area to look at," Blazer, who was not involved in the new study, said. "It's an area of interest but we have to be careful."

For example, he said there could be other areas of the brain linked to religion and spirituality. Also, spirituality may be a marker of something else, such as socioeconomic status.

Blazer added that it's an exciting time, because researchers are actively looking at links between the brain, religion and risk of depression.

"We've seen this field move from a time when there were virtually no studies done at all," he said.

Weissman said the mind and body are intimately connected.

"What this means therapeutically is hard to say," she added.

Dealing With Wrong Attitudes the Right Way Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. — James 1:21

Today I would like to draw your attention to the words “lay apart” in the verse above. These words are taken from the Greek word apotithimi, a compound of the words apo and tithimi. The word apo means away, and the word tithimi means to place or to lay something down. When these two words are compounded together, it gives a picture of someone who is laying something down at the same time he is pushing it far away from himself. Therefore, this compound word means to lay something down and to push it far away and beyond reach.

An example would be a person who is about to sinfully indulge in eating too much pie but suddenly realizes what he is doing. So instead of diving into the extra piece of pie and eating it, he chooses instead to lay it back down on the table; then he deliberately shoves it away from himself lest he should overindulge one time too many! He lays it down, and he pushes it away. This is the idea of the word apotithimi James uses when he tells us to “lay apart” all filthiness in our lives. But there is another very important meaning to this word in the New Testament!

In New Testament times, the word apotithimi was frequently used to describe someone taking off his dirty clothes at the end of the day. How do you deal with your dirty clothes at the end of the day? You take them off and put them away in the clothes hamper! Now James uses this illustration to explain how you must deal with wrong attitudes and actions in your own life. Just as you wouldn’t go to bed in dirty clothes at night, neither should you go to bed with wrong attitudes. You must deal with them like an old set of filthy clothes. You have to decide to get rid of those bad attitudes!

James 1:21 could be interpreted to mean:

“You must make the choice to remove those filthy, stinking garments
from your life, to permanently lay them down and then deliberately
push them out of your range forever.…”

Also, it’s important to realize that dirty clothes don’t fall off your body by accident! To get them off, you have to push the buttons through the button holes, unzip the zipper, and slip the clothes off your arms and legs one piece at a time. Dirty clothes don’t automatically come off just because you realize they are dirty. They will come off only if you do something to remove them! This is exactly what James has in mind when he tells us to “lay apart” all filthiness from our lives.

When James says to “lay apart” all filthiness from our lives, he is telling us to first acknowledge what is wrong and then to take appropriate measures to remove those areas from our lives. If you are going to get free and stay free, it won’t happen by accident. You must start taking steps to remove those negative things from your life — to lay them down and push them so far away that you’ll never be able to reach them again!

Are you struggling with a sin today? Does a wrong attitude keep trying to conquer your life? If so, you must begin to look at that sin or wrong attitude like an old set of filthy clothes that isn’t worthy for you to wear anymore. Make the decision to step out of every destructive area of your life that has held you captive. Once you make that decision, the Holy Spirit will give you the power to carry it out! --By Rick Renner