I have an unapologetic bias for Adventist Education (Please keep reading:) ). In fact I believe that every Adventist parent should send their children to Adventist school with only a few exceptions: 1.) A child with a learning disability in which the local Adventist school does not have adequate resources to attend to. 2.) A child with a social or mental disability that can cause harm or disruption to other students in the class that again can not be attended to at the local Adventist school. 3.) No Adventist school within reasonable proximity of the family, this is rare for elementary aged kids. 4.) A family cannot financially afford to send their child to an Adventist school. This would be a family that has no cable TV, used cars, no cell phones, and in which the local church provides no financial assistance (in which case I believe the pastor and congregations of said churches will be held accountable by God!). Other than those exceptions if you are Adventist and you have school aged children I believe they should be in Adventist schools (I include home schooling by Adventist parents to be AdEd as well) Why? I’m glad you asked! (Keep reading if for no other reason than to confirm why you believe I am wrong and to tell me so).
The first reason, and reason that supercedes all others, and should be enough for each of us, but usually is not (so I will cover others later) because they teach the things we believe in Biblically! Notice what I did not say, I did not say that they practice everything we believe Biblically! I wish this were true, but I know it is at times not. Someone may ask, “Why would I send my child to a school that doesn’t practice what I believe?” Well if this thought disqualifies an Adventist school than you have already had a jump in logic. Because sending your child to a public school or Christian school that is not Seventh-day Adventist is also a school that doesn’t practice everything you believe, so that disqualifies that argument. But back to my original point, I believe it is imperative for our kids to be in environments where their brains are being engaged with our doctrine and not another doctrine or no doctrine at all. Yes, our schools are not perfect and unfortunately don’t always practice what they preach, but they still are most in line with Biblical truth as we as Seventh-day Adventists understand truth! To understand this concept let us think quickly of the Israel of the Old Testament. Now how often did these people disappoint God? The answer would be, about every other page! Yet how often did God tell the people to forget about Israel, to find someone else, to start a new group that was separate from them? The answer would be, NEVER. Why? Because as wrong as the Israelites were, the reality is that God’s truth and God’s special blessing still resided with those people. If our theology is that we believe the Adventist church has the End Time Message then almost without exception our kids should be in a place where they are regularly engaged in that truth. Another example would be the story of Samuel (I have Kim Thompson to thank for this point): If you read in 1st Samuel the story of when Samuel was sent to the temple for his education as a future prophet for the Lord, you will see that young Samuel was sent to a place that really didn’t represent the Lord. The priest at the time Eli, had two sons that were very poor examples for the Lord. They were bad examples for young Samuel, they did not practice what was preached, and yet, God still had Hannah send Samuel her Son to the temple that was “wicked” but where God still chose to reside with His truth (1 Samuel 1-3). I can hear a parent maybe responding, “Well the non-SDA Christian school is MORE CHRISTIAN than our Adventist school.” Isn’t a statement like this then putting the parent in the position of God deciding what areas of truth are most important and which are not as necessary? Parents we have a responsibility to our kids to teach them continually the truths of God (Deut. 6 & 11 are examples of this reality), if our kids are not with us for 7 or 8 hours a day does this mean we abandon that responsibility during those hours or do we put them in places in which they will still be surrounded by these truths?
Adventist schools teach the things that are most in line with my understanding of Biblical truth, that is enough for me, and I would hope for others based on the above, but if not here are a few other realities about Adventist Education.
Academically Adventist schools are superior: Now I want to just be honest with you, I feel that academic achievement has much more to do with parents than schools. I honestly believe that I could send my children to just about any school and achieve academic success. Studies in fact show this to be true. (For a great analysis of this truth read Malcolm Gladwell’s: Outliers). That said, what role schools do play I want them in a good academic school, it doesn’t have to be the best, because again as a parent I believe Christina and I are the most important factors in the success of our children scholastically, but I still want a good school. So do Adventist schools qualify as good schools? Recently the Christian Science Monitor, a non-Adventist publication published the following article: “For Real Education Reform, Take a Cue From the Adventists” This study actually shows that our holistic approach to Academics: Mind, Body, & Spirit help to bridge the gaps that exist for kids that come from impoverished homes & or communities and schools. More than 50,000 students were observed in this study and here are a couple things they found:
“In each subject category, students attending Adventist schools scored higher than the national average. They also scored higher than their expected achievement based on assessment of individual ability – a factor few other schools measure.”
“One of our most dramatic findings is that students who transferred to Adventist schools saw a marked improvement in academic achievement. The more years a student attended an Adventist school, the more his or her performance improved.”
Both those findings are pretty significant! Here are some hard numbers to put this in concrete terms:
I can state for a fact that in our little Sierra View Junior Academy here in the Central Valley we find these exact same results. The longer a child has attended Sierra View the higher they score in comparison to the rest of the nation in standardized testing. Right now someone may be saying, “well that wasn’t the case with my child”, or “I know someone who…” Yes, we all know someone who! Remember these are the averages which means that there are children that score above and children that score below.
Here is another interesting thing that studies have found. Children that attend small rural schools with very insignificant budgets and the inability to provide all the bells and whistles for their students still score higher than average students in other schools. In fact,
“students at Adventist schools that spend as little as $2,000 to $4,000 per pupil are roughly at the same achievement level as students in schools that spend as much as $12,000 per student.”
That statistic was shocking to me. Since I at times look at other non-Adventist Christian schools and have envy in my heart over the extra computer labs and study opportunities their kids have that mine may never have. Then I read a stat like that and I realize the extra money doesn’t add up to extra benefit for my child in the long run. Wow! This is good news considering 60% of Adventist schools are considered small schools by government standards.
Adventist schools also pay off for your kids academically in the long run!
Adventist Education is not perfect! But I have a 100% bias for Adventist Ed based on my religious convictions, but even without those convictions I believe the statistics back up my bias.
What do you say?
I don’t know if you heard, but Osama Bin Laden is dead. If you haven’t heard I am wondering how you are reading this since you must live in a cave! Well I have some thoughts on the death of Osama Bin Laden that I wanted to share with y’all.
- I am saddened to see this event used as a political grab, although I am not surprised. I see people on Facebook thanking President George W. Bush. I see others thanking President Barack Obama. From a very literal perspective if you are going to credit any President we would have to credit President Obama. He made the call to run the operation to achieve the desired objective of putting to death Osama Bin Laden. George Bush had nothing to do with that call, we can all admit that, Obama did not call up Crawford, Texas and ask permission. But please folk lets not make this out to be some amazing thing that Obama did either. Any sitting President who had the information that Pres. Obama had would make that call. President Obama didn’t personally search for or find Bin Laden, he didn’t provide the tip that led to his demise, he didn’t pull the trigger of the weapon that shot Bin Laden. He made a phone call. If you were President and the objective of the last 10 years, “get Osama Bin Laden” was able to be completed you would have made the same call. It has nothing to do with Democrat (remember Bill Clinton tried to get Osama too and missed during his presidency) or Republican, it is the job and the duty of the sitting president. So lets not make this political! Can’t we just be content from a Nationalistic perspective with the reality that an enemy of the United States no longer exists to be our enemy?
- I am saddened to see celebration over the death of Osama Bin Laden. I am even more saddened that CHRISTIANS are celebrating! If we are to be examples of the Lord and our lives are to be a reflection of the Lord, then how does celebrating jive with this text? “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11) Did you read that? God takes NO PLEASURE in the death of the wicked. So why do we? I was once having a conversation with a friend of mine that is a fighter pilot. I asked him about dropping bombs on people, a statement he made in his response is profound and appreciated, “Chad, you sometimes see guys high-fiving and congratulating each other, but although I believe what I am doing is what I am supposed to be doing, I know I will have to give an account to God for my attitude about what I am doing. So I don’t do any celebrating because I know God doesn’t like to see people die no matter who it is.” I praise the Lord my friend feels that way! I understand that civil governments have responsibilites to protect people and the overall good of a nation, I accept this reality, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it, and I really hope I never get comfortable with it!
- Pastor Pete Wilson tweeted yesterday and wrote on his blog, “I wonder if I would have been as excited if the news had reported that Bin Laden had repented and accepted Christ as I was when I heard he had been killed?” I think it is a great question for us to think about. How would you have responded if Osama had come out and said, I have accepted Jesus as my Savior? Would people have been celebrating in Times Square and at The White House? If our answer is that we wouldn’t be celebrating this then we don’t have the heart of Christ! If we are thinking that this would be impossible or that God would never forgive a person like Bin Laden, then we don’t have the heart of Christ and we don’t know our Bibles! Can I remind you of a story in the book of Acts? In the book of Acts chapter 8 there is a story of a guy named Saul that ravaged the church. He approved of the execution of a Christian named Stephen (Act 8:1), he killed and imprisoned many other Christians (Acts 26:9-11). He struck fear into the leaders of the church even after his conversion (Acts 9:26). Saul was a TERRORIST!: “A person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims.” But then Saul had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus where he was going to kill more Christians, Jesus stopped him in his tracks and Saul became Paul the Apostle and his life was never the same and neither is the history of the church! (Acts 9). Osama Bin Laden to the best of our knowledge never accepted Jesus. But if he had we should have been celebrating, and what’s more, rather than praying for his capture, we should have been praying for his soul…I know I never did, and now it is too late!
Those are my thoughts. Do you agree? Disagree? What are your insights?
I was recently asked to share some thoughts at a Stewardship Committee meeting at our local conference office. One of my big messages was the way we ask for money, the words we use. They inspire no one. Often times we ask for money with such a negative outlook, “We need your money to keep the lights on!” or “Please give or else we won’t make budget!” We should be asking like we serve the God who owns the “cattle on a thousand hills.” We should ask like we believe God wants to do abundantly more than we could ever imagine with our finite offerings! That He wants to allow us to be a part of changing the WORLD! This video I think speaks to that!
So most folk know, or can find out pretty easily that Adventists live longer than most other people in this country and even in the world. Well it turns out there is an exception to the rule amongst Adventists, Me…well not actually just me, but Seventh-day Adventist Pastors. How crazy is that? The individuals leading the longest living people group die younger.
I wonder why? I have several theories of my own, but I will just share here what I think is the primary reason:
Any other pastors want to testify? 🙂
I recently listened to the book “Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive” by Patrick Lencioni. I have previously read, “Death by Meeting” and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” both books by Lencioni and both books I would highly recommend. Once again, Lencioni doesn’t disappoint! “Four Obsessions” is an excellent book and here is a quick summary of the Obsessions, to find out how to implement them get this book.
As I listened to the book it was very clear that these were not just obsessions, in fact a better word I believe would be “DISCIPLINES!” It takes discipline to operate in this way. It takes discipline to transition into this format. It takes discipline to stand up for a system like this that doesn’t accept status quo or people giving less than their best. It takes discipline to follow through. It takes discipline to not compromise because you “like” someone or are their “friend.” Of course being a disciple is in part to have a disciplined life.
I see definite areas where I as a leader need to grow in all four of the disciplines! And where I need to challenge the team we have here at Visalia Seventh-day Adventist to rise to this level. God is the best, He gave us His best in Jesus, and He deserves our best!
So here is what I am currently reading…
“The Bible…English Standard Version“…Primarily as of late the books of 1st & 2nd Timothy –God
“The Acts of the Apostles” —Ellen G. White
“Evangelism” –Ellen G. White
“How to Grow An Adventist Church” –Russell Burrill
“The Art of the Start” –Guy Kawasaki
“Church Planter” –Darrin Patrick
“Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.” –Ron Chernow
“Poke the Box” –Seth Godin
“Necessary Endings” –Henry Cloud
“Reality Check” –Guy Kawasaki
“Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” –David Platt
…Don’t be impressed I’m a really slow reader so I probably will be reading these same books for the rest of the year:)
Oh and I am also listening to…
“Four Obsessions of An Extraordinary Executive” –Patrick Lencioni
All but the first 4 titles and the Lencioni audio book, I am reading on my Kindle, which I love! Thank you Christina!
The church I work for is growing! There is a Kingdom movement happening that God is doing through the power of prayer that is just absolutely awesome to see! In two years we’ve gone from a church of around 300 (*corrected) active members to 500 active members (attending at least once a month). We have gone from average attendance of 200-225 (this included our children) to 350-400 each week (this doesn’t include our children whom have Children’s Church each week). When I got here there was a staff of three, I made four, we are now six. Our Children’s Pastor, Pastor Carron, a little over two years ago shared with me that she knew every kid’s name that attended our church. Two days ago she told me, “Chad I don’t know half the kids here. At first that made me sad, but now I love being able to share Jesus with sponges that have never heard about Him before.”!
Thus with all this growth there is change, because, “growth changes everything and everyone.” And with change there has been a change in communication and knowledge that individuals have about what is happening or going to happen in the church, I believe this has been one of the most frustrating realities for many within our church, especially those that have been a part of the church since it was 175 members (we are now at almost 730 members). So today I heard a great analogy from Pastor Larry Osborne from North Coast Church that I thought I would share with y’all:
A small church 50-150 (maybe even 200) is like a group of buddies on a golf outing. Everyone knows and can see exactly what is going on. Everyone is hitting for the most part similar shots. Everyone is talking about the shots being hit, there is constant interaction with everyone. But churches grow…
A larger church 150-350+ is like a basketball team. On a basketball team everyone knows all the plays. Even the people on the bench. But only a few will know exactly what everyone is supposed to do. Usually this is the point guard(s) (1 guard) and the coaching staff. The coach because he/she wrote the play, the point guard because he has to know where everyone will be at the right time to deliver the ball to the correct person. On a basketball team though most individuals have different roles. No longer is everyone hitting the same shot and doing everything together, though everyone still has a general idea of what is going on and has the ability if they want to know exactly where everyone is and what everyone should be doing. But churches grow…
A church 400-500 and beyond becomes more like a football team. In football there is offense and there is defense. There is the special teams unit which covers punts and there is the special teams unit which covers kickoffs. Furthermore the defense may have a group that plays only on a cover two package or only on a nickel package; the offense may have a spread offense and guys that only are in on plays that are part of the goalline package…Are you confused? Exactly! Larry Osborne illustrated it like this:
“One of my friends was the fifth pick in the NFL draft back when we were in college. We were hanging out one day and I asked him what it was like to play against, and I named a specific running back? My friend said, ‘I don’t know.’ Come on man, is he amazing to watch? What is it like? You play these guys twice a year. ‘Larry I am an offensive lineman. During the week I don’t look at any game tape of him. During the game he is not on the field when I am on the field and when I am off the field I am sitting on a bench listening to our offensive line coach and looking through photos of the last series of plays to see where we need to improve or what we did right, or how to stunt block someone. So when I say I don’t know, I don’t know anymore than you.'”
On the football team everyone has their own unique area and very few people, if any, know everything! They all have their own assignments and their own roles, no one not even the head coach knows exactly every detail of every unit.
At the football or basketball level not everyone can share an opinion or know every detail in a meeting or else the meetings would go ’till midnight. And not every member from church can know exactly how everything is happening or have time to share their opinion or things would bottleneck.
Larry said that is the reality of being part of a growing church. And a person who is a member or a leader of a church that is in the basketball or football stage that is still wanting to be a “golfing buddy” will have a very hard time!
“People who were used to being golfing buddies are often in for a “relational shock” when the church grows and the game changes.“
Osborne gives two important indicators that the game has changed:
“relational overload and increased miscommunication.”
I believe our church is somewhere between the basketball team and the football team and it is a struggle!
Where are y’all at?
As the King James Version states it: “Pride goeth before destruction…” Proverbs 16:8
An article from The Christian Century and picked up by the U.S.A. Today have recently been passed around amongst Adventists affirming our church growth in North America. Yesterday my twitter and e-mail box was a buzz with this article. Most the comments from folk indicated excitement about our growth and making statements of pride regarding the growth of the Adventist Church in the U.S..
Here are a couple realities though:
We are the fastest growing church amongst the Mainline Protestant Denominations:
We are growing more than any other mainline denomination in North America, but our growth is minimal in comparison to our past history and to the world:
I believe it would be wise of all of us to celebrate the individuals that are accepting Jesus and the message we teach as Adventists, but to not celebrate our growth because we still have a LONG way to go and God can do so much more if we will all have the heart of Jesus to “save the Lost.” Matthew 18:11. If we don’t have that heart and instead our hearts are turned to pride over our “growth” we will soon find destruction!
It would be mindful to hold in our thoughts the comment of Dr. Ron Clouzet in the Christian Century article,
“We don’t feel that we’re growing very much, and that is a source of concern, especially for North America,” said Ron Clouzet, director of the North American Division Evangelism Institute at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. Hispanic Adventists are “the one group that is growing very well,” he added. “If we didn’t have that group, we would look even more dismal.””
May God increase and we decrease!
So I guess today is a music day! What a beautiful song written by Darlene Zschech. I am looking forward to us doing it at the Visalia Seventh-day Adventist Church.
You probably think I am talking about:
But Christina doesn’t agree with me and I don’t get that! Still it is foolish for me to argue about it, and it is foolish of me to expect her to love it the way I do, she doesn’t have my shared history with the place. I guess there are things in our lives that we may love and be intensely passionate about that other folk just won’t see the same way…so I guess it would be good for me and for all of us to accept that about each other and not fight or become upset with people when they see stuff and places different than we do.
“Thou shalt not steal!” –Exodus 20:15
Bob Deffinbaugh wrote about stealing on the site Bible.org. I would encourage you to go and read his entire article, but here is just a little snippet that was profound and convicting to me about a major source of theft in our society:
“Stealing is a subject well worth our attention for several reasons. First, stealing has become a national problem of epidemic proportions. For example, consider the impact of “time theft” on our economy:
The Robert Half Personnel Agencies has calculated that time-theft will cost the American economy as much as $70 billion a year. Time-theft is defined as those deliberate employee actions which result in the massive, growing misuse and waste of time. Estimated time-theft are: arriving to work late, leaving early, taking unjustified ‘sick’ days, extensive socializing with co-workers, turning the water cooler into a conversation pit, inattention to the job at hand, reading novels and magazines on the job, operating a business on the side during working hours, eating lunch at the desk and then going out for the ‘lunch hour,’ excessive personal phone calls, on-the-job daydreaming and fanticizing, long, frequent coffee and snack breaks, etc.“
Are you involved in “time theft” ?
Is 400 a number you ever think about? I do!In fact 400 has been on my mind quite a ‘bit lately! It is the latest barrier in our church. What do I mean by that? It is what is referred to in Church Growth textbooks as a “Growth Barrier.” And our most recent growth barrier is 400, that means we are having a hard time passing that number in attendance and then sustaining that growth.
Recently I went back to a book I read a couple years ago written by Carl George, “How to Break Growth Barriers.” Here are a few of the insights I gathered from George on breaking through the 400 barrier:
I believe we are having some success in areas 2, 3, & 4. We’ll have to continue working and praying on the others.
Below are the things I would add to George’s list, that I believe are essential, and even with the above items perfectly in place without these next items Growth won’t occur:
Are you a cultural Adventist? Or we could ask are you a cultural Christian? Either way let me share this with you: if you are, then you are wasting your life!
A “cultural Adventist,” is someone who, by his/her own admission, is an Adventist solely because he/she was raised and educated in the church. Let me tell you, if this is your position you’re wasting your life and time! I personally believe to be “cultural” anything is a waste, but my wife says I am intense in all areas, so maybe that is a little extreme. It is not extreme though to say that “cultural” Christianity or because of my belief system Adventism is leading you no where but eternal separation from God. How and why do I say that?
Revelation 3:15 & 16–
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
This text is a description of “cultural” living. “Cultural” living is living with no passion, simply going through the motions for the sake of going through the motions. That is what was happening with the church at Laodicea. The Laodicean church was simply going through the motions, no passion, doing Christianity just for the sake of doing Christianity, not because they were truly following Christ. And Jesus said, “Because you have no passion I will spit you out!” It sounds to me like being spit out is pretty much the description of a wasted life.
So are you a “Cultural Adventist Christian” ? Would you die for Jesus? Would you die for what you believe in? Is your greatest passion Jesus and your second greatest passion the mission of Jesus, seeking and saving the lost? As you learn things from the Bible do you ask how can I live more like Jesus? Who can I share this with?
Folks don’t be anything just cause it is the culture, especially Christianity! Be passionate for Jesus and the truths you believe or be nothing, but don’t be cultural, it will just get you spit out!
Parents you need to hear the first few minutes of this video if nothing else!
<p>Backstage Interview – Ben Carson from GiANT Impact on Vimeo.</p>
Is this the only blog you read? Most blogs I read I have discovered through the testimony of friends and or people I respect. You may not consider me a friend and you may not respect me, but I hope you will at least for curiosity sake check out some blogs I am going to introduce you to today:
on a wild horse | doing my best to blend in : This blog is actually written by my little sister, Erin. Erin received her degree in “Writing” I believe, yeah I didn’t know they had a degree in that either…yeah you’re right that limits the job field:) But all of that is okay because my little sister is the greatest stay-at-home mom ever! She writes about her experiences as a mom of two and surrogate mom for my two. Even if you cannot relate to this type of life, that is okay, because she is a gifted writer and I think just in general you will enjoy her caustic wit and self-deprecation (if you can get over the fact that she writes everything in lower case, still bugs me a little, but it is her trademark). So check it out and subscribe if you like it.
gastrobro | GI wannabe : This blog is the blog of my brother-in-law, Chad, yes we share the same name.
Quick story about that: A lady in church comes up to me, “Pastor Chad I met your brother.” Me: “I don’t have a brother.” Lady: “Yes your brother Chad.” Me: “Oh yeah my brother-in-law.” Lady: “NO your brother.” Me: “He’s actually my brother-in-law.” Lady: “He said he was your brother.” Me: *Confused stare* as I ponder how to deal with a member that A.) Thinks I don’t know whether or not I actually have a brother B.) A member that thinks my parents would actually name both of their sons, “CHAD.”
Sidebar over: Chad’s blog are the ramblings of a Medical Resident. Chad is a resident in Fresno, soon to be chief resident, and he is working on his writing skills through blogging…or maybe he is just wanting to share his brilliance with the world! Either way I am not medical at all and I enjoy his blog, probably because it is more about him and his outlook on things than pure medicine. He also throws in experience of his life as a dad and husband to the crazy sister you will read about above.
Modern Ekklesia | Some thoughs on the intersection of church, leadership, and technology : This blog is written by my friend, Rodlie Ortiz. In my opinion Rodlie is one of the most gifted young pastors in our denomination! I hope that one day I get to work with him or for him. Rodlie’s blog is beneficial to anyone in leadership whether you are a pastor or not. It is beneficial to anyone interested in technology.
Thoughts from The White Board : This blog I have mentioned before. It is written by Jason Lombard. Jason owns a marketing and design agency, Anagram Design Werks her in the Central Valley and he is also one of the Elders at Visalia Seventh-day Adventist Church (a site he built and designed). I read Jason’s blog because I sit with him each and every week and learn from him, so I figure I should read what he writes as well!
Seth’s Blog : If you read my blog you will read quotes from Seth Godin a lot. I believe he is brilliant!
Michael Hyatt | Intentional Leadership : The first blog I ever read with any consistency was, Modern Ekklesia, there Rodlie introduced me to Michael Hyatt and I have been hooked ever since. I believe ALL leaders should read Michael Hyatt and then folk that just have a curiosity about doing things well, should be reading Hyatt’s blog as well!
running: the dawn : My friend Gina Creek in this blog writes about her experiences as a runner. She is writes with great honesty and her growth as a runner is inspiring to me! She went from being a well over 4:30 marathoner to a Boston Qualifier!
Well those are some of the blogs I read. I hope you will check them out. Please share with me the blogs you think I should read, I am always open to reading and learning more!
Seth Godin is a genius voice for our time. Anyone that leads or wants to be a person of influence should spend some time gleaning insights from the things that come out of Godin’s brain.
<p>Exclusive interview with Seth Godin from GiANT Impact on Vimeo.</p>
I love that last line: “That is your opportunity to say what you believe and see who follows.” –Godin
When I was at The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, I had the privilege of being a part of a group of individuals that created and began a worship known as FUSION. It was at FUSION and through the worship direction of my good friend Dilys Brooks that I began to learn and appreciate Gospel Music. I then did my evangelistic field school at Kansas Ave an African-American Church in Riverside, CA., and my love of Gospel Music fully blossomed. So I thought on this Sabbath evening I would share one of the songs I fell in love with during that time, “Total Praise” by one of my favorite Gospel Singers, Donnie McClurkin.
So I was just randomly thinking about all the ways we as pastors potentially deceive ourselves and thus possibly deceive those around us as well:
That we are great prayer warriors. “To the degree that we value public prayer over private prayer, we are seeking the approval of men, not of God.” –Darrin Patrick. Many of us pray well or at least decently in public, but how much do we pray in private? Many of us talk about prayer, but talking about prayer doesn’t make us prayer warriors.
That we are more generous than we are. Paying a tithe does not make us generous. God calls for all believers to give 10%, therefore 10% should be the minimum for a pastor. We should look at some examples like John Wesley and Rick Warren. Wesley set his expenses at 28 lbs and he lived off of that for the majority of his life, as his salary increased so did his giving. If we as pastors are just sitting at 10% then we are living in deceit if we think we are generous.
That we care more than we do. Just because a pastor visits all the time and seems to always be extending his time and energy for the needs of his or her paritioners doesn’t mean we have an abundance of care for the people. I once heard a conversation between two pastors, it went like this: Associate Pastor, “Family A. contacted me the other day, Mr. A is having some health challenges and he had to go to the hospital. It looks like he is going to have to have surgery.” Lead Pastor, “Why didn’t they call me?” When your lead question out of this conversation is about yourself, then we are deceiving ourselves, we are not that caring.
That we are spending a lot of time with God. I am in the Bible every day, this doesn’t mean I am spending time with God every day. Every day I answer folks question with the Bible or I am working on a sermon. Maybe I am sending out some scriptures to encourage an individual. This is not spending time with God. NOTHING can replace a set aside quiet time with God!
That we are great preachers. Just because people say “good job” at the door, doesn’t mean we are are any good at preaching. A little note y’all, people just don’t like to feel uncomfortable so they say “good job” whether it was good or bad. How do I know this? A couple ways, when I was in college I would go out and preach at small local churches. At these churches by the affirmation of the paritioners you would have thought I was Dwight Nelson or something. Then I would go back to preaching class, preach the exact same sermon, probably better than I had the first time, and my peers would point out to me dozens of ways to improve! Another way I know is that I get the exact same “good jobs” today as I did 10 years ago, and I think it is safe to say I’ve gotten a little better. Great preaching helps to grow people and grow a church. It is like the old adage, “if you think you’re a leader, look behind you, if no one is following you ain’t a leader.” (Or something like that:)). If you think you’re a great preacher and no one is showing up to listen, you probably need to grow in this area.
These are just some ramblings that were going through my mind.
What other ways do we deceive ourselves? Whether pastors or laity?