Would I be a bivocational pastor again?

I'm now at the age where people often reflect over the decisions they made throughout their lives. One of the things I've thought about in recent days is the question of bivocational ministry. I have spent my life serving churches and our region in a bivocational capacity. I've published books on bivocational ministry and spoken to dozens of pastor groups across the US and Canada on bivocational and small church ministry. But, would I serve as a bivocational pastor again if I was starting over in ministry? The answer is yes.

Bivocational ministry is not better or worse than fully-funded ministry. It is just a different way of doing ministry that meets the needs of a specific church. Serving as a bivocational minister has allowed me to serve a church that could not afford a fully-funded minister. It allowed me access into people's lives because they saw me not only as a minister but also as a factory worker, a business owner, someone who shared similar experiences that they had. Working in the factory let me see how challenging it was to be laid off and scramble to find other employment. As a business owner I learned about the pressure to meet payroll when business was slow. I found it easier to relate to people because I had shared in their struggles at different points in my life.

The church I served had been stagnant for a long time with a series of student pastors from a nearby seminary. When I became pastor there the average pastoral tenure was 12 months. I stayed 20 years which I may not have been able to do if I was not bivocational. One of the joys of my life was seeing that church accomplish far more than many would have thought possible. Not having to seek new pastoral leadership every year freed up the people to do ministry.

There have also been a lot of personal benefits to being bivocational. I never worried too much about church politics. If the church fired me, I would go to my other job the next day, our family would still eat and have a roof over their heads. I've known too many fully-funded pastors who are fearful of church controllers and the impact upsetting one of them could have on their families. I never experienced that.

My family did not have to worry about being uprooted if I accepted another church, Because bivocational ministry tends to be fairly local, it wasn't likely that I would be moving across the country. That was especially comforting to our children when they were in school. I know at least one of them was concerned about that when he entered high school. I was able to relieve his worry by committing to him that I would not move as long as he was in high school. That might have been a dangerous promise to make if I was fully-funded.

There were many more benefits to both me and the church I served, but this is enough for this post. The answer to my question is a very emphatic yes, I would serve again as a bivocational minister if I had it all to do over again.

Ministry in the 21st century

 I have been reading recent studies that indicate that 4,000-5,000 pastors are leaving the ministry each year. That is an incredible amount! Years ago H. B. London, Jr. shared with me that 50 percent of seminary graduates leave the ministry within five years after graduation. The reasons are too many to go into in a blog post, but this has serious ramifications for our churches, and I think it speaks volumes about what is happening in the church world today.

I began my pastoral ministry in 1981 and served that church for 20 years. I left there to accept a ministry position in our judicatory where I served for another 14 years. In one staff meeting I shared that I felt the church and I enjoyed a good ministry for those 20 years, but I wasn't sure I could serve as a pastor now. The world had changed so much, and many churches have not responded well to that change. I knew that what I had done during my pastoral ministry would no longer be effective in the 21st century, and I wasn't sure I could reinvent myself to effectively serve in this changing environment.

One reason so many pastors are leaving the ministry is because they were never trained to serve in this new environment. Their seminary training prepared them to be managers of an institution, not leaders. They were trained to be research theologians and not pastors. Those who serve in traditional churches are expected to meet the same expectation from the congregation that it had of their pastors 50 years ago. The job description has not changed. Unfortunately, many of these pastors were trained to meet those expectations, but it doesn't take long before they realize that these expectations are no longer valid in today's culture. It become evident very quickly that to meet those expectations and to continue to do what the church has always done will reduce their role to that of a hospice chaplain. They will be tending to the death of that congregation. If they stay, they submit to that role. Many prefer to simply leave and find other employment and serve God in other ways.

In my role as judicatory minister serving 133 churches I saw so many stuck in a 1950s model of ministry. They were dying and refused to admit it. That model had long ago ceased to be effective in reaching people for Jesus Christ, but it was all the churches knew so it was the one they preferred. I will never forget reading The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren where he wrote, "We invite the unchurched to come and sit on seventeenth-century chairs (which we call pews, sing eighteenth-century songs (which we call hymns), and listen to a nineteenth-century instrument (a pipe organ), and then we wonder why they think we're out of date!" Many of us in ministry see the wisdom in what Warren wrote, but so many of our churches see all of this as normal. Attempts to change any of these things will be met with great resistance in many churches. Rather than fight an uphill battle, and probably losing, many of our pastors simply decide to walk away from their calling.

Math and God

 In several posts I've commented on how observing the space station as it flies over our house reminds me of how God has fine-tuned this universe in which we live. Like the sun setting over the ocean, watching the space station always reminds me that God is real and the creator of all we see, Because the universe is fine-tuned as it is, scientists can tell us exactly when the station will appear anywhere in the world, the direction in which it will travel, the time it will appear and disappear from our sight. A world that simply happened by accident would not be so fine-tuned.

Recently, I was exposed to another evidence of the existence of God I had not considered: mathematics. In a section in Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn't the author talks about mathematics. Now, I will admit that I am lousy with math. After taking Algebra I and Geometry I in high school my counselor advised me to not take Algebra II and Geometry II if I hoped to graduate high school! But, I know 2+2=4. But why? Why is 2+2 not 5 or 6 or some other arbitrary number if our universe is simply a random happenstance?

Quoting the atheist Luc Ferry, the author writes, "I can do nothing about it, 2+2=4, and this is not a matter of taste or subjective choice. The necessities of which I speak impose themselves upon me as if they come from elsewhere, and yet, it is inside myself that this transcendence is present, and palpably so."

Moving beyond 2+2=4, I can only imagine the mathematical calculations necessary to know where the space station is at any given moment.  Again quoting the author, "Whatever else we make of numbers, we cannot deny that they are incredibly useful. Mathematical truths apply to the physical universe with amazing consistency, allowing us to make predictions with astonishing accuracy." Some would argue that this is "a happy coincidence," but I believe this is one more evidence of God who not only fine-tuned the universe but gave us the precision of mathematics to help us make sense of this universe.

Not only did He give us these mathematical realities, He also gave (some of) us the ability to identify and use these realities. Many of the advances in society we enjoy today came because of the reliability of mathematical calculations necessary to create everything from space travel to the cell phones we use every day.

Personally, I find a creator God a much better designer of these mathematical truths that blind chance.

Churches on life support

Most of my readers know what I'm about to share, but for anyone new I want to give a backdrop for this post. I am 75 years-old and have been in ministry since 1981. I served one church for twenty years before spending the next 14 years as a minister in our judicatory with direct responsibility for 133 churches. Since retiring from that ministry I have served three churches as their Transitional Pastor and am currently serving the third church. From my experiences I agree 100 percent with what Reggie McNeal wrote in The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church.

The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to churches comes from people aged fifty-five and older) or when the remaining three-fourths of a generation who are institutional loyalists die off or both.

The sad thing is that most churches are not aware of this. They realize things have changed, but they still hope that some day people will come to their senses and return to church. All they have to do is to keep doing the same things they did in the 1950s and everything will be great. That's not going to happen. Many churches are living off savings from the money that came from the Builder Generation, a generation that is growing smaller every day, and when that money is gone they can turn out the lights. 

Some churches do realize what is happening, and they are seeking new ways of doing ministry that will be appropriate in their context, but these churches often run into a lot of opposition. The current members like things the way they are. Their needs are being met. Change will just produce conflict, and many church leaders are very conflict-avoidant. Some pastors who see the hand-writing on the wall are counting down the days until retirement. Others are simply leaving the ministry and seeking other employment.

I'm painting a rather dismal picture, but it is a reality for many churches. What is especially sad is that every church is in the midst of a huge mission field. We know from studies that a minimum of 50 percent of every county in the US is unchurched, and in some counties it can be as high as 80-90 percent. Using just the 50 percent figure, we have a potential mission field in the county in which I live of 16,000 people. I seriously doubt that if every church in our county was full that we could hold that many more people in addition to the ones who already attend our services. We need new churches, and we are seeing some being started. But, what we also need are our current churches getting serious about the Great Commission and becoming missionaries to this mission field God has given us.

At some point, our church members must stop thinking only about their own needs and preferences and being to think about the eternal fate of those who will die without Christ. We must become willing to put aside our wants in order to present the gospel to the unchurched in a way that will speak to them. This will often impact our worship styles, our music, our programming, our traditions and many other aspects of church life that many of us take for granted.

One thing that has helped me is to remember that many of our church traditions were once new ideas that were developed to serve a new generation. Those new ideas were often rejected by those in the church at that time, but eventually they prevailed and enabled the church of that time to reach the people of that time. Now, many of those traditions have become a roadblock to reaching a new generation.

In a doctoral class I took Elmer Towns reminded us that every church has created walls that keep people out. Often, these walls were unintentional, but they were built anyway. He challenged us to tear down those walls and begin to build bridges into our communities by which the gospel can be shared. What walls can you identify in your church that keep people out? Are you willing to tear them down. If your church is on life support, you don't have much time.

Sharing pastors

 When I served as a an Area Minister in our judicatory I worked with a number of church pastor search teams. One smaller church in particular was having problems finding a pastor. I asked the chair of the search team if they would consider sharing a pastor with another another church or if they might be even willing to be a satellite church for a church in their association. I'll never forget his response. He said maybe, after he's gone. Years earlier, our Area Minister asked if I would be willing to serve a second church as its pastor. After receiving approval from our deacons I told him I would. The other church was not willing to share a pastor and has spend decades with a revolving door of pastoral leadership.

It's time that smaller churches accept some realities. There is not a long line of pastors waiting to serve your churches. Many seminary trained pastors are not willing to serve in smaller churches for a variety of reasons. Because bivocational pastors are not always available, they may not be available to serve your church either. Smaller churches need to accept the reality that they may struggle to find good pastoral leadership is they are not willing to share such leadership with other churches.

This is hard to accept for the Baptist churches in my tradition, but it is the current reality. Perhaps you were a much larger church in the past, and you were used to having a fully-funded pastor, but that is not the case today. Today, you are a much smaller church, and there is not a long line of pastors eager to serve as pastor of your church. Those who might be willing to serve your church may have no seminary training at all but only a sense of being called by God to serve a church. That was my situation when I became the pastor of a small, rural church, and it worked out well.

But, you may be in a church that demands a seminary education before calling a pastor. In a smaller church, you are highly unlikely to find such a person unless you are willing to share that pastor with another church.

This was the reality facing many churches when I retired as an Area Minister in 2019 and it is even more true today. Many smaller churches are now faced with the problem of finding a pastor in a smaller pool of potential pastors, and are going to have to make some hard choices. In many cases, their best choices might be to share a pastor with another church. 

Do atheists have doubts?

I have just finished reading Surprised by Doubt by Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson as part of my morning devotions. It is a very good, honest look at how most Christians will struggle with doubts at some time in their lives. The authors draw a lot from the writings of C. S. Lewis and their own experiences of struggling at times to understand God and what He was doing in their lives. Probably most of us have had times in our Christian lives when we thought that "this isn't what I thought being a Christian would be like." At times like those is when doubts can begin to creep in. Certainly, I've had such times in my own life, and I appreciated how the authors addressed those doubts and offered practices to help overcome them.

From that book I began reading Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn't by Gavin Ortlund. I'm still in the early pages, but as the author addresses some of the beliefs of the New Atheists the question came to mind as to whether atheists ever doubt their atheism? Over the years I have read a number of apologetical books that do an excellent job of defending Christian beliefs against those offered by atheists. I am not of a philosophical mind so I am amazed at easily these Christian writers tear apart the alternative theories proposed by the New Atheists such as Dawkins, Krauss, Harris and others. I'm also amazed at how shallow those theories are especially as they are being offered by persons with such high academic standing.

So the question came to me: do these individuals ever begin to question that perhaps they are wrong, that God does exist and is the creator of all the universe? With so much evidence to disprove their points, how could they not have doubts? Perhaps they cannot afford to have doubts. After all, their books are selling well, and that would change if they decided that they were wrong and became Christians. Of course, Jesus challenged that way of thinking when He said, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mt. 16: 26)"

Psalm 111: 10 tells us "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Being atheists I would assume they have no fear of God, but how can anyone push any possibility of the existence of God out of their minds? Paschal's Wager is that if there is even a 51% possibility that God exists a person would be a fool to reject Him. While the arguments for God cannot absolutely prove the existence of God, they certainly take us well beyond the 51% threshold.

Yes, Christians can have times of doubt in their lives, but most of us will not let those doubts take us away from belief in God. We use those times to grow in our faith and find Christ to be even more real. And, yes atheists can have doubts as well, and sometimes those doubts lead them to faith in Jesus Christ. Among some notable atheists who came to believe in God are Antony Flew, Alister McGrath, Francis Collins and many more.

When you are talking to someone who expresses the belief that there is no God, do not give up on that person. He or she may be struggling with doubts you do not know. If not then, perhaps later. Keep praying for those individuals, keep sharing your faith as opportunities present themselves, and keep believing that God will break through their doubts and lead them to see that Christianity is true.

Spiritual winters

Much of the US is experiencing record low temperatures, and many parts are getting hit with some serious snow and icy conditions. Winter has definitely arrived. While the more southern states are expected to see more reasonable conditions soon, other areas are going to suffer with more cold weather and wintery conditions. I can remember a time when I enjoyed colder weather and snow, but that was many decades ago! 

Eventually, it will be spring and summer again. The birds will be singing, the sun shining, and the fish will be biting. Maybe I'll even get back on the golf course again. 

But, what do you do when you go through a spiritual winter? How do you hold on to God during those times?

Spiritual winters can come into our lives in many different ways. They can come when we lose someone we loved very much. They can be the result of dreams that we realize will never be fulfilled. Spiritual winters can happen when we lose a job or the doctor calls with lab results you were not expecting or a child takes a different path than you planned. I experienced a spiritual winter after closing a business that caused us serious financial problems. Regardless of the cause, spiritual winters cause us to feel that God is so far away that we're not sure we will ever find Him again.

Various Psalms were written by people going through spiritual winters. They could not find God in the midst of their problems. The books of Lamentations and Ecclesiastes describe spiritual winters. Job is another biblical example of someone experiencing a spiritual winter who wondered where God was in the midst of his trials. When the Israelites were led away into captivity they felt that God was far off and had abandoned them. Spiritual winters are nothing new.

What each of these biblical writers learned, and can teach us, is that God is not far away, and He has not abandoned us in our spiritual winters. He is just as close to us during the valley times in our lives as He is during our mountaintop experiences. Even though we may not feel Him as much as we do in our better times, He is still there.

So, what did they do? They kept seeking God. They continued to pray. They continued to worship, and eventually they came through that wintery time in their lives and experienced victory. That's also how I came through my own winter time. When we are unable to feel God close by it's necessary, by faith, to keep praying, keep worshiping and keep seeking God. It will be an act of faith because, if you are like me and others in the Scriptures, you may not feel His presence during this time, but in His time He will show Himself strong in your life once again.

One essential for a growing church

 As I've mentioned numerous times in this blog, most churches claim they want to grow but few do. The reasons for that lack of growth are many, but in my experience in judicatory ministry the primary reason has to do with the limits they place on their pastors. Every study I've seen has noted that the pastor is a key player in the growth, or lack of growth, in any church. Some pastors couldn't grow a weed in a field of fertilizer, but many are not given the option. I've seen far too many churches say they want to grow but resist anything that might lead to growth if it might upset its current membership.

I am currently re-reading Winning on Purpose by John Edmund Kaiser. After reading the book the first time I wrote in the back of the book "A church committed to growth must have a leader committed to growth, hold that leader accountable for growth, and give that leader the authority to lead." I'm not sure if that is a quote from the book or a summary I made of the book after reading it for the first time, but I believe it is a true statement. 

There are plenty of churches who hold the pastor accountable for growth, and if growth does not occur they are quick to seek new leadership. But, many of these same churches do not give the pastor authority to lead them in ways that could lead to growth.

A pastor friend of mine was serving in one of the fastest growing churches in his community. He had been there for several years faithfully serving that congregation. Serving in a congregationally-led church, he was preparing for an upcoming business meeting where he was going to introduce a couple of proposals that he believed would set the church up for even greater growth. On the night of the meeting he was shocked that his proposals were rejected and even more shocked at the anger his proposals created. As is often typical, only a small percentage of the congregation was present for that meeting, but they were the ones who were threatened by the growth the church was experiencing. My friend was deeply wounded by the response that night and soon resigned from the church. The church's growth stopped and began to decline. Today, it is at half the size it was at the time of that meeting and continuing to decline.

Churches call pastors and tell them they want them to lead, but often fail to let them do so. Everything they do must have board or congregational approval before being implemented. Uninformed board members often balk at proposed changes because "we've never done that here before." Controllers in the church fear their influence will lessen if growth occurs so they oppose any new proposal, and if it is approved they will work to sabotage it.

Because these controllers often have deep roots in the congregation, the churches will often support their objections so as not to offend them. When this happens, the pastor runs into another brick wall and another potential way to grow the church is denied. Some pastors will soon give up and settle for having a maintenance ministry in the church. It doesn't take long before people start wondering why the church isn't growing, and often the fingers begin pointing towards the pastor. Like in sports, if the team isn't winning it's time to replace the coach. Another pastor is brought in, and the cycle repeats itself.

I'm often asked why new churches grow when existing churches in the same community do not. This scenario is one I often point to. In new churches, especially non-denominational churches, the pastors are allowed to lead. They set the direction for the church, and the congregation follows. If the pastor consistently leads the church into the weeds, then something needs to be addressed. What is far more likely to happen if the pastor is being led by God, and the church is following his or her lead, is that the church will begin to grow. If the pastor does not have the authority to lead, he or she cannot be held accountable for the lack of growth in a church.

Setting goals for ministry and life

 Several years ago when I served on Region staff our Executive Minister asked each of us to set 3-4 goals for the upcoming year. He would review them with us, and if he agreed to them, those would be what we would focus much of our individual effort on that year. At the end of the year we would review the goals to see what we had accomplished.

This was easy for me because for several years I had been setting goals in all areas in my life: family, finances, ministry, work (I was bivocational.), and self-care. I usually had around 10-12 goals for the year that included both short-term, medium-term and long-term which might stretch out over several years. I also had a daily tracking system to see how I was progressing with the goals.

Every goal must be written down or else it is nothing more than a dream. It has to be a SMART goal: S - Specific, M - Measurable, A - Attainable, R - Realistic, and T - Time-defined. If it doesn't meet each of these qualifications, it's not a good goal. As an example: We will grow our Sunday school program this year is not a good goal. A good goal would be that we will increase our Sunday school attendance by 15 percent by the end of 2024. Now, you have something you can measure and track.

The goal setting program I used was one I learned from attending Zig Ziglar's motivational lectures. He had an additional element to that program which I found very valuable because it helped me take the goal I wanted to achieve to a much deeper level. On my sheet I first listed the goal as a SMART goal and then added the following information.

• My benefits from reaching this goal.
• Major obstacles and mountains to climb to reach this goal.
• Skills or knowledge required to reach this goal.
• Individuals, groups, companies and organizations to work with to reach this goal.
• Plan of action to reach this goal.

By forcing myself to think and write down answers to each of these questions it gave me a solid plan to help me achieve the goal. Studies confirm that persons who have specific goals they are working towards accomplish far more than those who just hope things work out the way they want. When you focus on your goals you become a much more focused individual in every aspect of your life. You might not hit every goal you set (I don't), but you will find you accomplished much more than if you had no goals. I encourage you to think about goals for your life and begin to work towards achieving them. Your church should also be setting specific goals that will make their ministry more effective.

The long-term pastor

 Last week I had to laugh at an email I received. Our Regional Minister sent an email to all of his pastors reminding them of a pastor event being sponsored by our Region. The speaker was going to talk about "How to Stay in Your Church for Thirty Years." My first thought was, "I'm 75 years old. Maybe I should go and see if he knows something I don't know!"

All joking aside, regular readers of this blog know that I am a big advocate of long-term pastorates. One major reason most of our churches struggle today is because the average pastoral tenure is around four years. Research has found that the average pastor's best ministry doesn't begin until he has been at a church for 3-11 years. The smaller the church, the more frequent the pastoral turnover has been, the longer it takes. For me, when I went to Hebron, it took 7 years before I earned the trust of the congregation enough that I was allowed to provide leadership. Do you see the problem with an average of 4 year pastorates?

I spent 20 years serving that rural church as their bivocational pastor. During that time we did things that churches that size shouldn't be able to do. We made mistakes, but we also enjoyed some wonderful times in ministry. When I left there to join the staff in our Region I joked that my greatest fear was that they would now learn that they really hadn't needed me for years. I've told people that my greatest contribution to their success was that I hung around. That stability gave them the confidence to take risks and do ministry.

Let me be very blunt. I do not believe God is so confused that He does not know where His ministers are supposed to serve. How many times have you heard a pastor say, "God has called me to this place," and four years (or less) later announce that "God has called me to accept a call to ________ church." Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a very confused God. Does God call ministers to serve elsewhere at times? Yes, He does, but for some pastors their ministries are like revolving doors.

Too many ministers never unpack all their boxes. They leave things boxed up because they know they're going to be leaving soon anyway. As a judicatory minister I had pastors call me before their first anniversary in their church asking for my assistance in helping them move. This was not due to problems in the church. They simply wanted to move on to a larger church. I never helped any of them move to another church.

A book that greatly influenced my ministry was The Heart of a Great Pastor by H. B. London, Jr. and Neil Wiseman. I had the privilege of meeting H. B. at a leadership conference where we were both speaking after the book came out. One of the things I've heard H. B. say is if you are serving in a great church it is because someone stayed there to make it a great church, and if you are not serving in a great church perhaps God has called you there for such a time as this to stay and make it a great church. I believe there is a lot of truth in that.

Many pastors will retire after 30 years in ministry, look back and realize they never had a 30-year ministry, they had ten 3-year ministries, none of which accomplished much. What a sad realization that will be. We often hear, bloom where you are planted. I think this is good advice for those of us called to ministry.

Growth for the pastor

 Churches that grow are led by growing pastors. Several years ago I was a member of an organization that included a retired 91-year-old pastor. An event was scheduled for a certain date, and this gentleman said he could not be there that evening. That was the evening his class for learning Spanish met. Imagine...an individual that age deciding to learn a new language. It was no wonder his church grew under his leadership. I'm not sure I want to take on the challenge of learning a new language, but any week I don't learn something new I can apply to my life or my ministry I consider a wasted week. Ministers cannot expect their churches and the people within those churches to grow if they are not personally growing themselves.

In my book The Bivocational Pastor I include several areas in which I believe pastors must continue to grow in order to be effective. The first, and perhaps the most important, is in the area of relational skills. Much of what we do is based on relationships. I believe it was John Maxwell who said that before people will follow us they must know our hearts. They must know that we care for them as persons and not as a means to climb the ministerial ladder. I have served one church for 20 years as their pastor and three churches as their transitional pastor, and I can honestly say that I loved the people in each of those churches. I believe they loved me back (at least most of them!).

It might surprise some people but I am essentially an introvert. I can blend into the wallpaper with the best of them. I've learned to step out of my comfort zone to build relationships with people. I enjoy those relationships, but that is not how I am naturally wired. I have grown in that area. I tell pastors if they cannot build good relationships with the people in their churches they will never enjoy ministry. The good news is anyone can grow in that area.

The second area in which we need to grow is in our leadership. Yes, I know some churches will not let their pastors lead, and if I found myself in such a church I would immediately leave. Most churches do want their pastors to lead them, and many are hungry for such leadership. Recent studies have found that many pastors lack good leadership skills. It has been asked if leaders are born or made, and the answer is yes. I've never met a leader who wasn't born, and anyone can grow in his or her leadership abilities. I have shelves full of leadership books that have helped me grow in this area. I've attended numerous leadership conferences that helped as well. Pastors must continually grow in this area if they want to be effective.

Communication is another skill we need to develop. When I began my ministry I lacked a seminary education and experience. I was as green as I could be. After I was at the church for several months one of our deacons, on his way out of the service, told me I was starting to become a decent preacher. Because I knew he didn't say anything he didn't mean I accepted the compliment gladly! We can always become more effective communicators from the pulpit. Again, reading books on preaching, listening to preaching podcasts from some of the great preachers, and watching them on YouTube can all help any preacher grow in this area.

Of course, communication is also important away from the pulpit. We need to communicate our thoughts and dreams to our leadership, to the congregation, and to those outside the church. We need to communicate clearly so that we are understood. For years, I have had a simple rule: I am 100% responsible for the message heard by the other person. If they misunderstood me, it's my fault, not theirs.

One final skill in which we need to grow is in the area of conflict management and resolution. As pastors, we will experience conflict. At least, we will if we attempt to do anything. How we manage that conflict will determine how successful we will be in that church. If we manage it well we will earn the trust of the congregation. If we fail to handle it well, we run the risk of splitting the church. Back in the 1980s I attended a three-day conference on conflict management and resolution. Quite frankly, I learned that I handled conflict about as poorly as could be done. I had to learn better ways to deal with conflict, and over the years I think I've improved in that area. I doubt I'm the only one who needs to grow in this skill.

Whether or not you grow as a minister will determine what your ministry will look like when you retire. It will determine on the effectiveness of your ministry where you currently serve. I encourage you to take an honest look at your ministry skills and see if any of them need improvement. If so. find ways this year to grow in that area of ministry.

Why no revival?

 Nearly one year ago revival broke out on the campus of Asbury University. People came from around the world to witness this amazing event. The media was there to record the revival. I spoke with people who went there who talked about the feeling one had as soon as they entered the university campus, even before they attended one of the services. The revival spread to other university campuses as students from those universities went to Asbury and then returned to their own campus taking the revival with them. Many prayed that this would be the beginning of a nation-wide revival. Now, eleven months later, nothing.

We hear nothing about revival. Nothing has been changed. Evil continues to dominate the world. The church continues to be powerless to address that evil. Christianity continues to be under increasing attack around the world including the US. Churches continue to decline both in numbers and influence. Were lives changed during the Asbury revival? No doubt they were. Did good things happen because of that revival? Absolutely. But, the sense of revival did not last and our nation and churches continue their downward spiral. Why?

Back in 1959 Leonard Ravenhill wrote a great little book titled Why Revival Tarries. His words were indeed prophetic. He listed several reasons why revival tarries.

• Evangelism has become commercialized.
• The Gospel has been cheapened and replaced with an "easy-believe-ism" that demands nothing.
• We are careless of those who come to the altar to repent.
• We are fearful of preaching the Gospel as we do not want to offend anyone.
• We lack urgency in prayer.
• We steal the glory that belongs to God and boast of what wonderful things we have done.

What Ravenhill wrote in 1959 is even more true today. Churches are more interested in survival than in reaching the lost. We are more interested in being "woke" than in being biblical. We are afraid of offending anyone so we do and say nothing. In many churches, prayer is talked about more than actually done. The altar call is neglected in many churches, and why not? Their little 10 minute sermonette is unlikely to stir anyone to feel convicted of their sins anyway. Seldom does a week go by without the report of another church leader who has been removed from ministry for misconduct.

The world looks at the church and laughs. It mocks those who do attempt to stand for biblical truth, so we withdraw into our "sanctuaries" and try to not attract too much notice. After all, we do not want to risk our 501c3 status. Besides, we have enough to do to try to satisfy the members of our country club churches. One group wants the pastor to wear a suit and tie when he preaches while others want him in jeans and a t-shirt. One group demands contemporary worship while another group gets upset if the songs they sing are not in the hymn books. Heaven help someone who might sit in a member's pew since they've owned that spot for 50 years! (I actually know a judicatory minister who was asked to move twice when he visited a church because he was in someone's seat! Imagine if that had been someone who was seeking God in his life.) With all this going on, and more, we don't have time to be concerned about the lost or about seeking God for revival. It's all we can do to put out the fires in our churches.

Revival will never happen until the church once again becomes the church of Jesus Christ. Until we are unashamed and unafraid to stand for the truth of the Word of God we will never see lasting revival. Until we once again become houses of prayer revival will not come. Until we understand our mandate to reach a lost world for Jesus Christ there will never be true revival. Until God's people seek to grow in faith and holiness there can be no revival. Revival must begin first in the church before it can spread to the nation. May each of us seek revival in our own lives so the church can be revived which can then begin to spread across our nation.

Church growth obstacles

One of my favorite DMin classes was taught by Elmer Towns, co-founder of Liberty University. It was a class on growing a church in the 21st century. He was talking about barriers to church growth and the walls that churches build that often keep people out. He went around the room and asked each student to tell how high the walls were around their church from 1-10. Each student had to answer. He then challenged us to tear down the walls and use them to build bridges into the community. Ten years later I still remember that illustration.

One reason new churches grow is that they have not had time to build walls around their churches. They have not constructed barriers to keep people out. Traditional churches often have barriers, usually not intentional, but very effective in keeping new people out. What are some of these barriers?

• A church-club atmosphere. Existing churches often seem more like a club rather than a worship center to outsiders. Membership has its privileges, its perks. Everyone is comfortable with the status-quo. Since outsiders can upset the status-quo they are often made to feel unwelcome. The primary way these churches gain new members is from the people born into existing families.
• Generational differences. it is not uncommon for a family business to close after the third generation assumes control. The generation that started the business had a passion to create something that would endure and make a difference. The next generation often shares much of that passion, but that same passion is frequently lost by the third generation. This generation may simply go through the motions, but by this time the business is in trouble. All of this is also true of churches. The founding generation of the church was driven by passion, but later generations lack the same passion and the church-club model takes over.
• Priesthood of believers is lost. The Bible is clear that everyone has been given spiritual gifts to be used in ministry. It is also clear that each of us have been called into a ministry using those same gifts. However, too many in the church look at the pastor as the hired-gun who is supposed to perform the ministry while the persons in the pew evaluate his or her effectiveness.
• Resistance to change. You knew I would get to this sooner or later, didn't you?  As I tell churches, if you could grow by doing what you've been doing you would already be growing. If you are not growing then you need to change something. But, change is risky. It's scary, and some churches are highly resistant to change. Those churches will eventually die. They may have the resources to survive for a long time, but this is nothing but life support. Their ministry has ended.

We could list more, but this is enough to consider for now. Do you recognize any of these at work in your church? These barriers are keeping people from God as well as from your church. They need to be dismantled so the unchurched can begin to feel comfortable in our churches and respond to the challenge to receive Jesus Christ into their lives.

In 1987 President Reagan challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Two years later the wall was removed. We must tear down the walls our churches have erected if we are serious about wanting to reach people for the Kingdom of God.  

Top ten books of 2023 1-5

Yesterday I began listing my top favorite reads for 2023. All the books I listed yesterday were books I have previously read that remain in my library. Today's list includes some of the books I read in 2023 as I began a serious study of the attributes of God. If your congregation is like many, a lot of the folks sitting in the pews do not truly understand the attributes of God. Even more, they do not understand how those attributes can affect them. I know that because, while I have mentioned some of His attributes from time to time in sermons, I've never done a series of messages on those attributes and why it's important to understand them. But, before I could do such a series I needed to study those attributes in more depth myself, and that is the reason why I've began this study. 

5.    Any study of the attributes of God would have to include the book Knowing God by J. I. Packer. This book is essential reading for someone to better understand the nature of God and His attributes. The fact that over one million copies of this book have been sold testifies to its importance for the serious student. 

4.    God the Father Almighty by Millard Erickson is another book that has been very helpful in my study. The author begins the book by explaining why it's important to study the nature and attributes of God. He then addresses some of the criticisms others make about the traditional view of God, and then he begins to discuss some of His attributes. I found the book very enlightening and well-written. 

3.    I have a great affection for Bob Russell, the former pastor of Southeast Christian Church, a megachurch in Louisville, Kentucky. This past year I re-read his book When God Builds a Church which tells the story of Southeast Christian Church. Russell comes across as one of the most humble people I've met. During his ministry there I had several opportunities to join hundreds of local pastors for luncheons the church held to share ministry ideas. In this book Russell shares 10 principles for growing a church. While most of us will never pastor a megachurch, the principles apply to any size church. I truly believe this book should be in every pastor's library.

2.    Divine Attributes by John Peckham was one of the more difficult reads with hundreds of footnotes and a little more academic language than most books I read. However, I ranked it #2 in my list because of its depth in discussing God's attributes. Peckham brings both philosophical and theological questions into the discussion which I found helpful. My only negative was that I wish he had addressed more of God's attributes than he did.

1.    Drum roll please. My number one book for 2023 is None Greater by Matthew Barrett. I love the subtitle, The Undomesticated Attributes of God!  As it says on the back cover, "For too long, Christians have domesticated God, bringing him down to our level as if he is a God who can be tamed." The author points out that God is worthy of worship because He is high and lifted up, His attributes far above mankind. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone serious about studying the nature and attributes of God.

Here's my top ten for another year. To give you an idea of what I'm reading as I begin 2024 I am working on A Church for the 21st Century by Leith Anderson, Ignite by Nelson Searcy and Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism by Timothy Stratton. All three are books I've read previously, but I find they are applicable to the church I currently serve, and it's helpful to have a refresher.

I hope you have a reading plan for the new year that will allow you to provide leadership to your church, your family and your community. An investment in books is an investment in yourself. The time spent reading is also an investment in your future success.

Top 10 books of 2023

Each year at this time I publish a list of my top ten favorite reads for the year. This year I read 75 books, many of them re-reads of books I have in my library that I have previously read. I choose books based on my interests, of course, and to address what is going on in my life. 2023 has been a year of transition for me as I finished one church as a Transitional Pastor and a few months later assumed the same role in another church. I have also embarked on a study of the attributes of God which may or may not become my next book. This has been a fascinating study as I have been studying His attributes at a much deeper level than I have before. In this post I will list books 6-10 and will complete the list tomorrow.

10.    Since doing this I have never had a top 10 list that did not include a book by John Maxwell, and this list is no different. Thinking for a Change is one of my re-reads. In the book Maxwell challenges the reader to begin to think differently, to focus our thinking on the things that matter most and to practice more creative thinking. If we keep thinking the same thoughts we will keep doing the same things and get the same results we've been getting. Maxwell not only provides theory but gives plenty of practical suggestions for how to think for a change. It's a really good book. 

9.    Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church is not only a re-read, but it's a book I read twice this year. The author, Ron Crandall, provides twelve key factors necessary in turning a small church around. My copy has a lot of highlights, and I've taken several pages of notes to help me remember some of the key points of the book. If you are serving in a smaller church that seems to be stuck, I highly recommend this book.

8.    The Post-Quarantine Church is another re-read for me plus another book I read twice this year. Thom Rainer does a great job of pointing out that many church leaders assumed once the Covid pandemic passed that things would return to normal only to find out that didn't happen. The two churches I served this year have not regained the numbers they had pre-Covid. Rainer suggests that the pandemic presents six challenges and opportunities that will determine the future of our churches. This small book is a quick read, but it is one that contains a lot of important information for church leaders.

7.    Another re-read this year was They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball. Many churches struggle to attract young people and see the ones raised in their churches leave once they get old enough to make that decision. We incorrectly assume that these young people are abandoning God, but the author points out that what they are abandoning is what they often find in our churches. He addresses six things that the younger generation consistently points out as the reasons they are leaving churches. Church leaders need to understand the thinking of the younger generations and address their concerns or we will continue to see them ignoring the church as irrelevant to their spiritual growth.

6.    Yes, this book is another re-read. Tomorrow I'll get to some books I added to my library in 2023, but I've ranked PastorPreneur by John Jackson as my sixth favorite read this year. As someone who has spent his ministry serving in bivocational roles I consider myself an entrepreneur. The author believes that the successful pastor in the 21st century will be one who combines ministry with an entrepreneurial mindset. I completely agree. In the book Jackson talks much about vision and how to communicate that vision to the congregation. My copy is heavily highlighted with a lot of notes in the margins. I really like this book. The book I read was published in 2003, and it appears an updated version was released in 2011. The updated version is the book I've given you a link to.

Tomorrow we will highlight my top five books. Remember, leaders are readers so I hope you have a stack of books to start on in 2024. I know I do!