Tag Archives: A Pastor’s Reflection Series

  1. A Pastor’s Reflections: Warts and All

    At times I find myself swimming against the tide of popular trends. In particular, one such trend where I find myself out of place is in the desire to read biographies of great Christians. In general, I’m not opposed to learning about the lives of famous Christians, but I do have two concerns.

  2. A Pastor’s Reflections: Data Gathering

    I think when people imagine what it’s like to receive pastoral counseling, they envision their pastor or elder giving them wonderful advice. And, to a certain extent, this is true. When you have a problem and need advice, your pastor or elder should be able to give you sound counsel.

  3. A Pastor’s Reflections: Body and Soul

    One of the things that the pastorate can do is take a toll on your body. Perhaps it’s because the pastorate is conducive to a sedentary lifestyle—you sit at your desk and study for hours, then you meet someone for lunch, show up to a church social and eat a stack of cookies piled high on your tiny cocktail napkin, and then meet someone at your local coffee shop and, why not, go ahead and grab a scone.

  4. A Pastor’s Reflections: Showing Interest in Others

    As a pastor you will meet a lot of different people throughout the course of your ministry. I have met fighter pilots, professional athletes, contractors, school teachers, stay-at-home moms, accountants, politicians, musicians, children, students, and the like.

  5. A Pastor’s Reflections: Funerals

    I’m not sure why, but pastors often fail miserably at performing funerals. I can remember sitting in a funeral service where the pastor stood before a very large congregation and admitted he was at a loss for words—he did not know what to say. Ok, fair enough.

  6. A Pastor’s Reflections: Protect Your Pastor!

    All you have to do is read the headlines on the interweb to know that we live in some crazy times. It seems like people are all to willing to use violence as a means of promoting their agenda.

  7. A Pastor’s Reflections: Enemies Within the Church

    One of the biggest surprises in my ministry was the opposition to the gospel that arose within my own church. I always assumed there would be opposition to the gospel from outside the church, from the unbelieving world.

  8. A Pastor’s Reflections: Preach to Yourself

    When I was regularly preparing my weekly sermons I often wondered whether I would make any type of impact upon my church. After all, a pastor will pour anywhere between 10-20 hours of preparation to preach for 30 minutes, give or take.

  9. A Pastor’s Reflections: Your Work Ethic

    During my days in seminary I had a number of summer internships where I learned a some invaluable lessons. One that stands out prominently in my mind was the importance of maintaining a strong work ethic.