By Steven Mock

What can you do to be a blessing to your pastor and make his job easier? We’ve already looked at how you can love him, pray for him, and serve him. My final answer to this question is that you can submit to him.

The writer of Hebrews instructs believers to behave a certain way in relationship to their church leaders. Hebrews 13:17 says to obey and be submissive to them. If you want to be a blessing to your pastor and help ensure that he does not have the worst job in the world, then you can do that easily by obeying his counsel and submitting to his directions.

Before we go any further, let me make a disclaimer against potential abuse of this passage. Your pastor is not perfect. He isn’t God. And he doesn’t know everything! So it is more than likely that your pastor can and will make a lot of mistakes about a lot of different things (like building programmes, interior decorating, ideas for fun youth Read the rest of this entry »

By Steven Mock

Are you concerned that your pastor might have the worst job in the world? Probably not if you expect him to work an unreasonable number of hours throughout the week and if you never express heart-felt, specific appreciation for your pastor.

So what can you do to be a blessing to your pastor and make his job easier? I have already suggested two solutions that God can use to prevent your pastor from having the worst job in the world: love your pastor and pray for him. Now let me suggest a third: serve your pastor.

1 Timothy 5:17-19 “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.”

This passage tells you to serve your pastor in two ways, by honouring him and defending him.

Here we see that your pastor, as an elder, is responsible to rule well and labour in the word and teaching. Ruling well refers to your pastor’s authority and how he administrates the business of the church. God has given pastors authority to make decisions regarding the church. This authority is not absolute or final, like a wannabe Read the rest of this entry »

This article was originally a personal blog post. Farid has given permission to repost it here in a slightly edited form. I trust it will be a blessing to you. -Jason

Thoughts on Friendship
By Farid Wardan

For some people this might not be that big of an issue, but friendship is one of the things that I think about, work on, and struggle with the most.

I don’t like casually calling every person I’ve spoken to a friend, I do end up using the word friend to apply to more people than I’d like it to, if for no reason other than as a general term used to denote I know someone to some extent. I don’t like the fact that so many people have “friends” that they would forget about almost immediately if they wronged them. I don’t like, in fact I absolutely despise how people justify loads of gossip and harsh rumours about people that have in no way wronged them simply because they aren’t friends anymore. I don’t like the fact that we spend so much time thinking about what to believe and how to act, and not enough time on who to be and how to live. Friendships are often so shallow because of this very reason.

I don’t like people placing limits in their minds on how close friends should be, severely restricting what could otherwise be life-changing relationships to casual get-togethers that are defined more by having fun than they are by being a blessing and encouragement to each other. I don’t like the way we’re conditioned to think by society that scares us men away from each other in the fear that our friendship will be mistaken as something else. Physical contact is all but avoided, words like “I love you” which can mean so much in a friendship are avoided like the plague. Read the rest of this entry »

By Steven Mock

Does your pastor have the worst job in the world? If you don’t love him by valuing his hard work, authority, and service as well as bragging about him then there is a good chance he thinks he does. But what can you do to be a blessing to your pastor and make his job easier?

My second answer to this important question is to pray for your pastor. Paul asked for prayer at least three times. He obviously valued the corporate ministry of the body of Christ. Even though most of the early believers were not able to travel with Paul on his missionary journeys, they were still able to have a vital ministry with Paul by interceding on his behalf.

Like Paul, I’m sure every pastor would be greatly encouraged if he knew his people were praying for him on a regular basis. But how should you pray for your pastor? Let me suggest some answers from 1 Peter 5:1-4. This passage is written specifically to your pastor telling him how he is to perform his ministry to you. But you can easily turn it into five prayer requests for your pastor.

First, ask the Lord to help your pastor serve Him (and you) willingly this week. 1 Peter 5:2 tells your pastor to serve willingly and not by constraint. If your pastor is like me, it Read the rest of this entry »

By Steven Mock

Do you know what the worst job is in the world? It’s the one where someone works too many hours, gets paid far too little, is grossly underappreciated, is too stressed out, and everyone else thinks this is normal. Who would want a job like this? I’m sad to say that many pastors have this kind of job - the worst job in the world.

I’ve been a pastor for over a year and a half now and thankfully I don’t have the worst job in the world. The Lord has graciously blessed me with a church family who insist that I take days off, who generously give to meet my needs (and most of my wants!), and who regularly express their love and gratitude towards me in many ways. God has been very good to me!

But I also realize that there are many pastors who struggle and have probably thought at times that they have the worst job in the world. So for their benefit (and I trust yours as well) let me suggest one of many answers to the question: What can you do to be a blessing to your pastor and make his job easier?

The first answer is simple: love your pastor. 1 Thessalonians 5:12 says to know your pastor which means to recognize his true value and respect his worth. Have you ever shopped several hours for Read the rest of this entry »

By Walter & Trudy Fremont

Mary, a talented Christian school teacher, came from a good Christian home and was a graduate from an outstanding Christian college. She married a businessman in her church who claimed to have been saved in childhood but was known for his jealousy, bad temper, and worldliness. While Mary was engaged, her friends warned her that he was a loser, but she was desperately in love with this handsome, misunderstood man and would not listen. She ignored warnings from parents and friends about his past and his character.

Seven years and three children later, Mary came to the counselor’s office bemoaning the fact that her husband was selfish, abusive, irresponsible in leading the family, and in debt for many thousands of dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Probably all of us would like to think that our life would make a difference in some way. Thinking about all the things we cannot change is both sobering and humbling. Whether it be a father with his son, a pastor with his people, or a discipler with his diciplee, the change that matters is never something that we can do on our own. We can convince someone to make outward changes, but change in the spiritual realm is something that requires the Holy Spirit’s working in the heart. The following lines were intended to be an article on this topic, but just kind of came out differently. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jason Harris

The Definition of Anger

The Macquarie Dictionary defines anger as “Strongly felt displeasure aroused by real or supposed wrongs, often accompanied by an impulse to retaliate.” Websters Dictionary defines anger as “A strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance.” So anger is a strong emotion of displeasure aroused by a real or imagined offence. I become angry when I am actually, or perceive myself to have been, wronged. Read the rest of this entry »