A day in the life…

My present plan calls for four hours study on my preaching and teaching ministry in the mornings, at least two and a half hours visitation in the afternoons, plus the extra time either for more such study or work relating to visitation. The evenings may be answering all correspondence, preparing the magazine, reading books, articles, building around the property - in other words, anything, including study and visitation which could be helpful, relaxing…

On prayer…

Prayer, the main source of strength of all,must find its necessary time in the early hours of the day, in the evening, around meal hours, without intruding on this ministry of teaching, preaching and visitation. Yet it must undergird all the ministry.

Being honest…

“Not much accomplished”

“This was a poor day… wasted in many respects”

“Preached (poorly)”

Steve gave two talks about grace in church planting - ‘Church Planter as a Minister of Grace’ and ‘Planting Communities of Grace’. Steve is involved in lots of different things; Crowded House in Sheffield, Radstock Ministries, and the Porterbrook Network who had partnered with Acts29 to put this day conference on. Here’s the first talk:

Church Planter as a Minister of Grace - 1 Timothy 1

Identity

• The Foremost of Sinners (v.15)
• A conviction not a comparison
• Paul’s past convicts him (v.13)
• Grace more than abundant (v.14-15)

Ministry

• Background - Ephesian heresy, Grace being turned into Law
• v.3-5, Paul confronts, instructs and teaches
• Encourages Timothy - to fight, contend, to pray indiscriminately (2:1)

Relationship between Identity and Ministry
Model Grace:

• You are an undeserving recipient of Prodigious Grace
• You don’t base ministry on performance (that’s legalism)
• You display humility in conflict and opposition
• Love the unlovely and unlovable
• Be kind an patient (2 Tim 2:24-26)
• Handle success and failure with grace
• We are trophies of grace - for HIS glory

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much;

An extract from Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If…’

Came across this little guide, 40 tips for ministry, aimed at young pastors (by Craig Groeschel):

1. Life is short. Make every day count for God’s glory.
2. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
3. Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.
4. Jesus cares more about the church than you do.
5. You can’t please everyone…so why try?
6. People will criticize you. Quit whining. Get used to it.
7. Three months from now, you won’t even remember most of the things that are bothering you today.
8. You can’t do it all. Stop trying.
9. God called you because He is good, not because you are.
10. If you blame yourself for the bad results in ministry, you’ll likely also take credit for the good results.
11. Become close friends with other pastors in your town (as many as you can).
12. Your kids will be grown before you know it. Don’t sacrifice them on the altar of ministry.
13. Your ministry isn’t your god. God is your God.
14. You know how to give and how to minister to others. If you don’t learn how to receive, you’ll burn out and/or die.
15. Studying for sermons doesn’t replace your personal time with God and in His Word.
16. Err on the side of generosity.
17. Believe in people that others overlook.
18. If you’re going to reach people that others aren’t, you’ll have to do things that others won’t.
19. Your integrity matters more than you can imagine.
20. Hire staff members that you like.
21. When you have a tough decision to make, but you know it’s right, make it immediately. (Like pulling off a Band-Aid: do it fast, and all at once.)
22. Hire slowly. Fire quickly.
23. You can’t change people. Only God can.
24. Don’t criticize others’ ministries. Yours isn’t nearly as perfect as you think it is.
25. Take care of yourself. Eat right. Rest. Exercise. Take time off. No one else can do that for you.
26. If you don’t take much time off, it’s because you’re proud, and you think you’re more necessary than you really are.
27. Don’t just delegate responsibility. Delegate authority.
28. Laugh frequently.
29. People will leave your church. People you love and trust will leave your church. Don’t take it personally.
30. When you suffer and hurt because of ministry, worship Jesus all the more.
31. Talk about Jesus every time you preach.
32. Be careful what you say. You’re being watched (and recorded).
33. Don’t return emails when you’re angry.
34. Check to make sure your microphone is turned off before you use the bathroom. Double-check.
35. Check to make sure your zipper is zipped every time before you preach. Double-check.
36. Love your wife more than you love the church. The church is Jesus’ bride, not yours.
37. Always be caught speaking well of others.
38. Compliment, encourage, and build up your staff and volunteers.
39. Hand write thank you notes.
40. Smile and look people in the eyes when you talk to them.

I think it was Spurgeon who said something like “If you can’t preach, then you’re not called to preach”… that’s true, I don’t think the preach yesterday was that bad, I think it went ok.

On the recommendation of Si-Fi I listened to a little series of 3 sermons by Dave Harvey of Sovereign Grace Ministries, the series was entitled ‘Are you called?’… originally I thought this was some calvinistic thing, are we ‘called’ in the Romans 8:28-30 sense of the word, so I wasn’t going to bother listening… but no, it’s actually about the call to ministry.

I would recommend these to anyone either in or considering full-time gospel work. They are excellent, the point that stuck for me was the idea of ‘character before gifting’ - you may be an good preacher, a dynamic communicator, a clear teacher, a biblical scholar… but if you don’t have the character (as in 1 Tim 3), then you’re not called.

Get talks at Sovereign Grace website