Ministry Pornography - Ed Stetzer

Here's a great video clip from missiologist Ed Stetzer every church leader needs to hear.

Playing Hurt

I love football and one of my favorite players is Brett Favre. I tend to follow players more than teams. By any estimation Favre has had a wildly successful career. One of the reasons I love Favre is because of his grittiness and toughness. He has started 276 consecutive games as Quarterback which is more than any other player in NFL history. It really is an incredible record seeing as how the Quarterback position is potentially one of the most dangerous on the field. You don't acquire a record like Favre's without playing hurt once in a while.

The same is true in ministry. If you are going to be successful in ministry and make it over the long haul you are going to have to learn to play hurt. Honestly being a pastor hurts most of the time. You pour your life into people who walk away from God and the church, you are constantly criticized, your family is criticized and open to attack, crippling discouragement, feelings of failure because you don't feel the church is growing fast enough, betrayal, you make mistakes, and the list goes on ad infinitum. Add to the preceding the fact that pastors are a constant target for satanic assault and you can see how easy it is to want to hibernate and lick your wounds.

Over the last 10 years of being a lead pastor I have had to learn how to play hurt. There have been many Sundays when I hurt so bad I didn't want to climb into the pulpit to preach. But somehow God has been faithful to grant me the grace to endure and keep going on. I read a statistic years ago that stated that for every 10 people who go into full time ministry only one will actually remain in ministry until retirement. What happens? They get hurt and sit on the sidelines.

No one ever said that ministry was easy. We have the opportunity to make a great and profound impact upon people's lives but with that potential also comes the potential to get hurt. Because a pastor's main weapon is love we should expect to get hurt. But the alternative of hardening our heart and building walls is not an option if we are going to be successful in the ministry God has called us to.

So how do we learn to play hurt? I have learned to rely on God's grace. Paul was right when he said that in our weakness God's strength is perfected. Something powerful happens when we are broken by discouragement or betrayal. God displays His anointing and power through weak vessels. I remember surviving the most difficult period of my life a couple of years ago. I didn't even want to get out of bed in the morning. But when Sunday rolled around I would get in the pulpit and preach like a man from another world. Why? Because God is attracted to weakness. It's only through weakness that His strength can truly be displayed.

I have learned to take my frustrations and hurt to the Lord in prayer. My wife is a great support but she can only do so much comforting. I need supernatural comfort that can only come from the Lord. Some of the most intimate and powerful moments of my life have been when I have been smarting and have gone to the Lord in desperation. Sometimes it's hard to find words to pray when you're hurting. So I've found that worship cd's work great. Something amazing happens when we begin to worship Him. All of our hurt and pain is melted away in His presence and we receive strength to keep keeping on.

I have also learned to take some time off. Don't keep pushing ahead, take a sabbath rest. Take a couple of days off and renew your mind, body and spirit. There is an old cliche that says never make major decisions when you are tired or hurt because you are not thinking clearly. You need some time to decompress and process. This will help you to be in a much better frame of mind. Far too many people quit in the spur of the moment when their emotions are in control and they aren't thinking clearly. Paul warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 to keep his head in all situations.

Let me also issue a word of warning. When you are hurting you are particularly vulnerable to temptation. Be cognizant and aware because the devil roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. When we hurt we want to feel better and will sometimes do things that are completely out of character because we want to feel better. Don't fall into that trap. Surround yourself with some boundaries so you will not be tempted to do something to dull your pain that you shouldn't.

You are going to be hurt in ministry and in life, but the key is that you keep playing because a player on the sidelines makes no touchdowns for the Lord.

Drinking Down the Cup of Anarchy

October is Clergy Appreciation Month. It's a great time to honor our spiritual leaders and let them know how much we love them and are thankful for all that they do. Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows that I love pastors. I am a second generation pastor and I have a heart to encourage and strengthen pastors any way that I can. I believe that pastors are the most important change agents in society. Therefore they are the prime targets of satanic attack. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

It is an understatement to say that pastors are under attack. All you have to do is to read the statistics. Pastor Chuck Balsamo is the pastor of a great church in Stuarts Draft, Virginia called Destiny Family Worship Center. He recently wrote a great article on this subject that needs to be heard by every believer.

Click here to read the post

How to Worship

For all of those who are from a non-charismatic/Pentecostal background here is a primer on how to worship. Funny!

Regaining Emotional Equilibrium

I love being a pastor. I am convinced it's what I was born to do. But that doesn't mean that it's always easy. I don't think there is a job or vocation in the whole world that has the capacity for such extreme emotional highs and lows as being a pastor.

For the past couple of months God has been really blessing our church. We've had more first time guests then we've ever had and we are retaining more. On top of that in most services we are seeing people come to faith in Christ. This is enough to make any pastor giddy!

On the other hand, there have been some pretty low times too. Just last week a person who had been attending for several weeks and that I have been counseling and witnessing to decided not to cross the line of faith and to stop attending church. In some ways I feel responsible that they didn't cross the line of faith. Did I make the gospel clear enough? Did I do something that turned them off to Jesus? They were so close yet they stopped just short of believing. It breaks my heart to see this happen.

Then over the weekend a close family friend and adopted grandmother of my kids unexpectedly passed away. We were all shocked and devastated by the news. We hurt for the family she left behind. But we also hurt because she will leave a huge void in our own lives.

So there are moments of exhiliration and moments of despondency. If we are not careful our moods can swing wildly along the emotional pendulum. Unchecked these kinds of mood swings can cause us to fall into vulnerable emotional states like depression. No one can ride the emotional roller coaster that a pastor lives for very long without taking time to recalibrate their emotions. In ten years of pastoral ministry I've learned that the key to not going insane is to keep everything in balance. You have to regain emotional equilibrium or you will burn out.

How do you recalibrate? For me, it involves seeing from the perspective of the long view. Today's euphoric high is probably not as high as I think it is, and today's low is not as low as I think it is. While I can rejoice in the good things that happen I can't derive my joy from it because tomorrow is likely to not be so "high." Conversely I can't sink into the depths of despair because of a tragedy or crisis. I have to trust and depend on God's grace in both situations to keep me strong and level headed. Paul's counsel to his protoge Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 was to keep his head in all situations.

By keeping the long view in mind I realize that this too shall pass and tomorrow will bring fresh grace and new challenges.

Becoming A Wise Master Builder Part 4

What Every Builder Needs to Know:

Haggai 1:1-15

1. We must make His house a priority.

I find it interesting that when the Jews returned to Jerusalem the very first thing they did was to rebuild God’s house. The entire city lay in ruins. There wasn’t even a wall around the city for defense and protection yet the people set about to build God’s house. It is very clear that God’s number one priority for His people was to build His house. Jewish life revolved around the Temple. The Temple wasn’t an option for the Jews it was a priority. God’s priorities haven’t changed in the 21st century. He still prioritizes His house. Today His house is the local church.

If you will get planted in God’s house you will flourish.

“He that is planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps.92:13).

Many people cut themselves off from church because its not important to them.

“Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but even the more so as you see the day approaching” (Heb.10:25).

If we build God’s house He will build our house.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt.6:33).

“Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent” (v.2)…“The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: when your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom…Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam.7:2-16).

There are consequences for neglecting His house and pursuing your own concerns!

“You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes but you are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” (v.6). Does this sound like anyone’s life that is here this morning? God goes on to say, “You expected much, but see it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? Declares the Lord Almighty. Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, and the new wine, the oil, and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands” (vs.9-11).

2. Expect opposition.

When the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem they started to build God’s house with enthusiasm and excitement. But when the people of the surrounding areas saw that God’s house was being rebuilt they immediately began to mount a campaign to discourage and stop the work. Soon the enthusiasm and fervor that the Jews started the work with turned into discouragement and fatigue. Because they faced so much opposition they told themselves the time just wasn’t right to build God’s house (v.2). We often have the same attitude. As soon as any opposition comes our way the first thing we do is stop coming to church. We stop giving, serving, and attending. Instead of advancing in spite of opposition we retreat

3 things the enemy uses to keep us from building:
• Offenses. Offense is a trap that will destroy you.
• Distractions. Illustration of Sanballat and Tobiah trying to lure Nehemiah off of the wall.
• Excuses.

3. Every great building project requires a builder.

“So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God…” (v.14).

When God wants to accomplish something in the earth He uses people. When God wants to build something He stirs the hearts of people to accomplish it.


When God stirs the heart of His people it is for the accomplishment of His purposes not yours. God doesn’t stir your heart to build your kingdom but His. The desires in your heart to do something great for God come from Him. Sometimes we wonder if what we have in our heart is from God. Understand that your flesh is never going to stir you to do build God’s kingdom because building is hard work that calls for sacrifice and service, things that the flesh fight against. The enemy is not going to stir you to build something for God because he would be fighting against himself. Therefore, if it’s not the flesh and not the devil, it must be from God. If God puts it in your heart He means for you to do it. What is in your heart may sound absolutely crazy to others but God wants to accomplish it through you.

Moreover, the very fact that God has stirred your heart to build means that what He has put in your heart will come to pass. God doesn’t begin a building project and leave it undone. He is a finisher! We have building projects that we leave undone all the time, but not God. What He has begun He will finish.

“Being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php.1:6).

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thess.5:24

God will leave no stone unturned to accomplish His purposes. He will even stir the hearts of pagans to accomplish His cause. In Ezra 1:1 the Bible tells us that God stirred the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia to build God’s house in Jerusalem. Cyrus not only recruited Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple he also financed the building project. Here was a completely pagan king that worshipped other gods that ended up financing the building of God’s house. You may be wondering today how you are going to accomplish what God has put in your heart, but know that God will stir the hearts of people that have influence and wealth to accomplish His work through you.

4. Perseverance brings success.

“Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him” (v.12).

Perseverance means “a steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose.” Perseverance is staying the course even when the course if difficult. Someone had defined it as “a long obedience in the same direction.” Builders need to know that perseverance will ultimately lead to great success.

Notice that it says that the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. We need to understand that inside every church is the real church. What I mean is that not everyone who attends church is part of “the Church.” In every congregation there is a remnant of people who are seeking to obey the voice of the Lord their God. They are the builders. But also in every congregation there are people who aren’t obedient to the voice of God. They are the sitters. So in every church you have builders and sitters; those who are obedient and those who aren’t. For some reason there is always plenty of riff-raff who are along for the ride but don’t want to contribute anything. They are the ones who usually complain the loudest and stir up strife and division.

During the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness the Bible tells us that the “rabble” or the “riff-raff” among them began to complain about not having meat (Numbers 11). Now God was providing all they had need of but they weren’t satisfied. They were disobedient, selfish and carnal. When things got tough they didn’t persevere and gave in to their own agendas. Then they tried to persuade others to join them in their agenda. In the church there is still plenty of rabble and riff-raff that are far more interested in pursuing their own agendas rather than God’s. They even try to persuade others to join them in their agendas. What the riff-raff doesn’t understand is that God will never bless their selfish agendas. God only blesses His agenda and builders are committed to persevering and executing God’s agenda. Therefore builders attract success because they persevere to fulfill God’s agenda and not their own.

Remnant - “that which has survived after a previous elimination process or catastrophe.” In other words the remnant are survivors; those who persevere through the trials and tribulations and never give up. Are there any survivors in the house today? I’m talking to those who have survived catastrophe and trouble and mind bending stress and death sentences but here you are today still persevering and building God’s house. Survivors have been through enough to realize that true success is not climbing the corporate ladder but fulfilling God’s agenda and building His house. They realize that perseverance brings success.

When the exiles heard the preaching of Haggai they remembered that his words were the fulfillment of prophecy made about them. For in the days of Hezekiah the king Isaiah the prophet prophesied about this remnant saying,

“And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put down roots in your own soil and will grow up and flourish. For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen” (2 Kings 19:30-31 NLT).

You have to get rooted. Once you get rooted you will spread out and grow.

“But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew – I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these.” (Zech.8:11-12).

5. God is with you.

“Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, I am with you, says the Lord” (v.13).

Pay careful attention to what God says in verse 2, “Say to these people.” Notice that He didn’t call them His people. He called them “these people.” It signified the fact that God had withdrawn His presence from their midst. In other words if they weren’t building they weren’t His people. But when the survivors started to build God said, “I am with you.” God’s presence abides where builders are building something.
I believe one of the greatest tragedies in the church is that many churches have lost the presence of God. They lost His presence because they stopped building. They stopped pursuing His agenda and started pursuing their own. They stopped pursuing His agenda and started pursuing the agenda of the Republicans and the Democrats. As long as we are building God’s house we can be assured of His presence. As long as we are on God’s agenda we can be assured of His presence. But when we seek to build another house God will withdraw His presence. So whenever we experience God’s presence here it is proof that we are on the right track. It’s proof that we are on the right agenda. There are so many people that I talk to that are so worried about the way church has changed. There is always one question I ask, “Is the presence of God there?” If it is they are on the right track.

Building your own house is futile; it is meaningless and will not stand the test. So many of us try to build our own thing and we are constantly facing all kinds of problems because of it. Stop building your house and start building God’s house.

“Unless the Lord builds the house they that build it labor in vain” (Ps.127:1).

“Without me you can do nothing” (Jn.15:5).

God can accomplish amazing things through us if we let Him.

Becoming A Wise Master Builder Part 3

"By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple" (1 Corinthians 3:10-17).

There are five foundational truths we discover in this passage that are necessary for every builder to understand.

1. God calls us to be wise master builders.

Paul said that he laid the foundation as an expert builder. We are not called to build God's house in a frivolent or half-hearted way. God calls us to build with wisdom, passion, skill, integrity and perseverance. The reason that many churches don't grow is because there is no blueprint for the construction of the building. These churches exist from week to week without any semblance of a strategy or vision. There are no systems or structures in place that bring people into discipleship. Building the house of God requires skill. Psalm 78:72 says, "David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." Pastors, we can preach our heart out every week and pray for hours every day and the church will still shrink if we don't have a blueprint for how to build. This doesn't negate the necessity of prayer and preaching but it does elevate the importance of developing your skill as a leader and builder. The good news is that these skills can be developed in the life of a leader. But leaders must want to grow and acquire the skills necessary to build the house of God.

2. We have all been given a gift to use in building the house of God.

Paul said that he was given a special "grace" by God to build. The Greek word for grace here is charis which means "gift." In other words Paul was given a gift to build the house of God. Every believer has been given a gift that they might build the house of God. We were not given grace (gifts) to build our own ministry or to do our own thing. We were endowed by God with gifts to build what He is building - the local church. I'm so thankful for the dedication and passion that so many who work in the parachurch world have for missions, feeding programs, helping families, etc. but the fact remains biblically that our gifts are to be used to build the house of God. There are some parachurch organizations out there who do use their gifts to build the house of God but there are many that don't. Remember that if you aren't building what Jesus is building then you are going to waste your life.

3. It matters how we build.

Paul said that each one should be careful how he builds. God takes the building of His house very seriously. We better take it seriously as well. Consider that whenever God asked leaders to build something for Him in the Old Testament He gave them specific directions. Go back and read about the specs He gave Moses for the Tabernacle. God was very intentional about what He wanted. His house had to be built according to a specific design and plan, right down to the color scheme and even the furniture. The leaders didn't get to choose what they wanted to build they were given orders by God about how to build and they were expected to follow them down to the minutest detail. Through this God is saying that every detail about His house is important. We can't just treat His house with ignorance and apathy and just throw something together. There is a design that God wants us to build with. We as church members need to be careful that we aren't trying to shape the church into what we want it to be. Our opinions and building plans are really not that important. It's God's plans for the house that matter!

4. Our work will be inspected and tested.

Paul said that the work of every builder will be inspected tested by fire. Jesus still walks in the midst of the candlesticks and inspects the work of every builder. Some build with wood, hay and straw; while others build with silver and gold. Those who are building with wood, hay and straw are those who show up late to their ministry assignments or don't show up at all. They have no passion for what they are doing. They do just enough to get by to make the pastor or church leadership happy. They aren't faithful in their giving or their attendance. The sad part is that they think they are getting away with it but they aren't. The fire will reveal their work. Their work will be burnt up because it wasn't quality work. But if you are a good leader and are building with precious metals then the fire will purify your work and make it even more valuable. What will the fire reveal in your building project? Are you building with wood, hay and straw; or are you building with gold and silver?

5. We will be rewarded or punished according to how we build.

Paul said that we will be rewarded or punished according to how we build. If we are building with wood, hay and straw we will be saved - as one escaping through the flames - but our work will be burnt up. We will receive no reward for our labor. When we stand at the Bema Seat of Christ we will have nothing to offer Him only embarrassment for the shoddy way in which we build His house. On the other hand if we build God's house with wisdom and skill and passion and energy then we will receive a great reward. Do you want to be embarrassed when you stand before Christ? Do you want your labor to burn up and be wasted. Then give it everything you've got. Stop holding back and build the house of God with all your might and energy. Invest your life in the local church; you can't lose!