What Do Pastors Do All Week?

What Do Pastors Do All Week?

Eugene Peterson, in his delightful memoir The Pastor, wrote that when he started out in local church ministry he wasn’t entirely sure what it was a pastor was supposed to do. He said it was not obvious to the people of his congregation or community, either.

He went to a seminar led by a nationally-recognized authority on pastoral theology. The young Peterson was impressed by the brilliant man’s erudition and theological vocabulary. “For an hour or so I was under his spell. And then I began feeling that something was not quite right. What I was doing, working in a congregation characterized by interruptions, false starts, and unfinished work, seemed like a far cry from anything he was presenting.”

He pressed the man with questions about his experience in pastoral work. He was evasive. It turned out that he had been an associate pastor for only one year in a small town! Peterson checked the indices in the books the man had written. There was not a single reference to prayer in any of them. There were few if any, references to congregation, worship, preaching, and scripture.

“I still had a great deal to learn about the vocation of pastor, but I knew one thing for sure: the work of prayer was at the heart of everything. Personal conversation with God had to intersect with everything I thought or said, whether in the sanctuary or on the street corner.” He went on to say that “the vocation of pastor had to be understood entirely under the shaping influence of the biblical text.”

Hmmm. Prayer and the biblical text. Not exactly innovations or contemporary novelties. Prayer and the biblical text. Remind you of anything? Do you remember the priorities of the first church leaders who said, “We… will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4)?

I am reminded of the provocative words of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse who said, “If I had only three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying and preparing.”

The famous evangelist Billy Graham was speaking to a large gathering of London clergymen. He said if he could repeat his ministry, he would make two changes. The people looked startled. What could he mean?

First, he continued, he would study three times as much as he had done. “I’ve preached too much and studied too little,” he said. The second change was that he would give more time to prayer. Surely this thinking was shaped by the priorities in the biblical text!

Every conscientious pastor gives a certain amount of time each week to pastoral care and counseling, to visitation, to evangelism and discipleship. Administrative work takes time: planning, decision-making, committee meetings, staff meetings. Important work to be sure.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, should take the place of prayer and Bible study. This is what produces, in the life of a pastor, clarity of vocation, depth of conviction, maturity of judgment, integrity of character, and sanctity of ministry — on Sunday, and throughout the week.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

The Power of a Good Example

The Power of a Good Example

He took the guitar from my brother’s hand, strummed it, and began to wail in a cowboy twang, “There was blood on the saddle, there was blood on the ground, and a great big puddle of blood on the ground; a cowboy lay in it all covered with gore and he never will ride any broncos no more.”

My brothers and I dissolved into gales of laughter as Warren Wiersbe continued to sing, “Oh pity the cowboy all bloody and red, for the bronco fell on him and bashed in his head.” Here was a preacher who liked teenage boys and knew how to get through to them.

The Power of a Good Example
Dr. Warren Wiersbe. May 16, 1929 – May 2, 2019

Our parents had invited Pastor Wiersbe to our home for a meal after he had ministered as a guest speaker in our church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To us lads, he was gentle, approachable, and really funny. We knew he took God seriously, but we could see that didn’t keep him from enjoying life.

Little did I know at that time that my future life would intersect with his in ways important to me. He was a regular speaker for Bible conferences at the college and seminary I attended. He was always a favorite of the students. I was in awe of the clarity and wisdom of his Bible teaching.

Later, I studied preaching in a course he co-taught with Lloyd M. Perry at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago. When I was called to serve as associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, Kentucky, I served under Galen C. Call, who had succeeded Wiersbe as pastor of that eminent congregation. Galen told me more than once that his service as Pastor Wiersbe’s associate, was equivalent to a seminary degree.

Pastor Wiersbe came back to Calvary several times as a guest speaker during my years as associate and senior pastor. He made himself available to us younger ministers to discuss ministry problems, theological questions, and of course, books. “What are you reading?” he would ask.

If I called him he never gave the impression that I was interrupting something more important. He usually answered the phone with a cheerful “Wiersbes!” Then he would listen patiently to whatever question or problem I wanted to share. His answers were based on scriptural principles and sanctified common sense.

I will always be grateful for the wisdom of his example. Here are some of the lessons he taught me.

Teach the Word — what it says, what it means, emphasizing the points where the Bible touches life.

Always preach the gospel. He would say that he was not an evangelist. But I served in a church where there were many people who said they trusted Christ as savior as a result of Pastor Warren Wiersbe’s preaching and personal witness.

Give the best part of your day to study. I tried to devote the morning hours to the study of God’s Word, while my mind was fresh and uncluttered by the accumulated concerns of the day.

Do not neglect pastoral care. Know the people and love the people. When Pastor Wiersbe would come to our church to minister, before every service he would circulate among the people in the pews, greeting them with friendly words of encouragement and good humor.

One bit of advice he gave me has been a source of untold blessing. He suggested to me that I form a prayer group of local pastors who would meet to pray for each other, for each others’ churches, and for the city. It has been a joy to meet with pastors of different denominations. We have been praying together every month for over twenty years.

I know that hundreds of other ministry leaders have enjoyed even closer fellowship with Pastor Wiersbe than I have. Some have written eloquent online tributes upon learning of his death. I feel the need to add my own words out of deep respect and gratitude to God for his influence. No one except my father has influenced me more.

It has been said that a good example is the only Bible some people will read. That may be true. But I am convinced that Warren Wiersbe would want more than anything for his example to lead people into the Bible and to a knowledge of the God of the Bible.

Oh and yes, I am pretty sure there is laughter in heaven today.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Read it! Over and Over Again

Read it! Over and Over Again

There is more than one way to profitably read the Bible. A friend of mine recently set out to read the Bible through in one month. He committed himself to a schedule of reading 54 pages a day.

Several years ago my wife enjoyed reading through the Bible in three months with a group of friends. They met weekly to discuss what they were learning and to encourage each other to finish well.

Many Christians make it their goal to read through the Bible in a year. The benefits of such comprehensive reading plans are significant: grasping the storyline of redemption history, prophecy and fulfillment, the centrality of Jesus and the cross, foundations of Christian theology, and developing a God-centered worldview. There are many additional benefits.

Some prefer to read the Bible more slowly, allowing time for meditation and application. This is good too. Another friend, Keith Roberson, has devoted himself to a mastery of the psalms. He has enriched his spiritual life by exploring the theology of the psalmists, gaining a deeper understanding of worship, and recognizing the psalms as responses to life’s circumstances.

In recent months I have been reading some of the shorter books of the New Testament all the way through in my daily quiet time. As I read I write down impressions that I can carry with me through the day or thoughts I can share with others to encourage them. Here are a few reasons to spend time in one book of the Bible and to read it over and over.

  • To notice repeated words and themes the writer emphasizes (such as “suffering” in 1 Peter)
  • To memorize key verses in the book (to help a suffering friend you might want to memorize 1 Peter 4:12-13 or 19)
  • To hear a fresh word from God from familiar words you have read many times before (Here’s an example: Suffering may cause some to doubt God’s goodness. No. “The Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:3)
  • To know God as the book describes him (I recently counted 13 attributes of God in 1 Peter alone; a rich meditation)
  • To think more deeply about difficult passages and to be motivated to study them thoroughly (1 Peter 3:19 has that mysterious phrase about Christ preaching to the spirits in prison. How long has it been since your pastor preached on that text? Maybe you should study it for yourself!)

It is said that the famous expositor G. Campbell Morgan decided one day to spend less time reading books about the Bible and to invest more time reading the Bible itself. He determined that he would not preach through a book of the Bible until he had read it through consecutively forty or fifty times.

Marinating our minds with a single book of scripture, as my friend Keith has done with the psalms, is not so we can boast of acquired knowledge, but so we may love the Lord who is revealed in his Word and be better equipped to bless others by sharing it (1 Peter 3:15).

Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen. (from The Book of Common Prayer)

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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