I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
WE SPEAK: Proclaiming Truth in an Age of Talk – by Mike Baker, J.K. Jones, and Jim Probst
We Speak is laid out as a teaching chapter followed by five daily readings to keep the content in your mind over the week. The Discussion Guide at the back makes a book one could use for a small group or class setting. The authors remind us that “our message all these years later is still the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.” (p. 19) As followers of Jesus, we can say many things and talk about all of who God is and what Jesus has done, but the basic message comes down to what Jesus did in bringing us salvation. This is the message we have for others. We need to recognize the urgency of speaking the message, and the responsibility that is place by God on us to share that message. We may not feel qualified to speak, but we can all talk about the hope that we have. Let’s continue to speak.
We began the Summer Road Signs Series with speed signs. Now we’ll go to the opposite: stop signs. While moving forward and heading toward new adventures and new goals is exciting, there are times when we must stop. Eventually we have to take our foot off the gas, apply the brakes, and stop.
Stop signs remind us of a few things. Sometimes we need to stop because we are coming to an intersection, and other traffic may be coming through. If we don’t stop, we may be hit by other traffic. There are times when we need to slow down and stop in life. We have all kinds of distractions and frustrations and even opportunities coming our way all the time.
Sometimes we need to stop to just reset ourselves, to get our bearings. We need to remember to watch out for what is going on around us. Are there dangers we have been ignoring? Are there opportunities we have missed because we have been going forward with such passion and determination, we never recognized them? Slow seasons can give opportunity for us to stop and assess where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
For ourselves and our families, stopping to spend time reconnecting is valuable. Summer can be busy chauffeuring kids to camp or swimming lessons or tutoring. It can fill up with family gatherings and other expectations. But take time to spend with your family doing very little except being together. Instead of working on another project or chasing another busy thing, slow down and just listen to each other and talk about each other’s dreams and desires, hurts and frustrations. Pause to listen to each other.
In our desire to move ahead, have we left people behind? Do we need to give time for our team to catch up with us? As pastors, we set vision and direction for our churches. Are we giving time for our teams and churches to capture that vision and move with us? As leaders, our jobs include thinking about our goals and our vision all the time, but the reality is that those lead have other things on their minds too. They are not necessarily prioritizing moving towards these goals at the pace we are. A stop sign may remind us to give time for those we lead to catch up.
A stop sign could be at a T-intersection where we need to choose right or left. In our desire to move ahead, there are times we need to stop to figure out our next direction. What’s next? Just blindly choosing a direction in order to keep going may take us in the opposite direction of where we should be heading. Even if you are confronted with two equally good options, the stop will give space to allow you decide which one to take.
A stop sign may also be a reminder to just pause. We all need, in biblical terms, an occasional sabbatical. When God created the world, the seventh day, the final day, was a day of rest. It was a time to recognize that the work that had been done was enough. It’s okay to stop. To rest from busyness and take a break. A sabbatical is a reminder that our worth is not found in what we produce or what we do. When the work stops, you are still loved by God and valued as a person, a child of His.
There is also value in having other “sabbath” times. Taking a vacation can be a sabbath as we stop doing and pursing and producing and enjoy the people around us and take pleasure in the world God has created.
Yes, it is fun to move ahead at full speed, but it is important to recognize the stop signs and take the important breaks that refresh and reorient us for the next part of our journey.
Enjoy the stops signs!
Keep looking up,
Andy Wiebe
P.S. Next week’s road signs: Watch for Wild Animals
I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.
HOPECASTING: Finding, Keeping and Sharing the Things Unseen – by Mark Oestreicher
As the title states, the book is about hope. Mark Oestreicher defines hope as: “Hope is faithful confidence that God continues to author a story that moves us from vision to action.” (p. 24) His belief is that hope is not something we work hard to get, but we can only have it as God gives it to us as we spend time with him. He describes a number of enemies of hope, each a distraction that takes our eyes off of hope to other things. I like how he shows that our role is to be Hope carriers to the world around us, already giving them a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.
Are you in need of some hope? This is the book for you.
Many of us will be taking road trips over the summer. Maybe you already have. There are many signs along the road that guide our driving, so over the next two months, I will use these familiar signs as reminders of how we can live our lives and honour Jesus along the way.
I want to start with the sign that I think I like the most: speed signs. In Canada, these signs often show a maximum speed of 100km/h on the highway. I recently enjoyed a drive up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. While I enjoyed the trip, I did not enjoy one large section of highway that was limited to 90 Km/h. When we are fortunate to travel on divided highways, we are allowed to drive 110 km/h. I like travelling in the U.S. because often the speed limit is even higher.
I like this sign because it is all about getting to where you want to go as fast as you can. This is not about taking a leisurely drive for no reason. The focus is on what is ahead. You don’t need your rearview mirror for this sign!
One of the joys of my job is to help churches look ahead with clarity and purpose. Yes, we do take time to look at the past and understand the present, but we do this to clarify vision, and ultimately look at where we are headed and how best to get there. It is forward thinking and forward planning. We have a destination in mind and develop a map to get us there in the best way possible. No matter what speed you are travelling at, it is all about moving ahead.
While we recognize the importance of brakes, we love using the gas pedal more. The goal is to keep moving forward as quickly as possible in order to get to the preferred future we have in mind.
We set the destination. We map out the route. Maybe, if it is a longer trip, we even plan where we will stop for meals or gas, or even an overnight stay in a hotel or with friends. With a church, this means setting some short-term goals that will help us move along to the final destination, while giving us a way to measure progress along the way. If we trust God for 10 new believers this year, it is helpful to set some goals as to how we will help friends and family become new believers in Jesus first. We need to set some more immediate goals that will help us share Jesus with people regularly, praying along the way that some of those we share with will come to know Jesus.
In our personal lives, these same reminders from speed signs might direct our thoughts to pursuing personal growth. Keep moving ahead looking for new experiences and new encounters with learning opportunities. Set personal goals that will move you in the right direction.
In my own life, this forward momentum is evident in my love for learning. When I finished high school, I attended a Bible College. I wanted to learn what I could to become equipped for Christian ministry. I thought I would be involved in fulltime camp work or some kind of Christian education. Halfway through my Christian Education degree, God spoke through a few people and adjusted my destination to be pastoral ministry specifically. I added an extra year of education so I could get my Pastoral Degree as well. As I began ministry, I wanted to keep learning. I began taking courses at a seminary level. I was in no rush to complete the degree, wanting only to keep learning, so it took me over 20 years to get my Masters of Arts in Leadership and Ministry. Presently I am applying for the opportunity to pursue a Doctorate of Ministry. I desire to keep moving forward, to keep growing as a person and as a pastor.
Speed signs are about moving ahead at the highest speed allowed. I encourage you to consider where you have been going slower than you should. Maybe God is asking you to pick up the pace and keep moving forward to what is next. Trust God to guide you as you look to him for the right destination to pursue.
If you have ever worked on a car or built a deck, you know the value of a good tool. With the right tool the work becomes easier and you see better results. The same is true for a pastor. We benefit from having good tools to help us.
Some of you may immediately think of tools like a good commentary or online study tools. These are great and we need those, but I’m thinking more along the lines of the ideas and questions we come across in our reading and study.
Sermon Tools
Over the years I have gathered many questions that I use regularly to help me better dig into the scripture I am preparing to preach. Referring to my pates of collected questions and processes has enhanced my sermon preparation. These are questions like:
What does it say?
What does it not say?
Could it mean what it says?
Sometimes I move through these three questions quickly, other times, if it is a difficult or controversial section of scripture, I tend to slow down and make sure these questions help clarify what God’s Word is truly saying.
One question that I have found helpful to me, especially because I am usually preaching to a congregation of all ages is:
4. “How will this sermon engage with a 12 – year – old boy?”
I want to preach to everyone, but if I can get a pre-teen boy to be engaged, I will most likely I will engage with the rest of the congregation as well.
Here are a sample of a few more questions:
How does this speak to unbelievers?
What is the audience’s thoughts, feelings, emotions, struggles, needs – relating to the big idea of this teaching segment or message?
What are some practical steps the listener can take?
One process I use is a diagram that helps me to move through a scripture passage in a way that moves my study from the text, to historical context, through the Biblical theology, to how it is fulfilled in Christ, and then to how we need to apply the scripture today. Following this process keeps me from taking a shortcut and miss an important step in clearly understanding what the scripture text is saying.
Prayer Tools
I have come across some great ideas for prayer, whether personal or corporate. In his book, The Hour that Changes the World, Dick Eastman suggests praying for an hour i12 periods of 5 minutes. I try to use this prayer plan about twice a week. The forms of prayer are: 1. Praise and worship 2. Waiting on the Lord 3. Confession 4. Praying scripture 5. Watching 6. Intercession 7. Petitions 8. Thanksgiving 9. Song 10. Meditation 11. Listening 12. Praise
I have used this one-hour prayer plan many times for myself as well as for a prayer group.
Pastoral Tools
One of the “tools” I need to remind myself of occasionally is to “move slowly through the crowd.” It is easy for me to have things on my mind and things to do, but there is benefit of moving slowly through the crowd prior to or after the Sunday morning service because it gives me opportunities to connect with people, or for them to stop me with a question or comment. It helps me to be more present in the moment and available to people.
I don’t know what tools you have gathered over the years that have helped equip you to improve your ministry and leadership, but I hope you have many. I would love to hear from you about the tools that help you. Send me an email to share some of your tools with me.
Most churches experience seasons in their ministry. There are times that are slow, times that are steady, and times that are extremely busy. Summer is often a slow season for many churches. The church I’m serving right now has Vacation Bible School at the beginning of July, and then only a monthly prayer meeting and Sunday morning services for the rest of July and August. How can we use the slow times in a beneficial way?
Slow down yourself.
Maybe you can adjust your vacation time to have shorter days in the office and spend extra time with your family. Maybe you can take an extra day off to enjoy a long weekend doing something fun with your kids. Or just take some time to focus on a personal hobby. Allow yourself time to slow down a bit. I’m not sure that taking vacation in the summer is the best plan. Sometimes we need to save that break for in the middle or just after a busy season. Enjoy the time at home with your family without a bunch of commitments for you or them, to distract you from each other.
2. Take a personal retreat.
Maybe you can go camping by yourself or go to a local retreat center for a day or two to spend time with God. Talk with God about what has been happening in the last year and ask God for direction for what is next. I have benefited from even a half day retreat out of the office to just spend time with God.
You might want to ask God to help you plan your next preaching year. Pray through what God is asking you to preach on. Start by choosing which books of the Bible to preach on, or consider if there is a topic that your church needs to address scripturally. Do a rough summary of the texts that you identify and how many sermons you might need to fully preach through the topic or book so you can start plotting them on a calendar for the year ahead. These opportunities to plan a preaching year have been of great benefit to me when I have been in the middle of busy seasons. It has been very helpful to have a plan in place already.
3. Read a book or two.
I have been greatly encouraged through reading good books. You probably have a list of books, maybe even a pile of books, that you have been meaning to read. This is the time. Or maybe there is a topic you would like to know more about. Maybe there are certain trends or cultural issues that are affecting your church and ministry.
Look for a book that addresses that issue. Ask around for recommendations from others for a book that speaks to your church’s needs. I recently enjoyed some great books by Preston Sprinkle on issues of sexuality and gender.
4. Connect with friends.
Summer may be a time to connect with leaders or members in your church, but it may also be a time to connect with friends who are not involved your ministry. It may be a pastor down the road, or a friend in another part of the country. Good friends can be very encouraging and may be worth a trip to meet up with. Do a road trip with your family that includes the opportunity to connect face to face with your friend.
5. Enjoy nature.
Our slow time for many is summer. Summer is a great time to enjoy God’s creation. Go for a walk with your spouse. Go camping if that is your thing. Take a day trip to nearby waterfalls or into the mountains. Enjoy a picnic by a lake. Maybe catch a fish and fry it up for supper. Allow yourself to breathe some fresh air and slow down in God’s creation.
We all have busy times. Sometimes we feel like we are running to just keep up. So take the time to slow down during the slow times. Your health will benefit, and so will your relationship with your spouse, with your family, and with God.
While beginning a new job is both exciting and overwhelming, it is important to take time in the midst of the busyness to identify your values in the new role. The duties of the job can quickly fill your schedule and begin to pull you in a direction you may not necessarily want to go.
What is important to you that you do not want to ignore as the demands of your new position grow? What do you need to schedule now before your schedule fills up?
Get Your Family Settled
When moving to a different community for your work, make sure you take adequate time to get your family settled. Unpack as quickly as you can so that your family can see familiar photos on the wall and fridge that help them feel somewhat at home.
Help your family get settled in school and in other sports or community activities that will help them get connected to the community and to new friends. The more settled your family feels, the more settled you will feel.
Schedule important family dates onto your calendar before the job demands overwhelm you and you forget special days.
2. Be Clear on Your Personal Priorities
In the process of accepting a new role, you have an opportunity to review the job description that will define your responsibilities. But you most likely have some personal values or priorities that you hold. If you, as a new pastor, want to spend regular time in prayer, schedule it into your calendar. If you love mentoring others, you might already be looking for whom to mentor. If you want to keep on growing in your skills and personal development, you might want to determine a plan that will work in this new setting and will not interfere with the responsibilities you agree to when you accepted the position.
Make sure you know the requirements of your new role. Begin to plan and dream and schedule dates as you look at what you need to work on.
3. Begin New Friendships
When you begin a new position in a church, there may not be a lot of demands on you at first as you begin to make your way into your new role. Because you do not have many projects to work on at first, focus on getting to know people. Get to know the people you will work closely with. Get to know your board. Get to know other staff. Get to know the leaders who volunteer in the ministries of the church. You can do this on your own, or if you have a spouse or family, meet together with couples and families.
Good friendships will help your job to be an enjoyable experience.
4. Develop a Schedule That Fits the New Role
While your new job may be similar to what you have done before, each new role comes with various changes that affect how you fulfill your new role. Each new job comes with different expectations and different schedules. Because of the expectations of your new role, you may need to take a different day off than you have before. Maybe you are better off coming to work earlier and going home earlier in the afternoon as well. Figure out the schedule that will work for you now.
It can be a lot of fun starting a new job. I believe you will have a better start if you can follow the suggestions above.
What do you do when you receive negative feedback on a sermon?
First, do not feel personally attacked. It may be that the sermon was clear and accurate to scripture but the hearer didn’t like what God’s Word was saying. When I hear a negative reaction to a sermon – or to even decisions I make – I ask myself some questions to clarify the situation. Was I at fault? Or is the negative reaction in response to scripture says?
Is it true and accurate to scripture?
As preachers of God’s word, we need to be careful to say what scripture says. We need to be careful that we don’t misrepresent what God is says or misuse scripture to make it say what we want it to say. This means doing good research and study to ensure you are clear on what scripture says.
Did I present it correctly?
As we preach what scripture says, we also need to make sure we present this truth correctly. This could be ensuring we do not omit sections or aspects of scripture that we disagree with or do not like. We also need to remind ourselves that all of scripture speaks into the sermon of the day. Is there another side to the issue? Are there other scriptures that give a fuller view? Is there another scripture that needs to be referenced in order to give a complete picture of what is taught?
Did I explain the situation it was addressing?
There are times when it is helpful to give the background to the context of the scripture we are preaching on. It can help the listener first understand the message correctly, and secondly, figure out how to apply it to his or her own situations correctly. The historical background can give some meaning to why the author is addressing what he is addressing.
Was I wrong?
I ask myself this question sometimes because I want to make sure that I did not say something that was wrong or even hurtful. Yes, I need to present scripture accurately in a sermon, but I can choose what I say about it, or how I say it. If I did say something wrong, then I need to admit it. If I misrepresented God’s Word then I need to correct it.
Is a follow-up or clarification needed?
One sermon I preached brought a lot of response from the church members. Some who responded to me were thankful that I had said what I said. The sermon clarified something that they had been wondering about. The same sermon also brought responses from some who were pushing back against what I said. They did not like how I had interpreted what the verses said. Others were wondering how what I said fit with the rest of scripture. I began to realize, from both the negative and positive responses, that this was a topic that needed some more clarification. I decided to use the next Sunday to spend more time on the same scripture and the same topic, digging in a little deeper to explain how this fit with the rest of scripture and how I had come up with the interpretation and application of the verses that I did.
I was serving this church as a Transition Pastor, so it was a great opportunity to remind the church that their next Lead Pastor may occasionally teach something they disagree with and understand scripture differently than what each member personally thought. I tried to use this situation to encourage the church that their new pastor would likely have different opinions on some things and that was okay.
As preachers, we will occasionally say things that our audience doesn’t like. If their push back is against what God’s Word says, then it is an issue between them and God. If it is about something I said, then I need to make sure I was saying what was correct, and if not, apologize and correct myself.
Preaching God’s Word is a privilege. We want to handle it correctly.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3: 16-17
Recently, I began a sermon with this statement: “I am going to talk to you about something this morning, that is very hard for us.”
I was preaching through 1 Peter. This morning we were looking at 1 Peter 2: 13 – 3: 7, which is all about submission. Not submission to God, but submitting to governing authorities, to masters, to husbands and wives. This is not a topic I would have chosen to preach about, except that it was in the middle of the book of the Bible that I was preaching through. Submitting to the government is not a popular topic among many church people, yet that was exactly what God’s Word was talking to us about in that scripture. Because it was God’s Word, and not my own ideas, I could preach it with confidence.
If 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 above is right, then we know that there will be scriptures that rebuke and correct, not just encourage us or make us feel good. When the preacher makes sure to preach what God’s Word says, then the preacher can speak with confidence and boldness.
I remember a person commenting after a sermon I preached that they thought I was brave to preach what I did. It actually surprised me a bit. I had preached on money, teaching what scripture said. I didn’t consider it brave. I was just preaching what God said, but this comment revealed the reality that there are certain scriptural truths that people do not want to hear. There will be people who are upset with you when you preach biblical sermons that challenge their personal beliefs, or even the beliefs and practices of their church.
Scripture occasionally points out where we come up short and need to make corrections. As a preacher, I can preach boldly as long as I clearly say what scripture says. It is God’s Word. If the Bible says it, God says it. I should have no problem teaching it with confidence.
At the same time, we need to preach with gentleness. When we teach about how God created people male and female, and only male and female with no other options, we can teach with gentleness in light of those who are personally struggling with this or have family who are.
We can preach about money and giving to the church, but also recognize that some are struggling to make ends meet.
We can preach on the importance of forgiveness even as we recognize that some people have been hurt deeply and personally in a way that is hard to move on from.
God calls us preachers to preach the whole truth of His Word. We cannot pick and choose only the things that people want to hear. This is one of the benefits of preaching through a book of the Bible. We come across passages that we might not have chosen to preach about.
If we are careful to preach what scripture says we can preach with confidence. We don’t need to be embarrassed to preach counter-cultural truths. We don’t need to be afraid that people won’t want to hear what the scripture says.
If we are preaching something that scripture never said, then we better hesitate to say it. Yet we can preach with confidence when we know that we are saying what God said. Let’s continue to declare God’s truth with clarity and confidence.
One of the unique opportunities of a pastor is to walk with people as they take significant steps in their journey with Jesus. It is humbling to think that God allows me to be part of these times when people are making decisions that will impact their eternity. Let me share a few stories.
I remember a teenage girl who was searching for answers. She came from a difficult home situation and loved the acceptance she was experiencing in the youth group and church. Her friend brought her to me and together we introduced her to Jesus! She knew there was something better than what she was experiencing at home.
One young man had gone through many hard things. You could tell, just by looking at him, that life had been hard on him. I got to know him and tried to help answer his questions until the day that he asked to be baptised. Just as we headed to the washrooms to change for the baptism, he pulled out a cigar and handed it to me. What a fitting gift! He was so excited about what was about to happen and wanted to celebrate it with a gift for me.
I love the excitement of those preparing for baptism. One teenage girl was determined we would have an outdoor baptism in the river near the church even though it was fall already. The special day arrived, and there was already a skiff of snow on the ground, but she was not backing down. We made sure to have plenty of extra towels to wrap up after and went down into the cold river for the baptism. It was one of the quickest baptisms I ever did!
I remember reading the Bible with a new friend. He didn’t know the Bible but wanted to just read it together. This was not a Bible Study or in-depth lesson. We just started by taking turns reading in the Gospels. As we read the stories of Jesus, we stopped when he had a question or clarification was needed, and then kept going. I loved seeing his responses to a story that I was so used to but was brand new for him!
I have preached many sermons in my life. There are many I have forgotten, but others stick in my mind because of how people responded. One Sunday, I preached on receiving the Holy Spirit from the book of Acts. I pointed out that sometimes people had leaders lay their hands on them and pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. I made it clear that there was nothing special about me, but if there were any who wanted to have me lay hands on them and pray for them, to come on up as I closed. One man actually ran to the front! Then others started coming up. There were so many people who wanted to receive more of the Holy Spirit, that I had to recruit a couple of elders to lay hands on and pray for people with me. What a joy to see people respond to God’s word!
Working on vision with church leaders is one of the things I get excited about as I serve as a Transitional Pastor. I love seeing leaders begin to hear God together and get a sense of how God is leading their church. I served one church where leaders put in two planning and dreaming sessions of five and six hours each, working together to hear from God on His direction for the church. It was amazing to watch as they listened and heard from God together, coming up with the right words to describe who the church was and where the leaders felt God calling them as a church. The time of prayer and listening and discussing together brought a clear sense of direction that guided the church moving forward. What a privilege to coach the leaders through this process of listening to God.
Walking with people as they make decisions to follow and honour Jesus has given me opportunities to develop some great friendships. One friend and I spent many hours together in the church and serving in the community and just doing life together. It was a joy to eventually baptise him as he said yes to Jesus. Another friend was struggling with a desire to be holy and feeling he was far from it. As we walked through this time together, not only was I able to encourage him to continue to follow Jesus and go deeper with him, I also found a great friend.
I hope these stories show you what a gift it is to walk with people as they make big spiritual decisions and take steps in spiritual growth.
Elevate with Andy 