The peril of pastors today

Below is taken from Ted Rose and his site: 

http://www.worldwideprayer.com/pastorsstatistics.html

1- Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

2- Four thousand churches begin each year, but over seven thousand churches close.  

3- Fifty percent of pastors marriages will end in divorce.

4- Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.  

5- Eighty percent of pastors spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.

6- The majority of pastors wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.  

7- Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.

8- Forty percent of pastors polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning the ministry.  

9- Eighty percent of adult children of pastors surveyed have had to seek professional help for depression.

10- Seventy percent of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant or mentor.   

11- Ninety-five percent of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouse.

12- Eighty percent of pastors surveyed spend less than 15 minutes a day in prayer.  

13- Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the word is when they are preparing their sermons.

This is sad and true. The original knee-jerk reaction is that these ministers are wolves in sheep’s clothing. However, there are many wolves in sheep clothing sitting in the pews. The unrealistic demands placed upon many pastors is just that – unrealistic! Pastors are not the head of a romper room or the babysitter; he is a shepherd. Shepherds lead by example, feed and nourish people with the word, correct, adjust, and discipline when necessary, visit the sick, and encourage people to remain in the fold. Pastors today are expected to be the CEO of all programs, program organizer, marriage counselor, be at every beck and call, treasurer, custodian, building project manager… Nothing wrong with doing many of things but too often they produce imbalance and detract from the spiritual things a pastor must be attentive to.

Let’s deal with pastors who are being irresponsible. Ministers must spend time in prayer and daily reading. They cannot recklessly treat their calling by taking advantage of people’s trust and spending that time to play golf and other recreational things. Their priorities must remain intact! God is first, spouse is second, the children are third, and the church is fourth. When the church becomes second, it then becomes understandable why there are so many marriage problems. We as ministers must invest in our marriages and homes. If we repair everyone's marriage and neglect our own, what example are we?

Church Attendance - how important is it?

Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
²⁵ Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

This is the famous verse we use in validating the importance of church attendance. However, I believe we fail to understand the background of this passage as well as who is being addressed. These people are Jewish Christians who are being written to. Being a Christian was synonymous with being persecuted in that era, however, to be a Jewish Christian carried with it multifaceted types of persecution, along with experiencing societal and familial isolation. To name the name of Christ as a Jew meant excommunication out of the synagogue along with family members refusing to stand up for you because of their desire to preserve their own membership. A Christian Jew then would lose influence, social status, business opportunities, and would become ostracized in general. These Christians whom the writer of Hebrews is warning are not people who are lukewarm, cold, or in a backslidden state. They were refraining from attending the local house assemblies because they believed that the persecution they may incur was outweighing the necessity of church attendance. Paul was admonishing them that the spiritual strength and exercise that took place in a congregation were so important to their spiritual survival, that it was worth going through persecution to attend. That being the precedent, I wonder what Paul would say to those today who make excuses such as ball games, family reunions, fishing, four-wheeling…? If persecutions were not legitimate in staying out of church, then I doubt any of the above listed would be noted as lawful reasons to be absent.

The following are Scriptures pertaining to faithful assemblage:

"And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:36-37).

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read" (Luke 4:16).

"And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God" (Luke 24:52-53).

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts 2:46).

"Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour [daily]" (Acts 3:1).

"But when they [Paul and his company] departed from Perga, they came to Antioch In Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down" (Acts 13:14).

"But unto the place which the lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come" (Deut. 12:5).

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the lord for ever" (Psalm 23:6).

"lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth" (Psalm 26:8).

"One thing have I desired of the lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the lord, and to enquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4).

"Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple" (Psalm 65:4).

"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God....Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee" (Psalm 84:2, 4).

"For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10).

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the lord" (Psalm 122:1).

-       Scriptures adapted from the POSB

Entitled

When we say the word “entitled” the immediate reaction is that it is something owed to us. It is some sort of right and cannot be denied. We are living in an evolving society of morals which is redefining who we are as a nation. Our identity as a nation is changing rapidly. When I was growing up in the eighties, there were students who would get free lunches. They were not proud of it, and it certainly was no badge of honor. There was a degree of embarrassment by the student and inside they wanted desperately to be off of them and be able to pay their dollar for the lunch. However, today instead of embarrassment, it seems to be the goal to have and possess free handouts. 

At one time in America when a person was on unemployment he/she hated it, and they couldn’t wait until they got back to work. In this day and hour, it appears as though people enjoy it and boast on how long they can be on it until it runs out.

A family that hit hard times back then and would have to resort to food stamps to help. Yes, they would be embarrassed in the store, but all the while they had as a goal to get off of them and support their own way. Our society has fallen into the trap of now believing that these things are now owed to them.

A woman may get pregnant to four different men, and for every child she demands that I pay for her loose morals. She will say it’s the government money helping her when in reality it is not! It’s my money she is exploiting. Because of her irresponsibility, I am penalized and become responsible whether I want to or not.   

One more thing; we have become fluent in our language skills at blaming everyone, complaining, and screaming about how everything is unfair. Meanwhile we have lost our verbal ability when it comes to words such as, "Please," "Thank you," and "I'm sorry."

Curious Logic

Below is the article written and published in the local newspapers and sent to the Washington Post. 

Upon hearing of the horrific shooting at the Sikh Temple we were asked by our President to do some serious soul searching concerning gun violence. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration FARS data, 2011, 28 people die daily in America as a result of drunk driving. I was wondering why politicians do not come out and say that we need to do some soul-searching about automobiles? That means that 10,220 people die annually as a result of a person using a vehicle as a weapon. Using the same logic concerning guns, then I must believe the same logic should be that we need to make it harder for people to obtain cars. It makes sense doesn’t it? One more point: the Virginia Tech mass shooting on April 16, 2007 took place in a gun-free  zone. The only people who didn’t have guns were the law-abiding citizens. However, the criminal did have a gun. Washington D.C. has vied for the top spot as the murder capital of the world on more than one occasion, and yet it has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country. Something doesn’t add up in the logic being used by politicians in their attempts to politicize and prostitute these horrific events for their own political gain.

They say...

Matthew 11:18-19 (KJV)
¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
¹⁹ The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

It didn’t matter what John or Jesus did; people had an opinion and voiced it. They exaggerated in both instances. John didn’t socialize and he led a moral yet rugged life of abstinence. The people exaggerated it and said he must have been demon possessed. Jesus however, did socialize and they labeled him as a glutton and a drunk – not to mention he befriended the lowest scourges of society. The Lord said that wisdom was justified in both approaches and methods in reaching the people with the gospel of the kingdom.

We all must remember that what people say is not ever to determine our mission for Christ. What they say about you is not the definition we are to live by. Whose voice we listen to will be the one who shapes us. People are fickle; they will say one thing one day and say something completely different the next day. The same people who cried Hosanna one day were the same people who later said crucify him.

I heard it said one time “opinions are like armpits, everyone has them and some stink!”

Build your life on the unchanging Word of God.