Some church will always have better coffee, better music, better facilities, better speaking, better marketing.
Showcase Christ and his gospel. Nobody can improve on that.
—@jaredcwilson
“The eyes of our risen Savior do not droop. They are not closed in sleep. They are not sullen or sad. They burn ablaze with power and energy and insight and excitement. He sees everything with all the vitality of youth but thinks with all the wisdom of age.”
-Sam Storms
Being a pastor is so discombobulating sometimes. You can get a text showing extreme appreciation for you, only for the next text from another person to tell you how terrible you are. Jesus sympathizes, and he is the only place to find refuge and comfort.
@jasonkovacs The same thing happened to me in India. There was like 100 of us (like 9 Americans). Every prayer request was prayed out loud by everyone. I was in shock at first, but grew to love it so much.
In all my years of pastoring, I have learned this lesson: a person’s spiritual maturity is not truly visible until they DON’T get their way. Then you see the person.
—@ErikReed
People will leave your church.
No matter what, people will leave.
Therefore, stick to the nonnegotiables to the best of your God-given ability, and when people leave because you have not met their expectations for their ideal church, wish them well and pray for maturity.
Ministers must understand that when they preach, it is Christ speaking to the church. God the Holy Spirt is at work through the preaching as the primary means of grace. We can Rest.
“You simply cannot love God unless you know and understand how much he loves you...When you are firmly assured of God’s love for you, you will respond by living a holy life.”
- Walter Marshall
Introduce yourself with 10 bands you’ve seen live:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Taking Back Sunday
One Republic
Underoath
Paramore
Wu Tang Clan
Silverstein
Chris Stapleton
Phil Wickham
Jack’s Mannequin
Introduce yourself with 10 bands you've seen live:
U2
Arcade Fire
Modest Mouse
Sunny Day Real Estate
Pearl Jam
Built to Spill
The Tragically Hip
Gregory Alan Isakov
MXPX
Pedro the Lion
To be bereft of those you love often times means a silence you did not choose. Reverence rather than cursing is the offering you can make. Here, O Lord, take my broken heart, I offer it up to you, it is all I have now, and it is yours.
“If Christ had not been raised, beauty would be merely a defiant flame in the eternal dark. The end would simply be the end of the song, the end of the Broadway run, the dirty dishes at the end of the meal.” @suzania
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