Kevin Stilley

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May 4, 2014 by kevinstilley

Recommended books on Pastoral Duties

Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recommended the following books on Pastoral Duties. What do you think of the books on his list?  What books would you add to this list?

Anderson, Robert C. The Effective Pastor: A Practical Guide to the Ministry. Chicago: Moody, 1985.

Baxter, Richard. The Reformed Pastor. Edinburg: Banner of Truth, 1981.

Cedar, Paul, Kent Hughes, and Ben Patterson. Mastering the Pastoral Role. Portland: Multnomah, 1991.

*Criswell, W.A. Criswell’s Guidebook for Pastors. Nashville: Broadman, 1980.

Graham, Larry Kent. Care of Persons, Care of Worlds. Nashville: Abingdon, 1992.

*MacArthur, John., Jr., ed. Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry: Shaping Contemporary Ministry with Biblical Mandates. Dallas: Word, 1995.

Oden, Thomas. Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry. San Francisco: Harper, 1983.

Piper, John. Brothers, We are Not Professionals. Nashville: Broadman, 2002.

Tidball, Derek. Skilful Shepherds: Explorations in Pastoral Theology. Leicester: Apollos, 1986.

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Church Leadership, Pastoral Care, Preaching / Teaching Tagged With: Administrator, bibliography, Book Recommendation, Daniel Akin, pastor, preacher, reading list, SEBTS

August 16, 2013 by kevinstilley

Stoned But Not Wasted : Discussion Questions

Topic: Stoned But Not Wasted: The High Cost of Hearing From God
Speaker: Russell Moore
Scripture: Acts 6:8 – 8:3
Location: Highview Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
Date: September 27, 2009

What?

  • Does it sometimes seem that God is silent when you are desperately wanting to hear from Him?
  • What was the people’s response when Stephen gave testimony of Jesus Christ? Why didn’t the people listen to Stephen?  Why did the people become angry?
  • What connection does the speaker make between Stephen’s audience and us?

So What?

  • What happens to us when we are confronted by truth and reject it?
  • Are there truths from the Word of God that you are rebelling against?

Now What?

  • Are you wondering if you can really believe the gospel of Jesus Christ?
  • Have you accepted the truth of the gospel message?  Will you?
  • The Word of God prepares us for what is next.  Where is God leading you?  What changes would he have you make?

__________

Acts 6:8 – 8:3 (NIV)

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

7:1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’ 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’

35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.

39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’

51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

8 And Saul approved of their killing him.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

__________

Related

  • Evangelism & Missions Bibliography – Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Church History – PhD Comprehensive Reading List – Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Courage and Bravery – select quotes
  • Audacity and Boldness – select quotes

Filed Under: Blog, Church History, Church Leadership, Ecclesiology, Evangelism, New Testament, Pastoral Care, Preaching / Teaching Tagged With: Deacons, Disciples, Personal Testimony, Russell Moore, Serving, Stephen

November 11, 2012 by kevinstilley

Are you listening?

“The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God’s love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him. Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking.

“Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking when they should be listening. But he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer be listening to God either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there is nothing left but spiritual chatter and clerical condescension arrayed in pious words. One who cannot listen long and patiently will presently be talking beside the point and be never really speaking to others, albeit he be not conscious of it. Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.”

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, pages 97-98

___________

“Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you.” Proverbs 22:17-19

Filed Under: Blog, Church Leadership, Communication, Ecclesiology, Evangelism, Missions, Pastoral Care, Preaching / Teaching Tagged With: Bonhoeffer, Communication, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, listening, Silence

December 19, 2011 by kevinstilley

Comfort – select quotes

He who loveth a book will never want a faithful friend, a wholesome counselor, a cheerful companion, or an effectual comforter.
~ Isaac Barrow

Grant unto us, Lord, that we may set our hope on Thy name…and open the eyes of our hearts, that we may know Thee. We beseech Thee, Lord and Master, to be our help and succour. Save those among us who are in tribulation; have mercy on the lowly; lift up the fallen; show Thyself to those in need; heal the sick; turn again the wanderers of Thy people; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the weak; comfort the faint-hearted. Let all nations know that Thou art God alone, and that Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and that we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture. We praise Thee who art able to do these and better things than these, through Jesus Christ the High Priest and Guardian of our souls, through whom be glory and majesty to Thee, both now and throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
~ a prayer of Clement of Rome

The superior man thinks always of virtue, the common man thinks of comfort.
~ Confucius

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.
~ Dinah Craik

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
~ Viktor Frankl

True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.
~ D.T. Gentry

We are more at home with our own ideas about religion—with thoughts which are more comfortable and reassuring, with a “god” who is rather like us and who can be brought into line with our own expectations. This God is domesticated—like a religious “pet” rather than the wild, untamed presence of the Almighty.
~ David Hewetson and David Miller, in Christianity Made Simple

Spirit of fire,
Paraclete, our Comforter,
you’re the Live in alive,
the Be in every creature’s being,
the Breathe in every breath on earth.
Holy Life-Giver,
Doctor of the desperate,
Healer of everyone broken past hope,
Medicine for all wounds,
Fire of love,
Joy of hearts,
fragrant Strength,
sparkling Fountain,
Protector,
Penetrator,
in you we contemplate
how God goes looking for those who are lost
and reconciles those who are at odds with him.
Break our chains!
You bring people together.
You curl clouds, whirl winds,
send rain on rocks, sing in creeks,
and turn the lush earth green.
You teach those who listen,
breathing joy and wisdom into them.
We praise you for these gifts,
Light-giver,
Sound of joy,
Wonder of being alive,
Hope of every person,
and our strongest Good.
~ “The First Fire”, by Hildegard of Bingen

Howsoever men when they sit at ease, do vainly tickle their own hearts with the wanton conceit of I know not what proportionable correspondence between their merits and their rewards, which in the trance of their high speculations, they dream that God hath measured and laid up as it were in bundles for them; we see notwithstanding by daily experience, in a number even of them that when the hour of death approacheth, when they secretly hear themselves summoned to appear and stand at the bar of that Judge, whose brightness causeth the eyes of angels themselves to dazzle, all those idle imaginations do then begin to hide their faces. To name merits then, is to lay their souls upon the rack. The memory of their own deeds is loathsome unto them. They forsake all things wherein they have put any trust and confidence. No staff to lean upon, no rest, no ease, no comfort then, but only in Christ Jesus.
~ Richard Hooker.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in traveling in a stagecoach, it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.
~ Washington Irving

Western culture has things a little backwards right now. We think that if we had every comfort available to us, we’d be happy. We equate comfort with happiness. And now we’re so comfortable we’re miserable. There’s no struggle in our lives. No sense of adventure. We get in a car, we get in an elevator, it all comes easy. What I’ve found is that I’m never more alive than when I’m pushing and I’m in pain, and I’m struggling for high achievement, and in that struggle I think there’s a magic.
~ Dean Karnazes

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.
~ Emily Kimbrough

So the Church, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied.
~ Luke, Acts 9:31, The Bible

I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.
~ Katherine Mansfield

What keeps so many employees back is simply unwillingness to pay the price, to make the exertion, the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort.
~ Orison Swett Marden

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.
~ Somerset Maugham

Lord God, … Teach me to understand that the Spirit is the Comforter, who frees me from all anxiety and fear about my own powerlessness, in order that He may work the strength of Christ in me. Amen.
~ from “Flesh and Spirit”, by Andrew Murray

Let Jesus be your teacher. He Himself was sanctified by suffering: it was in suffering that He learned full obedience. He has a wonderfully sympathetic heart. Have much intercourse with Him. Seek not your comfort from much speaking on the part of men or with men. Give Jesus the opportunity of teaching you. Have much converse with Him in solitude. (Isa. 26:16; 61:1,2; Heb. 2:10,17,18; 5:9) The Father has given you the word, the Spirit, the Lord Jesus your sanctification, in order to sanctify you: affliction and chastisement are meant to bring you to the word, to Jesus Himself, in order that He may make you partaker of His holiness. It is in fellowship with Jesus that consolation comes as of itself (2 Cor. 1:3,4; Heb. 13:5,6)
~ from Chastisement, by Andrew Murray

We look to ourselves and our strength; we would seek comfort in our own feeling, or our own works, and all becomes dark. As soon as we look to Jesus, to the fulness, to the perfect provision for our needs that is in Him, all is light. He says, `I am the Light: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ So long as I believe, I have light and gladness. (John 12:36; 11:40; Rom. 15:13; 1 Pet. 1:8)
~ from “Light and Joyfulness“, by Andrew Murray

And when somebody knows you well, well there’s no comfort like that. And when somebody needs you, well there’s no drug like that.
~ Heather Nova

“He knoweth the way that I take.” The omniscience of God is one of the wondrous attributes of Deity. “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings” (Job 34:21). “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Prov. 13r:3). Spurgeon said, “One of the greatest tests of experimental religion is, What is my relationship to God’s omniscience?” What is your relationship to it, dear reader? How does it affect you? Does it distress or comfort you? Do you shrink from the thought of God knowing all about your way? perhaps, a lying, selfish, hypocritical way! To the sinner this is a terrible thought. He denies it, or if not, he seeks to forget it. But to the Christian, here is real comfort. How cheering to remember that my Father knows all about my trials, my difficulties, my sorrows, my efforts to glorify Him.
~ from “Tried by Fire” , by A.W. Pink

Ponder well the glorious “conclusion” which the Spirit of God here draws from the wondrous fact stated in the first part of our text, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.” How conclusive and how comforting is the inspired reasoning of the apostle. Arguing from the greater to the less, He proceeds to assure the believer of God’s readiness to also freely bestow all needed blessings. The gift of His own Son, so ungrudgingly and unreservedly bestowed, is the pledge of every other needed mercy. Here is the unfailing guaranty and talisman of perpetual reassurance to the drooping spirit of the tried believer. If God has done the greater, will He leave the less undone? Infinite love can never change. The love that spared not Christ cannot fail its objects nor begrudge any needed blessings.
~ from “The Great Giver”, by A.W. Pink

Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.
~ Henry David Thoreau in Walden

There is no life truly comfortable, but that which hath a comfortable prospect of death and judgment. Never envy the condition of them who seem to be the only cheerful men in the world, whom one quarter of an hour’s serious thought of death and judgment, is enough to make them like Belshazzar at his great feast (Dan 5:6) whose countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. Amazement seized on soul and body. How can a man be said to live comfortably, that dare not think of death, for fear of marring his comfort? Miserable is that consolation that cannot bear a serious thought of an approaching unavoidable thing. This is the wisdom and mercy of the Lord to his people, that their true consolation doth not only stand and abide in the view of death and judgment, but it ariseth from that view that is so terrible to all natural men. This is the blessedness of believers, that this grace allows them a right to, and can give them a possession of. And therefore we should come to the throne of grace for it. Then you are happy Christians, when serious thoughts of death breed serious joy.
~ from Concerning the Throne of Grace, by Robert Trail

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.
~ Mark Twain

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
~ Psalm 23:4, The Bible

I remember your ancient laws, O LORD,
and I find comfort in them.
~ Psalm 119:52, The Bible

May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
~ Psalm 119:76, The Bible

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
~ Matthew 5:4, The Bible

The first mate and his skipper too,
will do their very best,
to make the others comfortable,in the tropic island nest.
~ from the theme song to Gilligan’s Island

__________

Related

Why do some people become uncomfortable discussing spiritual matters?

Death – What is on the other side?

More comfortable home, more marketable house

For What Would You Die?

Filed Under: Blog, Pastoral Care, Quotes Tagged With: Care, comfort, Consolation, love, Solace

May 17, 2011 by kevinstilley

What Do You Think?

How are you building a loving, caring, trusting relationship with the people in your church?

(Share your thoughts in the comment section below.)

Examples:

  • Follow Up! Even if no response, keep reaching out.
  • Keep prayer logs
  • Engage the whole family.
  • Ask “How can I pray for you?” God uses prayer time to build love for them.
  • Email, Text, Phone, Notes, Visits, Social Media
  • Weekly meetings, monthly get together
  • Sporting Events
  • Don’t take it personally when group members don’t respond
  • Cards, Meals, Hospital Visits, Road Trips
  • Be available
  • Be authentic!
  • Prayer & Encouragement
  • Be vulnerable
  • Admit when you are wrong

Filed Under: Blog, Church Leadership, Pastoral Care, What Do You Think? Tagged With: church, relationships, Small Groups

May 11, 2011 by kevinstilley

What Do You Think?

According to research conducted at Seattle University, the more effort one makes to “will” forgiveness the longer it takes to happen. Why do you think this might be so?

Filed Under: Blog, Ethics / Praxis, Pastoral Care, What Do You Think? Tagged With: forgiveness

April 27, 2011 by kevinstilley

Scary Pastor Statistics

80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.

30 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.

75 percent report they’ve had a significant stress-related crisis once in their ministry.

50 percent feel unable to meet the needs of the job.

90 percent feel they’re inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands.

25 percent of pastor’s wives see their husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict.

Those in ministry are equally likely to have their marriage end in divorce as general church members.

The clergy has the second highest divorce rate among all professions.

80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.

45 percent of pastors’ wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout.

56 percent of pastors’ wives say that they have no close friends.

52 percent of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family’s well-being and health.

45.5 percent of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.

70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend

(Source: Pastors at Greater Risk, by H. B. London and Neil Wiseman, quoted in Leading on Empty, by Wayne Cordeiro)

Filed Under: Blog, Pastoral Care, Preaching / Teaching Tagged With: church, Family, Pastors, Preachers, Stress

December 15, 2010 by kevinstilley

Normal Responses to Grief and Loss

What is normal when it comes to grief and loss?  There isn’t really a “normal”.  However, the document at the link below might help you understand some of what to expect.

Normal Responses to Grief and Loss

Filed Under: Blog, Pastoral Care Tagged With: counseling, depression, grief, Loss, Pastoral Care, sorrow

December 11, 2009 by kevinstilley

At The Corner of Mercy and Grace

mercy and grace

.

Sometimes a combination of ideas or events come together to affect us in a way that they would not have on their own. I recently received the picture at left from a co-worker. Her husband works as an appraiser and had snapped the photo while out performing his job. The image has continued to be present in my thinking over the last few days as I have been asking myself what it means to live at “the corner of Mercy and Grace”.

And then I received H.B London’s “Pastor’s Weekly Briefing” in which he asks,

What would it be like if every “shepherd” looked across his or her “field” and found the most needy one in the “flock” and then took the time to minister to that one. You talk about a wonderful Christmas present. By the way, who is the most needy one in your “flock”? If you had the opportunity, how could you personally enhance the life of that individual?

I’m still working on the question of what it means to live at the corner of mercy and grace, but I think the actions suggested by London are a beautiful expression of its reality.

__________

RELATED CONTENT

  • Best Amazing Grace Recording
  • God’s Grace in Justifying The Sinner, by Robert Trail
  • Jesus Surrender of Himself, by Andrew Murray
  • The Cross of Christ, by J.C. Ryle
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards
  • Grace – Select Quotes

__________

Book Cover

(click on image)

.

Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Pastoral Care Tagged With: Amazing Grace, grace, mercy, pastor, Shepherd

July 9, 2009 by kevinstilley

Everyone Needs Someone To Love Them

Book Cover

The below story is excerpted from The Wit and Wisdom of Joe Brumbelow: Favorite Illustrations, Personal Stories, Humor, History, Folklore, and Lessons Learned from Over 50 Years in the Ministry. I believe the practical wisdom found in the pages of this book to be very beneficial for those engaged in ministry and heartily recommend it.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Then, members of Doverside started a Bible club. They began the club in the pastor’s back yard that was at the back of the church property. Later they moved into the Fellowship Hall. Most of the children from the apartments were from broken homes. some had real behavioral problems. Discipline often was necessary. Sometimes a child or two had to be sent home.

One day, as the kids waited in line to go inside, Joe saw a little boy go over to a little girl and kick here in the leg so hard she fell to the ground in tears. Joe grabbed the little boy and gave him a talking to. He spoke so sternly, the boy began to cry. Joe, seeing his tears, then gave him a big hug. He told him that he loved him, but he could not allow that kind of behavior.

Another little fellow saw the first boy kick the girl. He saw the preacher grab him, shake him, and rebuke him. Then he saw the preacher give the boy a big hug and tell him that he loved him. “So help me,” Brother Joe said, “that little fellow went over and kicked the same girl. That second boy was saying, ‘I want to be loved, too. I want somebody to hug me, too.’ The preacher then went throught he same routine with the second boy. Joe said, “It was difficult on the little girl, but I got the message. Everyone out there needs someone to love them.”

Filed Under: Blog, Church Leadership, Pastoral Care Tagged With: children, Children's Ministry, love, Parenting, Pastoral Care

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