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Reflection on personal growth and professional development
Theme of paul's letter to the galatians
Theme of paul's letter to the galatians
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The theme/anchor verse summarizes what this book is all about. As pastors/leaders we are exhorted to heed to divine counsel; remind ourselves daily of our heavenly call; avail ourselves as holy vessels for the Master’s usage in ministry; and equip ourselves to meet the many ministerial challenges in the 21st century which is engulfed by technology and modernity and diverse humanism and ideologies. The need for pastoral care in contemporary ministry cannot be overemphasized because stress levels continue to escalate, the fear among unbelievers and even some believers sometimes paralyses the effort of the pastor/leader. Moving forward, I am optimistic that some of the pastoral competencies and skills shared in my book will be of great help to …show more content…
Growth is key and greater essence in ministry but it comes through hard work and humility. The pastor/leader must admit in humility of his/herself-weaknesses and be prepared to change for the better. Seek divine counseling from those who have gone ahead of you in ministry, precisely your spiritual fathers and mothers as well as spiritual mentors. These are people who love you, and always pray for your success in ministry. I have personally been positively impacted by the chapter on professionalism in ministry as I was exposed to the private, professional, and public lives of the minister. Kathy Howard’s ten characteristics of a blameless life touched my heart. Even though I was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this timely book, I equally had my fair share of its content. It takes a life of humility to read such a book because it comes at you right in the face like a mirror, indeed, it is a spiritual mirror to expose, encourage, and challenge all ministers for productive …show more content…
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be it good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:13-14). The final exhortation from the Apostle Paul brings the final curtain down on an encouraging note after all is said and done:
“…But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:57-58, KJV).
PRAYER: ACCEPTANCE, RE-DEDICATION/RE-COMMITMENT, AND RE-FIRE
SALVATION
Prayer to Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (ABCD of Salvation).
A-Admit in humility that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23).
B-Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house.
C-Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him From the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9).
D-Dedicate your body to Christ henceforth (Rom. 12:1).
Repeat the Prayer after me:
“Lord Jesus, I have heard your word today,
I admit that I am a sinner,
I confess to you all my sins, known and
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
To say the least, I felt like a failure and that I had wasted people’s time and money. Reading this chapter helped me realize that it is important to learn through a failure (Fagerstrom 126). Failures happen in ministry often, and the way you respond to the failure is important. Chapter fifteen, “Developing a plan for lifelong learning”, is essential for effective leaders. Per Fagerstrom, there are four areas that need constant attention: skill (competency), wisdom and knowledge (learning and thinking), spiritual formation (godliness), and personal development (focus on the word personally)
What I appreciate most about this book is that people from all occupations can relate to Cordeiro’s story. Even volunteers, wives, and mothers, can experience burnout easily. While I am not a pastor and have never reached a crisis like Cordeiro, I have certainly had warning signs in my life that required attention. After years of working in the nursing field, I became a stay-at-home mom for the first time. Something I never
While comparing her time, theology and spiritual practice we realize she lived during the time of immense change, similarly we are living on the edge of a challenged modernity. Her spiritual direction allows us to recognize and develop further abilities in our pastoral ministries of caring for one another as participants within the corporate communities as well as within the mission fields.
In African American Pastoral Care: Revised Edition, Dr. Wimberly spoke about responding to God’s unfolding and continually changing times when dealing with healing and reconciliation. In this revision of his classic book, Dr. Wimberly updated his message by examining current issues in African American pastoral care, counseling, and outreach ministry in the community. Dr. Wimberly reminded us that we need to do more for our members and proposed new pastoral care approaches to the crisis of disconnection. Using his own narrative, he explained and described how pastors and church leaders can claim a new narrative method for reestablishing the African American village. His paradigm for African American pastoral theology is inspiring African Americans.
With that said, the time has come at OGBC to manage the inevitable transition of welcoming a new pastor. The researcher is an associate minister at OGBC and recognized the need for developing a transition plan to help her church to transition well. Transition is the process of letting go of the ways things used to be and then holding on of the way they subsequently become. William Bridges identifies a place in between the transition process called the “neutral zone”. Bridges suggests that while in the neutral zone people resist the transition because it takes longer (often much longer) than change, and it leaves us in this zone while a replacement reality and a new reality is gradually being formed. The researcher’s church was in the neutral zone for three years until they finally selected a new pastor. The time has come for OGBC to let go of the way things used to be and take hold of the way things have become and then move forward with their new pastor embracing the process for a healthy pastoral transition. Transition is the way that we all come to terms with change. The pastoral transition process does not have to be chaotic thus, this project is develop in the anticipation to make the way smoother for
Bryant and Brunson have done a terrific job of assessing the pastoral ministry and giving sound advice, to the young or prospective pastor. The present author believes that this book should be standard in every pastor’s library. “God promises to be with his servants as they follow” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 16) The apostle Paul gave three rules to keep the pastor on the track of a good reward: “Fight the Good Fight; Finish the Race; and Keep the Faith.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 240-242) The greatest joy for a pastor is to, “Finish well.”
Although written for church leadership, everyday church members would also benefit from understanding the concepts that Dawn is directing at God-empowered leaders. Ms. Dawn's work is predominantly scholarly, and she cites several other works at great length.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Philosophy of Ministry: God's desires come first, I must always live my ministry God's way. I must live as a Christian (1 Corinthians 9:27) I must have a proper relationship of surrender to the Leader. In my personal life or in the Church I must understand that Christ is Head and Chief Shepherd (Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 13:20). The “management” of Church is about relationships with God and Man, not just maintaining a social organization.
...tial ideas and theologies that are absolutely the cornerstone to having a healthy ministry. Ideas like community, grace, love, and forgiveness could all have their own paper written for them individually, but acceptance is absolutely essential to any ministry. To accept someone into your family, just like the father in the story of the prodigal son, is to share all of these values listed above. By accepting them we are showing them grace, love, forgiveness and belonging, that each and everyone one of them so desperately desires. If we as youth pastors can embrace acceptance and also use it genuinely and not as a technique for recruiting, then surely our ministry will grow both in numbers and in depth in the knowledge of the word of God. By doing exactly what God does for us, we can show His love, His grace and His mercy by simply accepting others into our family.
Biblical Counseling is making a strong impact in today's churches and community. Counseling is seen as one of the most productive ways of helping a
Young, D. S. (1999). Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Sheperds By the Living Springs. Scottdale: Herald Press.
Professionalism is defined as one's conduct at work. The quality of professionalism is not restricted to those in occupations with high level of education or high earnings. Any worker regardless of their level of education or occupation should demonstrate a high level of this trait (About.com, 2013). Acting professionally at workplace makes others think of you as reliable, respectful, and competent.
Overall, this book helped me become more aware of my weaknesses with my preaching style and also gave me tools to strengthen them. The examples are very basic and practical and helped highlight key skills and situations that a preacher can experience when doing a sermon. This book added more knowledge to me and gave me new insights that I can use as a tool when I go back with my ministry as a youth worker.
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral