Thursday, June 30, 2011

This Weekend Canada Day!

Call all Canadians! have a great and safe long weekend. If you are not at the lake or in the states or have started your summer holidays, be sure to be at Soul Sanctuary this Sunday at 9:59 am as we will introduce our new Youth and Young Adult Pastor: Joe Kendrick!
Have a good one all!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I have been thinking....

I am awlays drawn to articles about pastors and people's take on them...why? Because I am one.
So, I stumbled on an article that I would like to share with you all and it is entitled: 5 Types of Pastors:

The Catalytic Pastor:
The catalytic pastor is wired to stir things up. They’re gifted in the prophetic and tend to be charismatic leaders. These pastors have lots of energy and are focused on the mission of the church … that is, reaching the community for Jesus Christ. In the “right” church, they’ll grow it without a doubt. In the “wrong” church, they’ll create conflict, they’ll be frustrated, and they’ll either burn out or they’ll move on … assuming they’re not fired first. Catalytic pastors are ideal church planters but often lack the finesse and patience for church transformations (except in those VERY rare churches that are truly willing to do anything to reach the community for Jesus).

The Cultivating Pastor:
The cultivating pastor is wired to break up hard ground, plant seeds, nurture the fields, and are both willing and able to bring in a harvest. They’re gifted in big-picture understanding, systems analysis, and systems manipulation (in a good way). Because of their systems understanding and their patience, they are able to cultivate change and transformation over time. However, they’re tenacious and are used to getting their way in the long run … because they know how to deal with obstacles that get in their way. Cultivating pastors are well suited for church transformations in churches that can afford to effect gentle change that takes significant time … as many as seven to ten years.

The Conflict-Quelling Pastor:
The Conflict-Quelling pastor is exactly the type that the name implies … they’re the guys and gals who are natural or skilled peacemakers, mediators, and/or conflict managers. These pastors are wired differently than any of the other pastoral types. They’re not catalytic and they’re distinctive from chaplains. Instead, these folks can walk into a congregation and in short order assess the situation and instinctively seem to know who the major players are. They are affable and able to build bridges. They tend to be quiet and reflective … when they speak, they do so with conviction, wisdom, and certainty. Conflict-Quelling pastors make excellent interim pastors and/or troubled-church pastors.

The Chaplain Pastor:
The Chaplain pastor is wired for peace, harmony, and pastoral care. This is the type of pastor that has been produced by seminaries for several decades, though a few … a very few … seminaries are retooling. Chaplain pastors eschew change and value status quo. They don’t want to stir the waters; rather, they want to bring healing to hurting souls.They are excellent listeners and tend to be good networkers within the community, primarily so they can extend their ministry, but also so they can refer those in need to oasis’ of help. Chaplain pastors don’t grow churches. In fact, a Chaplain pastor will hasten a congregation’s demise because they tend to focus on those within the congregation rather than in bringing new converts to Jesus Christ. Churches that have very little hope of transformation and church growth do well with Chaplain pastors who serve as hospice care.

The Catatonic Pastor:
This type of pastor is, frankly, either lazy or sick. There are far too many of these pastors. They take refuge in their offices ostensibly to do sermon preparation, create brochures, sum up numbers, and so on, but ultimately they’re spinning their wheels and accomplishing very little. They may or may not do the hospital visitation, but they seldom miss an opportunity to have a meal with one of the inside buddies. Catatonic pastors tend to be well liked by the power holders in the church, because the Catatonic pastor is easily manipulated and seldom, if ever, makes waves … except when they need to accomplish something and fail to meet even the lowest of expectations. Indeed, Catatonic pastors may remain as the senior pastor of a church for many years because they know how to schmooze their way into grace. Churches that hate change often end up with excellent examples of Catatonic pastors. Catatonic pastors may spend a lot of time “at work” but any congregation that sets performance goals for their Catatonic pastor will quickly discover that time in the office does not guarantee results. Of course, Catatonic pastors do not grow churches, are poor chaplains - even poor hospice chaplains, and they pretty much destroy wherever they root … and they’re more like crabgrass or bamboo that, once established, is almost impossible to eradicate.

Thoughts?

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

CHECK THIS OUT

Saturday June 11th at 3:00 Brian Head Welsh is making an appearance at Quest Musique at 1308 Portage Ave. Brian is one of the founders of the band Korn and has written the book above telling his life story and his journey towards a faith in Christ. Check it out!

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Been reading and thinking and found this...

So our city is a buzz with the arrival of a NHL team. That is exciting, but in this whole process I always find myself being challenged on many levels. I stumbled across this post by Pastor Perry Noble and I thought I would share it with you...

21 Questions Leaders MUST Wrestle With!

God BLEW my mind while reading the book of James the other morning…and I’ve listed some leadership questions that EVERY leader/potential leader needs to think about/pray through.
#1 – Do I understand who I am?
James 1:1 – notice James didn’t identify himself as the brother of Jesus…but rather His servant! WOW!

#2 – Do I understand that ministry IS NOT easy? James 1:2-4 (when the writer BEGINS with these verses that’s a big time sign!)

#3 – Do I understand that I should spend more time on my face before God rather than worshipping the FACEBOOK God when seeking direction? James 1:5

#4 – Do you think that James is trying to get a point across…it’s not going to be easy…but we are called to be “in it to win it!” James 1:12

#5 – Do I understand it’s not IF I am tempted, but when…and IF I give into it then something WILL die? James 1:13-15

#6 – Do I understand that I am NOT THAT GOOD…that everything is a gift? James 1:16-18

#7 – HOW many bad decisions, arguments and misunderstandings could be avoided if we all simply memorized and applied James 1:19-20? (Also see James 1:26)

#8 – Do I understand I am not called just to preach the Word…but live it? James 1:22

#9 – Do I understand that showing favoritism WILL be a temptation…but I must always war against it? James 2:1-4

#10 – Do I understand that I am called to live and lead by faith…and if I am not taking steps of faith in my life and ministry then my faith is DEAD? James 2:14-26

#11 – Do I understand the weight of James 3:1? WOW!!!

#12 – Do I fully understand that when I become envious and selfish then that is simply the beginning of the end? James 3:13-18

#13 – Do I have the proper motives in regards to leading this ministry? James 4:1-3

#14 – Am I being opposed by God or is He offering me grace? James 4:6

#15 – Am I using my platform (whether it is speaking or the internet) to falsely attack, accuse and twist people’s words around? James 4:11-12

#16 – Do I understand my days are numbered, that I’ve got one shot at this life and I need to do all that I can to honor the One who called me? James 4:13-17

#17 – Do I understand that there are seasons of growth and seasons of preparation…and in those seasons of preparation I should not become impatient, but rather wait on God? James 5:7-8

#18 – Do I understand that integrity HAS to be a priority in my life and ministry? James 5:12

#19 – Do I understand that I cannot do this alone, that I need accountability in my life? James 5:16

#20 – Do I fully comprehend James 5:17-18…that Elijah was just like one of us? He literally called fire down from heaven! He prayed for rain…and it rained! I want THAT kind of faith!

#21 – Do I understand that ministry is messy…that I am called and expected to have tough conversations with the person that the Lord places on my heart, but in doing so the potential is unlimited? James 5:19-20

Do I understand.................................................................