Posted by:
Staff
| Comments
Five Pitfalls for Pastors to Avoid
by Eddie Lawrence
Introduction- As I typed the title to this post in the form of a sermon outline, I must admit that it was a little scary. Why? I am a pastor that has experienced great pain due to falling into more than one of these pits. I take full responsibility for my own actions which is necessary in order for healing and restoration to take place.
However in addition to our own mistakes and sinfulness, the enemy is also at work against the life of every servant of Christ. The Scripture bears this out. Jesus was tempted of the Devil. David sinned greatly. Peter denied Christ. Paul was buffeted. Some of our heroes in the Scripture fought valiantly and endured the temptation. Others caved in. We can learn lessons from them all.
Take Peter for example. Jesus told Peter that Satan has asked for him. That’s interesting in and of itself. How does that work? Why is this possible? Jesus also told Peter that restoration would be necessary. This was before Peter ever fell. Jesus told Peter he had prayed for him that through it all, his faith would not fail him. You know the story. Peter was sifted like wheat. The end result was Peter was sifted of a presumptuous pride that had led him into trouble more than once. Yes, God can use the attack of the Devil to bring about good in our lives. At the resurrection, Jesus sent word by the women to Peter. Jesus went to Peter to restore him at the seaside. Peter was chosen 50 days after his fall to preach the first sermon at Pentecost. This ought to encourage every servant of Christ who is aware of their own fallen humanity.
Here is a short list of five areas that every pastor should be vigilant about, because the enemy of our souls is lurking around these areas just waiting for the opportunity to bring you down.
1. Pride
-The Scripture is clear. Pride precedes destruction and a fall. As a pastor, you are in a situation to be unwittingly elevated in the minds of men. People will unintentionally set you on a pedestal. If you are not careful, it can affect the way you begin to think about yourself.
-You may begin to struggle with feeling too self-important. We must remember that Jesus has run the church for almost 2000 years just fine without any of us. We are servants not tyrants.
-You may begin to struggle with entitlement. This is the “I’m special, therefore I deserve this or that!” attitude. This creates fertile ground for the enemy to poison you and others. He had much rather leave you in the pulpit with this kind of attitude that to pull you out of it. Why? Because you lead the people to focus on you instead of Christ.
-You may struggle with insecurity. When people exalt you, you begin to fear that they discover that you are just like them, or that someone else may do a better job than you when you fail to meet their high expectations. The result is feeling threatened by other gifted people. Resorting to control and manipulation to keep things safe for yourself.
2. Burnout
-This is rampant. There is often a certain amount of self-deception behind this. The idea that you can do it all. Allowing unreasonable expectations to be placed on you by others or by yourself.
-On two different occasions in my ministry I have succumbed to burnout. The first landed me in the hospital with heart and stress related problems. The second time I almost lost everything including my family. In the first situation I had allowed others to heap and heap unreasonable requirements on my life and time. In the second, I carried a huge list of expectations over my own head. In both cases, I was driven to the end of myself.
-Take time for yourself and your family. Learn to free your mind of what I called the “guilt of the undone.” It will never all get done and it is foolish for you to think you can conquer it all alone. The applause of the people is very motivating but it is setting you up to bring you down. You have one Master and it is not “them” or “yourself.” It is Christ and he calls you to a life of rest and peace which will produce wonderful fruit for which He alone gets the glory.
-Eat right and exercise. Learn to have mental activities that allow you to disengage from “war.” This “re-creation” will benefit you greatly. I am not suggesting a vacation from God. You never need that. But you do need to avoid viewing God as a taskmaster Who is constantly requiring you to “do.” He calls you to Himself to rest and intimacy. Out of that you will get what you need for everything else. What a trap we have fallen into when we begin to associate our Father with our tiredness.
3. Sex
-Sex is a gift of God that brings incredible pleasure without guilt when it is expressed and experienced within its intended boundaries. When you begin to use it in illegitimate ways as an escape from your “high pressure” reality, it becomes gunpowder looking for fire. It is highly destructive.
-Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the grace to satisfy your true longings for intimacy in godly ways. Share your heart with your spouse. Do not share any kind of intimate conversation with an inappropriate person. That leaves out everyone except your spouse, your counselor, or a trusted godly friend of the same sex. We all yearn and crave to be known. To be accepted. To be loved for who we are. These are powerful emotions that can be seduced by the power of sex. The enemy invites us to a false intimacy.
-Stay away from pornography. Flee lust. Be accountable to someone who is nearby. Long distance accountability is a joke. You need someone who rubs shoulders with you on a regular basis. This is someone who can see you around others, look into your eyes, who knows when you are struggling and will talk to you about it.
-Seek help. Don’t allow fear and pride from causing you to humble yourself when you are struggling. Remember David was alone on a rooftop when his men were off to war. Don’t allow your need for affirmation or intimacy to seduce you into illegitimately fulfilling your heart cravings. Words are powerful, so be very careful what you say to others, especially if you feel the pull of an illegitimate attraction toward them. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. One remark can set a course toward pain for your life.
4. Money
-This is probably the most subtle of the pitfalls. Why? Because we learn how to hide behind “godly” curtains. It is easy to be duped by the power of greed and desire for money. Only the Lord knows the true motives of our hearts.
-It is not wrong for pastors to be really well cared for. As a matter of fact, it is Scriptural. It is wrong, however, when we somehow prostitute ourselves for money. When the motive of what we do becomes to get more money, then we err and can become pierced through with sorrows.
-A servant working hard or overtime to adequately provide for family needs is obeying the Scripture. A servant who resorts to tactics and motives that conflict with the heart of Christ is in trouble. Father is still our provider and we ultimately trust Him. We do not leave His voice to follow another, even if the other offers more money. Again, this one is tricky, because it has to do with the motive of heart, which others cannot see. So guard your own heart.
5. Fear
-The fear of failure. The fear of man. The fear of lack. The fear of rejection. Fear, fear, fear….. It can come disguised in a million ways. Yet, it can quickly shut down your faith and your anointing.
-Fear will thrust you ahead of God because you are afraid of being seen as fearful because you know you should patiently wait. It can hold you back from God’s plan because you fear you might fail to step into what He is calling you to.
-The antidote for fear is a faith that is rooted in the love of God. When you know how much God really loves you, it becomes much easier to simply trust what you sense He is telling you to do. If you need to wait, then you are unafraid to let people know that it is not time to charge ahead. When you feel led to step out, you are unafraid to step into the unknown because you know your loving Father will not fail you.
-In the congregation, there can at times be forces at work to control you to shut you down or speed you up to get “their” own ways. It will be the love of God that will help you correctly respond, patiently endure, and courageously lead your people. This is always the rub for leaders. Some want more, some want less, and some want what God wants.
Conclusion -These are five areas of many that could be listed. I hope that this gives you some food for thought and will help you in avoiding these dangerous areas where the enemy is plotting your demise. Remember… God is for you and not against you! I pray that you are able to avoid these pitfalls. If you are in trouble now, get help! If you are struggling in one of these areas now, get help! Don’t be foolish and think you can do it alone. Take this advice from someone who knows that very foolishness and what it can cost you.
Please consider forwarding this post to a friend in the ministry. I pray that these truths will be spread across the body of Christ to encourage God's servants to avoid these pitfalls.
We LOVE you so.. how about liking us on Facebook?..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Posted by:
Staff
| Comments
A Bold Faith
by Eddie Lawrence
Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Notice that a bold faith:
1. Is Contrary to What Can Be Hoped for in the Natural
2. It Is Rooted in Hope that Rests in God
3. Is Not Weak
4. Does Not Consider The Limitation of the Natural
5. It Does Not Waver Through Unbelief
6. By Giving Glory to God Faith is Strengthened
7. It is Convinced At God’s Ability
8. It Sees God Perform His Promise
We LOVE you so.. how about liking us on Facebook?..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Posted by:
Staff
| Comments
EXPOSING THE LIES THAT YOU BELIEVE
By Eddie Lawrence
Psalm 51: 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
1. THE LORD DESIRES TRUTH IN THE INWARD PART. (Ps. 51:6)
2. WE SHOULD DESIRE TRUTH IN OUR INWARD PART.
-This is when we begin to know wisdom when we are first truthful with our own heart. (Ps. 51:7)
3. WE MUST BE WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE LIES.
(pS 51:6) The reason the Lord desires us to know truth in the inward parts is because that is where we bed down the lies. We must acknowledge those lies in order for them to be overruled by truth.
-Humility
-Honestly
4. WE MUST BREAK THE POWER OF THE LIES WITHIN US.
-It is known truth that makes us free (John 8:31-32)
5. WE MUST REBUILD WITH THE TRUTH.
-Walking (continuing) in truth fortifies us against the lies (John 8:31-32)
We LOVE you so.. how about liking us on Facebook?..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Posted by:
Staff
| Comments
(The following is an excerpt from the Lectures on Revival by the great revival evangelist, Charles Finney, who ministered in the early 1800′s.)
WHAT A REVIVAL IS
by Charles Finney
It presupposes that the Church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of the Church from her backslidings, and in the conversion of sinners.
1. A revival always includes conviction of sin on the part of the Church. Backslidden professors cannot wake up and begin right away in the service of God, without deep searchings of heart. The fountains of sin need to be broken up. In a true revival, Christians are always brought under such conviction; they see their sins in such a light that often they find it impossible to maintain a hope of their acceptance with God. It does not always go to that extent, but there are always, in a genuine revival, deep convictions of sin, and often cases of abandoning all hope.
2. Backslidden Christians will be brought to repentance. A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God. Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down into the dust before God, with deep humility, and a forsaking of sin.
3. Christians will have their faith renewed. While they are in their backslidden state they are blind to the state of sinners. Their hearts are hard as marble. The truths of the Bible appear like a dream. They admit it to be all true; their conscience and their judgment assent to it; but their faith does not see it standing out in bold relief, in all the burning realities of eternity. But when they enter into a revival, they no longer see "men as trees, walking," but they see things in that strong light which will renew the love of God in their hearts. This will lead them to labor zealously to bring others to Him. They will feel grieved that others do not love God, when they love Him so much. And they will set themselves feelingly to persuade their neighbors to give Him their hearts. So their love to men will be renewed. They will be filled with a tender and burning love for souls. They will have a longing desire for the salvation of the whole world. They will be in an agony for individuals whom they want to have saved – their friends, relations, enemies. They will not only be urging them to give their hearts to God, but they will carry them to God in the arms of faith, and with strong crying and tears beseech God to have mercy on them, and save their souls from endless burnings.
4. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. It brings them to such vantage ground that they get a fresh impulse towards heaven; they have a new foretaste of heaven, and new desires after union with God; thus the charm of the world is broken, and the power of sin overcome.
5. When the Churches are thus awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow. Their hearts will be broken down and changed. Very often the most abandoned profligates are among the subjects. Harlots, and drunkards, and infidels, and all sorts of abandoned characters, are awakened and converted. The worst of human beings are softened and reclaimed, and made to appear as lovely specimens of the beauty of holiness.
We LOVE you so.. how about liking us on Facebook?..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin
Posted by:
Staff
| Comments
Enjoying A Clean Heart
The Bible is clear and offers us the blessing of cleansing of our hearts so we can enjoy a wonderful fellowship with God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1. A CONDITION MUST BE MET
"If we confess our sins" This means we must agree with God about the true condition of our heart. It is filled with sin and in need of cleansing. It means we take responsibility for our sin. We do not blame others, we own it ourselves and are accountable to God for it.
when we sin, we can and should confess it to God! We should endeavor to maintain a confessing heart so that we can live with a cleansed heart.
2. A FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING IS GIVEN
Notice, based on the faithfulness of God, you can be forgiven and cleansed. The whole Gospel story is the story of God taking action so that you could be forgiven and cleansed. It is your responsibility to confess and God takes responsibility from there. He forgives and He cleanses. You must stake your claim on the integrity of God that He will do what He says He will do.
The enemy will combat your mind with accusation, but you must stand on God’s Word and agree with God not only about your sin, but also about your forgiveness and cleansing. This is the way, you come to enjoy the cleansed heart. To have one, yet doubt it, robs one of the joy of what he possesses.
What spot is there so dark, that the blood of Jesus cannot wash it clean? Then do not rob the Son of God of the glory he deserves by doubting the efficacy of his blood work.
3. A COMPLETENESS OF CLEANSING IS TO BE EXPECTED
God cleanses us from "all unrighteousness." We are not half-way sinners and God is not a half-way cleanser. Understand that God always does a good job of whatever He does. When He cleanses you, you are clean. Rest in the work He has done. The message of the cross is that it is a finished work, a completed work. Jesus paid it all. When God cleanses, you are clean. Go forth from the moment of confession with an assurance that is firmly rooted in the Character of God and the completeness of salvation in Christ.
We LOVE you so.. how about liking us on Facebook?..
Powered By Facebook Like Post Plugin