The Armor of God - The Shield of Fath - Eph 6:16

It's called "the Armor of God" because its components are not of our own credit the "shield of faith" to themselves, but this is a recipe for defeat against the flaming arrows of the evil one. Only a supernatural, God-given faith can withstand those assaults. We rob God and indeed even rob ourselves of great resources in the Christian life when we ascribe any of them to ourselves and not to Christ alone. (Eph 6:10-18)

Scripture frequently refers to the the LORD as our shield (Gen. 15:1; Ps. 5:12; Prov. 30:5), so when we take up the shield of faith it means we rest in the Lord ... in Christ Himself.

 

The Holy Spirit has joined us to Christ and our supernatural faith is like a shield because it continually lays hold of Christ who covers us with His righteousness which makes us immune to the attacks of Satan.    Continue at John Hendryx

Pastoral Ministry: A Sure Way to Be Dishonored

This does not excuse the disrespectful things that congregants say. Such disrespect is a pernicious evil that we can leave for another day. At this point, please be encouraged that you are experiencing some of the natural overflow of the sufferings of Jesus, which means you are honored. Those who dishonor you are the ones who will be called to account.

Here is one reason you must be called to pastoral ministry: the people you love will not love you back—at least some of them will not love you back. They will say utterly horrible things about you, so you better be sure you want to do this. It is one thing to be dissed by the world around you; it is something else again to be demeaned by your own church family while you are pouring your heart out for them.

Personal Attacks

This is the worst feature of pastoral ministry. Every pastor, unless he is surrounded by others who shield him from criticism, has dozens of heart-breaking stories. Take the example of the pastor who receives anonymous weekly letters from a congregant who claims to be speaking for many others when she writes, “I pray every day that you would leave the church.” The letters are all cut out from magazines so they have that creepy look of a murder threat.   Continue at Ed Welch

Anti-Bullying Speaker Attacks Bible, Christian Teens

The Story: As many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after Dan Savage, a homosexual activist and anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible, and used a homosexual slur to refer to those who refused to listen to his message.

The Background: Savage was invited to deliver the keynote address during the National High School Journalism Conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. Instead of giving the expected talk about bullying,  CitizenLink notes, the students got "an earful about birth control, sex, and Savage's opinions on the Bible."

"The first thing he told the audience was, 'I hope you're all using birth control,'" a student told CitizenLink. "He said there are people using the Bible as an exc for gay bullying, because it says in Leviticus and Romans that being gay is wrong. Right after that, he said we can ignore all the (expletive deleted) in the Bible." In the video of the incident, Salvage heckles the teenagers who walked out of his rant.

Why It Matters: Despite being an "anti-bullying activist," Savage has a reputation for being a reprehensible bully who uses some of most disgusting tactics imaginable against people he hates. In 2001, during the Republican primary in 2000, Savage traveled to Iowa and became a campaign volunteer for Gary Bauer. During the trip, Savage became sick---"I had the flu in a big way"---and decided to use his illness as a bioweapon against Bauer and his staff. He boasts that he...   Continue at Joe Carter

See also: Who is Dan Savage?

So You Want to Be a Senior Pastor

Looking back on seminary I often wonder why I was not better prepared for certain experiences that have been pivotal in pastoral ministry. There was never a class on how to deal with ministry jealousy. No one ever warned me that it would be tempting to wish I had another man’s gifts, ministry opportunities, and recognition. Furthermore, there were no classes on spiritual warfare. In fact, I don’t remember anyone telling me to expect spiritual warfare. There were no lectures that addressed the fact that as I grew clearer about the gospel, I would become a bigger target for the evil one. And there were no syllabi regarding what it would mean for an associate pastor to transition into ministry as a senior pastor.

A recent edition of the 9Marks e-journal focused on the life and perspectives of a senior pastor versus an associate pastor. The articles were very helpful, but one set of questions were not addressed: What should you expect of the transition from associate pastor to senior or lead pastor? How are the roles different? How can associate pastors prepare as they think and pray about being a senior pastor one day?   Keep Reading...

How to Benefit from Criticism

Nobody likes criticism! We want to be accepted and affirmed, and we don’t want to be told that something that we are doing is wrong. However, criticism is a fact of life. The question isn’t whether we will face criticism, but rather in how we deal with it. Does it make us critical or bitter, or do we examine ourselves, looking for areas that need attention in our lives? How we perceive, face and handle criticism can reveal a lot about the state of our hearts. It reveals our pride and our idols, things we look to for comfort – things we worship instead of God. David Murray, professor at Puritan Reformed Seminary and blogger at Head Hand Heart has the following  great advice on how to deal with criticism:

Four steps to avoid

Reject: without a moment’s thought you simply dismiss the criticism, minimize it, and move on


Retaliate: again, often without even a pause, you attack the attacker or criticize the critic


Resent: while you may seem to accept what was said, you inwardly seethe and bitterly brood

Resign: you just give in, give up and run away

Four steps to follow  -  Keep Reading...

Facing Attack and Betrayal by Church Members

How does a pastor face being attacked and betrayed by one of his most supportive church members?

Some of the most painful situations I have ever faced in ministry is when those whom are your biggest supporters are the ones who turn on you.  I can remember trembling when I read Charles Spurgeon’s advice, “Prepare for when your dearest brother betrays you.”  What, you mean that will happen?

In over 16 years of pastoral ministry, I can still remember the most hateful and painful letter I have ever received.  It was from one of my dearest supporters and defenders of me and my ministry at the time, who had just left the church over a difficult decision I had to make that personally effected this individual. 

How do you face these kinds of hurtful betrayals?  3 suggestions: Keep Reading...

Assorted Attacks on the Bible (Romans 1:18-32)