30 Reasons Why Pastors Fail to Seek Counsel for Issues in their Life:
Notes from Kenneth Maresco, “Accountable Pastors/Accountable Churches,” 2005 Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Conference
I don't need help on this one; I know what to do.
Do I really need help? After all I am a pastor.
I'll confess it when I've repented completely.
I've got the Bible, I've got the Holy Spirit, I ought to be able to handle this myself.
It was not a "big" sin, so it's not that big a deal.
It's not a besetting sin, just occasional.
They're just going to tell me what I already know.
I can change on my own. I don't really need the help of others.
This is something I'm working on.
I'm making progress so I don't need to share this.
I can just apply the counsel I've already received.
It's not a ...
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By Pastor Scott Thomas, President of Acts 29 Network
Ted Haggard was the founder of a megachurch in Colorado Springs and president of the politically powerful National Association of Evangelicals who was forced to resign nearly four years ago, after admitting that he had bought methamphetamine from, and had a sexual encounter with, a male prostitute.
Ted Haggard speaking to his new congregation meeting in his barn.
In a letter to the congregation, Haggard confessed to sexual immorality and described himself as "a deceiver and a liar." Describing a lifelong battle against temptations that were contrary to his teachings, Haggard wrote in his letter he had sought assistance "in a variety of ways," and while he had stretches of "freedom," nothing proved effective. "There is a part of my ...
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Troubled Souls and Pastors
By Scott Thomas, President, Acts 29 Network
Pastors are often overwhelmed with ministry. I am concerned for their souls. I spoke last week to the widow of a pastor who committed suicide recently. It was sobering. She said that he didn’t just come home one day and explode. Instead, she said, "his soul faded out slowly-just like the song by Casting Crowns:"
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day
Indicators of a Troubled Soul
Minimal longing for Jesus
Minimal joy and gladness
Minimal dependence on God
Maximal thoughts of self
Maximal burdens of ministry
Maximal outbursts of anger ...
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Here Matt Chandler sits down to talk about his cancer and leading his church in and through suffering. In this video:
Pastors - have a biblical theology of suffering before it happens to you and your people
If you haven’t studied it and taught it to others, you have no rock underneath you and no hope to offer in the waves of pain and emotion that will ensue
We live in a broken, fallen world so suffering will not be escapable
Remember suffering is not the only means to sanctification (asceticism)
Matt’s personal reflection on living with cancer
Video Quote:
“Lauren asked the doctor, ‘what’s best-case scenario and what’s worst-case scenario?’ He said: ‘Best-case scenario is that God heals you… worst-case ...
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God is Good
Watch from Ipad and Iphone here.
By Pastor Scott Thomas, President of Acts 29 Network
Zac Smith was a 33 year old IT Director at Newspring Church in South Carolina. He died of cancer on May 16, 2010.
Zac was the son of missionary parents, married to Mandy for 11 years and the father of three young children. In May of 2009 this then healthy 32-year-old man was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. Doctors removed a foot and a half of his colon and a lemon-sized tumor.
Going through this terrible cancer, Zac asked why this was happening to him while he was serving God. He wondered if God was punishing him for his past sins. He didn’t understand why he had cancer, but he knew God was in charge. After three months of chemo, the scan indicated that he ...
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