On Reading and Studying as a Pastor, One of Four Things to Know This Week; August 1, 2024

A Word to the Wise – 8 Self-Evaluation Questions About Our Burden for Non-Believers, 
Dr. Chuck Lawless, 7.26.24, www.chucklawless.com
 

1. Am I cocooned among believers? I work among Christians. I hang out with Christians. Without intentionality to connect with non-believers, I can easily live in a Christian bubble. Is that your situation?
2. Is my world too small? My ministry is wrapped up in students, churches, and cross-cultural workers. I travel the nations teaching and training, but I still live in my world doing my ministry, striving to accomplish my goals. Somehow, I forget that I’m a speck among billions of people who don’t know Jesus. What about you?
3. Do I see the crowds wrongly? Perhaps that’s where my brokenness has hurt the most. Jesus saw the crowds as sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36). I tend to see the crowds as people who will read my blog posts, buy my books, praise my teaching (I hope), and send students to my seminary. That’s an agonizing recognition and confession. 
4. Do I love the lost like I should? If I believe a personal relationship with Jesus is the only way to know God and escape eternal judgment, I should want to tell others. If I don’t tell the story, I’m standing for biblical truths I unlovingly choose to keep to myself. That’s tough for any of us to admit.
5. Have I allowed grace to become routine? The childlike faith that filled me with awe as a young believer has been overshadowed by the day-to-day routine of an older believer. I’ve written about being amazed by Jesus, but I’ve recognized that I, too, can lose my wonder. How is your wonder?   
6. Do I reflect enough on obedience as a witness? I love reading the Word each day. I’m realizing, however, that I sometimes study for the sake of reading and writing – not always for the sake of living out and telling the gospel. I don’t always reflect well on the necessity and joy of obedience that points to transforming grace. What about you?  
7. Have I made evangelism only corporate? Seldom am I not preaching somewhere on a given Sunday. That schedule allows me to share the story of Christ every week. I’m grateful for those opportunities, but I can reduce evangelism to telling the story only from the safe distance of the pulpit rather than face-to-face. Do you do the same? 
8. Do I have anyone praying that I will share the gospel boldly? That was the apostle Paul’s request of the Ephesian believers (Eph 6:18-20). If Paul needed that kind of prayer support to be evangelistic, might we need it, too? 

Here are Four Things to Know this Week:

1. On Reading and Studying as a Pastor (Ligon Duncan, 9Marks)
2. 8 Key Decisions Churches Must Make Concerning Groups (Thom Rainer)
3. Calling Out the Called: Friendship Association’s Emphasis Leads to 7 Responses to Ministry (The Christian Index)
4. Five Must Haves for the Small Church (William Strickland)

 
 
   Yours in Christ,
 
   Ray