Biblical Eldership Resources

Special Edition: Resources for Preparing to Reopen Your Church It is our desire at BER to support you as you seek to shepherd your flock with love and wisdom in this unprecedented time. https://mailchi.mp/biblicaleldership/ber-blog-1134978

Dear Church Leaders, We are praying for you. May God grant you a discerning heart as you lead His flock and may He fill you with wisdom to choose the right from the wrong. All for His glory. Amen!... www.BiblicalEldership.com

8 REASONS MANY PASTORS DON’T LIKE TO DO PASTORAL CARE -Chuck Lawless Let’s face it, church leaders. Some of us much prefer preaching over pastoral care. Others love pastoral care, but not all of us. ... Some do it because our role demands it, but that doesn’t mean we always enjoy it. If that’s who you are, use this post to check your heart. You might even be honest with your church and ask them to pray for you about this responsibility. Consider these reasons some of us don't love this role: It raises some of the toughest questions. How do you explain the death of a child? The loss of a home to natural disaster? The breakup of a marriage? How do you direct the church member who’d rather die than undergo rigorous painful treatments again? How do you help that young man dealing with same sex attraction? It can present awkward situations. Think about it. Entering a hospital room with the smell of a recent bowel movement. Counseling a church member who’s weeping on the floor. Leading the funeral of a deceased person you didn’t know. Officiating at a wedding where the bride’s parents aren’t speaking to each other. If you serve as a pastor long enough, you’ll face situations you never considered. It’s never ending. As long as we minister to people, we’ll always have some other need to meet. The needs are there when we wake up and when we go to bed. A break is just that only a break. If you mess it up, it can harm a relationship. A church member who forgives a poor sermon may not forgive you for not visiting her mother in the hospital. Make a mistake in a wedding, and it’ll likely be on video for everyone in particular, the frustrated couple to remember forever. Pastoral care wounds can leave deep scars. It can be time consuming. Few actions of pastoral care are simple. A hospital visit requires driving and visiting time. Funerals and weddings demand days more than hours. Counseling can consume your schedule if you let it. Ministering to people just takes time. It pushes emotionally cautious pastors to their limits. Pastoral care might mean hugs . . . and tears . . . and confession . . . and grief . . . and personal reflection . . . and gut-wrenching, heart-level conversations. It takes some pastors to depths they seldom comfortably go. It can get in the way of church growth. It’s really this simple: when you spend all your time ministering to members, it’s harder to find time to reach out to non-believers. Most of us have had to learn it the hard way: by experience. Even when our college or seminary offered classes in this arena, no class can cover everything we might face. We’re often learning pastoral care as we go. To be honest, I enjoy some pastoral care, but not all of it. What about you?

::On Guest Preaching:: In this episode of Preachers Talk, David Helm sits in the interviewer’s chair and chats with Ed Copeland and Jeremy Meeks about how to approach guest preaching. They cover pitfalls to avoid, targets to aim at, and the congregational blessing of having someone outside your tribe to preach. They also discuss practical questions like honoraria, dress-code, and time limit. https://bit.ly/3ouX7GH

Today is #BellLetsTalkDay however good mental health support doesn't begin and end in a day. Talk to your children and really listen to them. Even as we take care of ourselves, remember kids need a patient and loving environment to grow well mentally too. #childrensmentalhealthmatters

WHEN GOD CHANGES YOUR PLAN What do we do when God changes our goals? It happened to the apostle Paul; it can certainly happen to us too. When Paul was at the church in Antioch, the Scripture records, While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’ (Acts 13:2). This commissioning turned out to be the first of his mission trips around the eastern Mediterranean area.... "Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to turn a parked car? You need to get it moving and then you can steer it. Setting goals is like moving a car." Yet the story of Paul's second missionary tour has no record of God’s specific direction to go out again. From all appearances he just went out (see Acts 15:3641), presumably trusting the Lord would guide his plans. He intended to go to certain areas of Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:611), but the Holy Spirit prompted him to change directions. There is no sense of error or chastisement; Paul simply changed directions. Your Goals Might ChangeSet Them Anyway Sometimes God directly gives us goals beforehand, and other times he leaves it to us to set goals, but he may change our direction. We shouldn't let that discourage us, nor should we let it stop us from setting goals in the first place. "Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to turn a parked car? You need to get it moving and then you can steer it," Chuck Gianotti said in part two of his time management series. "Setting goals is like moving a car. There will be turns and changes as we attempt to reach our goals, but the process of working toward them will bring greater clarification." Underlying it all, we make our plans dependent on the will of the Lord: Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’ (James 4:1315) You can download a sample goal-setting chart from BiblicalEldership.com to use as a model for determining your goals. Once you have these, you can plan your daily disciplines to ensure you meet your goals. https://www.biblicaleldership.com//time_manage_form_goal_s Photo by Jim Wilson on Unsplash

How to Find Joy Amid Tensions with Other Believers TREVIN WAX The church is the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. And, like many families, sometimes we get along great, and sometimes not so much....Continue reading