Your Voice

It’s not too late to show your pastor appreciation

By Jason Lowe
Associational mission strategist
Pike (Kentucky) Association of Southern Baptists

If you’re a church member, you have no idea how much your simple act of appreciation encourages those whom God has appointed as the spiritual shepherd of your souls.

Pastors don’t shepherd their flocks for the praise of others, but it’s disappointing when the church remains silent at a time when they are encouraged to express their appreciation for their leaders. What should you do if you are the pastor of a church that remains silent during Pastor Appreciation Month? Let me encourage you in three ways:

Remember your heavenly reward.

I know it’s tough when it seems that no one notices or appreciates your service. But remember we do not serve to be noticed. Rest assured that your faithfulness does not go unnoticed with Him. The Lord knows your stresses. He knows the sacrifices you have made. And when this life is over, He will reward your faithfulness.

Don’t let bitterness creep into your heart.

When you hear how other churches show appreciation to their pastor, you will be tempted to become bitter. Don’t give in to that temptation! Instead of becoming bitter for what the church did not do, be grateful for all the ways the church has blessed you. Remember other ways members have expressed their gratitude for you and your ministry throughout the year.

Keep shepherding the flock.

At the end of the day, you are called to shepherd the flock of God when things are going well and when they are not — when you are encouraged and when you are discouraged. Don’t start neglecting your pastoral responsibilities simply because the church failed to express its appreciation. Model for members how to continue to serve the Lord even when their circumstances don’t meet their expectations.

To the silent church: It’s never too late to start. There’s still time to show your pastor how much you appreciate him.

Once you start, don’t stop. Expressing appreciation for your pastor is appropriate throughout the year. Be a blessing during Pastor Appreciation Month, but also at other times when your pastor may not expect it!

 (Reprinted from Baptist Press and edited for space.)

There is an old proverb that says, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” That certainly seems to be true in my neighborhood.

A few weeks ago, one of my neighbors put an old lawn bench out for pickup. It looked like it had seen its better days.

Most of its paint had peeled or worn off. The wood on the armrests had rotted, as well as some of the bracing underneath the seat. The seat slats on each side of it had fallen in on one end.

When I saw it, I thought, “There’s enough left here to work with.”

I cut out new armrests, and new bracing for underneath. I reattached the seat slats to the new wood. I wiped off all the dirt and grit, sanded it down to bare wood and gave it a couple of fresh coats of midnight blue enamel. It looks almost as good as new.

That old bench and other trash-to-treasure projects reminds me of myself.

There was a time in my life when I was a mess. I was spotted and soiled by the sins in my life and probably looked like something some people might say was trash.

They might have said I wasn’t redeemable and could never be repaired, but thank God, He wasn’t willing to throw me out like trash.

Bill King
Director of missions of the Tuskegee Lee Baptist Association

Letter to the editor

The recent resignation of Ronnie Floyd from the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, along with other resignations from the leadership of our convention over the handling of the business affairs is very troublesome.

This appears to be far more than investigating allegations of abuse that may have taken place, which I believe is taken seriously by all involved. It seems to reveal a deepening split and level of distrust that threatens our very SBC and perhaps the ability to continue spreading the gospel as perhaps no other evangelical organization has ever done.

Further, the SBC may well be the only remaining Christ-centered group with the organizational strength to halt and even reverse the tide of evil sweeping our land. I do not know what the answer is in resolving this dispute, and I pray that leaders like SBC President Ed Litton will seek and find the words that are needed.

I do know the answer does not lie within anything that is remotely connected to the secular progressive agenda.

To seek and restore the trust and accountability needed in our SBC, it is my hope the membership of every church, no matter the size, will rally themselves to go to Anaheim next year and Charlotte the year after to seek the Lord’s will and extend biblical direction to the leadership.

Don Wallace
Moundville, Ala.

Meat and Potatoes

God has created our physical bodies to grow and sustain on a steady diet. If we take those elements away, our body will begin to send up warning signals. If we continue to ignore our body, it will begin to shut down. Little by little, our health will deteriorate.

The same is true with our spiritual being. We need a healthy, steady diet to grow and sustain our spiritual being. Unfortunately, the steady diet many Christians are getting across North America is not the one God has prescribed.

An old saying regarding some preachers and speakers is “All the meat and no potatoes!” Basically, this meant the speaker had all the substance without any sustenance. Substance is necessary, but it does not produce any evidence of learning.

Evidence of learning cannot be found in the lives of many Christians because they are not receiving the sustenance which brings about life change.

The greatest evidence of learning (spiritually speaking) is life change. Substance will never produce life change. It can produce great trivia buffs, yet that is not our objective.

We must use context for the depiction of God’s truths and principles. However, we must also have an earnest portion of application. Only application will bring about evidences of life change.

Jesus’ sermons and teaching consisted of more application than context because people need to know how to put into practice God’s principles and truths. What will you change today in your delivery and conversational practices to enable people to have a true learning experience that will manifest in their actions?

Author George L. Yates
Adapted from “Evidences of Learning: Teaching That Bears Fruit”

The completion of God’s restoration plan for fallen humanity awaits Christ’s return.

Jerry Batson
Retired Alabama Baptist pastor, religion professor, and Theology 101 author

Historically, Christians have suffered for the faith, honoring God in the process and witnessing to His love, mercy and judgment. When Christians are persecuted for the gospel, it is imperative we respond as the Apostle Paul did — seeing it as a way to honor God.

The early disciples rejoiced they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus (see Acts 5:41). We need to remember if we face persecution, we honor and bring glory to God by standing firm in our beliefs.

Robert Olsen
Explore the Bible commentary for Oct. 24, 2021

The Sermon on the Mount tells us that those who are angry with others, insult others and use derogatory language about others is not a follower of Christ. We who claim to be Christians should consider this carefully. (Matt. 5:22).

Micah Fries
Director at GlocalNet

As church attendance numbers fade across the nation and online services become very convenient, it’s important to remember why church attendance for you and your family matters so much.

You can’t serve from your sofa. You can’t have community of faith on your sofa. You can’t experience the power of a room full of believers worshipping together on your sofa.

Christians aren’t consumers. We are contributors. We don’t watch. We engage. We give. We sacrifice. We encourage. We pray by laying hands on the hurting. We do life together.

The church needs you.

And you need the church.

Steven Massey via Facebook

It’s a good thing the kingdom of God is not a company, isn’t it? Who would ever hear the gospel or witness the reality of Christ if we evaluated our actions with a cost analysis? Instead, life in the kingdom of God is measured by this one value: Everything done in the name of Christ has eternal value.

David Jeremiah
Pastor, author and radio host

From the Twitterverse

@haines_matt
While evil and wickedness may enjoy temporary fortune, the Lord of Heaven has the final word.

@jdanielatkins
Pastor friends, most people who leave your church will do so because of preference. Not doctrine or immortality. Preference. This means they’re consumers and as a minister of the gospel, you’re not selling anything. Don’t change. Follow Jesus’ leading & don’t look back.

@jordaneasley
If you lack Jesus, you will lack joy.

@LysaTerKeurst
Sometimes changing the world means getting quiet enough for God to change me. Lord, help me choose to make time with You a priority. Each and every day. I want Your word and Your love to work wonders in my soul.

@samueld_james
There is just an enormous amount of public resentment and animosity between Christians right now. Even worse, technology is normalizing this state and making it seem inevitable. We’re having our emotional default settings recalibrated by what the New Testament literally damns.

@kristenpadilla
“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness — without it no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14. Lord Jesus, give us grace and help to do so.

@stephenandjill
Godlessness leads to meaninglessness. The areas of your life that leave out God will also be the areas of your life that feel the most empty.

@Matt Smethurst
In all my years of pastoring, I have learned this lesson: A person’s spiritual maturity is not truly visible until they DON’T get their way. Then you see the person. —@ErikReed

@MichaelCatt
We expect lost people to act like lost people. We should also expect believers to act like Christ followers. It’s not rocket science, it’s a matter of surrender of our agendas to His Lordship.

@DrPaulChitwood
Met #ColinPowell in Feb 2003 and asked for any leadership advice he might offer. He immediately replied, “Do your job, take care of your troops, and don’t worry about your next job.” I was reminded of this wisdom as I saw the announcement of his passing.