Lest you get the impression that great ministry advice is confined to history books, here are several quotes from Twitter and Facebook that are worth your time. Each was posted by a pastor in the past few months yet represents wisdom collected over years of ministry experience.
Carlos Eliel Rebollar on Facebook:
Something I like to do sometimes is look up sermons online from random, obscure pastors I’ve never heard of, and then listening to one of their sermons. There’s something about finding an obscure pastor/preacher of a rural town or a rough part of another city preaching a faithful and powerful sermon that excites the heck outta me. There’s a sense of solidarity, lots of encouragement, and a reminder of the “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal” that the Lord has left for himself in the world.
If you have been faithfully tilling hard ground day in and day out in a hard part of your city or in a small town, look up and remember that the Father sees you, delights in you, and is with you as you labor. You are recognized by the King of the Universe, who else’s recognition could matter more?
#embracingobscurity #ofwhomtheworldisnotworthy
Tara Beth Leach on Twitter (@tarabeth82):
One of my more meaningful practices that is a sustaining means of grace as a pastor is my Monday gathering with a small group of community pastors. We share vulnerably our wounds, sometimes freshly bleeding ones. We share wins. We share frustrations. We share headaches.
Jeremiah Vik on Twitter (@jeremiahvik):
Pastors, it’s too easy to say a lot and miss the main point. Don’t give them more than they can chew on the rest of the week.
Richard A. Villodas Jr. on Facebook:
Whenever I train preachers, I tell them to simply say “thank you” when they are complimented. No need to say stuff like, “it was all God.”
Nope. If it was all God it would be much better than that!!
Ray Ortlund on Twitter (@rayortlund):
This question weighs with me: However faithful I might be to biblical doctrine — and doctrine REALLY matters! –still, *does anyone want to hang out with me?* Truly faithful pastors are approachable, warm, tender, relaxed, a joy to be with.
Sharon Hodde Miller on Twitter (@shoddemiller):
The church is not a product, and the world is not a saturated marketplace. And yet, as soon as we received the call to plant, we got the question: “why does this area need another church?” As if “God called us” and also “people here still don’t know Jesus” isn’t reason enough.
