Pastor Appreciation Day - October 12, 2008

Hebrews 13:7 (MSG) "Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness."

Thank You, Pastor!

You work vigorously, often neglecting personal needs to give us comfort and direction. You do so much, yet you receive so little in return. This National Clergy Appreciation Day, we take time out to acknowledge and celebrate the efforts of your leadership.

Send an E-card! Show your pastors and leaders how much you care.

• E-cards from ChristianityToday.com
• E-cards from CTLibrary.com

Clergy Appreciation Day - October 12, 2008

Thank You, Pastor!

• Discover ways to encourage your pastor.
• Help your church's leaders stay focused.
• Find your own unique place in ministry.
• Come up with creative ideas for Clergy Appreciation month.

Iranian Parliament: Death to Non-Muslim Converts

Iran's parliament has passed the death penalty for apostasy, which is viewed in that country as converting to any other faith than Islam.

Thousands of Iranians have been converting to Christianity, and the underground church is thriving, according to reports. But other Iranians are returning to Zoroastrianism, which was the dominant religion in Iran at one time. Jonathan Rocho, with International Christian Concern (ICC), explains.

"We, as a Christian organization, are very much concerned about this because this means many Christians who converted from Islam are going to face death, simply because of their decision to follow Jesus Christ," Rocho laments.

He says Iranians are questioning the Muslim faith after living under the regime, which has been dominated by the religion since the revolution in the 1970s. "They have not seen any change in their lives," Rocho adds. "There is even more repression, more problems going on in the country, so they are very much confused about the Islamic faith."

Already, two Christian converts accused of apostasy have been given the death penalty. Since Iran does not easily succumb to international pressure, Rocho urges people to pray.

[Source: One NewsNow.com]

Cliffnotes For Busy Pastors

Are you busy? I don't know too many pastors and ministry leaders who have tons of bandwidth in their schedule- most are busy and time is a premium commodity.

And yet, in our busyness, you know how important it is to digest tons and tons of reading material. It is important that we are well read and informed.

Christian Book Summaries are FREE and may be the solution you need.

Christian Book Summaries (CBS) is a FREE service that provides several page abstracts of both current releases as well as classic Christian writings. All of the summaries are available for download in PDF format.

CBS can be used as a substitute to reading the book or as a companion as you read the book in full.

CBS is a great tool, check it out!

[from Ministry Best Practices by Bill Reichart]

Church Humor

[ChristianityToday.com]

Calculating Your Return on Ministry

Here’s the link to a brand new Fellowship Technologies tool called Retun on Ministry.

As always, Fellowship Tech turns out valuable and beautiful products to help your church facilitate ministry. How can you improve what you can’t measure?

More on measuring ministry over the next 10 days but for now type in the name of any church - and check out what happens next on your whiteboard!

[Curtis Simmons]

Free Worship Study Series

Have you heard about Dwayne Moore's generous offer currently available on his personal blog?

For a limited time only, you can download one FREE complete copy of all nine weeks of Moore's soon-to-be-published Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship!

American Idol Clay Aiken Comes Out of The Closet

American Idol Clay Aiken has finally announced that he is gay. The Southern Baptist, who also has a son out of wedlock, says he is still a born-again Christian.

READ MORE

There is a strong push by the American gay rights movement, supported by heavy funding and the ACLU, to not only gain acceptance by calling all opposition homophobes, but their agenda includes being accepted as Christians. They are funding new church plants that support the gay agenda, and pushing the publicity of famous "Christian" gays.

The Internet has recently been flooded with web sites generated by gay rights activists advocating gay Christian rights. They argue that the Bible is also against adultery and for tolerance.

Gay books are being published as quickly as the printing can be done. A gay study Bible has also been published. Also, a Michigan gay "Christian" is suing two Bible publishers over verses labeling homosexuality a sin and causing him emotional pain and estrangement from his family.

Is there such a thing as a gay Christian? Can someone be a Christian who practices homosexuality? What does the Bible say about it? Is it sin? Does it separate one from God?

I'm sorry, but Clay Aiken, Ray Boltz, "Pastor" Jeff Minor, Marsha Stevens, Kirk Talley, and all other singers and entertainers can practice homosexuality and say that it is OK, but that does not make it so.

The first reference to homosexuality in Scripture is in the infamous account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The wickedness of the men of that city is obvious and is of such a severe nature that it brought divine destruction upon the entire city. Both Peter and Jude make reference to it and describe the sin of homosexuality as " ungodly, lawless, unnatural and extreme immorality" (see 2 Peter 2:6, 8; Jude 7).

In Leviticus 18:22 and 24 homosexuality is described as an "abomination" and "defiling." It is reprehensible and unclean.

In Leviticus 20:13 it is again described as an "abomination" but here as one worthy of the death penalty!

Deuteronomy 23:17 forbade the presence of a "sodomite" in the land of Israel.

An incident similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah is seen again in Judges 19. Again the sin of homosexuality is described as "wickedness."

In 1 Kings 14, 15, and 22 the removal of male prostitutes from the land of Israel is viewed as a sign of much-needed spiritual reformation.

The prohibition in Deuteronomy 22:5 of women wearing men's clothing appears to be a specific condemnation of transvestism.

In Romans 1:18-32 the apostle Paul condemns the practice in the severest terms. Homosexuality is "unclean," "impure," "dishonoring to the body," "vile," "degrading / disgraceful," "contrary to nature," "unseemly/ obscene," "improper activity of a depraved mind," "unrighteous," "wicked," etc. Of particular importance to the apostle in this passage is the fact that homosexuality is "unnatural"--contrary to nature. In other words, nature itself teaches that the practice is wrong; we all know it intuitively. Homosexuality is, then, a particularly rebellious sin.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 the apostle Paul speaks of homosexuals as "effeminate" and "abusers of themselves with mankind" who "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." The terms he uses here seem to be specific references to both active and the passive participants in a homosexual relationship. Such people are "unrighteous," he says, and if they remain in that practice they will be condemned.

Top Ten Reasons Church Dropouts Stopped Attending Church

1. Simply wanted a break from church.
2. Church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical.
3. Moved to college and stopped attending church.
4. Work responsibilities prevented me from attending.
5. Moved too far away from the church to continue attending.
6. Became too busy though still wanted to attend.
7. Didn’t feel connected to the people in my church.
8. Disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social
issues.
9. Chose to spend more time with friends outside the church.
10. Was only going to church to please others.

[From Essential Church by Thom S. Rainer and Tom S. Rainer, III]

Today's Quote

"If you can't feed 1,000 people, then feed one."

~ Mother Teresa

Top Ten Qualities of Great Commission Leadership

1. Surrendered Life—The pastor is a slave of Christ.

2. Scriptural Life—The pastor lives both his private and public life according to the Word of God.

3. Spirit-filled Life—The pastor walks daily in the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. Soul Winning Life—The pastor involves himself weekly in personal soul winning.

5. Serving Life—The pastor serves his family like Christ died for the Church.

6. Sanctified Life—The pastor lives a holy life.

7. Selfless Life—The pastor leaves his ego and logo behind in order to partner with other ministers in his community.

8. Sacrificial Life—The pastor sacrifices the niceties in life in order to give more financially for evangelism efforts.

9. Stewardship Life—The pastor measures everything he does in life as to whether or not it helps him to fulfill the great commission. If an activity does not help him to fulfill the great commission, he simply does not do it.

10. Successful Life—The pastor has a fruitful ministry where his congregation is becoming more like Christ and souls are being added to the Kingdom of God.

[Jerry Davis]

Should Some Churches Be Allowed To Die?

As I ponder this thought, it resonates within me that some churches should be allowed to die. I’ve been involved in times past with trying to revive a church which had no life left in it. However, deep emotional ties and a sense of loyalty to those who have given their lives to a church often prevents leadership from making the final decision to “turn off the respirator!”

Here’s what I’m wondering…

- If a church has failed to win converts for a period of years, is the church really alive?
- If a church has turned inward with the use of resources and personnel and sees no value in outreach, should it be allowed to continue as a church?
- If a church rejects those who visit and refuses to welcome new people, is it a church and should it be allowed it remain?
- If the excitement is gone and all that is left is duty … then do we lead or serve well by allowing such churches to remain open?
- If the finances are so low that it requires outside intervention to keep the bills paid (I’m not speaking of temporary, emergency experiences), then when do you just let it die?

There can be a sense of failure and guilt in letting churches close or die, but I cannot honestly understand why we struggle with this, spend so much money keeping anemic situations alive when the funds could be used to start new churches.

If Ecceliastes is true … to everything there is a season … does the same hold true for churches?

What do you think? (Click on "Comments" below.)

[from forwardleadership.org by billisaacs]

People Pleasing Pastors

Here are four characteristics of people pleasers:

1. People pleasing pastors take most criticism personally. Any suggestion feels like a personal attack. We become overly defensive and resentful of even mild corrections.

2. People pleasing pastors have an extraordinary fear of rejection. If someone questions our motives, doesn’t like a sermon, or leaves our ministry, it can throw us into a depressed tailspin.

3. People pleasing pastors find it hard to express their feelings. Because we have to “please people,” we don’t feel safe expressing our true feelings and needs.

4. People pleasing pastors have a hard time saying “no.” Because we want to make people happy. We often over-commit. Although we are outwardly agreeable, we are often inwardly resentful.

[from LifeChurch.tv : swerve by Craig Groeschel]

Church Humor

Lee University Announces Record Enrollment

Lee University welcomed the largest freshman class in its history to campus this fall. Registration closed earlier this month, officially fixing the number of freshman at 848, compared to 788 in 2007.

This is the fourth consecutive year the freshman class has grown, according to Gary Ray, vice president for administration. Ray also announced an official total enrollment of 4,147 students, also a new record over the previous enrollment record of 4,086 in 2007.

"Naturally we are very pleased with a record freshman class, and I wish to acknowledge the work of the entire admissions team directed by Phil Cook," said Ray. Cook is assistant vice president for enrollment.

"Michael Ellis and the financial aid office staff also played a major role in the conversion of our new students," Ray added. 86% of all Lee students receive some type financial aid through the institution.

The 4,147 total registration figure does not include hundreds of additional students who take online and correspondence courses at various external locations through Lee's Center for Adult and Professional Studies.

Final enrollment statistics reveal that Lee's student body is 57 percent female and 43 percent male with students from all 50 states and 49 countries. In-state enrollment reached 1,577, followed by Georgia with 517 students. North Carolina moved up to third this year with 290 registrants, followed by Ohio with 261 students. Virginia, which brought in 157 students, rounded out the top five.

[Source: Lee University Public Information]