The Need for Young Pastors...and for Older Pastors to Mentor Younger Ones

I was reading in a church planting book (A New Kind of Church by Aubrey Malphurs) a very discouraging statistic. According to a survey done in 1999, only 7% of ministers were under the age of 35. I was also reading about how many young ministers are looking for individuals to mentor them, but they cannot even get some pastors to give them the time of day.

Personally, I find this to be a travesty. However, I have also found it to be true. Fortunately, my pastor has been good about helping me as I approach ministry. We have had times together (not nearly enough, but that's not his fault) where he has shared his heart and passion for ministry. The sad fact is that I have contacted a number of different pastors and asked for help with things or asked them to watch my sermons and provide helpful criticism. Unfortunately, my inbox remains empty in many cases.

I am not writing this to put down other pastors. I can only guess at how busy their days must be. I know that my day as an elementary school teacher is hectic from the moment the first student arrives until the moment the last student leaves. And then there are papers to grade, calls to make, emails to return, etc. So, yes, I understand that pastors are busy. I also know that if guys like me are not mentored, that 7% is going to drop even lower and soon there will be no young guys to replace the older ones.

I'll close this with a quote from Chris Bass: "A ministry built around one man has a short shelf life."

Just For Fun - Halloween Memories

I saw this hilarious video from last week's candy-gorging celebration. It's a little mean, but maybe that is why I found it so humorous.

Jacob Wrestling the Angel

HT: Joshua Harris

Simple Thought About Leadership

It should be very evident (given the title of this blog), that I have a passion for leadership. The problem is that sometimes leadership gets mistaken with making myself appear more important than I really am. I try to make myself indispensable or make it so that no one can do without me. What I forget is that I am only truly a leader if I am causing others to grow as a result of being with me.

I read this thought on Jon Acuff's blog:

It’s easier to draft than it is to lead, but when you lead, you help somebody else go faster than they ever could have on their own.

Jesus also had something to say about this:

So the last will be first, and the first last. (Matthew 20:16)

I just pray that I will make those around me stronger because of their time with me. I need to remember that God has placed me in the positions that He has, not for my benefit, but for the benefit of others.

My Reading List Seems to Be Getting Longer and Longer, Not Smaller and Smaller

I love to read. I think this should be obvious to anyone that knows me. One of my favorite toys is my Amazon Kindle. I take it everywhere with me. I always my Kindle and my iPod Touch with me and I actually feel less than normal if I do not have it on me. I have about 150 books on my Kindle and when my local library announced that they were going to begin loaning Kindle books, I was in heaven (a state of happiness, not the actual place).

Recently, my reading list began to get longer and longer. Here's how it happened: I was on one of my favorite blogs, Eric McKiddie's Pastoralized.com. He had this incredible article about how to read 200 blogs posts in 20 minutes and, through this article, I was introduced to the wonders of Evernote and Instapaper. Now, through the miracle of technology, I am growing my reading list larger and larger every time I log in. Not that I'm complaining. I found and read an incredible article that went perfectly with my Bible study lesson tonight on John 6:16-21.

The really great thing is that Instapaper will send all of the article that I choose straight to my Kindle and Evernote will back them up for me to come back to later. It's a reader's paradise.

Now, once I get my Kindle Fire, I never have to watch television again.

Why Shane Hipps is Very, Very Wrong

I consider a possibility when it’s something I don’t know. This is something I merely believe. Either because someone I trust told me, or the Bible seems to say it, or reason supports it. But until I’ve experienced it, this is only something I believe– a possibility. And possibilities should be held with an open hand, perhaps with some humility and even humor. Who knows, I could be wrong about what I believe?

These are the words from Shane Hipps, the man who was chosen to replace Rob Bell. In case you were unaware, Rob Bell, the pastor/writer who sparked a huge controversy with his book Love Wins, has resigned to pursue other avenues. Hipps will now be the pastor of a church that is extremely influential and followed by many.

What I find really sad about this is the dangerous tone it sets for believers. When someone who is a pastor and leads a large and successful church states that he doesn't really know what happens when we die, where does that leave the rest of us? How can we know we are right?

Fortunately, Hipps is wrong. Dead wrong. We can know what happens after death because the Bible tells us. For those of who are saved, we know that to be absent from our bodies is to be with Christ. For those who are not saved, the outcome and destination is not quite so rosy.

I hope that this will not gain any traction and that Hipps and Bell will simply fade away. I don't think that is the case, but it is certainly my hope.

Just For Fun - The Random Amen Guy

A few months ago, I wrote about the five people every church has. One of those people is the guy who yells "Amen" at really weird and sometimes inappropriate times. While I thought the phenomenon of Random Amen Guy was centralized to my church experience, it would appear that it is more widespread than I initially thought, as evidenced by the video below.