Archive for the 'Pastors' Category
6 Tips for Raising Your Children in the Ministry
Raising our children in ministry was a true joy for Jeana and me. We knew God had called us; we never even implied there was another option. Therefore, our children knew it as a joyful lifestyle.
Yet, I am more than aware that ministers sometimes struggle with raising their children in ministry. I want to share six tips I believe will be helpful while raising children in the ministry.
1. Be content where you are.
If you are not content in ministry or content where you are living, sooner or later your children will catch that same spirit. The spirit of perpetual discontentedness is reality not only for ministers and wives, but their children. This can lead to all kinds of conflict in the home.
If you know God has called you, then in reality, you have no choice but to follow Him. If you know God called you to serve where you are, give it your best and leave your future in the hands of God.
2. Leave conflict at the church.
Refuse to be negative about the church in front of your children. If something has happened and you must talk with your spouse about it, wait until the children are out of the room. Leave conflict at the church.
By the way, your spouse does not need to know every negative thing you face in your ministry. You are called to pastor the church, not her. God will give you the grace to carry the conflict and the discernment on what to say to your spouse and what not to say.
3. Be involved in the church.
Raise your children in the church and ensure they are involved in ministry at their level. If camp is happening, your children need to be at camp.
When we raised our boys, church was still highly engaged on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, as well as several outreach nights. We built a culture: This is what we do! It was never optional.
The best thing for your child is to have spiritual influence from the church throughout their life. Your children need to be involved in the church.
4. Talk about the benefits of ministry.
Many in ministry want to spend volumes of time talking about the challenges and problems in ministry. That is never productive.
When you have children at home, your children are afforded many great opportunities when they are raised in the home of a minister. They will have access to meeting many wonderful people in your church and others who visit to assist you in ministry. They get to go places where other children may not have access. As a minister, you have the privilege of going to unique places. When possible, take your children with you and on the way, talk about the benefits of being raised in the home of minister.
5. Take an annual vacation.
Take an annual vacation with your entire family. This is non-negotiable. Do not let limited finances choke this opportunity with your children. You have only one shot with your kids. Invest time in them. Whatever the financial resources or lack of them, you can find something you can do.
There are other times you can get away, like Christmas or other holidays. Take advantage of this time. Leave town and go. It is impossible for ministers to really relax and spend time with family without being out of town.
6. Pray with your children daily.
Every morning before our boys left for school, we prayed with them. Many ministers pray with everyone else, but they do not pray with their family. This is not healthy at all.
In your own devotional life, pray for your children to love Jesus and love His church. When people used to ask us, “How can we pray for your children?”, this is what I always told them. I wanted our children to leave my home and one day raise their children to love Jesus and love His church.
God answered our prayer. He will answer yours.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Pastors, Lead Your Church into Special Seasons of Seeking the Lord Seriously
There are moments in the life of the church where the pastor needs to lead the people of God to seek the Lord seriously. Through the years, Cross Church has chosen to do this in many ways.
We are in a season of seeking God as a church right now. We are calling our church to go on a spiritual journey with God for twenty-one days in the month of January. It is simply called 21 DAYS.
The Bible challenges us in 1 Peter 4:7, “Now the end of all things is near, therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer.” I believe as we continue forward in these days, there are moments we need to resolve to take our spiritual life seriously. We do this by being disciplined in prayer.
The Challenge is Clear
We are challenging our people to be disciplined to pray for twenty-one days successively for their own spiritual life and development, for our church, and for our nation.
Relating to their own spiritual life and development, we are asking our people to determine a specific breakthrough needed in their life. The challenge is also to identify and pray for a family member or friend who needs Jesus Christ. Additionally, we are asking them to establish a spiritual goal for their life in 2016. As our people go on this journey, we believe if they pray about their own spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row, especially if they target these things, God will take them to a new level.
We have also extended a challenge to join us in praying for our church and our nation. We have defined three specific things to pray for our church and our nation. In fact, you can see exactly what we have enclosed in the 21 DAYS booklet. Please give attention to the heart of the book on pages 3-4.
Make it a Win
Through our preaching over the past few weeks, we have tried to make our focus a win for everyone. Our appeal has been: Just think what God could do if you focused on your spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row and joined thousands of others praying for our church and our nation at the same time.
We have challenged our people to establish some level of commitment by giving up something they love during this time. At the same time, it is a challenge for many to focus on praying about these specific matters for twenty-one days successively.
Therefore, our ultimate challenge has been: Find the level you believe God wants you to go to, and go on this journey with us. Everyone can find their level of commitment, even if they have to depart from it a few days due to travel or personal matters. Our goal is for everyone to take their spiritual life seriously enough to go on some kind of journey with God. You can see our commitment card here.
As a pastor or church leader, you may be wondering how we extended these challenges from the pulpit over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, we spoke on 21 DAYS and this past week on How to Pray Through Your Problems.
My desire in making these sermons and other resources available is to be helpful and encouraging. If you do something like this for one day, seven days, or twenty-one days, you will need to adjust things for your situation and church.
Walking in Expectation
Many times, we do not walk in expectation. Journeys of faith move us to walk in expectation.
I can assure you, I am expecting great things from God for my own life and in the life of our church. I am looking for the Lord to do some powerful things in the lives of our people.
If we believe prayer really matters, then we will see the Lord do great things.
William Carey was a missionary to India. Among other things, he was known as the father of modern missions and this statement is credited to him: “Expect great things; attempt great things.”
Pastors, live your life, operate your ministry, and lead your church to expect great things. When you believe our God is able, you will not just expect great things, you will attempt great things.
This is why as spiritual leaders we need to lead God’s people to seek God seriously. Our God is able. Expect and attempt great things!
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.