tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post3490351519506296803..comments2023-10-24T07:03:42.942-05:00Comments on vtmbottomline: A PASTOR'S NEW YEAR RESOLUTION ABOUT PEDESTALSPaul Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-21963911482806408132014-01-06T11:16:10.985-06:002014-01-06T11:16:10.985-06:00Steve,
Happy New Year to you and I really enjoy a...Steve,<br /><br />Happy New Year to you and I really enjoy and appreciate all the comments you make. keep them coming.<br /><br /><br />Victorious,<br /><br />I could not agree more with ALL the points you make and remember, I pastored 40 years preaching three times or more every week. I now believe I could have shared that pulpit/teaching time and ALL would have been helped and even grown more were it to have been done. Think of the gifts that could have been exercised and the gifted who would have been stretched had I done so. Thanks for your insightful comment.Paul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-46940139820220428272014-01-06T07:12:30.057-06:002014-01-06T07:12:30.057-06:00hmmm... Your blog always causes me to do some deep...hmmm... Your blog always causes me to do some deep thinking. :)<br /><br />So I offer a couple thoughts as a result of that. Seeing a pastor as the focal point in every single service at church naturally serves to see him/her as the most important person in the Body. This perception may affect both those in the pews and the pastor as well. It seems to me the obvious outcome of having hundreds or thousands of people focusing their attention on you and "hanging" on your every word.<br /><br />Second, I've always wondered what would be different if there was a system of rotating speakers/teachers using their gift in the pulpit. This would benefit the members and the pastor in obvious ways but primarily it would eliminate the "one-man-show" atmosphere we see in church and encourage the use of talents from members. Now, I'm not talking about a twice-a-year guest speaker, I mean a regular system of stepping aside to allow others to share from the Bible.<br /><br />In my mind this would foster greater appreciation for the scriptural mandate to "one-another-minister" when they assemble.<br /><br />Some might say that this is what happens on Wed. or Sun. night or even the goal of small groups, but I think it would be a big-time blessing from such a system on Sunday morning and at the same time eliminate the tendency to idolize the pastor.<br /><br />Some of my ideas are out in left field and you may know the reasons why logistically this wouldn't work. But I thought I'd present it anyway. <br /><br />As always, I appreciate your blog Paul and wish you a very Happy New Year!<br /><br />Victorioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05612933331490588145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-23946154199292451062014-01-02T15:03:25.642-06:002014-01-02T15:03:25.642-06:00Paul,
Thank you for those New Year thoughts.
Th...Paul,<br /><br />Thank you for those New Year thoughts. <br /><br />They are enthusiastically reciprocated.<br /><br /><br /><br />Aussie Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16199918171163666399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-7671987760036848652014-01-01T12:43:10.301-06:002014-01-01T12:43:10.301-06:00Thanks for being honest, open and transparent. I ...Thanks for being honest, open and transparent. I am one of those who has benefitted from your seeking a life with our Lord before seeking a ministry. This truth for all these many years has proven a faithful guide. Happy New Year Paul to you and Mary.<br /><br />SteveSteve Millernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-33196493801045631072014-01-01T11:15:18.082-06:002014-01-01T11:15:18.082-06:00Garen,
This statement... "It is as you are g...Garen,<br /><br />This statement... "It is as you are giving yourself a sermon and have invited the rest of us to listen in."...is one of the highest compliments that could be given. I appreciate this more than you can know. Paul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-3578766749926911402014-01-01T09:26:20.206-06:002014-01-01T09:26:20.206-06:00It was always easy for me to put pastors onto pede...It was always easy for me to put pastors onto pedestals. The day that I saw the error of my ways was when a former pastor was mentoring me and several other guys when he admitted his difficulty in controlling his wandering eyes. Suddenly, I had to think about his humanity and how he was no different than me. It gave me a new compassion for folks in the ministry because the parishioners expectations and the standards set for them are unattainable. They are just regular people (saved by grace) who have been given a task by God that is different than the task given to me. <br /><br />I think the key to avoid being put onto that pedestal is what you have truthfully written - transparency and admission by the clergy that they deal with the same temptations and failures that everyday people face.<br /><br />One of the reasons I enjoy your teaching so much is that you always proclaim or imply that you are preaching from a personal experience. It is as you are giving yourself a sermon and have invited the rest of us to listen in. <br /><br />I deeply respect and admire my pastor and many other pastors but I am cautious in the expectations I have for them.<br /><br />Good blog!Garen Martenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12031467509030126812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-23608228458971896042014-01-01T06:02:39.851-06:002014-01-01T06:02:39.851-06:00Aussie J,
Thanks.
I think it appropriate that o...Aussie J,<br /><br />Thanks. <br /><br />I think it appropriate that on this first day of 2014, I get to wish you a "Happy New Year" in 2014.<br /><br />Blessings my brother and friend.Paul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-19294738213183710072013-12-31T17:13:27.029-06:002013-12-31T17:13:27.029-06:00Paul,
And they all said,"AMEN!" Well! A...Paul,<br /><br />And they all said,"AMEN!" Well! At least I did.<br /><br />You are certainly hitting most accurately of late. I'm glad we are on the same team.<br /><br />Your words,"But my issue is more with the pastor who tries to place himself there or tries to maintain that position, than with others who have put him there", have been uppermost in my own thoughts of late.<br /><br />I have young in-laws who think I'm off the planet (to put it mildly) when I try to speak to them about what I call "guru-ism", one, a deacon, simply rude.<br /><br />I've discovered that, among other important matters, Baptists don't understand an vital truth, that of "soul competence".<br /><br />Under the guidance of a very special "pastor" I entered the pastoral ministry with the determination of your point One, similar others grew from there.<br /><br />I believed, as I still do, that no man/woman can responsibly expect people to be implicit in their belief of anything, no matter who the created creature was, unless they knew it from their own study of Scripture.<br /><br />"The key here is "presently being built." No one of us has arrived at what the Christian life is all about and we're on that journey together".<br /><br />Far too many folk simply cannot believe the truth of that statement, and settle for guru-ism (many seemingly standing between the believer and their Savior)and the imprisonment it engenders.<br /><br />Thank you for standing up on these matters! Aussie Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16199918171163666399noreply@blogger.com