Tag Archives: Church

Thirty-Eight Years!

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I can’t believe it has been thirty-eight years! So many things have happened since January 17, 1974. Life has not always been the easiest, but the decision I made that day has influenced the rest of my life.

January 17, 1974—I was nine years old and attending a church service at Parkland Baptist Church in Tulsa.  Brother J. Harold Bryant was the pastor.  I really can’t remember what he said that morning; however, at the end of his message I told my dad, “I need to be saved.” He took me by the hand, walked me down to the front of the church, and we talked with Pastor Bryant about what I needed to do to become a Christian.  He simply led me in a prayer admitting I was a sinner, believing that Jesus died for my sins, that He rose from the dead, and that I was committing the rest of my life to Him.

When we got home that afternoon I wrote the following:

“From this day on I will be a Christian and have everlasting life.  For God has been knocking on my heart’s door.  He has been wanting me to be saved. But I was to [sic] scared and wouldn’t let him in and I knew I should let him. So I let him in.  Bobby Pittenger January 17, 1974”

Now I realize the grammar is not that great, but I was only nine! Never-the-less, notice what I understood:

1) God was pursuing me

2) Becoming a Christian means everlasting life

3) We must choose to accept His offer of forgiveness and eternal life

Sometimes I think adults make it way too difficult. Jesus told us to come with a child-like faith. We want to know all the details and have everything figured out before we make a decision.  The only way to become a Christian is to admit our spiritual poverty, cry out to Jesus, and then live out the decision we have made.

Over the last thirty-eight years I have made a lot of mistakes, and for several years, most people could not tell that I was a Christian by the way I was living. However, God’s grace has been sufficient for me. At the age of twenty-six I realized I had spent several years out of the church, and I was no longer sure if the decision I made in 1974 was genuine. So, once again I made the long journey down to the front of the church and recommitted my life to Jesus. That was twenty-two years ago, and my life has been filled with incredible peace and joy.  Regardless of what happens in this short life, I know that one day I will stand before the King of kings and Lord of lords and will worship Him forever!

How about you? Has God been knocking at your heart’s door? He wants you to be saved.  If you are not sure, please contact me at Living Oaks Baptist Church and I will tell you how to become a Christian.

Thanks!

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It is hard for me to believe that we are starting a new year. It was just seven, short, years ago today that I preached my first message as Senior Pastor of Living Oaks Baptist Church. There have been many challenges during that time; however, the joy of seeing many come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ has been well worth every one. During the last seven years, we have grown from a pastor and his congregation into one great big family.

We have had members of our LOBC family move away, while others have graduated to glory. We have seen our young adults become great leaders by following the examples set by many of our senior adults. We have watched as the first group of infants began to crawl, then walk, and now they are all in second grade, and many of those have become Christians.

Over the last few years, we have moved away from many programs that were focused on our entertainment in order to reach those outside our family. We shared our food, clothes, smiles, and hugs with those who were in need. We have purchased chicks; ducks; goats; and fresh, well water for those in other countries. We have adopted an elementary school and provided them with back-packs, school supplies, and fed them for “Meet the Teacher” night.

Over the last seven years, we have been compelled by love to share with others that love which we received from Christ Jesus Himself. Because of this, I want to say “Thank You!” to my church family. I love you and look forward to all God has for us in 2012!

Once again, THANKS!

10 Secrets of Many Senior Pastors

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One of my greatest joys in life is being a pastor. I absolutely love serving, teaching, and leading those whom God has placed in my care. When you add in the wonderful friendships that come with a loving church family, I can’t imagine there being a better calling in the world (of course I am biased).  In spite of the wonderful blessing pastor’s receive from God’s family, being a pastor is not always an easy calling.  There are many circumstances that can weigh a pastor down and over time steal his joy for ministry.

Ron Edmondson gives us a glimpse into some of the struggles of many pastors in “10 Secrets of Many Senior Pastors.”  I hope Ron’s article gives some insight on how to better pray for your pastor.

I get to hang out and know many senior pastors. I have a great heart for them and understand, firsthand, some of the pressures, frustrations and joys, which are unique to the role of a senior pastor. In my recent blog survey, over half my readers are in ministry and half that number are senior leaders.

I previously shared this post over a year ago after sharing these points at a conference for executive pastors. I was asked to give my perspective as a senior pastor, since each of them report to one. I have revised some of them again and added a couple, so I decided to share it again.

Here are 10 “secrets” about many senior pastors:

  • Leading from this position is overwhelming at times. We know Christ is ultimately in charge, but we also know it often seems everyone looks to us to have all the answers.
  • People tell the senior pastor all kinds of things about what is happening in their life or in the lives of others…many we would rather not know sometimes…and sometimes the weight of others problems we carry is enormous.
  • Most pastors walk with a degree of uncertainty, which keeps us in prayer, but also makes us question our abilities at times. It makes depression common for many senior pastors. (Need a Biblical example…see 1 Kings 19)
  • Many senior pastors fear the possibility of failing in their role, so they thrive on the encouragement and prayers of others.
  • Sometimes we allow insecurity to cause us to become overprotective of our reputation and our position.
  • We face the same temptations and occasional spiritual dryness as everyone else. This means we need accountability, but are often afraid to seek it.
  • Our spouse is sometimes the loneliest person in the church and often feels extreme pressure to live up to unrealistic expectations.
  • Loneliness can exist for all leaders and many pastors suffer from it.
  • We seldom know who we can trust, which is why we become guarded and appear hard to get to know. Most senior pastors have been burned by someone they once trusted.
  • We suspect the staff , church leaders and congregation sometimes talks about us behind our back.

Granted, not every pastor faces each of these, (that’s why I said “many”) and I happen to be in an extremely healthy church, but even still, some of these are real for me at times. Other pastors, for reasons on this post, will not want you assuming these things about them. In talking with dozens of senior pastors each year, I know this is a representative list for “many”.

Senior pastors find joy in our work and, thankfully, most of us know we are in the center of God’s will vocationally. I don’t intend to take anything away from that in this post. We serve in a called position, so we are doing what we have been asked of God to do. When I share any post like this, however, I have come to expect a lecture on the need to depend on Christ for these issues, which only further demonstrates my points.

Senior pastors are to fully rely on Christ’s strength, as is every other believer. This is just a reminder that we happen to also be like Elijah…”a man just like us”. (James 5:17)

Things to Remember When People Leave the Church

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http://gracewaymedia.com/_Journey_with_Jesus_b-5731.htmlOn Tuesday of this week I posted an article “Benefits To Not Changing Churches.” It was written by Dr. Dean Shriver, Pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He gave us six benefits for staying in our current church.

Today, I want to post an article I found at Sermoncentral.com by Gregg Surratt entitled “When People Leave: 4 Lessons in Rejection from Jesus.” It is great advice for pastors, as well as church members, to keep in mind when your friends and family move on to another church.

I was reading John 6 the other day and the headline above verse 60 screamed out at me: “Many disciples desert Jesus.” I wondered how that made him feel. Seriously. Go with me there.

I know he was God. And I know he knew in advance who would be staying and who would be leaving. But I also know he was human like me, capable of human emotions even when he knew the outcome. Like when his friend Lazarus died. He knew that he was going to raise him from the dead, but the shortest verse in the Bible says that “Jesus wept” anyway. He cried. Like I cried when my best friend died in a car wreck. It makes me feel better to know that he was capable of feeling what I feel.

So how did he feel when disciples started bailing?

You get the feeling that these weren’t just faces in the crowd. By this time, the crowds had grown extremely large. He has just finished a miracle of feeding at least 4,000 people. That’s the second time he’d done that one. People were so desperate to see him that they literally chased him across a lake. When some of them misunderstood something he taught, they started grumbling about it. Some of the crowd decided that he was getting a little too full of himself, and they started to leave. The murmuring grew until many of those close to him, his disciples, decided to quit following. They weren’t just faces, and you get the feeling that they didn’t go quietly.

How did he feel? How did he process it?

At that point, he turned to the ones that he is closest to, the Twelve, and he asked, “Are you going to leave, too?” Hit the pause button. What are the emotions of those words? Words are never spoken in a vacuum. There is always texture and feeling and context. What were his? What was he thinking?

Honestly, we don’t know. He’s God, and we are not. But I think we can learn some things from Jesus about a healthy process when people leave.

Be secure in the Father’s love.

There was never any doubt in Jesus’ mind about whether or not the Father loved him. I’ve got to believe that he knew his worth had nothing to do with how many were at the synagogue this Sabbath as compared to a year ago. The echo of the words of his baptism,“This is my son, and I am really pleased with him,” can’t be underestimated. A friend told me recently that our first thoughts every morning should focus on how much our Father loves us. Everyone else may think you are a jerk, but hey, what difference does it really make if God loves you?

Try to play for an audience of one.

Jesus says in verse 38, “I have come to do the will of God who sent me, not what I want.” There’s a lot of pressure in trying to please everyone. As the crowd grows, there will be more voices clamoring for your attention and potentially becoming offended if you don’t play their hand. One is a much less stressful number.

Learn to process it with your inner circle.

Even Jesus didn’t go at it alone. In response to his question, Peter says, “Where are we going to go? You have the words of life.” You need people like that. “I’ve got your back” type of people. Sure, you need some who will tell you when you’ve got spinach in your teeth, but you also need a few “I’m not going anywhere, boss” types for situations like these. Do you have people like that in your inner circle? Do you have an inner circle?

Trust in God’s sovereignty.

Jesus knew ahead of time who would leave and who would stay. You and I don’t. It would be a great gift to have. It would certainly save time and a lot of grief. You may not know, but God does. And according to Romans 8:28, he’ll weave it into the plan in a way that serves both his and your best interest.

The bottom line: When people leave for whatever reason, God’s got your back. What else do you really need?

Question for pastors: How does Jesus’ example help?

Question for church members: Does your pastor know you’ve got his/her back?

To read the article from the original site follow this link: “When People Leave”

Benefits To Not Changing Churches

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This article by Dr. Dean Shriver, Pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, was writing with pastors in mind; however, I think it is something for every church member to keep in mind.  Each one of his points can be applied to each individual church member.

To read this article click here “6 Benefits to Not Changing Churches.”