The Leader Who Prays

I recently wrote an assignment for a seminary class on pastors and prayer. The book I refer to is The New Guidebook for Pastors. Here is snippets of the paper that I thought would apply for those in leadership.  Read. Respond. Resound. Have you ever noticed a newborn baby? Have you thought about all the ways the parents of that baby act/react to every need of the infant? The baby without the parents is helpless. The baby wakes, the parents are there, the baby cries and the parents provide. The baby is hungry the parents feed. And the baby is dirty, the parents wash. The baby represents the believer. We like the baby are dependent on a heavenly Father. He provides for our daily needs. Without God, we are helpless. Jonathan Edwards said, “Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.” The authors expressed two venues of prayer which are personally and collectively.[i] The authors provided 2 passages of Scripture to support their writing, however I have provided to passages that I feel better illustrates the importance of personal and collective prayer. Personal: Matthew 6:9-15, "This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in ...

Called to be… A ministry Wife 2

Hey everyone, This is the second post under the title, Called to be a Ministry Wife. My goal for posts like this is to help future and current ministry wives build a network of nurture and support. This post is from a friend, Vickie Cochran, who is the wife to Dr. Greg Cochran. Name: Vickie Cochran Nickname: Vic How long have you been a ministry wife? 14 years Do you or have you served in any role in your husband’s church? Yes Coaching: (In your opinion) 1. What are some things you wish you knew before entering your husband’s ministry? That not everyone hopes your husband succeeds as a pastor. 2. What are some specific ways to build knowledge/experience as a minister’s wife? Read good theology books. Strive to know and worship Christ always. 3. What are some common challenges associated with being a minister’s wife? Taking things personally, forgetting that it is about the glory of Christ. 4. What was your biggest learning experience as a ministry wife? I learned that I don’t need to try to do everything. I just need to support my husband. 5. What advice would you give to a young married/engaged couple starting out in ministry? Learn to depend on God; Admit that you ...

Matthew 16:13-24

Hey everyone! This is a short outline for a recent message I taught to a local Youth Ministry's DNOW. What is the most important question in the world? For me, when in school, it was something like: What am I going to wear today? What am I going to do after school? Who’s going to the game tonight? When I got older it was, what am I going to do after HS? (Play soccer for UofL or join the Army) I joined the Army. Then what college will I go to? Who will I marry? These are all important questions in life, but none of them compare to the question we will look at this morning. Everyone will answer this question, either on earth or find out the answer in death. We are going to pick up the story at the peak of Jesus’ ministry. For 2 ½ years Jesus had been moving toward this moment. He was going to give the ultimate lesson of who He was to His disciples. Let’s read. Read, Matthew 16:13-24 vv 13-20 I. When Following Jesus, we must know whom we’re following. Jesus is the Messiah! The Savior of the World. The Confession: The Christ, or Messiah. Through Jesus is salvation ...