{"id":1703,"date":"2017-10-11T22:24:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T22:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2017-10-11T22:24:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T22:24:16","slug":"thoughts-pastor-appreciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2017\/10\/11\/thoughts-pastor-appreciation\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Pastor Appreciation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading God\u2019s sheep in a local congregation is one of the highest callings for any minister of the gospel. The practice of a pastoral shepherd is rooted in the culture of biblical days and in the paradigm of care, protection, nourishment, and purpose that craft provided.<\/p>\n

Through Scripture, men and women shepherded flocks: Abraham, Rachel, Moses, David. Psalm 78:72 fittingly describes David as the prototype shepherd, \u201cSo he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.\u201d It was shepherds who first heard the announcement of the birth of Jesus, and then became the first messengers of those good tidings (Luke 2:8-17).<\/p>\n

Six times in John 10, Jesus described Himself and His ministry as \u201cshepherd\u201d and \u201cgood shepherd.\u201d The apostles wrote of Jesus as the \u201cGreat Shepherd\u201d and \u201cChief Shepherd\u201d (Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4). Paul admonished the Ephesian elders to \u201cshepherd the church\u201d (Acts 20:28).<\/p>\n

Pastors \u2013 shepherds \u2013 are gifts of Christ to His church (Ephesians 4:11). As such, they are accountable to God for what they do with God\u2019s sheep. But the sheep have the duty to recognize God\u2019s purposes at work through their pastors.<\/p>\n

I remember hearing Mark Rutland tell of a woman complaining to him about her pastor. He was speaking at a church and after service she came to him and said, \u201cOur pastor thinks he\u2019s God\u2019s gift to us.\u201d Rutland calmly replied, \u201cWell, madam, he is!\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a bit of humor in that story, and we\u2019ve all seen pastors who abuse the calling they have received. The horror stories of pastoral emotional, spiritual, physical, and sexual abuse, bring no glory to God and such pastors are rightly exposed, rebuked, and either restored or removed.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m thinking of the countless men and women who faithfully serve God\u2019s sheep. Many of them are bi-vocational serving the flock assigned to them. For many, their spouse works to provide necessary income and make it possible for the pastor to fulfill the call.<\/p>\n

Such pastors faithfully visit hospitals, homes, nursing homes, funeral homes. They interrupt family vacations to return for the funeral of a saint. They give up their Saturday to perform a wedding. They often struggle to find time to study and pray, knowing they will stand up in front of people with the terrifying prospect that eternal destinies may be determined in what, and how, they speak on Sunday.<\/p>\n

They meet with church boards, agonizing over budgets and countless items. In smaller congregations, they are the ones responsible to mobilize volunteers for the ongoing work of the church. Regardless the size of the flocks, there are constant demands, challenges, and opportunities.<\/p>\n

Despite all that, I personally found it very fulfilling to be a pastor. Though my role has shifted through the years, I find that the gifts of a pastor inform and influence how I lead as the Presiding Bishop of this movement. I take great solace in that fact. But I miss the weekly interaction with the same sheep. I have a godly envy for the good pastors I encounter globally across the IPHC.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, I have watched two IPHC pastors at their best in caring for their flocks. In both instances, their pastoral care was manifested in baby dedications.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit that dedicating babies was one of my most personally fulfilling aspects of pastoral ministry. I was taught well by the late Carl L. Campbell in the five years I served as his associate pastor in Richmond, Virginia. When I became a senior pastor in 1982, I followed his exact pattern in dedicating children.<\/p>\n

On the first Sunday of October, I was speaking at the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of Oasis of Hope IPHC in Webster, Texas. The first service was with several hundred people where I had a Spanish interpreter. The second service was the English service with maybe 80 to 100 in attendance. In the second service, Pastor Jaime Trevino stood and told his flock that he was going to dedicate a little red-headed boy. With great compassion, he mentioned how the church had stood with the grandfather of the little boy after the child\u2019s father committed suicide and the mother lost custody of the child.<\/p>\n

Pastor Trevino then said that the grandfather was present in the service, as well as the young couple who were going to rear the child in another state. They all came forward to the front of the church. I had tears in my eyes as the pastor hugged the grieving grandfather, and then took the little boy in his arms and prayed over him and the young couple who had the opportunity to love and nurture him.<\/p>\n

I saw a shepherd gracefully standing with the pain, and the hope, of a family trying to make sense of its grief and future.<\/p>\n

On the second Sunday of October, I was in Belpre, Ohio, at The Celebration Center, with Pastor Rob Clegg. Rob had texted me earlier asking if I would participate in a baby dedication. The night before at supper, he told me about the children being dedicated. One of them was his most recent grandchild. His daughter made a life-decision regarding this baby, and the love for his own family and this child, was so evident. Rob and his wife Cara stood with joyful tears as they celebrated the gift of life given to them. The congregation had rallied around this pastoral family with love, support, and encouragement. The love their pastor had shown them for over a decade, was returned with multiplied grace.<\/p>\n

These two baby dedications, and the way these pastors handled these situations, made me very thankful for the gift of pastor that Jesus has given His church, His sheep. It\u2019s because of these kinds of pastoral expression, and countless others, that I am deeply appreciative of the pastors of the IPHC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[313,134,46,182,58,184],"class_list":{"0":"post-1703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-313","10":"tag-bishops-blog","11":"tag-doug-beacham","12":"tag-general-superintendent","13":"tag-iphc","14":"tag-october","15":"entry"},"title_es":"Algunos pensamientos antepenultos sobre las cosas pasadas","content_es":"Por Doug Beacham<\/strong> Hay una opini\u00f3n popular que este s\u00e1bado 23 de septiembre de 2017 traer\u00e1 el extremo del mundo como un planeta oculto se estrellar\u00e1 en nuestro hogar solar \u00fanico del sistema. Apenas s\u00e9 por d\u00f3nde empezar pensando en esto. Pero aqu\u00ed hay algunos pensamientos. En primer lugar, por favor no salga y m\u00e1ximo sus tarjetas de cr\u00e9dito en un fling final en la vida. Es probable que el mes que viene tendr\u00e1 algunos cargos importantes que pagar. En segundo lugar, y en una nota m\u00e1s seria, tal vez conversaciones sobre \"el final\" proporcionan una buena oportunidad para discusiones serias sobre las opciones de vida, eterna y temporal. En alg\u00fan momento, \"el final\" nos pasar\u00e1 a todos. Para usar el t\u00edtulo de la biograf\u00eda de Jim Morrison, \"Nadie sale aqu\u00ed vivo\". Bueno, al menos no todav\u00eda. 1 Tesalonicenses 4:17 ofrece esperanza a los vivos cuando Cristo regrese. Y tenemos las palabras de Jes\u00fas que en \u00c9l se ha \"pasado de muerte en vida\" (Juan 5:24). La historia est\u00e1 repleta de advertencias y profec\u00edas sobre el juicio inminente y posibles nuevos mundos. La Biblia nos da \"un espejo d\u00e9bilmente\" (1 Corintios 13:12) a trav\u00e9s del cual considerar los prop\u00f3sitos redentores de Dios para toda la creaci\u00f3n. Nosotros oscilamos entre la admonici\u00f3n de Jes\u00fas, \"de aquel d\u00eda y hora nadie sabe, ni siquiera los \u00e1ngeles del cielo, sino s\u00f3lo mi Padre\" (Mateo 24:36), y la advertencia apost\u00f3lica de que el d\u00eda del juicio vendr\u00e1 como un ladr\u00f3n que puede de alguna manera ser apresurado por la vida piadosa (2 Pedro 3: 10-12). Las esperanzas escatol\u00f3gicas no s\u00f3lo se encuentran en el \u00e1mbito religioso. Tambi\u00e9n se encuentran en el \u00e1mbito de las ideolog\u00edas pol\u00edticas y sociales. Las ideolog\u00edas izquierdistas prev\u00e9n un juicio sobre la burgues\u00eda, la clase dominante capitalista y una igualdad social ut\u00f3pica para todos. A la derecha, el juicio recae sobre las fuerzas socialistas ingenuas y destructivas que buscan circunscribir la iniciativa individual y la oportunidad. El hecho de que estos existan apunta a la conciencia humana de que algo no est\u00e1 bien en el mundo. Acabo de terminar de leer Niall Ferguson \"Civilizaci\u00f3n: El Oeste y el resto\" (Nueva York: The Penguin Press, 2011). A finales de este interesante estudio sobre la civilizaci\u00f3n occidental, Ferguson utiliza las cinco pinturas de Thomas Cole tituladas \"El curso del imperio\" (mediados de 1830) como una forma de reflexionar sobre el ascenso y la ca\u00edda de las civilizaciones. Despu\u00e9s de revisar varias interpretaciones hist\u00f3ricas de la misma, Ferguson pregunt\u00f3: \"\u00bfY si el colapso no es siglos en construcci\u00f3n pero golpea de repente a una civilizaci\u00f3n, como un ladr\u00f3n en la noche?\", Reflexion\u00f3, \"Las civilizaciones se comportan como todos los sistemas adaptativos complejos. Funcionan en equilibrio aparente durante alg\u00fan per\u00edodo incognoscible. Y entonces, de manera abrupta, se derrumban. \"De alguna manera te hace pensar en la advertencia del Ap\u00f3stol Pablo de que\" la destrucci\u00f3n repentina viene \"y\" no escapar\u00e1n \"(1 Tesalonicenses 5: 3). Durante los \u00faltimos dos mil a\u00f1os que han sido verdaderos como los imperios han subido y ca\u00eddo, y el reino de Dios ha continuado su presencia en esta tierra. No estoy viviendo con miedo del 23 de septiembre y espero estar predicando este domingo. Pero es un recordatorio de que lo inesperado puede ocurrir de repente. Nuestra tarea es hacer el negocio que nuestro Padre Celestial nos ha llamado a hacer, \"hasta que \u00c9l venga\" (Lucas 19:13).","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/10\/Pastor-Appreciation-Featured-Image.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-rt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}