If I was to pick one thing that had enriched my spiritual life and pastoral ministry most over the last 12 months it would be the exposure I’ve had to the pastoral blogs at the Gospel Coalition. Day after day, I am stimulated, inspired, corrected, rebuked, and encouraged by the short practical blogs being written by pastors from a variety of backgrounds, all in very different ministry situations. Although I’ve never met any of these men, I have a strange (mysterious?) “fellowship” with them through their blogging. Here are just a few articles that I’ve enjoyed over the past couple of days.
Have a look at this challenging post on shepherding our children from Brain Croft, senior pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church, who blogs at Practical Shepherding. I know I could not keep up the standard Brian sets in this article, but the principles he outlines can be applied in ways that are more realistic for our circumstances. If I could even do once a month what Brain suggests, then it would still be worth doing. Two great posts by Justin Buzzard, a church planting pastor in Phoenix, Arizona. The first encourages pastors to Go where your men work. I tried a bit of this in my two pastorates, but I wish I had done more. It was definitely worthwhile. Again, maybe Justin sets the bar a bit high for most of us, but even if we can’t do this weekly, once a month would still be a good aim. (Justin blogs at The Buzzard Blog). Justin’s second post is Live FROM feedback, not FOR feedback. I especially liked the way Justin highlighted that it is the feedback of our heavenly Father that we should be living from. Lastly, all pastors should read Jason Helopoulus’s painful post on the inability of most pastors to listen well, and how to fix that.O, yes, and one more lastly. Have a read of Britt Merrick’s The Beauty of Suffering, a deeply moving account of what he has learned from his six-year-old daughter Daisy’s battle with cancer. And please add Daisy to your prayers.