shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
Fingerprints
No two ministries are alike, I know, but take heart, dear brothers and sisters. Be filled with the Spirit and faithful with the Word. Leave your fingerprints, and Jesus’, on them.
Grace Waylaid
Barnabas was my pastoral hero till this flop. But this brand of hypocrisy still leads pastors astray. We wouldn’t want to be caught outside our camp and there are whole groups of believers we’d rather have sit at the kids’ table.
The Heart of Encouragement
Teaching the Word was, and still is, the ministry of encouragement at its highest and best. And it’s what we get to do for the saints entrusted to us! The Lord Jesus himself appoints and applauds pastors who lovingly, skillfully, and diligently open the scriptures week after week to teach, rebuke, correct, and train God’s people in righteousness, all breathed to life through prayer.
The Good Pastor
Barnabas, a.k.a. “son of encouragement,” is becoming my favorite Bible pastor. Pastors are born and blessed to encourage. If pastors have a patron saint, Barnabas could be the one. Maybe we should get little plastic Barnabases to stick on our dashboards.
Heirs of Barnabas
One thing I especially appreciate about pastors is that every good pastor encourages the people of God. Barnabas, “the Son of Encouragement,” is our poster boy, our pastoral forefather. Here was a guy who sold his property so that poorer believers would have enough. (Maybe that explains why his pastoral heirs tend to be “under-resourced.”) He dared to befriend the newly-redeemed Saul and to vouch for him to the gun-shy church. Descendants of Barnabas like to gamble on grace.
What the Judge Sees
Under the vigilant eye of God, the Judge of all, the sacrifice of Jesus brings rebels and orphans into the household of God. His sprinkled blood makes sinners righteous, and the righteous perfect. No wonder the angels rejoice!