#11
A PREVIEW OF MY UPCOMING PACKET OF LETTERS TO LAY PASTORS
Word shapes both your life and the lives of those you P.A.C.E.
A few years ago the Lord pressed a simple idea on my heart: Write a series of letters to lay pastors. Since that time I have been pecking away at it, filing ideas as they come, writing bits and pieces, completing a few. My extended time of fighting cancer is nearly over, praise God, and I am ablaze with a new passion for writing (Ps. 45:1). I have a lot to give lay ministers. I want to pay you up to 50 “”visits”” (each one five minutes or so) via letters. Each epistle comes from my heart and 62 years of clergy pastoral care in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Hawaii and Ohio, the last 32 of them given mostly to lay pastoral care, crisscrossing the USA, Canada, The Bahamas and parts of Australia to give seminars, speak and preach. Via e-mail and phone, I am now consulting with Lay Pastors Ministry leaders in South Korea, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Pakistan, and more. Each letter will be a useful and serendipitous visit about one of the following three categories of vital subjects:
DO IT ALL: Discharge all the duties of your ministry (II Tim. 4:5). I will write about what lay pastors are called by God to do in their ministry, give tips on how to do it, and what you can expect as you do it.
BE IT ALL: Participate in the divine nature (II Pet. 1 :4). You’’ll read about offering your body to God as a “”living sacrifice,”” what it is for your body to be a member of God’s “body,” and how to have your Father’s “genes” (Spirit) and word shape both your life and the lives of those you P.A.C.E.
RESPECT IT ALL: Remember your leaders … their way of life-Respect all your leaders and all the ministries they lead. Obey your leaders … they keep watch over you as those who must give an account”” (Heb.13:7 & 17). In case you wonder about obey, the Greek word is peitho, meaning assent, agree with or obey – take your pick. All human effort, Christian or not, needs leaders and organization. God calls many of his people to tend his flock, but few to lead – We have different gifts … if it is leadership, let him govern diligently (Rom. 12:8). We’’ll have a lot to learn from Moses’’ leadership, he is one of our posthumous leaders (Ex. 18).●
COMMENTS
in relation to LETTERS TO LAY PASTORS
Susan Caulder , former Lay Pastor(USA), says:
I’d like to focus on the P in PACE. Prayer is the cornerstone of all ministry and is the foundation of our relationship with our Lord. Jesus Christ was crucified, died and resurrected so we could have a relationship with the one true God. I believe we often underestimate the amazing privilege and responsibility of prayer.
But what is prayer? Prayer is simply talking to God. Believers pray to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit ( Ephesians 1:17, John 14:13 and Ephesians 6:18). We only can know God through prayer. There is no special formula. Although I am a fan of the acronym ACTS. Adoration Confession Thanksgiving and Supplication. This acronym is thought to be first published in the late 1800s. Following this pattern keeps me on track so I do not wonder off course or forget anything. Prayer does not have to be loud, long or poetic. It needs to be authentic. God can read your mind and knows your most inner thoughts. There is nothing you can hide from him. He will know if you are humble with genuine repentance when you pray. Remember the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. This passage highlights that outward piety is meaningless without a sincere heart. The Pharisee was rejected, but the tax collector was forgiven.
How Does Prayer work? Prayer is one of God’s great mysteries. How does God listen to our thoughts, spoken words, anguished cries, and joyful praise? How does it reach from earth to Heaven? We may never know the answer to this question, but He no doubt does! One of my sweetest prayers answered is this: I’ve been studying the Bible for many years through Bible Study Fellowship. There are men and women groups all over the world. I prayed for years my husband would join a group. He gave lots of reasons why he couldn’t go. Football was on Monday nights, he worked all day and didn’t want to go out in evening, he didn’t know anyone who was going etc. Every year I would ask him – for 10 years in a row. The 11th year I said a bit sarcastically – “Well guess you’re not going to go this year too.” He surprised me and said: “You know what, I think I will.” He has not only gone for these past 5 years, but each year he invites more and more men to join him. This year he has 4 guys carpooling with him each week. Persistence in prayer pays off! Although God is not obligated to respond to any prayer – He will always respond in a way that is for our good and His glory.
How about the prayer of an unbeliever – does God hear them? Absolutely! God is sovereign and omniscient. He can answer any prayer any way he wants to. His mercy and love for all people is boundless. He hears the prayers of those who seek him. Those who seek him are rewarded with the gift of eternal life if they earnestly repent of their sins and turn to Jesus as Savior.
The amazing thing about prayer is also how it impacts our relationships with one another. When you pray for someone, it’s impossible not to fall in love with them. I think that’s why we are to pray for our enemies. It’s difficult, if not impossible to continue to see someone as an enemy when you pray for them. I remember when I was assigned my flock. Some of the people that were in my flock I didn’t know well. I started praying for them. On Church days I’d see them and it would bring such joy to my heart. I would run up to them and give a hearty greeting. They would look at me like – do I know you? I had to remember that I knew them through the lens of Christ, and they just knew me as the nice church lady.
To wrap this up, Prayer should always be our first line of defense, our first breath when we wake up in the morning and our last as we go to sleep at night. People fail to pray because people do not fully understand who God is and their need of His saving grace.■
Toka Z. Yeptho (PIS student) says:
A Lay Pastors is a member of a local Church who has been trained and appointed by the Church, Lay Pastors is someone who is called by God to serve their local church and communities, actually they are not appointed ministries they are ordinary people who have been gifted and equipped by God to provide spiritual leadership. A Lay Pastors are often bi- vocational meaning they have a secular job
(e.g., teacher, engineer etc.) to support themselves financially, as well as their ministry role because they are not fully appointed by denominational authorities. As we can see in 1 Peter 4: 10, “As each of one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. This means that a Lay Pastors are called to utilize their gifts and talents which he received from God in a godly way to serve others and to be good stewards of God’s grace.
One of the key characteristic of Lay Pastors ministry is a deep commitment to serve others, they are called to provide pastoral care and support to their members and congregations. Their main duty is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, as it says in Matthew 28: 19- 20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So, from this passage we can clearly see that a Lay Pastors must spread the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world. They are committed to evangelism and outreach, and they are always looking the ways to share the love of God with those who are around them. Whether through preaching, teaching, or sharing their own life story. Not only that but also a Lay Pastors must also visit the sick people, comfort the braved, and providing guidance and support to those in need.
Here are some of the key characteristics of a Lay Pastor’s Ministry:
Love to others: Lay Pastor’s must show love and care to others by treating them with kindness, respect, and compassion.
Faithfulness: A Lay Pastor’s must be faithful to their calling not only in their calling but they must also show faithfulness in their work, wherever they are assigned to be.
Dependence of God: A Lay Pastor’s must be humble and modest to his congregations his role is not about seeking praise from others, but instead serving God and others.
Passion for sharing the Gospel: A Lay Pastors have a strong desire to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, they are eager to share about the love of God’s, forgiveness, and salvation.♥
Byeong, Melvin University, says:
How do you think of these above; Do it ALL, Be it ALL and Respect it ALL?
As we know the present situation, pastor alone is not easy to know what’s going on in the world, but when they work with laypeople it is much easier to understand because they understand well what’s going on in their society and with the people.
For instance one day, I have attended a revival meeting at one church, the speaker, came from America. He came first week, and then church invited him another week, so he came twice in two weeks, it takes 14 hours from LA to Seoul Korea, why they invited him twice unusually? because he is almost layperson, yes he had ordained pastors, has his own church (American congregation), but he has business company which he use half of the church building, so I found he is almost layperson who knows church very well. He talked about people around him, his business, etc., so more persuasive to the listeners in the revival meeting, so he was invited twice, of course there were some prominent pastors those came and preached at the event, but only he spoke twice, even he was from States, why? As I said he talks stories where he get from ordinary people, ordinary situation and life. Of course I am not saying he is right that has two jobs, but here he talks in terms of laypeople.■
ADDITIONAL COMMENT
by BYEONG
Growth of lay people: The church members want to grow up. I’ve heard a pastor confess as follows: “Even though I’ve been preaching for more than 20 years, the church members yet haven’t grown up like children.”
I’ve been seriously troubled by this as a practical matter. Why is this happening? The congregation said, “The pastor didn’t raise us!” From the standpoint of pastors, “The people are not growing.”
First, in my view, the laypeople are not growing up, because they are not responsible, in other words they don’t have a job to work, so they are in religious superficiality, so It became a habit, and they just went to church normally, and hard work is avoided, and a natural comfortable religious life is ingrained in the body, making it seem immature to the pastor. However, if we ask them why you are not mature, they are shift responsibility, and saying, “Our pastor made us like that.”
Why pastors are not giving work and not taking them to get the responsibility? It seems to be a matter of mutual trust. The laymen do not bring the results as quickly as the pastor expects. I think this should be waited on by the pastors.
First of all, I think the atmosphere of the church is important. I think it is necessary to give a perception that lay people can grow personally. I think it is necessary for the pastor to always recognize that not only the growth of the church, but the growth of individual laypeople, is the growth in the community of the church. It is true that it is up to the pastor to connect it.
Next, I think it is necessary to have a system that allows this need to become a reality. There is a limit to the growth of church members themselves. The pastor’s strong support and the ability to make it visible
If the system is backed up, it is considered more effective. Otherwise, we often see little results as much as they try.
Then, whatever ministry they take, it is necessary to give them ownership. Having ownership in one ministry, not in church ownership, helps a lot to grow fast. Having ownership creates a sense of responsibility and makes efforts to solve problems, so in the end, it cannot help but grow. Because of the growth is the result of such efforts.