Chapter 1: Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry
Numerous cultural changes have marred the twenty-first century, making the present church less biblical. Uncertainty envelopes numerous evangelical ministries, and they need proper leadership to understand the impact of the post-Christian era. The significant difference is the shift from a truth-oriented ministry to a market-responsive church. Most evangelists strive to have vast and popular ministries regardless of the means used. Evangelists must rediscover their pastoral ministries by removing all the encroachment of humanism in the churches and seeking truth instead of the market.
Chapter 2: What is a Pastor to Be and Do?
A ministry can be rediscovered through the actions of a pastor. What a pastor does and says can change the views of the people. The book of first Peter, chapter five, verses one to three, issues the basic principle of humility that is key for pastoral leadership. Humility can be derived from the prophets in the Old Testament who recognized Christ and never dared take his glory. A humble pastor is manifested through confidence in the word of God and is always committed to God’s truth.
Chapter 3: Pastoral Ministry in History
The biblical ministry has been present from the Old Testament to the New Testament. However, the pattern of the church deviated in the second century A.D., and the trend has been evolving. The Love of God was the main shepherded during the Israelite’s slavery. Moses ministered to the people, and they were saved. In the New Testament, ministry evolved, and the good news spread to the Gentiles. Faithful ministers are characterized as successful ministers. Apostle Paul was an example of a humble minister who submitted fully to God.
Chapter 4: Approaching Pastoral Ministry Biblically
Pastoral ministry is a calling God gives to selected human beings to administer his words to them. A minister can only run a successful pastoral ministry when the purpose of the church is founded in the bible. All churches must strive to meet the original meaning of ministering efficiently, effectively, and faithfully to the scripture. The basic foundation of the ministry should be worshiping God in truth and spirit. The community should be based on witnessing God’s love and evangelism, according to Jesus’ assignment, as he left the world.
Chapter 5: The Character of a Pastor
The character of a pastor plays a significant role in the progress of the ministry. According to Paul, as illustrated in the book of Titus, a minister must have high sexual morals and be faithful to one life partner. Further, a pastor must show outstanding leadership through a lack of addiction and be slow to anger. Further, self-control, humility, hospitability, and a love for good deeds. Before preparing for a pastoral ministry, the pastor must prepare a checklist to affirm that all the featured are present before moving on.
Chapter 6: The Call to Pastoral Ministry
Church leadership is an important calling that people get to lead the church. There is a significant difference between the call to ministry and salvation. Whereas the call to salvation is a personal call to different people, the call to ministry is unique and helps select leaders in the church. The key features that must be present for a person to realize that God has assigned them include confirmation by others, special abilities, moral integrity, and a deep longing for the ministry.
Chapter 7: Training for Pastoral Ministry
Ministry training is a unique process that ensures that the people in the ministry have all it takes to perform their roles. The minister’s mandate is manifested in three prongs: ministry skills, Godly character, and biblical knowledge. A person passing the three training stages can minister effectively. When the areas are well covered, a minister will be convinced to preach passionately. A person must cascade academic knowledge and experience in the ministry to make good ministers for the church.
Chapter 8: Ordination To the pastoral ministry
Ordination is a unique process that describes God’s appointments to serve. In the Old Testament, Samuel ordained the leaders of Israel using oil. In the contemporary church, once a minister has undergone the ministry, they are supposed to be ordained, meaning their gifts have been activated to serve. Although the scripture does not outline the proper ordination process, the church must have a clear strategy for evaluating ministers after training and ordaining those worthy of the duty.
Chapter 9: The Pastors Home
A pastor is responsible for teaching people the doctrine of God and how to lead a healthy, Godly life. Families in the USA are getting weaker by the day because of societal and modern pressures. However, the pastor’s home must be ideally characterized by love and the values taught by Christ, such as forgiveness and humility. In the life of a pastor, his home must be his top priority because a home is the foundation of the church, and a weak home results in an ineffective church.
Chapter 10: The Pastor’s Prayer Life-The Personal Side
God’s word is the primary tool given to pastors to deliver their mandate on earth. A pastor has a role in strengthening his relationship with God because when a man does not share a relationship with God, there will be no answers to prayers. The Lord illustrates the different armors that a pastor must pray to ensure protection from all snares of evil. Most of the enemies of the ministry target the pastor. A prayerful pastor becomes more assertive, and enemies cannot overcome sin.
Chapter 11: The Pastor’s Prayer Life-The Ministry Side
The ministry is built based on prayers, and a pastor must involve the church in prayers. Different scriptural ways, such as fasting, may be used to protect the ministry from specific spiritual attacks in the ministry. A pastor can, therefore, use prayer to bring together different categories of members. Men, women, and youth may be clustered and given additional prayer items. Regular prayers strengthen the ministry as people get closer to each other during the prayer meetings.
Chapter 12: The Pastors Study
Pastor’s study plays the most significant role in the life of a ministry. A well-educated minister is likely to perform better than a minister who needs to be better educated. The colleges where ministers study also play a role in their character formation, affecting their overall well-being. When a pastor is exposed to features such as diligence and discipline, they are likely to be a better minister. The formation of the seminaries was motivated by the need for a holistic study to produce great pastors for ministries.
Chapter 13: The Pastor’s Compassion for People
When congregants hear the word pastor, two things come to mind: a person who takes care of them and guides them. A person can nurture others if he shows them compassion and respect. Once people feel respected and emotionally attached to their minister, they will likely succeed in their mandate. Guidance can then be achieved through professional teaching. A pastor’s compassion for the people can then be obtained through the expression of sympathy and combining both oratory skills and biblical knowledge to guide people on the right path.
Chapter 14: Worshiping
The word worship has been misused in contemporary Christian ministries to mean things that are not acceptable to God. Ministers must revisit prayer activities to ensure that they are in tandem with what is needed in true worship. True worship is accompanied by good deeds such as sharing, being selfless when serving the needs of others, and giving alms. When true worship is practiced in a ministry, it will be unified and have a better outcome. Ministers must investigate the basics of worship and ensure that their churches worship in the true sense.
Chapter 15: Preaching
Preaching is the critical responsibility that pastors bestow, including preaching. Paul used letters to preach to people from different churches. He emphasized the importance of preaching; throughout the New Testament, it has been echoed as the principle to make the world a better place. No matter how talented a person is as an orator, when he does not involve the word of God in his preaching, it becomes useless. Unlike many pastors in the contemporary world who preach about material wealth and prosperity, it should be noted that the word of God and truth must characterize preaching.
Chapter 16: Modeling
Modeling is essential in ministry, which involves setting a righteous pace for others to follow. Although people are created in the image of God, the fall of man led men astray. It takes God’s grace to make an example that other people can follow in the world as examples. Leaders must have good moral standards and ensure they set acceptable standards for the people to follow as role models in the ministry. Therefore, modeling is the antidote to ensuring that they have a moral community.
Chapter 17: Leading
Leadership in the church gives it direction and allows it to steer to greater heights. A pastor is expected to be the ultimate leader in helping other ministry members achieve goals. Since God has decided to use earthly leaders to accomplish his mission on earth, the leaders must understand the bible and base their leadership principles on the word of God. An effective leader in the ministry must possess decision-making skills, delegation, motivation, and enlightenment to move the church to the next level.
Chapter 18: Outreaching
Before Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection, he gave the disciples to go all around the world to preach to the people and turn them into disciples. He ordered them to baptize all people in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. A pastor must include outreach programs to ensure that more people are taught about the goodness of God. Some of the techniques that could be used to reach include door-to-door evangelism.
Chapter 19: Discipling
The most indispensable task God has given to pastors is making disciples, for the vineyard is significant, but the workers are few. The ministers in a church must, therefore, devise means of ensuring that the word of God is spread worldwide. In creating disciples, the pastors must ensure that they instill four key principles: prayerful meditation, purposeful association, powerful proclamation, and careful selection. The principles must be evaluated after successful training and biblical orientation.
Chapter 20: Watching and Warning
Christ left a flock of believers who must be guided from all the spiritual dangers likely to befall them. A pastoral duty is to watch over the community and issue warnings in case they go astray. Doctrinal error and other forms of personal sin that have made life normal must be detected and stopped. Therefore, the ministers take the role of Jesus as the good shepherd to watch over the flock and warn them in case of imminent dangers.
Chapter 21: Observing Ordinances
Ordinances are religious rites that must be performed to ensure people move on the right path. Communion and baptism are critical ordinances that must be maintained to ensure that people are led correctly. During the last supper, Jesus taught his disciple to commune together in his memory. Baptism shows obedience to Christ, and it takes personal effort for a person to achieve salvation. Baptism and communism must therefore be given priority as a way to salvation.
Chapter 22: Answering Frequently Asked Questions
One of the main questions asked is about the features of a successful pastor. Once the characteristics of a pastor are explained, moral values, leadership qualities, and education stand out. Further, the element of a Christ-oriented ministry is sought to ensure that all the religious virtues are in tandem with biblical teaching. As society changes, new doctrines are expected to emerge. However, a Christ-oriented ministry will extract all its instructions from the bible and the words of Jesus. Pastors must, therefore, act as the overall leaders to ensure the word of God is not altered at the ministry.