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"When the Mission was still in China for so many decades, was
there ever an incidence that more than 1000 or 2000 people being baptized at one time? Never. And yet, when there is no foreign leadership, this kind of baptisms of 1000 and 2000 actually happened. What do these facts indicate? It indicates that the progress of God's ministry does not depends upon talents, knowledge, and money, but the willingness to suffer hardship and to endure toil, and God's faithful sons and daughter obey God's guidance, look up to the results which are given by the Lord through the Holy Spirit. The past experiences, and the understanding of the past give us important lessons. We should always bear in mind of these lessons which the Lord has given us in practical lives."
- Letter to Jan Paulsen from Chinese SDA pastor Liu |
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PASTORS WHO HAVE AFFAIRS
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 by Loren Seibold, editor, Best Practices for Adventist Ministry
I was talking to a psychologist awhile back who had done research on pastors who are sexually unfaithful (he was talking about male pastors - I'm unsure how this applies to female pastors). He said that pastors who are most likely to have an affair tend to sort into two general personality types.
One is the kind, deeply sympathetic pastor who loves to help people with their problems, who will drop everything to visit, counsel, or provide moral support. This pastor may find himself getting into close, confessional relationships with women in his church, women who he sincerely wants to help. He may feel insecure about himself and his ministry, and craves the feeling of being needed and appreciated. Women who are hurting, neglected or have low self-esteem respond to his kind attentions. But in these encounters the lines between pastoral care and personal intimacy blur, and he finds himself, not necessarily by design, in a sexual relationship.
The other is the pastor who is successful, talented and charismatic. He may pastor a large church or hold a high position, where he is used to being admired, listened to, and having people accede to his wishes. He may, said this psychologist, subconsciously begin to feel that he is a little above the rules that govern others. His ministry is so important, his leadership so vital to God's work, his circumstances so special, that he transcends normal expectations of moral behavior. He may be so used to successfully talking others into seeing things his way that even the risks in having an affair seem something he can navigate his way through. These kinds of pastors have a sense of entitlement and may, even after being caught, express puzzlement as to why they're not immediately forgiven and restored, because they have so much to give the church.
Such generalizations are a bit blunt, I know, and I'm sure you'll think of exceptions. Yet the situations I've seen tend to confirm this psychologist's premise. We notice, especially, the second kind, because they're people who are esteemed in the church, so their moral failures get played out publicly.
Yet the truth is that we're all vulnerable, all capable of falling into temptation in a whole variety of areas. A cliche by now, but still a profoundly true one: there, but for the grace of God, go I. As a pastor you have power, so a sexual relationship you get into with a church member has, by definition, a coercive element to it. We must remind ourselves that ministry is not just a calling, not just a vocation, but also a public trust.
What do you think? Discuss this article on our Facebook page. 
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| NEW iPAD APP FOR FAMILIES, SHARING FAITH | by Paul Richardson
Your friend at work has been visiting with you about raising her kids with some honorable values. Where do you point her? eGraceNotes:Family First.
 Your neighbor next door has been exercising too little and eating too much as a stay-at-home dad and he told you recently he wants to get back in shape. Where do you point him? eGraceNotes:Staying Young
Your unchurched cousins have been starting to ask questions about faith after their mother, your aunt died. Where do you point them? eGraceNotes:The Bible Says
For more than five years the North American Division (NAD) has been adding value to the lives of people who come to Adventist Church & School Connect web sites as well as netAdventist web sites through content that has being coordinated and archived at www.e-gracenotes.org.
Now, that content is also being made available through a new app for iPhones and iPads called eGracenotes.
Find out more about the new eGracenotes app on our Facebook page.
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READING FOR PASTORS
| Ordination and other topics: "Listening to the Church in China" opens up a fascinating discussion with Pastor Rebekah Liu (whose mother has raised up one of the largest SDA congregations in China). You must read the answering comments by Pastor Liu, especially this letter! Quote: "During the time when the Chinese Adventist
Church was under the leadership of a Mission, the leadership structure in Shanghai was huge with lots of personnel spending lots of money, but the baptism {sic] was not many. Later when foreign missionaries were gone, and outside financial support was cut off, our loving heavenly Father moved the brothers and sisters in Shanghai to work for the Lord with zeal."
Are church leaders too obsessed with congregation size? Quote: "In our previous job(s), we were appraised, assessed, promoted, given pay hikes, and so on, and a tremendous sense of security came from knowing how we were doing, as measured by some apparently objective standard. Then we started working for the church, and almost all of this disappeared.... But the desire for a metric of some sort, a measurable way of telling us how we are doing, never quite left us. And the number of people who came to our Sunday meetings was the easiest one to count."
Five secrets pastors refuse to tell.Who knew that Ray Bradbury (who died on June 5) was a man of faith? (Certainly an unconventional faith, but any faith is hard to find among famous authors!) Here's an article about him, and an interview with him. (Even more surprisingly, horror writer Stephen King has occasionally spoken about his own faith - though that, too, raises questions about what faith means to him.) Fast-growing denominations close more churches than declining ones? Lessons from growing churches. Quote: "Overall, evangelical groups have shown a greater willingness to close congregations that are unsuccessful in one area and move to another in response to demographic changes, Jones said. They also are more likely to start new churches, even though new congregations, like new businesses, have a higher failure rate. In the end, 'starting new churches is the most effective way of gaining new people.'"
Related to last issue's excellent piece by Jennifer Vander Molen about ministry as a Results-Oriented Work Environment: Matt Perman talks about "A Theology of Workflow". Quote: "Ironically, we need to realize that we are accepted by God apart from our productivity, on the basis of what Christ has done through faith. Now that we are accepted by God, the gospel causes us to be productive. I define productivity really as good works. So what happens is the gospel frees us to be able to do good works and drives us to do good works." Great piece by Tim Schraeder: Ten things that drive me crazy about working for the church. Quote: "#4. We use 'let me pray about it' as an excuse to get out of making decisions" A $468,000 severance package for a pastor? It happened in Kalamazoo. Creationism is gaining ground: according to Gallup, 46% of Americans now hold creationist view of human origins.
Serpent handling, an odd Christian practice, still goes on in parts of Appalachia - and it lead to the death of a preacher recently.
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TO THE POINT: WINSTON CHURCHILL
| There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks.
Please be good enough to put your conclusions and recommendations on one sheet of paper in the very beginning of your report, so I can even consider reading it.
He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.
Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.
A sheep in sheep's clothing. (On Clement Atlee)
A modest man, who has much to be modest about. (On Clement Atlee)
I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Nancy Astor: "Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison."
Churchill: "If I were your husband I would take it."
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IDEAS, EVENTS, RESOURCES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Note from Loren: In the May 14 issue of Best Practices for Adventist Ministry, I wrote a piece about my experience with a church member whose family wanted to drop their membership because of the influence of independent ministries. I apologize to 3ABN for mentioning them in the story without talking to them privately. The story was mine, and did not reflect the feelings of the NAD leadership. (I have also placed this apology on our Best Practices FB page.)
I had a great visit with the KS-NE pastors last week! I felt very enriched from spending a little time with you. I will be sharing with BP readers some of the thoughts you shared with me. The last week of July I'll be at Redwood Camp Meeting in Northern California. Please look for me! I want to meet you and find out what you're doing in ministry.
From Clinton Wahlen at BRI: "In less than a week, the Third International Bible Conference (TIBC) will begin on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Over 300 administrators and theologians of the world church will gather in Israel for study, prayer, and fellowship. In order that as many of you as possible may be with us in spirit, we have arranged for live streaming of plenary sessions. The theme of the conference is Biblical Anthropology and will include presentations on the nature and destiny of human beings, the last-day challenge of spiritualism in the context of the great controversy, the biblical concepts of death and hell, and many more topics. Also, our world president, Elder Ted N. C. Wilson, has prepared a special message for the church in Israel. Details, including a schedule and access to the live stream, will be posted soon at this BRI web address: http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/IBC12/ Thank you for joining us in prayer for this event and in watching the proceedings via the web."
Don't forget the Andrews University Leadership Conference, July 20-23, 2012. Keynote address by Richard Blackaby, followed by a series of pre-conference workshops on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Session keynote speaker, Sunday 7 PM, will be Daniel Goleman, the of Emotional Intelligence, with more than 5 million copies sold in 40 languages. For more information call the Leadership Department at 269-471-6580, or go to www.andrews.edu/grad.
Just a reminder that there's been an update at PlusLine: Now you can visit just one site to find the resources and information you need for your ministry. PlusLine has moved under the AdventSource website umbrella, providing you with a true one-stop destination for ministry. The information you are used to finding on PlusLine is now available on AdventSource's website and can accessed at www.plusline.org or by going to www.adventsource.org and clicking on the PlusLine tab. Event registration has also moved to the AdventSource website.
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Best Practices for Adventist Ministry is published by NAD Ministerial. Editor:Loren Seibold . Managing Editor: Dave Gemmell. Copyright 2012 North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. v(301) 680-6418
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