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September 22, 2013
NAD MINISTERIAL CONVENTION
643 days until Convention  
IN THIS ISSUE
Ask A Seasoned Pastor
QR Codes in the Bulletin
Stories We Tell
Wise Words: Change
Let's Talk
Events & news
ASK A SEASONED PASTOR          by David Osborne
David Osborne    
Q: I've been asked to officiate at a wedding -- she's a Seventh-day Adventist, he's an inactive Catholic. What do I tell them?

 

A: This is a question that we all know has the potential to create an opportunity for a caring, loving, supportive dialogue or a hurtful, hostile barrier between the couple and the pastor who represents the church. All couples believe that "love conquerors all and our relationship is different."

 

The pastor could begin the dialogue by saying, "You asked me to officiate at your wedding, well, all things are possible." The couple can then be put at ease if the pastor asks them to tell the story of how they met and their courtship. The story almost always will include the statement that the guy was attracted to the girl because of her faith, which made her different from the other girls he had met. He admires, respects, supports her faith and would never do anything to interfere with her worship or her God.

 

It is good to discuss briefly with the couple that with the all the challenges of marriage, major differences should be kept at a minimum, such as age, education, culture, religion, etc. The goal of marriage is to share daily, a close, loving, intimate relationship. Major differences can be an extra challenge to that relationship. Compatible faith affects almost every part of the home and relationship. It is the "glue" that cements the hearts of love and holds them together. Differences in faith can be a never-ending irritant to a shared loving relationship. Read More

 

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David Osborne is a retired pastor

QR CODES IN THE BULLETIN          by Seth Pierce
Seth Pierce   

 "We'd give more but we just don't carry cash."

 

The words of my millennial generation parishioners struck a chord with me...mostly because I don't carry cash either. Why should I? I know if I have cash on me I will spend it on things I don't need-plus I have a debit card when I do need something. However the offering plate need not be affected by our society's lack of cold hard currency.

 

Cue the QR code.

 

 

Not sure what they are? Go to any major store and start looking around on their windows or advertisements. Your treasure hunt should yield a black and white rectangle with squiggles in it. If you are a member of the smartphone carrying culture, download a "QR Code Scanner" (like QRReader), then use it to scan the rectangle.

 

Instantly you'll be swept away onto a realm of sales and special features online. Companies use these handy codes to promote their products, clue you into special offers, and get you to participate in various ways. And you can generate these very same codes for free to slap in your bulletin every Sabbath.

 

Sites like www.qrstuff.com or www.goqr.me will create a code that will defy those who avoid giving for lack of green stuff. All they have to do is use their smartphone to scan the code and they will be taken to your local AdventistGiving URL. The tithes and offerings can be sent to the digital storehouse for safekeeping. They can donate any time during the service-even if they're late-or even during the week. No deacons required.

 

 

 

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Seth Pierce is the Senior Pastor for the Puyallup Church in Washington

 

STORIES WE TELL                                by Bill Penick
Bill Penick  
The Diamond

 

One day a little diamond in the rough was admiring a Big Diamond that was beautiful, magnificent, and flawless. The little diamond said, "I want to be like that Big Diamond." So the Master Jeweler put the little diamond on his grinding wheel and began to cut on him.  

 

"Stop! Stop! You're hurting me," said the little diamond. "But I thought you wanted to be like the Big Diamond," said the Jeweler. "If so, I have to cut all the flaws out of you." Then the little diamond said, "Grind on, Big Wheel, grind on."

 

But once again the little diamond thought it was hurting too much. So he cried out, "Stop! Stop! You're hurting me!" The Master Jeweler picked up the little diamond and put him by the Big Diamond and said, "Do you want to be like the Big Diamond?" "I do, I do," said the little diamond. "But it hurts so much." The Master Jeweler said, "If you will keep your eyes on the Big Diamond when I'm cutting on you and remember that you are going to look like Him, it won't hurt so much." Then the little diamond once again said, "Grind on, Big Wheel, grind on."

 

Trials and tragedies in life also hurt us, but the Master Jeweler knows what it takes for us to become like the Big Diamond. So each day, let us trust and give Him permission to finish the work that He has begun. And one day we will be like our Savior, Jesus Christ.  

 

   

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Bill Penick is the Senior Pastor for the Beaumont Church in Southeastern California

 

WISE WORDS: CHANGE
 

Every innovation has an expiration date. At some point, new isn't new anymore, regardless of what the package says. Eventually, new ideas feel like yesterday's news. Bread is not the only thing that gets stale over time. Every new and innovative approach to ministry has an expiration date as well. Every single one. Nothing is irresistible or relevant forever. - Andy Stanley

 

If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less. - General Eric Shinseki

 

When you're finished changing, you're finished. - Benjamin Franklin

 

If you always do what you have always done you will always be where you have always been.

People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value. - Stephen R. Covey

 

When certain truths become relevant for God's people to understand, the Holy Spirit reveals it to the church at that time. He leads them gently, no faster than they can understand and act. Each generation will then be able to stand on the shoulders of their forebearers and be free to grow in understanding. That means maintaining a sense of continuity and a sense of freedom to be a first generation of their own. As the new generation faces fresh issues in a world so different from that of the pioneers, it will be able to maintain a zeal and relevance for the message as did the founders for the world they lived in. - Graeme S. Bradford

 

Every new generation lives in a new world, with new questions to address, new challenges to meet, new problems to solve. The gospel of God's love is everlasting; but our understanding of it--our theology-is a snapshot of it from a particular perspective at a particular point in time. As Ellen White once said, 'The truth is an advancing truth, and we must walk in the increasing light.' - Fritz Guy

 
LET'S TALK

 Join our Best Practices conversation. Share your best sermon illustrations. Suggest topics for us to take on. Float an idea for an article you would like to write. Raise a question that you would like answered by a seasoned pastor. Contact us at [email protected]  

IDEAS, EVENTS, RESOURCES, ANNOUNCEMENTS

More Than 1,700 Pastors Leave the Ministry every month. This staggering number includes some of the brightest, most inspiring pastors in the country. To prevent the continued flight of pastors, Tim Peters believes that we need to understand the underlying challenges, and to understand the proactive steps that can be taken to keep men and women in ministry.

http://www.churchleaders.com 

 

Free Inspirational E-Cards: Pacific Union Conference Creative Services has just launched a free inspirational eCard service. These eCards can be used to provide spiritual encouragement, heartfelt greetings, family life support and more. They are a great way to connect with your church family.   www.SpiritRenew.org.

 

 

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Best Practices for Adventist Ministry is published by NAD Ministerial. Opinions expressed belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NAD Ministerial. Publisher: Ivan Williams;  Managing Editor: Dan Martella. Copyright 2013 North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. v(301) 680-6418