How many times have you heard Timothy and Titus referred to as the pastor of this church or that church? We even call the letters addressed to them the "pastoral" epistles.
Check out those letters. The brothers in question are never called pastors. They were simply on Paul's apostolic team that planted churches here and there. They were needed to stay at a church long enough for the real pastors (aka elders/bishops etc) to be chosen by the young congregations. Timothy and Titus would then rejoin Paul after the churches were established with godly men. Never were these spirituial sons and co-workers of Paul considered "pastors." They were forever moving from place to place. We might call them missionary evangelists today. Or not.
Not a big deal, I understand. But it has always been a bit irksome to me, to see things said or assumed that were never recorded or taught.
There was no Pastor Timothy. There was no Pastor Titus. But when these men were finished with their work, there were a number of pastors ready to lead the church in the city where Paul had left them behind temporarily.
“You have heard of the patience of Job” James 5:11. Faithfulness under testing. Ezekiel 14:14, 20. When God is ready to judge a nation He will not relent from the judgment even in the face of His greatest men. And He names 3: Noah....[ abbreviated | read entire ]
I offer the following thoughts with only the deepest respect and gratefulness to God for the fact that youth are being called into the church of Jesus. I am aware that God can do His work in rock music as well as Gregorian chants and everything in...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Have you ever wondered, as I did, why the word "entertainment" is not found in Scripture when it is one of the major events that takes place in our [Western] lives? Surely if it is all that distracting to our Christian life, the Scriptures would...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The question of pastoral spouses has deep ramifications in our day. Time was, when you married a pastor, you became... the wife of a pastor. Not so now! In many churches across America (and elsewhere?) the wife of the pastor is now... the...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
In older times, warfare was waged on either side of a huge field. Soldiers could dig in, jump in a trench, hide in a foxhole, and lob serious harm to the other side without having to go hand-to-hand with anyone. Grenades and what-not did the job....[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Skimming through health-related books at the Niles Library the other day, I came upon one by a fellow named Matt Fitzgerald, a "certified sports nutritionist and an acclaimed endurance sport and nutrition writer." Now, at my advanced - oh very...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
How to build a HUGE church? In many cases, you have to break ALL of God's ten commandments! You will notice, or perhaps you knew all along, that in order to create a congregation that prospers in the worldly sense, you will have to break every one...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Reflect the Comfortable (Abundant) Life. Your people must be made to feel that the comfort and luxury they experience in your magnificent building is simply the norm for all lifestyles. Let them desire more and more the comfortable life they see...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
9. WATER DOWN the WORD Be careful not to teach Biblical literalism overmuch. That is, the leadership must not make the people feel that every word of God is “Gospel truth”. People do not want to hear certain Biblical facts. Sin, and...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
