When Shepherds Weep

C. Daman Glenn

Description

The purpose of this book is to help pastors regain their spiritual perspective in the trials of ministry by understanding how suffering is used by God to develop the pastor and the church. It comes along wounded pastors to offer comfort and encouragement.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 28 août 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781683592211
• Langue: English

Extrait

“Daman carefully demonstrates from Scripture and his own pastoral experience that the weeping shepherd reflects the heart of Christ by entering into the sorrows, grief, and pain of the sheep entrusted to his care. I was reminded that a pastor must never be detached or indifferent but that he will suffer, and yet at the same time he must keep a proper perspective. I was profoundly moved and inspired by this book and heartily encourage every pastor to read it.”
Les Lofquist , Executive Director, IFCA International
“This book lucidly describes the struggle of so many in ministry. Daman does another admirable job of developing the issues in ministry that bring us to the brink of ‘throwing in the towel.’ But he doesn’t leave it there; he goes on to give us the all-important biblical answers that aid us in faithfully staying on track. This is a must read for all in ministry.”
Michael Jones , Assistant Director, Village Missions
“Daman has done a wonderful job of allowing those of us in ministry to open up to our feelings of hurt and pain when we are rejected, and he helps us face into the reality of loss when we are wounded and thrown out of a place of ministry! Not only does Daman speak clearly and graciously, he helps us gain biblical perspective by taking us to God’s Word for healing and insight! Good job, Glenn!”
Patrick A. Blewett , Dean, A. W. Tozer Theological Seminary
“After over three decades of pastoral ministry, Daman understands the depth of anguish its difficulties can bring. In this book he carefully develops the scriptural perspectives that make it possible for pastors to experience the joy of the Lord no matter how difficult ministry sometimes becomes. Pastors who feel under attack by those they seek to serve, or have survived such attacks, will profit from reading it.”
Earl Brubaker , Former Executive Director, Northwest Independent Church Extension
“Daman’s pastoral care comes through to those feeling burned out, ill-equipped, and bitter towards God and ministry. By allowing our viewpoints on pastoral ministry to be challenged and changed by engaging with biblical examples of suffering such as we find in Job, Daman releases in us the care and vulnerability to experience the pain of ministry with courage and health. This is a must-read for every pastor—and for all who aspire to the noble work of a shepherd.”
Kevin Yeadon , Chi Alpha Campus Ministries
G LENN C. D AMAN
WHEN SHEPHERDS WEEP
Finding Tears of Joy for Wounded Pastors
When Shepherds Weep: Finding Tears of Joy for Wounded Pastors
© 2015 by Glenn C. Daman
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
LexhamPress.com
First edition by Weaver Book Company.
All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [e-mail].
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com . The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Italics in Scripture quotations indicate emphasis added by the author.
Poem titled “The Likes of Me” on page 31 by Edward W. Goodrick, © 1995. Used by permission of Lynda D. Bock.
Print ISBN 9781683592204
Digital ISBN 9781683592211
Cover: Frank Gutbrod
Interior design and typesetting: { In a Word }
Editing: Paul J. Brinkerhoff
To Emily and Paige. They are a wonderful addition to our family and a true blessing and joy.
To the people of River Christian Church, Wibaux Bible Church, and Cascade Locks Community Church. Throughout all the ups and downs and struggles of ministry they have been supportive of my ministry, gracious with my failures, and patient with my shortcomings.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. The Weeping Shepherd
From Passion to Pain
2. Pain and Ministry
Understanding the Cost
3. Regaining a Perspective of Suffering
Understanding Its Redemptive Purpose
4. Regaining a Perspective of God
Letting God Be God in All Aspects of Ministry
5. Regaining a Perspective of Ourselves
Recognizing Our Position and Purpose
6. Regaining a Perspective of Others
The Centrality of Love
7. Regaining a Perspective of Ministry
The Joy of Serving God and Others
Conclusion
Foreword
My friendship with Glenn began when we met in Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Glenn hailed me as he descended the escalator and we went to claim our baggage. Over the next week we visited schools, individuals, and churches in rural areas of Alaska. While we had made acquaintance previously through Village Missions, on this trip I came to appreciate Glenn as a servant of Christ committed to the small church.
Over the intervening years we’ve each stayed in the other’s homes. I came to know his wife, Becky, and their sons, and he made acquaintance with my family. Each of us contributed to the other’s writing. My ministry opened the door of friendship with his mother, brothers, and sister. Glenn comes from a rural farming background and a family that is committed to the Lord’s work in the local church. The call to ministry that he pursues comes not from family expectation, economic expedience, or academic aptitude but from the voice of the Spirit of Christ summoning him from a northern Idaho farm to his current ministry as a pastor. From our first acquaintance I have always found Glenn to be an easygoing, affable, insightful, and caring person. His books and research have been a great help to me and those with whom I have worked in Village Missions.
Over fifteen years ago Paul Borden began a successful project to improve the quality of leadership for Growing Healthy Churches (formerly American Baptist Churches of the West). Part of the project was to resource pastors with the knowledge of leadership that would equip them as leaders: “We wanted pastors to know how leaders functioned and behaved, and that one of their primary tasks is to disciple and develop new leaders.” 1 Borden identified the nature of leadership and the skill sets needed for successful leadership.
Borden is not the only one to train successful leaders for the church. In spite of almost a quarter of a century of intensive efforts to equip leaders, the average pastor has a tenure of only 3.6 years at any place of ministry, and over 60 percent of those entering the ministry today will leave before completing a career. Apparently biblical knowledge and leadership skills alone do not sufficiently found long-term pastoral leadership. In addition there is a trail of blood and tears that marks this exodus. Working as a rural pastor and with rural pastors I have experienced this personally and know individuals who have left the ministry never to return to the church because the pain is so great.
After one has read all the books and taken all the courses there remains an element of ministry required for one to endure and remain faithful to the needs of the body of Christ for the long term. The single greatest predictor of health and success for the local body of Christ remains a faithful, long-term pastoral leadership. This book presents that element: perspective. Pain and suffering inevitably accompany ministry. Pain and suffering in Christian ministry remain the barriers to the faithful shepherding the church so desperately needs from its pastor. Glenn does not deny this reality. He acknowledges the necessity of suffering and pain in ministry. He proposes a change in perspective on suffering in ministry, a point of view that allows one to endure and even embrace this difficult part of every ministry.
But this is not Pollyanna. One doesn’t merely recite the mantra of Romans 8:28 three times and move ahead in ministry. Glenn has endured his own pain and suffering over his years of ministry. From the crucible of his own experience he faces the deep challenge of enduring faith and enduring faithfulness in ministry. Thorough biblical research under-girds Glenn’s recommendations for developing a long-term ministry in the local church. It is a theological examination of one’s self, ministry, call, and future that recommends a renewed perspective as a means to long-term ministry.
In one particularly painful time in my ministry career, I was on the brink of leaving the pastorate. My wife and I took time away from our rural church to go to a mall in a nearby city. We sat in crowded anonymity reflecting on what God was doing. Though we had not read Glenn’s insights (they had not even been written), we began to experience from our Lord that transformation of perspective about which Glenn writes. We stuck it out. In my years of ministry I have endured deaths, family failure, child molesters in the church, community rejection, leader mutiny, and more. In addition I have worked with some who have endured far more. After thirty-seven-plus years of ministry, I can tell you that this element of perspective in a time of crisis is what most of us who open this book need in order to endure.
Read on. In this book you will find articulated what those in ministry need in order to survive the pain, to suffer and yet to endure. The pain and suffering of ministry in the church are certain. Yet even so, what we need developed further in our lives, and what this book seeks to fortify, is the perspective of faith.
Dr. Vernal Wilkinson Village Missions, District Representative Author, The Bible, L