I Loved Being A Pastor

     Okay, I'll admit it.  I loved being a pastor.  For twenty-eight years at five different churches, I was the senior pastor; and I loved everything about it. More than once, I was told by Ministers of Music that I should march into the sanctuary with the choir instead of being out there shaking hands and visiting briefly with members already seated in the pews. Many pastors try to avoid hospital visits or nursing home worship services, but I looked forward to those times. I loved the beauty of weddings and the hope through grief of funerals. Put it down; I thoroughly enjoyed being a pastor.

     Several years ago, I was asked to preach at the very influential Morning Star Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, a predominantly African-American congregation. Dr Earl Preston was their noble pastor. After the service, I asked one of the men why he so obviously loved the pastor. He responded that several years earlier, as a young man not yet living for God, he and some of his friends were stranded on a cold wintry night when their car had broken down. They didn't know what to do. His godly aunt had told him that if he ever got into a real problem with no where to turn, he should call Pastor Preston, so that's what he did. He said Dr Preston could have sent someone to assist them, but he came himself. He continued by saying that Dr Preston took them to the finest hotel in Cleveland and paid for their rooms. They tried to persuade Dr Preston 

that a cheap hotel would be more than they deserved to which he replied, "Young men, God set this meeting up between us tonight, and God wouldn't keep you in a dump so I won't either." This church member concluded by saying that Dr Preston had a big heart that reached every member of the church individually and the unsaved outside the church too. That, dear friend, is a real pastor.

     As I write this, it is near midnight. It's also near midnight for many people in their personal lives as they struggle through day after weary day of dark despair. A kind word, a hug or a sympathetic ear by a pastor can brighten their days. I am now a seminary president, but of late I have been pondering in my heart and soul the possibility of starting a church that I could pastor.....a place to love the unlovely, to embrace the lonely, to give hope to the fear-stricken. I have always had the dream of preaching verse-by-verse through the Bible which according to my estimates could be done in eleven years although my original plan called for seventeen years. That would be a veritable fountain for the huge reservoir of Bible truth I carry in my heart.

     I try to tell the pastors who are being educated at Trinity that three  things are 

basics for a pastor's ministry.  First, he must trust the Bible completely and preach each sermon after spending time alone with God until the message burns in his heart. Forget the one-liner jokes, avoid the melodramatic stories, but instead allow the Holy Spirit to speak what God wants said exactly the way God wants it said. Second, love your people by getting to know them and being there when they need you. Third, and most important, love Jesus....really love Jesus. 

     In summary, our churches and various denominations have plenty of preachers, but the desperate need of the hour and the aching hearts of hundreds of thousands of church members is for someone to whom they can share their burdens one-on-one and not from a distant seat in a sanctuary, but someone they can, as a result of his warm personal presence in their lives, say about him, "He's MY pastor."

     

     

Jesus Is Wonderful

     Rodney (Gypsy) Smith was a great evangelist of a bygone era. He was born inside a tent to humble parentage in England and raised in a gypsy wagon. His family eked out a living by selling baskets and clothes pegs. Smith's mother died with smallpox when he was just a lad. When he was 15 years of age, his father's heart was strangely touched by the singing of Ira Sankey who was the song leader in the great campaigns of the famed evangelist, Dwight L Moody. That night, he accepted Christ as his savior. In turn, he went home and led his son, Rodney, to the Lord. Little could anyone have guessed that this event with this young teenager, later known as Gypsy Smith, would be the catalyst to hurtle him into world renown as a minister....preaching to huge crowds for over 70 years literally around the globe twice and across the United States 30 times.

     Gypsy Smith was characterized as a man who deeply loved Jesus and wanted everyone to know it. His favorite song was "Let The Beauty Of Jesus Be Seen  In Me" and often in the middle of a sermon he would joyfully burst out singing it. Here's a verse: 

Gypsy Smith

"The world says I'm dreaming

But I know tis Jesus

Who saves me from bondage 

And sin's guilty stain

He is my Lover, my Savior, my Master

Tis he who has freed me

From guilt and its pain

Let me dream on if I'm dreaming 

Let me dream on, my sins are gone

Night turns to dawn

Love's light is beaming

So if I am dreaming, let me dream on"

To Gypsy Smith, Jesus was wonderful! He said one time, "Everybody in the world would want Jesus because he is so wonderful if it weren't for their Christian friends who don't look or sound like he is wonderful."

Like Gypsy, I've learned he is wonderful. I wonder what I would do without his sweet name and presence. When I'm fearful during dark days or nights, I breathe the name, Jesus....When faced with hard decisions, I first say, Jesus....When death takes a loved one...my quiet thoughts turn to Jesus. When sickness overtakes me or someone I love, my quick cry is, Jesus. Bill Gaither was right.  There is something about that name.

     Gypsy Smith continued traveling and preaching well into his eighties. When asked why he continued to do so, he quickly responded, "I've never lost the wonder!"

The Church's New God

I find it interesting that Jesus did not say that his house shall be called a house of great singing, a house of great preaching, a house of architectural magnificence, a house of large crowds or a house of fun and fanfare. Rather, our Lord simply said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Let's be honest! It would be remarkable indeed if your church is identified in your community as a praying church above and beyond anything else.  Both members of your church and non-members alike say things like, "You should hear our music!" Or, "We have a pastor that can preach the paint off the wall!" Or, "We have the most wonderful programs for your family!" But, isn't it true that you never hear anyone say as they leave your church after their first time attending services, "Oh my, what a praying church!"

     I became so convicted as a pastor about this prayer issue that I determined that any churches that I served as pastor must become houses of prayer. At First Baptist Church of Etowah, TN, we built an upper room where people prayed on bended knees seven days a week and during the times that I was preaching in the sanctuary. Later, as pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church, annually we had a service called "A God's Kind Of Healing Service," an idea given to me by the legendary Dr W A Criswell, and the entire service was about prayer. And, I made sure every service and  every activity was literally saturated in prayer. Any good accomplished by me at these two churches, the last two I served as pastor, is directly attributable to the power of prayer.

     So, the overriding question is this: why are churches  not known first of all as places of prayer? Please note. Good music, good preaching and good weekday activities are assets to a church fellowship, but remember, Jesus said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer...."  There are two shocking reasons:

     (1) WE HAVE CHOSEN THE GOD CALLED "FAMILY" OVER THE GOD CALLED "JESUS."  Go to the average church staff meetings. They are dominated by suggestions of church activities that will make families want to attend their church. Upcoming plans are made for outings, ball leagues, pizza blasts, ocean cruises, hot dog roasts, special guests performers, etc. Very very seldom will you hear a staff member or pastor say, "What does God want?" Look at your Sunday bulletin at the average church and you will be almost overwhelmed with the multitude of flashy announcements of activities....so much so you would think your church has turned into a glorified YMCA.  And, if you look closely enough, you might find a prayer service mentioned in small print. Why? Because the modern church has a new God....the family.

     (2) WE HAVE CHOSEN THE SUPERFICIAL OVER THE SUPERNATURAL.  Because we have chosen to first of all, perhaps unwittingly, install the family as our new God and relegate the importance of prayer to the realm of a traditional "add-on" at each worship service, Jesus is no longer the center of worship and adoration; no, he is now outside and sadly knocking. When that happens, the church with its well-oiled organization, eloquent preacher and awesome music becomes a church of influence but is no longer a church of power.....power that makes the supernatural so real that the world cannot ignore it. Most sinners have seen all the religious dog and pony shows at the modern church and they are thoroughly unimpressed. What your community needs, and the world at large needs, is to to be confronted by the undeniable and unexplainable supernatural acts of God that only come about as a result of real prayer.

     

     

Fundamentals of the Faith

     There are five basic doctrinal positions often called the fundamentals of the faith. These are:

      1. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

      2. The Virgin Birth of Jesus

      3. The Blood Atonement

      4. The Bodily Resurrection

      5. The Inerrancy of the Scriptures

     At Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, we will not equivocate nor apologize for our conviction that these statements are absolute truth and are the sole basis for genuine fellowship between believers. There is ample room for brotherly disagreements on various interpretations

 and applications of other biblical subjects such as worship styles, modes of ordinances, end-time prophecies, etc; but the validity of one's personal faith and the foundation upon which a church or denomination is built must be upon all five of these bedrock doctrines or else the anointing power and approval  of God will not be demonstrated.

     While the national debate on the political and cultural demise we are presently witnessing deserves serious attention, and will be the ultimate purpose of this blog, the definition of a biblical church must be understood because the church stands as the last line of defense between America's doom or deliverance; and the clear definition of a New Testament church has virtually nothing to do with the name of the denomination with which it is affiliated. If a church does not boldly adhere to and loudly proclaim all five of these fundamentals, it may be a church in the colloquial sense but it is not a church in the biblical sense and should not be supported with one's attendance or money because its faulty faith will not be able to withstand the fierce societal storms that are coming upon the Christian community in America, and will certainly be found lacking on the day of God's eternal judgment.

   

American Tragedy: AWOL Pastors

     The world is teetering on the verge of moral, political and spiritual collapse while the only army that has sufficient weaponry to bring order out of chaos hasn't even left the barracks. I am not speaking of the military of the United States; I have the utmost respect for the active members of our armed services as well as the highest honor for the veterans who have served our nation on foreign soil. Rather, I am speaking of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and, in particular, the vast proliferation of churches of all denominations across America. Only the church has the ultimate authority for "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world."

     According to the Hartford Institute of Religious Research, there are over 600,000 men and women affiliated with denominations in the United States who identify themselves as clergymen. The number who are unaffiliated denominationally is unknown. It is, however,  a safe estimate that there are over one million Christian preachers in America. Think of that! Just think of that! There are over one million preachers who have in their hands the greatest weapon ever delivered to mankind, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and yet the world is sliding at avalanche speed into a moral and spiritual septic tank.

     National armies are organized for activity on battlefields; they are not organized to see which military base can attract the most recruits. The army of the church, however, has the three B's of a flimsy definition of success...buildings, budgets and baptisms.  Generals are not remembered in history for the brilliance of their oratory; they are remembered for their love of their troops and the battles they've won.

     It is my opinion, after having been in the ministry for a period spanning over fifty years, and having preached in hundreds of churches large and small of a myriad of denominations, the church in America  is a giant army that is asleep because of pastors (the generals) who are either too lazy or too cowardly to lead them into battle.

     I love preachers. I am a preacher. For twenty-eight years I was a pastor. Here are some issues that must be addressed by pastors if the future is secure for our succeeding generations:

     *QUIT USING THE PULPIT AS A SHIELD:  I learned a long time ago that sermon statements are safe when said in a pulpit. We hear a preacher with great passion and fervor excoriate sin and blast the wickedness of the age and we go away thinking, "What a great preacher!"  Let's be honest. He's preaching to the choir. The people in his congregation will, in the vast majority, agree with him. It takes no courage to preach against cultural transgressions in that setting. His pulpit protects him in a one-way monologue. Many communities never see change though a brilliant  pulpiteer and strong preacher is the pastor of a church right in the middle of the community. That is why I determined as a pastor to develop talk radio programs so wicked people could challenge me, instead of playing some recorded sermon I had previously preached. I joined civic clubs. I made myself available to the news media to comment on any story. I led one secular group in a fight against pornography. If this cultural battle is won, pastors must leave the safety of the pulpit and enter society's battlefields, but I am certain the majority of pastors reading this will not or do not, and the majority of laymen reading this have pastors who will not or do not.

     *PERSONALLY KNOW YOUR CHURCH MEMBERS (your troops): Especially large church pastors will answer me with two responses when I speak of knowing, really knowing, individual members: (1) "My church is too large" or (2) "I'm not going to sacrifice time with my family." Frankly, both of those are excuses, and a pastor who says either one of them should look for a smaller church. Dr Lee Roberson, the legendary pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga where he preached to 12,000 on Sunday, knew all of his people and taught me the concept of crisis visitation. He said that within every five year period every family would have at least one crisis, and the pastor should be there. I started following that plan in 1978 and it works, and my family didn't suffer and my two sons are today the epitomes of godly men. Toward the end of my pastorate at North Jacksonville, one of our elderly ladies said, "Dr Hunter, we know you love us and we sure do love you. In fact, we  would follow you into hell wearing gasoline underwear!"

     *STAY WITH YOUR TROOPS WHERE GOD STATIONED YOU ( the church to which God called you). It was my privilege to speak on an occasion with Dr Homer Lindsay of the great First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, FL. Under his leadership the church had grown to a point that a 9100-seat auditorium was erected to accommodate the crowds. One of the reasons for its growth both numerically and spiritually, according to him, was that he was seldom gone from Jacksonville even during the week, much less on Sundays. Dr Lindsay said he simply could not understand pastors taking Holy Land trips, leading sightseers to Alaska, accepting invitations to preach at every Tom, Dick and Harry conference but somehow never being available to know his people and serve, except for vacations, where God called him. He continued by saying that those times pastors are away preaching here, there and everywhere could have been used better at home holding the hand of a scared little resident of a nursing home, visiting a family that's about to break up or knock on the door of a lost person. I found it interesting that Dr Lindsay was so respected by even the secular community that the mayors would always ask his opinion before starting a project. As a note, when I was a pastor, I almost never took invitations to speak elsewhere but my church; plus I added nursing home services I led once a week and jail visitation. Also, I personally did handwritten birthday cards to my members, my troops, in the army of the Lord.

    In conclusion, there is a spiritual war of epic proportions taking place in front of our very eyes. The barracks (church buildings) are full of troops, many of whom are willing to fight. Sadly, very sadly, the generals ( pastors) are, for the most part, AWOL.

Plain Talk On Current Issues

This is an introduction to my new blog.  I believe it will be unique. I intend to deal exclusively with current issues with which evangelical believers should have an interest and, in many cases, be very concerned. I will duck no issues be they moral, political, educational, societal or ecclesiastical,  Each topic's answer from me will have my understanding of what the Bible says in relation to the subject. While I may quote other individuals or cite other written material, the Bible is my bedrock authority.  Because of the rapid deterioration of the moral fabric worldwide, it seems to me the proliferation of extreme anti-biblical answers emanating from "churches" is evidence that mainstream Christianity is now increasingly more concerned with being politically correct  than standing firm on "thus saith the Lord" and letting the chips fall where they may. Simply put, there must be soon a spiritual awakening that Washington and Hollywood will not be able to ignore and that clergymen  on the left and on  the right must honor or else the judgment of God will surely fall upon this nation.

Let's admit the obvious truth.  No Democrat or Republican can change the perilous slide downward upon which we find ourselves.  That is not to say that the church should not be involved in political discourse. The loudest voice for that which is right should be from the pulpits of America. Unfortunately, just because a preacher bellows as loud as a bullhorn and entertains with the motivational delivery of a late-night comedian does not mean he is "loud" in the marketplace of ideas. For example, I was preaching recently in Alabama during the week of controversy concerning the ruling by a federal judge that in spite of the state's 87% vote in a referendum affirming marriage as being between a man and a woman, the probate judges would nevertheless be required to grant same-sex marriage licenses.  Almost immediately Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama State Supreme Court disallowed that ruling. As expected, an uproar from the gay community erupted.  A television reporter along with a news video photographer visited the church where I preached, listened to my sermon in which I mentioned that though we should love the homosexual person, we should in biblical clarity call homosexuality a sin because the Bible says it is a sin. The reporter also interviewed the pastor who took a similar biblical stance as mine. That night on that station's telecast I was stunned after watching a clip of my sermon and an interview with the pastor to hear the reporter say that they had contacted fifty-two pastors of various evangelical churches and only one pastor had agreed to an interview.  The others did not return a request for comments, or wanted to talk but requested anonymity or were afraid a statement could be divisive in their particular churches. Some of these cowardly pastors were conservative; some were liberal. Please note, that incident took place in the buckle of the Bible belt, the State of Alabama, not in California or New York.

Not only is the church silent, schools are silent. During a 15-year period, I spoke to over 1.1 million teenagers in high school assembly programs in hundreds of schools across the nation. I have the utmost respect for public school teachers who are unfairly paid, work under enormously difficult circumstances and are constantly trying to teach children without parental support. When I spoke in gymnasiums or auditoriums full of teens, I could not mention the Bible, church, prayer or God. It would have been perfectly acceptable in most schools for me to hand out condoms in the hallway but I would have been ejected from the campuses of those same schools  if I had been distributing copies of the New Testament. Even the most godly of teachers in the most rural communities know there is a line they cannot cross in speaking of religious issues because, if they do, their jobs are at risk.  As a result, I can tell you from my personal experiences with high schoolers that it seems to me that a majority of them could not be classified as either moral or immoral but rather, amoral;  that is, they have no core value built upon clear teachings of the Word of God as to whether certain actions are right or wrong. I am convinced we are less than a generation away from sheer paganism without a nationwide revival.

So, for the remaining years God gives me, I intend to use every tool accessible to me to address the grievous day-to-day events and try to give you some sort of biblical perspective that you may use when discussing current issues with friends, family and associates. I have purposed in my heart to avoid no television, newspaper or radio interview on any subject, regardless how sensitive, but to make myself readily available. I will accept any invitation without regards to money for myself or my ministry to address any civic organization, church or school. And, I will use this blog to that same end.

I only ask one favor. If you believe what I am saying on this blog needs to be heard, share it anyway you can.  Share it on Facebook, on Twitter, print copies and hand them out. If you do that, this blog will not just be mine, it will also be yours......let's make a difference... especially as we one-by-one leave this world and go home to our Heavenly Father, let's leave our imprint for Christ here on earth for our children and our children's children.