Quick Review of Pastoral Graces by Lee Eclov

Mike Leake

I think most pastors and those in ministry are blindsided within the first year of ministry.  No seminary class can prepare you for the cold reality that God calls pastors to live.  Yet, no seminary class or leadership book or training can fittingly explain the joys that come with ministry.  Ministry is the realm of some of the greatest joys in life and some of the deepest pain and sorrow. 

Pastors need grace to shepherd with grace.  That is the heart of Lee Eclov’s little book, Pastoral Graces.  For eleven chapters weary and/or rookie shepherds get to listen in as a seasoned pastor shares his reflections on over 30 years of pastoral ministry.  At times the reader is strongly exhorted and other times he is warmly comforted.  Through every page you know that you are hearing words of grace from a God-besought pastor. 

I have been doing ministry now for over 10 years.  (Hard to believe, since I’m only 31, but I feel 45).  One of the things that I have learned in ministry is that I need to surround myself with those that will sharpen me theologically.  But that is never enough.  God has also graced the church with those that are far more astute in what might be termed practical theology.  Lee Eclov is one of these pastors. 

I imagine if I spent an afternoon with Pastor Eclov that we would probably have a few theological differences.  But I also am confident that I would leave that afternoon a better pastor and a better man.  Experience and grace flows from his pen.  I benefited in the days I spent listening in on his reflections of a lifetime of caring for souls. 

You will benefit too.  This is a book that most all pastors ought to get.  Whether you are seasoned but weary or a novice you will be confronted by grace as you flip through these pages.  Eclov stands in the line of great pastors that continue to exhort other pastors to “shepherd the flock of God”. 

You can get your copy for under $10.

Today in Blogworld 9.1.12

Mike Leake

Hello September!

Vacation for Pastors Who Won’t Take One

This was convicting and helpful.  Pastors we need rest.  I’m not the primary one preaching on Sunday morning but I actually do some form of teaching/speaking about 3-4 times per week.  I need this article too. 

Parenting for Recovering Pharisees

A good reminder that God’s grace even my parenting blunders.

Facebook as the New Door-to-Door Ministry

Interesting thoughts here from Brad Williams on using Facebook for ministry.

Receiving and Giving Criticism Before the Cross

Tom Schreiner is somebody that you want to listen to.  He is very balanced and helpful and a super gracious man.  That’s why when he is asked about how to receive criticism and what to do when misrepresented, I listen.  Check out his answer.  (While you are thinking about Dr. Schreiner say a little prayer for his wife too). 

It’s healthy to be able to laugh at one self.  It’s even better to be able to laugh at those that are laughing at us.  George H.W. Bush is healthy:

Keeping God Central in the Midst of Conflict

Mike Leake

One of the marks of a good book is that it keeps rattling around in your head months after you read it.  Pursuing Peace by Robert D. Jones is proving to be one of those.  In putting the finishing touches on our marriage conference I kept coming back to Jones’ book on conflict. 

For me perhaps the most important point in the entire book is made in chapter three.  In that chapter Jones makes the point that the most important thing that we do in the midst of conflict is pursue pleasing God.  He then gives nine implications that this pursuit has on our relationships.

  1. Failure to please God—our failure or the other person’s, or both—is the ultimate cause of all relational conflict
  2. This goal of pleasing God keeps our focus on God, not on the conflict issues or on the other person
  3. In Christ, this goal is always doable, no matter how the other person behaves
  4. This goal will help us pace our efforts (our energy, timing, risk, etc.)
  5. God might bless our efforts by brining reconciliation
  6. If both parties seek to please God, full reconciliation is guaranteed
  7. Even if the other person does not please God, we can experience God’s blessing and comfort
  8. We must continue our commitments to please God even if the other person does not, and even if the relationship gets worse
  9. When the goal of pleasing God governs us, the other person’s sins and failures become opportunities, not obstacles, to please God more and more, and to grow as a Christian.

There is a ton that is said in the book between the lines, but this is enough to be helpful at present, and hopefully enough to encourage you to purchase this very helpful book.

Get it today!

Husbands, What Is Your Goal For Your Wife?

Mike Leake

As you think about your answer to that question consider the goal that Jesus has for his bride.  In Ephesians 5:25 we read that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.  In verses 26-27 we see the reason why.  The sacrifice of Christ for His bride had an end in mind:

…that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

The goal that the Lord has for his bride is her sanctification.  But notice in verse 27 the words “so that”.  Even her purity has a goal; namely, that she might be presented to Him without blemish—that she might be holy before him.  If one considers the thrust of the Old Testament and the reasons for purity it is not a leap to say that the reason why Christ purifies His bride is for the sake of an unhindered relationship with her. 

This is much the same thing that Romans 8:28 is referring to when Paul says that, “all things work together for good”.  In the context of Romans and in light of such passages as Psalm 16 we know that our greatest good is conformity to Christ.  Our greatest joy is found in having an unhindered fellowship with the One of whom it is said, “In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” 

Christ fights for the joy of His wife by helping her find joy and satisfaction that is as deep and lasting as that found in Psalm 16:11.

What This Means For Husbands

After considering the sacrifice of Christ in securing the joy of His bride Paul says in Ephesians 5:28, “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself”. 

Does Paul mean that just as Christ fights to secure His Bride’s joy in Himself so husbands ought to fight to make sure that their wives find their joy in themselves?  Of course not.  That would be idolatry. 

What Paul is saying is that husbands find their joy in the joy of their wife.  If we think that the greatest joy they will find is in ourselves we profoundly rip them off.  No, we must have the same goal as Jesus; namely, that their joy is as deep and lasting as Psalm 16:11.  Anything else is not a high enough goal.  And the miracle of Ephesians 5:28-32 is that as we nourish and cherish our wives in such a way that they find lasting satisfaction in Jesus we also find our own joy. 

Men, may our goal for our wives be as big as Jesus. 

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For a really good sermon on a similar concept check out this one by John Piper: No One Can Take Your Joy.