Let’s Talk!
March 28, 2012 1 Comment
I read a promotion for an author’s material in which he said, “After 25 years in ministry, traveling to 32 countries, and preaching to folks in every conceivable setting and denomination…” He then proceeded to give some advice to preachers and a way to get some materials of his, some of which, to his credit, were free.
More book jacket info about the author than I can count touts how he/she has sold so many thousands of books. Other book jackets tell of how large a weekend attendance at worship the author has as a pastor.
I’m wondering what any of this has to do with giving credibility to what the author has to say. Do the number of miles traveled, the volume of books sold, or the size of an audience expand our understanding or deepen our faith? It’s possible, but it’s also possible that staying in one place, writing to one person at a time in an e-mail or letter, and sharing in a small group could expand our understanding and deepen our faith.
So what about the author of this blog, A Pastor’s Heart? You’re probably asking yourself, Who is this guy, Dave Claassen? I suspect you’ll Google my name. I’ll save you some time and tell you that I don’t get invited to travel great distances to speak. I’ve done some writing but I don’t have a best-selling book. I speak every weekend in my church but it’s not to thousands of people.
What credentials do I have for writing a blog called A Pastor’s Heart? My credentials are my calling to be a pastor and for having been given a heart for pastoring a flock of his people. My goal in this blog is not to impart some great wisdom and insight but to share the journey I’ve been on as a pastor in the one church I’ve served for 36 years. In other words, I’ll be sharing something of my spiritual pilgrimage.
If you’re a pastor then you have been given a heart for pastoring and you have the credentials to contribute to the dialogue in this gathering place I’ve named A Pastor’s Heart. I hope we hear from Rev. I. M. Average who’s serving The Third Church of Ordinary located in Timbuktu. I hope we hear from you too!
What’s on your heart and mind? Join the conversation!
A Pastor's Heart 
Dave Claassen, I welcome the opportunity to share in this way with pastors of like heart. Ministry is filled with extreme highs and lows as we minister to our various congregants with their daily struggles and celebrations. I wonder, however, who pastors the pastor? Who hears his/her confessions, struggles, joys, pains? We, too, have highs and lows in our private lives that sometimes can be shared openly and sometimes not. Each of us has been called by God to serve without regard to the size of the congregation or even the makeup of the congregation. I, for instance, serve in a congregation of mostly elderly people in a small inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, OH. I had the thought that perhaps God had a major sense of humor in calling me to this congregation. I have spent most of my 40+ ministry years dealing with teenagers and now here I am. Oh, how I have grown. I see the world a bit differently and my priorities (as well as my discussions) are different. Life, for me, has been enriched as I have been challenged to expand my outlook. I needed this change and, obviously, God knew that. I am thankful. I deal much more with end of life issues. That is a new perspective. Anyway, Dave, thanks for this opportunity of expression.
Patrick Hunt, Berea, OH