SNS answers

Pastoral dereliction of duty.  I almost fell out of my chair when I read this! I am studying The Christian Pastor by Wayne E. Oates ( https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Pastor-Third-Revised/dp/066424372X) and he quotes a survey of preachers revealed that the average time they spent in a day in sermon prep was only 34 minutes ! God help us if that's true! A good pastor spends more than that on creating the outline and major points to cover in the message. Any good pastor would hang their head in shame if they only used 34 minutes a day each WEEK in preparing a sermon for Sunday. A pastor who fails to study and grow as a Christian is not only failing HIMSELF, he is also failing his CONGREGATION! Any Pastor only spending that amt of time on sermons is failing as man of God and a pastor.  He can not possibly do what he was called to do by Jesus: "FEED MY SHEEP”. And this is another reason why expository preaching is the gold standard. How you do your preaching influe...

Q:  Increasing numbers of church members are asking me, in reference to their pastors, Doctorate or A B D [all but discertation], if “should we be calling him Doctor since it is how he refers to himself.” How should we view this?  A: It is very odd for a pastor to desire to be called by his worldly credential title. As a Christian his role in the church is Pastor. And he simply studies and presents the teaching of the Word. That is the gift the Holy Spirit gave him just as we all have gifts to use in the church.  If he wants to get attention to himself and seem superior then he is not putting Christ first. Even very respected John MacArthur doesnt call himself like that, and he has had his Ph.D for a loooong time. He goes by just simply Pastor or John. Remember in God eyes we are all equal and a pastor is not above you. We need to remember also  Christ is to be given the prime spot and he is to increase in our life and "me" or "self" is to decrease and decrease so ...