Joe McKeever

Blessing God honors God and calms the soul. When we praise Him, we are saying the most basic truth in the universe: God is God, and I’m not, thank God.

This is for pastors and other church leaders in particular.

When Jim went to his church as the new pastor, he told me, “They have a bad history. Every two years they run the preacher off.” He paused and said, “Let’s see if we can change that.”

He didn’t. Two years later, in spite of the wonderful growth the church was experiencing, a little group informed him that his work there was done, and it would be better if he left.

I served one church where a small group of leaders–some elected and some not–met from time to time to make important decisions for the church. The poor pastor had little or no say. When I, the new preacher, suggested that this is the type of thing a congregation needs to know about and make the decision, the spokesman said, “We don’t like to upset the congregation about these things.”

These days in my retirement ministry, since I’m in a different church almost every Sunday, I see all kinds of congregational setups. In one, the pastor seemed to be an appendage and was considered irrelevant by the lay leadership. In another, he was the good old boy expected to not make waves.

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Everyone has errant thoughts from time to time. If we handle them well and send them on their way, in no way should we feel shame or guilt.

When we come to pray, we trust Him to answer in the way of His choice, not ours.

Historians tell us the Pharisees started off as revivalists. Eventually, however, they went from being encouragers to harassers, from lovers of God to bullies.

In the morning, O Lord, I will direct my song and my prayer unto You and will look up.

Worship is an integral part of the Christian life. It allows us to solidify our relationship with God, and reminds us to focus our hearts and minds on his word. In the same way a human body requires food and water, so does our spiritual health depend on worship. Without it, our hearts grow cold and our faith withers into nothing.

Scripture tells us that the devil will do anything to get between us and God. 1 Peter 5:8 even warns us to be, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Our enemy will wait, and scheme, and hunt for any sign of weakness in our lives. It shouldn’t come as any shock that he’ll try to sabotage our worship. In the days ahead, be sure to put on the armor of God, and keep these 10 lies from stealing your joy!

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Worship is not about you and me. Not about "getting our needs met." Not about a performance from the pastor and singer and choir and musicians. Not in the least.

A blog is not a sermon, right? Not necessarily an essay, nor is it a theme written for a class. Theoretically, a blogger should be able to write about whatever he/she wishes. That being the case, I herewith submit this sampling from the riches of Proverbs which are among my favorites. Along with appropriate comments, of course.

I said to my Old Testament and Hebrew professor, “Solomon could not have written these. They champion monogamy and faithfulness to one’s wife, something he clearly knew nothing about.” Dr. George Harrison said, “When it says in the opening verse ‘the proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel,’ it could mean something as simple as that he collected these. It’s not necessarily saying he wrote them.”

Good. Maybe he did write some of them. After all, the Queen of the South was impressed by his wisdom (1 Kings 10:7) and perhaps these are some of the reason.

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This is tough, trying to pare down the scriptures that have nurtured me most faithfully over the years from childhood to an even dozen. I was able to pull it off in the Old Testament, but not the New.

The New Testament is the heavy weight, the major force, in the believer's life--in his study, meditation, doctrine, instruction.

A young pastor friend told me recently he majors on the Old Testament, he loves it best, and that this is where his sermons come from. I told him I was horrified (maybe overdoing it just a tad for effect).

For a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the New Testament is "where it's at." The Old Testament is all about roots and background, preparation and anticipation. The Old Testament is filled with stories of God preparing His people, of symbols and prophecies and rituals all of which would be fulfilled in Jesus.

How odd to prefer the rituals and symbols to the reality and substance that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must never choose the Old Testament over the New. They are essential, priceless, and complementary, but the New is dominant.

I gladly own up to being a New Testament Christian. Nowhere else on earth do we find the story of Jesus. It's the only place where we are given His teaching and the doctrines of our faith. It's where we are given instructions for godly living and directions for faithful ministry during this period between Jesus' two visitations.

Focusing on the New Testament is not optional for a disciple of Jesus. This is our life. It's what we are all about. We must become students of the New Testament (and only then, a student of the Old Testament secondarily and indirectly).

Here then are twelve Gospel texts that mean a great deal to me. They are part of my DNA, essential aspects of my faith. Anyone running a spiritual autopsy on me would find that these are responsible for my backbone, my heart, and my vision. This I believe.

After you have been married a few years, you will encounter other young women who are scared to death about marrying a minister. Or, they’re already married and find themselves overwhelmed by the demands of the life of a minister’s spouse. You will be able to help them. Even though you will feel you’ve not done this very well, and will question whether someone else is more capable than you, you are the right one to help them.

I suggest you invite two or three or four young wives for tea at your home (if your home is humble and things are cluttered, so much the better!) just to get acquainted. Do not dive in to talk about how tough this work is. Just visit and get acquainted, and the Holy Spirit will take it from there. Once you’re all settled, take a moment to consider these 10 realities of marrying a pastor.

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Here are five visible changes in sermons and sermon delivery we have observed over the past two decades.

With God's help, you can leave behind the painful memories of difficult church experience.

“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” –Stephen Hawking

I’m afraid of the dark.

If we’re talking about the endless kind of darkness that offers no light anywhere, no hope ever, and nothing but nothingness, who among us would not panic at the thought of that?

I expect people like Mr. Hawking simply find the idea of Heaven too good to be true, and thus conclude that it must be a product of man’s delusional yearning for “pie in the sky by and by.”

And yet, there are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life. Here are some that mean a lot to me. By no means is this list exhaustive. It’s simply my thinking on the subject.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less.

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then. “I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

If it were not so, I would have told you.

Jesus said that. I believe Him.

I choose to believe.

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