Pastor

Don’t Go to Church for the Pastor

By Bob Hiller –

Don’t go to church for the pastor. It won’t end well. He is not a celebrity. He is not a spiritual guru with special insight into the workings of heaven. He is not a magical priest who alone has the power to save. He’s no one to put your faith in. He’s a sinful dude with a message he has to deliver. To be sure, that message is from God. And it is the most important message you will ever hear. That message is worth showing up for. But the guy who delivers it? As much as you might like him, as funny and handsome as he might be, he’s just not the one you should go to see.

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The Measure of a Pastor

By Ross Engel –

About ten years ago, when I was fresh from the seminary and “just” a lowly associate pastor, I was invited to a “Pastor’s Appreciation” brunch at the local non-denom mega-church. The senior pastor that I served with back then was always keen on going to those social events to rub elbows with all the “big church” preachers and thought it would be good for me to attend. To be perfectly honest, it was one of those moments that I felt like a was a Padawan learner – a Jedi apprentice – dutifully following my master around, doing my best not to mess up the chance for my master to look good in front of the other masters.

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Post-Seminary Vicarage

By Jaime Nava –

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. This quote, attributed to Mark Twain by many, sums me up so completely. In high school, I thought I had things nailed down. In undergrad, I found it difficult to think that I could learn any more than I already had. Even in my beginning years of seminary, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on knowing. This satirical article could have been me.

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The Pulpit Is Not Your Platform

By Bob Hiller –

With the death of Muhammed Ali, 2016 has taken one of the most significant public figures in the last half century. Almost without argument, Ali is considered to be the greatest boxer of all time. He even, rightfully, self-glossed himself “The Greatest.” (Is it bragging if he’s right?) Not only did Ali dominate in the ring. He was a trailblazer outside of boxing, as well. In an era where athletes, let alone black athletes, were expected to be seen and not heard, Ali used his fame as a platform to stand up for what he thought was right. In the ‘60s, when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, Ali provided a voice for the black community.

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The End of Celebrity Preachers

By Bob Hiller –

Do you remember the old Nike commercials where Charles Barkley announced: “I am not a role model…I am not paid to be a role model…I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court”? I remember that commercial resonating a great deal as it came in the wake of the news that Magic Johnson was HIV positive. Johnson was a hero of mine, and as a young Christian kid, I had this naïve view of the world that successful athletes were good Christians who lead morally exemplary lives. I was in the sixth grade and went into mourning when the announcement came out. I was burned, not just because he was no longer going to play basketball, but because of my hero’s promiscuous sexual habits. My hero had let me down.

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Strapped!

By Ross Engel –

For twenty years now, I’ve had the same pair of companions accompanying me to the gym. My wife can’t stand them. They’re old, they smell like sweat and maple syrup, and they push me beyond the limits of what I can do on my own. Well, today my wife can rejoice, because those companions are no more. They ripped during my morning session in the gym.

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Mashing Buttons

By Jaime Nava –

There was this game I remember playing on the SNES. It’s called “Out of This World.” The art in it was fun to watch, and the story was interesting. You were this guy that ended up on an alien world. Captured by aliens, you try to break free. There is no English spoken, as the game goes on, so the player is as clueless as the character being played. There’s this one scene where you end up in an alien tank. There’re no instructions. There’s no clue as to what you’re supposed to do, so you just try everything. You just mash down on the buttons hoping something will happen. The game expects that kind of reaction, and eventually you create enough havoc to save yourself. It’s cleverly done.

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Stick to the Script

By Bob Hiller –

This has been an overwhelming week for the ol’ Haymaker. I have begun serving a new congregation in beautiful San Diego County (Community Lutheran Church). Though I’ve been a pastor for the better part of a decade, I have found myself completely overwhelmed. I know it’s a pious cliché for pastors to say that their calling is too big for them, and that they have to rely on the Lord. But dude, I am in over my head. I am thrilled that the Lord has placed me in this new place. And I am completely overwhelmed.

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Call Day Musings

By Ross Engel –

This week was Call Week at our two seminaries. Both St. Louis and Ft. Wayne placed vicars, deaconess interns, deaconess candidates, and candidates for the Office of the Holy Ministry into congregations. Last night, two of our Ft. Wayne “Bell Ringers,” Greg Bauch and Michael Daniels, received their placement assignments for their first Calls into the Office of the Holy Ministry. What an exciting time for them both!

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Preaching or Performing?

By Joel Hess –

“A desire to preach without the burden to study is a desire to perform!” HB Charles Jr.

The above declaration absolutely pummeled me this past week. Thank God. It is so easy for a pastor to cut study from his work week. So many emergencies interrupt and there are so many little things to do. Writing a sermon becomes just another task to mark of the to-do list.

It’s especially dangerous as the preacher reaches his twelfth year. He has preached every text and prepared for every book of the bible. At the drop of a dime, a competent pastor should be able to preach a decent law and gospel sermon on any given text without it being bad.

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The Shepherd, His Sheep, and the Sheepdogs…

By Ross Engel –

For the past six years, I have been competing in the Scottish Highland Games. I have grown to really love the sport. There is just something great about being able to put on a kilt, pick up heavy stuff, and throw it as far as possible. Of course, there is more to the sport than just strength; it does take a bit of technique to pick up a telephone pole-sized tree and flip it end over end. In between throwing heavy stuff, most of the veteran athletes congregate together, sitting in the shade (if there is any), cheering on the other guys, and passing around some of Scotland’s national beverage while waiting for our turn to throw again. Sometimes we’ll be close enough to watch the sheepdog demonstrations that seem to go with every Celtic festival.

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The Pastor’s Pastor

By Ross Engel –

Another successful “Bell Ringer” fund collection has come to a close. It was with great joy that I was able to send off $350 to 4th Year Seminarian, Michael Daniels. If he sends us any pictures of he and his classmates enjoying a round on your generosity, we’ll be sure to post them in a future post or on our Facebook page. What a great group of readers we have who are willing to support such a worthy cause! Thanks!

I truly love the opportunity that the Bell Ringer fund affords me to get to know the variety of guys who are busy studying and preparing for the ministry. Their excitement to serve the Lord and their starry-eyed hopes are often a refreshing change from the stressed out, over-worked, cynicism that so often accompanies the gray-haired pastors I often find myself in conversation with.

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The Joy of Enduring “The Suck”

By Graham Glover –

I recently returned from a 2-week field exercise with my Soldiers. Apart from being away from my family, sleeping in a 1-man pup tent, not showering, and eating more MREs than my digestive tract prefers – it was a phenomenal time of training with my new Battalion.

There are many things an Army chaplain can do to earn the trust and respect of his Soldiers, to include, above all, being a faithful man of God. But living with them in their training environment – enduring the “suck” that everyone experiences while in the field, is one of the best ways for a Soldier to realize that where they go, their chaplain goes – when they suffer, their chaplain does so as well.

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The Preacher’s Library

By Paul Koch –

I will never forget the time I had right before I left the seminary for the parish; I was happy that I was able to spend a few days with Dr. Feuerhahn before hitting the road. I remember being in his study and he was generously unloading some of his excess library on me. We were there because I had mentioned to him that one of the great fears I had about leaving the seminary, was leaving behind its incredible library. To walk away from the library was to walk away from the promise of answers held within its stacks.

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