by Bret Capranica | Feb 5, 2007 | Miscellaneous, Pastoral Ministry
Pray for Kel and Brie and if you think about it, the two pastors I serve with and myself. This morning, I leave with my two compatriots for Minneapolis, MN for the Desiring God Conference for Pastors (they’re waiting on me to finish this blog so we can get in the car and head to the airport). Pray for Kel and Brie that they will do well while I’m away. Pray for me that I will do well away from...
by Bret Capranica | Jan 30, 2007 | Blogging, Miscellaneous, Pastoral Ministry, Uncategorized
Not for you Macintrash users, but for those of us who live in the real world and enjoy the flexibility and software availability of a PC, will you be switching (or have you switched) to Office 07? Last week I downloaded the 60 day trial for the new Office Professional Suite 07. I could not be more impressed. The Business Contact Manager with Outlook will seamlessly synchronize our church’s membership records between all three of our pastors. We can instantaneously share, update and correct information associated with our membership files. All we do is turn our computer on and connect to the internet. Groove is rapidly becoming an essential for us as we are constantly sharing files and information. This tool allows us to collaborate on ministry projects and have them seamlessly and instantaneously updated by anyone on our team. Thanks to Denny Burk’s post, I am also using the new Word to write and publish this post. Have you seen the way the new Word handles footnoting for papers? This should help immensely with my project. We are also toying with a few of Microsoft’s other features that may prove helpful. I’ll mention them in the future as we find them...
by Bret Capranica | Jan 30, 2007 | Pastoral Ministry
Are you a pastor? What day do you take off and why? Good discussion at Pastor Hacks. PastorHacks.Net: Days Off…
by Bret Capranica | Jan 5, 2007 | Pastoral Ministry
Thabiti Anyabwile, a Southern Baptist pastor in Grand Cayman has written a series of articles worth reading – for both pastor and church member. Defining the duties of a pastor is always a hectic issue. More often than not, the definitions derive not from Scripture as much as from personal expectation and experience. Pastors often tend to define their duties according to what they like and eschew as unnecessary those duties they do not enjoy (I am no exception). Church members have a tendency to expect from pastors what they have experienced in their past, or they define a pastor’s duties purely according to their own personal perception of their own personal needs. Where definitions and expectations differ, struggle and division eventually arise. I appreciate Pastor Thabiti’s discussion of pastoral ministry in direct reference to what God’s word says. These eleven articles are worth not only a good read but thorough consideration. Finding a common, biblical approach to what a good pastor is to give his time and attention to will only strengthen the body and expand the integrity of the church’s evangelistic witness. What a Good Pastor is to Do: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part...
by Bret Capranica | Dec 29, 2006 | Pastoral Ministry
Planning any changes in your church for the new year. Aubrey Malphurs offers a few suggestions on making it a smooth transition. Implementing Church Strategy –...
by Bret Capranica | Dec 10, 2006 | Bookreviews, Ecclesiology, Education, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, Seeker-Sensitive, Theological Education
In my quiet time, I begin by reading from a book that will stimulate my mind and heart about sanctification or practical life in the church. Recently I have begun reading God in the Wasteland by David F. Wells. I want to share a few excerpts from his book that I noted during my fifteen minute-a-day reading time. On the current reactions against formal theological training: Noting the how the early colonial American trends in the mainline schools were producing polished institutions, there was a strong reactions against them. “This ambitious drive [among the intellectual schools of colonial America] produces some savage anti-clericalism but also because the insurgent leaders were “Ëintent on destroying the monopoly of classically educated and university trained clergymen.’ Their sermons were colloquial, “Ëemploying daring pulpit storytelling, no-holds-barred appeals, overt humor, strident attacks, graphic application, and intimate personal experience.’ The point of it all was to engage the audience. Charles Finney despised sermons that were formally delivered on the grounds that they put content ahead of communication, and, although both he and Dwight L. Moody had their own theologies, they both vigorously opposed “Ëthe formal study of divinity'” (65). “‘As the common man rose in power n the early republic,’ says Hatch, “Ëthe inevitable consequence was the displacement from power of the uncommon man, the man of ideas.’ Never again, he adds would America produce people of the caliber of Adams, Jefferson, and Madison in the realm of politics or of Jonathan Edwards in the realm of theology” (67). In light of some of what we have seen in the modern Seeker Sensitive and Emergent Church...
