Sky Links, 4-28-18
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How to Lose a Pastor in Ten Years
-Lisa Whittle
It might disappoint you to know I don’t want to talk about Bill Hybels.
I’ve been his daughter. I’ve lived the hard road of the public scathing aftermath, and I know what it feels like to have your world turned upside down by printed articles and public commentaries.
No matter how old you get or how many people know your father’s name, to you, he’s just “Dad.” And the man who held you when you had a bad dream at night is the man you know.
Jim Reimer was the everyman but then again, he wasn’t. He was a blue jeans- and boots-wearing, down-to-earth fighter of the underdog. Like many bright lights, it was easy to stammer over your sentences when he came around.
A room didn’t stand a chance when Dad walked in; all the oxygen became his. I’ve never known anyone with more command or charisma.
And yet, I’ve never known anyone more complicated or tender.
Because for all that bravado, he was as fragile as a reef. Turns out, the tough guy isn’t necessarily the one who never breaks.
I watched him silently beg people to treat him like the normal man he was. But that was hard for us all.
The story is too long, but the abbreviated version is this: he lost his church over some tax trouble and wound up in a two-year sabbatical living out on a gravel road in a travel trailer. Those of us who loved him most cried ourselves to sleep at night, begging God to visit Him in the dark...
-Maybe the best thing we can do to help our pastors is to stop being so impressed by them. They take the stage, preach the Word of God, and shepherd people. It’s a position that deserves honor and respect.
But save the awe for God.
-A lot of our “pastor worship” isn’t about the pastor at all. It’s about our desire to get near someone who stands in the spotlight. We want to be near someone who others want to know. But we do this at the pastor’s expense.
-One the cruelest realities for pastors is how quickly they can be loved, then left. It plays into every insecurity, fear, and pressure to perform.
In the face of their humanity and struggle, those who once sang their praises now curse their name. Pastors live with this constant awareness, and it deepens their daily pressure.
-I will never understand what often happens when pastors leave a pulpit in scandal and disgrace: The people left behind pretend they never existed.
-No pastor is your God.
They are human, flesh, fallible, and can get entangled in sin—just like you and me. Believe the best about your pastor, but also understand he is capable of fleshly things.
A pastor’s failure can’t change what you know to be true about the truth, goodness, holiness and character of God and His sovereign ordination of the Church, which does not change despite human lapse.
Divine Response to Iranian Threats: Sandstorms and Earthquakes
-Adam Am Eliyahu Berkowitz
An Iranian threat against Israel last week was answered immediately from above with a massive sandstorm. If the message was not entirely clear, two days later, the Iranian nuclear reactor was hit by an earthquake at the same time Jews in Israel were celebrating their Independence Day.
Rabbi Yosef Dayan, a member of the nascent Sanhedrin (Biblically mandated court of 71 elders) and a descendant of King David, noted that it should be clear to everyone around the world that this storm in Iran was divine intervention.
“My first reaction when I saw reports of the storm was to thank God because this was clearly straight from Hashem (God, literally ‘the name’),” Rabbi Dayan told Breaking Israel News.
Recent tensions between Israel and Iran came to a head on April 16 when Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi told reporters in a weekly meeting in Tehran that Israel was doomed.
“The Zionist entity will sooner or later receive the necessary response and will regret its misdeeds,” Qasemi said.
Though the Iranian minister’s threat was predicted to come to fruition at an unspecified point in the future, an emphatic divine response immediately followed in the form of an unusual natural phenomenon. On the same day that the foreign ministry predicted Israel’s ultimate demise, a huge sandstorm engulfed an entire province in the center of Iran, battering the region with 60 mph sand-laden winds. There were no injuries or major damages reported as a result of the storm, but even the Iranian media recognized the exceptional nature of the event with headlines calling the storm, “apocalyptic.”
How to Achieve a Better Mix for Your Worship Band [Podcast]
-Kade Young
In the podcast, we talk practical tips for achieving a better sound in worship. Take a listen – you’ll enjoy it!What We Talk About
- How to get great sound while keeping it simple
- How to make vocals sound great
- Foundational EQ Techniques
- How to create a mix from the ground up
- Using the Behringer X32 in worship
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