James MacDonald: Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

JAMES MACDONALD is senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

JAMES SAYS:

A Whole Lot Different, A Whole Lot the Same

One of the things I’ve discovered about people is the truth of Ecclesiastes 3:11, that there’s an eternity in our hearts, a longing God has placed in us. Church ministry has tended to focus on ways people are different; I think the greater emphasis should be on the way we’re the same. We’ve all been made to hunger for something else.

Hiring Challenges

Where we have hired poorly, I wish we had admitted it sooner and made the changes we needed to make. I’ve tended to overestimate my ability to change the behavior of others. I wish the personnel decisions were less rooted in how the people I hired wanted to be and more in what they had been—what their resume showed.

The greatest sin in ministry …

… is to bore people with the Bible.

Never Alone

Don’t be alone. It’s the important thing I’ve learned in ministry. Find a network of churches to be a part of. A lot of years we were very alone. Pastors need other pastors for counsel and support. I wish someone had told me that sooner.

 

James P. Long
James P. Longhttp://JamesPLong.com

James P. Long was formerly the editor of Outreach magazine and the author of a number of books, including Why Is God Silent When We Need Him the Most?

Relational Unity or Isolation?

The horizontal dimension of the cross symbolizes the other aspect of community that the cross offers—that we can be reconciled not only to God, but also to each other, and be brought together to form one body.