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.
