Leadership Thought: Did You Ever Consider Prayer as a Form of Encouragement?

Dear Friends,

There are many easy ways to encourage someone. You can write a note, speak a kind word, offer a hug, pay a visit, but one of the most unrecognized and neglected forms of encouragement is prayer.

Paul encouraged Timothy this way: "I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers" (2 Timothy 1-3). 

Again and again the bible encourages us to pray for one another. Praying gets our focus off ourselves and onto the needs of those around us. As we "carry each other burdens," we "fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2).

It has been said that the church moves forward the fastest when it's on its knees. 

Every Thursday a group from our church gathers before daybreak to spend time with one another in prayer. 

It was Jesus who we are told got up a long time before dawn to go and pray, (Mark 1:35) and what better cue could one take than to follow the pattern of the prayer life of Jesus. This early morning hour is my favorite time of the week, for I look forward to getting together to pray with one another.

Prayer is one of the greatest forms of encouragement, for it encourages both the one who offers it as well as the one who receives it. When I leave that prayer time each Thursday, I am spiritually uplifted and encouraged, and I know I have participated in one of the most important ministries of the church- the ministry of prayer.

Before entering the doors of the church each Sunday, I offer a brief and silent prayer: "O Lord, please lead me to someone to whom I might be able to minister to this morning." When I am led to such a person, I try to listen well as I seek to hear some spoken or unspoken  need. When I conclude our time together, I simply ask "May I pray for you." People seldom refuse the offer.

I don't want to ever miss the opportunity of encouraging someone by offering them the gift of prayer.  If you have the opportunity to pray for someone 'now,' don't ever put it off. Unfortunately, there is nothing quite so neglected as unspoken prayer.

If all of us were to look for opportunities to pray and be used in ministry when we enter the doors of the church, there would be a spiritual tsunami of encouragement sweeping though the congregation. People would no longer hurry out the door to the parking lot, but instead the church would be filled with the sweet fragrance of prayer ascending heavenward.

In a former church I served we had prayer/encouragement cards in the pews. People would take them, write on them a word of prayerful encouragement, indicate the person to whom the encouragement was meant, and then drop the card in one of the offering boxes. Those cards would then be collected and mailed out by our secretaries on Monday morning to the people for whom they were intended. 

Sometimes those notes were unsigned, adding a kind of mystery for the receiver who would try to figure out who it was that was praying for and encouraging them.

Visiting people in the hospital before surgery is a wonderful way of offering encouragement. People undergoing surgery are among the most receptive and appreciative of this encouraging gift.

I frequently call  or e-mail the people for whom we have prayed on Thursday mornings to let them know that they were prayed for. I can't tell you how grateful those people are to learn that the church cares for them and has remembered to pray for them.

In several churches in which I served, there were a group of people who would pray and lay hands on me before I entered the pulpit as well as another group of people praying for me as I delivered the message.

It was said that the boiler room was the source of Charles Spurgeon's pulpit power. Each Sunday there were as many as 300 people on their knees praying that the words of their pastor would reach the hearts of his listeners. Whenever Spurgeon was asked the secret of his power, he would always explain, "it is the boiler room."

Following the close of our services, prayer counselors are always available to pray and offer encouragement to those who have needs.

One of the greatest examples of encouragement for me took place in 2023, shortly before my wife had passed away. All my children had arrived to say their final goodbyes to their mom, and I was scheduled to preach. Although I felt I was well prepared, I was not aware of how physically and emotionally exhausted I was, and suddenly I found myself standing in the pulpit experiencing an emotional meltdown. I couldn't get a word out of my mouth. Speechless and embarrassed, I stood there trying to pull myself together, but the words wouldn't come. I apologized and told our congregation that I just couldn't deliver the message that morning, and then I turned and started off the stage.

One of our pastors suddenly stood up and called the congregation to prayer. He directed us to assemble in small prayer groups all over the church, and for the next 45 minutes those groups  prayed for me, Jean, my family and the church to close the service the groups gathered around me and prayed as they laid hands on me.

To this day I tell the congregation that it was the greatest sermon 'never' preached, and I still hear stories from those present as to how encouraged they were to see and experience the powerful moving of the spirit  amidst our congregation. I will never forget how this powerful expression of prayerful love and encouragement touched and blessed my life.

I close with the words of Spurgeon who writes, "If a church does not pray, it is dead.  Instead of putting united prayer last, put it first. Everything will hinge upon the power of prayer in the church."

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Follow up to "It's Friday but Sunday's 'Comin,'" or Be Careful Who You Invite to Fill Your Pulpit-It Might Be Tony Campolo

Dear Friends,

I have received a lot of comments from my recent Leadership Thought in which I shared the poem,  "It's Friday but Sunday is Comin." 

Lo and behold, one of my readers and one of our church elders who was speaking at our Good Friday service even used it to close out his message.

A number of years ago, author, professor, and nationally known speaker Tony Campolo, shared a rendition of this poem in a message that continues to be heard all over the Christian world. 

Tony, who joined us several times when I was pastoring in Red Bank, N.J., was one of the most unforgettable preachers you will ever hear. When he preaches you either clap or throw rocks, for he has a way of stirring up your emotions.

I will never forget the first time he spoke at our church, a church that was fairly affluent and whose parking lot was generally filled with its share of Mercedes Benz's, and other high end luxury cars.  

Tony looked out at our congregation and asked this question: "If Jesus lived in Haiti and had $40,000 to spend, would he spend it on the purchase of a Mercedes Benz?" 

Some members laughed and others started looking for the nearest exit.

I still remember thinking to myself this may be my last day at this church's pastor.

People in that church still talk about the message, at least those who stayed!

Tony, who has been battling health issues of late, is no longer able to preach, but when he was in the pulpit, he was one of the most stirring and effective communicators one would ever hear.

I still remember the message on discipleship he shared many years ago at a summer  Creation Festival I attended in central  Pennsylvania. It was a message that transformed my life and my ministry, and I will forever be indebted to him for that message.

You will seldom, if ever, hear a more humorous, and more powerful rendition of this poem, so take a couple minutes to listen, and hang on to your seat for what you will hear will leave you saying, "Wow, I never heard anything like that before from any pulpit." 

That's Tony, unbridled, unfiltered, and unpoetically sold out to Jesus. Don't miss what he shares below.

Yours in faith and friendship.

Tom

www.youtube.com › watch It’s Friday....Sunday's Comin'! - YouTube

Leadership Thought: It's Friday, but Sunday's 'Comin'

Dear Friends,

S. M. Lockridge (born Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, March 7, 1913 — April 4, 2000) was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation located in San Diego, California, from 1953 to 1993.

The poem below comes from a Good Friday message he preached at his church.

It’s Friday

Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’!

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning.

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals.

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’!

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit.

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’.

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place.

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday

Sunday is a comin’!

Yes, Sunday is a 'comin', and that is the reason the bad news of Friday becomes the great good news  of Easter. He is Risen!

May your Easter be filled with resurrection  joy.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Why Can't You Christians Get Along?

Dear Friends, 

Christians don't always agree with one another, but they still must learn to love one another.

Paul and Peter had their practical and theological differences. 

Paul writes. "When Peter. came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. but when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that. by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was led astray (Galatians 1:11-13).

Paul has an issue with the actions of Peter, but they still remained brothers in the faith.

Peter writes about the importance of not letting differences divide us.

"Now that you have purified. yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:22-23).

It really bothers me when I hear pastors criticize one another over minor theological points, or the way they lead their churches.

It is sad when people leave the church because they can't get along with one another, and they remain unwilling to work through their relational or theological differences.

In today's politically charged environment, personal friendships have been severed over differing political views. 

We live in a contentious time, and as believers we need to do everything we can to preserve the spirit of unity within the body. We must never be content to allow our personal differences to fracture our friendships and our fellowship.

The greatest witness to the unbelieving world in that first century church was their unity of those believers, in spite of their many differences, they maintained an amazing spirit of unity, so amazing that those on the outside remarked, "See how they love one another."

Remember that old Christian song we used to sing. 

“They will know we are Christians by our Love, by our love; Yes, they will know we are Christians by our love." 

We need that kind of love today if we have any chance of convincing the unbelieving world that Christianity makes a difference in how we live and love.

There's an old Jewish legend that tells the story of the place where the temple in Jerusalem was built. 

There were two brothers who loved each other and who had adjoining farms. The farms yielded great crops of wheat. The difference between the two brothers was that one was a bachelor, without a wife and children. The other was married and had many children. 

At the harvest time, when the crops were in, the bachelor brother looked out over his lands, and he said to himself, "the harvest has been plentiful." Then he thought of his brother. "My brother has many mouths to feed.  My brother has more needs than I do." So, he bundled up his wheat and began to carry it to his brother's farm. 

Meanwhile, the other brother looked down across his lands and to himself, "My harvest has been plentiful."  And then his mind turned to his brother. He said, "My brother is a bachelor. My brother yearns for children, and he'll never see those children. My brother has nobody to comfort him in his sorrows and to help him in his hurts.

And so, his brother, too, bound up his wheat and made for his brother's farm. And at the place where these two brothers crossed paths, the Temple of God was built, for heaven was closest to earth at that spot.

Robert Southwell said, "Not where I breathe, but where I love, I live."

Good words for Christians to learn and live by in a contentious and unbelieving world who longs to  know, "Does the Christian faith really make a difference in the way one lives?"

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: A Hazing Story I Will Never Forget

Dear Friend,

You may have heard the expression, "God holds us in the palm of His hand."

The idea that God holds us with His hand derives from Isaiah who writes, "For I am, the Lord Your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you do not fear; I will help you" (Isaiah 41: 13).

Whatever we are going through, no matter how troubling or painful it may be, we can be assured that God's strength is holding and keeping us, and that His hand will never let us go.

Pastor Jon Courson writes, "When my children were young and were crossing the street I would say, 'Hold on to daddy's hand,' and they would. But if, out of forgetfulness or fatigue, they loosened their grip, it wouldn't matter because although they thought they were holding my hand, in reality, I was holding theirs- and I would never let go." 

So, too, we think we're holding on to the Lord, but in reality, He's holding on to us. We are kept and held by his power.

Courson continues, "A young man who was being hazed by his college fraternity was taken to a secluded spot where he was told to hold on to a knot at the end of a greased rope, as his fraternity brothers lowered him into a dark well. Thinking they would pull him up after a few minutes, he was terrified to see them tie their end of the rope to the bar across the top of the well, leaving him suspended in midair."

"'This can't be!'" he thought, as he called for help, but none came."

"As he approached the fifteen-minute mark, his arms aching unbelievably, and his shoulders feeling as though they were on fire, he started to cry."

"Finally, after about twenty torturous minutes, able to hang on no longer, he let go and fell two inches-, just as his fraternity brothers had calculated." 

Jon then asks, "Isn't that just like us?" We cry out, "Where are you, God?"  "I don't know if I'm going to make it." We fret, blubber, and scream until we finally let go, and guess what we discover that our solid rock, Jesus Christ, was there all the time."

Jon concludes his commentary by pointing out "that a bunch of us have burning shoulders and aching arms for absolutely no reason. We're trying to hang on through our own efforts, by our own spirituality. We get disgusted with ourselves and worried we're not going to make it. If we would just let go of the rope and rest in what Jesus did on a cross of Calvary, we would realize it's not our puny efforts that will see us through, but the power of God." (New Testament Application Commentary, Jon Courson, 

p.1544)

Thanks, Jon, for that wonderful reminder that we are safely held in the hands of our loving Father.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S.  Oswald Chambers writes, "We are like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and he stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says,  'I cannot stand anymore.' God does not heed. He goes on stretching until his purpose is in sight, then he lets fly."

Leadership Thoughts: Changing Organizations That Need to Be Changed

Dear Friends,

It has been said that only wet babies like change. I don't know if this is true, but I do know that change is often hard for individuals and hard for organizations.

However, making change is important, and we always need to be open to change when it is needed John D Rockefeller said, "Don't be afraid to give up the good for the great."

Over the years in my ministry, I have always found it valuable to invite outside input to help me see how we could improve our ministry. I can say that over the years, I have found nothing so helpful and so valuable as getting a fresh and unbiased perspective on our ministry. Outsiders can often see and hear things we don't always see or hear.

Like going to a doctor for an annual check, a church consultant can provide helpful information about your church's health.

Consultants are given free rein to talk with both members and staff. Through a written congregational survey which is distributed to every member, a consultant is  able to gain a better picture of the church's overall health and often suggest remedies to address those conditions that need attention. 

When a church, business, or volunteer organization refuses to listen to the people it serves, it is in danger of losing touch with the very resources that determine its success.

I once was a part of a secular organization where the leadership had lost touch with its members.  Organizational morale was at an all-time low, and many of the members were frustrated because they had no real input in how the organization was being run. 

Those in leadership positions continued to perpetuate programs that personally benefited them and not their membership, and the division between members and leadership grew with each passing year.

Finally, the membership recognized the need for change, and they developed a survey to assess the issues and concerns that were being expressed by its membership. 

The result was positive. In asking questions and listening to the answers, the leadership helped heal the growing division between itself and its members.

"They listened to me," said one member, and in doing so the fracture between leadership and members was healed. No longer was there a we vs. they attitude, but now within the organization there was an all for one and one for all mentality. Everyone now felt they had a voice, and the result was a new and positive spirit developed within the organization.

All of this made me think of the method Lou Holtz, legendary college football coach, who used to turn around losing football programs. He successfully revitalized programs at five schools, turning them from perpetual losers into winners within each of the first two years he took over. 

When asked how he did it, he said it was simple. "I got together all those players who has been a part of a losing tradition, and I asked a lot of questions, and then I shut up and listened to every answer." The solution and strategy for fixing the problem was embedded in their answers.

Whether by asking questions personally or gaining responses through a survey, leaders can learn what they need to do to improve their organizations. This process works in churches, businesses, and in volunteer organizations like the one in which I was involved.

Collaboration is the key. We need to listen to the hearts of the people we serve. In listening, we  learn the answers to the problems which then will provide us with the strategy to fix the problem. The strategy and solution for fixing the problem is always found within the answers to the questions we ask. 

Let us never be afraid or reluctant to change for as Winston Churchill reminds us, "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." 

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Three Words to Remove from Your Vocabulary

Dear Friend,

Never doubt the providence of God. One of my favorite stories of God's amazing providence is revealed in the following story.

A British family went to Scotland one summer for a vacation. The mother and father were looking forward to enjoying the beautiful Scottish countryside with their son.

But one day, the son wandered off by himself and got into trouble. As he walked through the woods, he came across an abandoned swimming hole, and as most boys his age do, he took off his clothes and jumped in!

He was totally unprepared for what happened next. Before he had time to enjoy the pool of water, he was seized by a vicious attack of cramps. He began calling for help while fighting a losing battle with the cramps to stay afloat.

Fortunately, a farm boy was working in a nearby field. When he heard the frantic cries for help, he rescued the English boy and brought him to safety.

The father of the boy who had been rescued was, of course, very grateful. 

The next day, he went to meet the youth who had saved his son's life, and the two talked. The Englishman asked the brave lad what he planned to do with his future.

The boy answered, "I'll be a farmer like my father."

The grateful father said, "Is there something else you would rather do?" 

"Oh, yes," answered the Scottish lad. "I've always wanted to be a doctor, but we are poor and could never afford to pay for the education."

"Never mind that," said the Englishman. "You shall have your heart's desire and study medicine. Make your plans, and I'll take care of the costs."

So, the Scottish lad did indeed become a doctor.

The intriguing part of the story is that years later, in December of  1943, Winston Churchill (the English boy), became deathly ill with pneumonia. While in North Africa, his life was saved for a second time by the same Scottish boy, Sir Alexander Fleming, who had become that doctor. 

This time he was saved by a new drug Fleming had invented, the first antibiotic, penicillin. 

Two years later, under the unshakable leadership of Churchill, Britain and her allies would defeat Hitler and the Nazis, ending the most diabolical regime in history. Holy Moments, Matthew Kelly, p. 165-67)

One never knows how the providence of God is shaping events of history to conform to his will.

It is so true  that "The King's heart is like channels of water in the hands of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1)."

Genesis tells about Joseph, who was sold by his brothers to be a slave in Egypt, but who eventually became the prime minister of the land.

Paul and Barnabas had such a bitter quarrel about taking John Mark on a missionary journey that they wound up going their separate ways, resulting in two successful preaching expeditions instead of one. 

Charles Swindoll suggests, "It is time to remove three words from our vocabulary as we add the word providence to our communication. They are chance, fate, and luck. Those humanistic terms suggest there are blind, impersonal, and spontaneous forces at work in the ranks of humanity. NOT! Only One is at work in you, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" Philippians (2:13)."

Swindoll continues, "Take heart my friend. God is in full control. Nothing is happening on Earth that brings a surprise to Heaven. Nothing is outside the scope of his divine radar screen as he guides us safely home. Things that seem altogether confusing, without reason, unfair, even wrong, do indeed fit into the father's providential plan. "The Finishing Touch, Charles Swindoll, p. 140

Aren't you glad He's in control?

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom