Category: preachers

Don’t Wait To Say “Thank You”

received word this morning of the passing of one of my mentors and heroes, David Sain. I have known about this man and his great family since I was a boy, having watched a VHS video series by him entitled, “The Time To Get A Divorce.”

Neal Pollard

I received word this morning of the passing of one of my mentors and heroes, David Sain. I have known about this man and his great family since I was a boy, having watched a VHS video series by him entitled, “The Time To Get A Divorce.” When I moved to work with the Cold Harbor church of Christ at the age of 24, I got to meet David and get to know him better. He was preaching for the Wood Avenue church of Christ in Florence, Alabama, which congregation provided support for Cold Harbor.

From the beginning of this relationship, David encouraged me. He invested in me as a young preacher, counseled me, and even defended me in situations where he stood nothing to gain by doing so. He told me something early on that I have quoted repeatedly for over 30 years, including last Sunday morning in Bible class: “It’s not a matter of ‘who’s’ right, but ‘what’s’ right.” It has been so helpful in dealing with difficult and controversial topics. He blessed my local work whenever he came and preached. He appeared on a TV program in my local work, resulting in many Bible studies and 14 baptisms from the community. He was always a class act, who acted out of the good of others and for the strength and growth of the church. He was a builder.

In later years, he continued to email, write, and call me, ostensibly to encourage me. He did so, modeling a humility that did not negate my estimation of his greatness. It only enhanced it. He seemed to always have the right thing to say at the right time, a continual class act. He always appeared to “have it together,” yet he never claimed or affected perfection. He loved his wife, his children, and his grandchildren in a doting and devoted way. Yet, he was courageous and compassionate, embodying as well as anyone I ever knew the principle of Ephesians 4:15!

I did tell him “thank you” more than once, but I never had the chance to articulate to him the things I’ve shared with you here. I reflected earlier today about that fact. Who else do I need to thank for their spiritual influence in my life? Who has planted seeds of success and strength in the garden of my life? Who do I need to seek out today? Somebody needs to be thanked for the good they have done to us and for us! Tell them now, while you can. They may not know you think that, and they will certainly be encouraged by it (Rom. 13:7).

A lesson from David in the last few months of his life.

2 Corinthians: Christianity Is Personal (XIV)

Preachers Are People, Too (10:1-18)

Neal Pollard

Of course, we know that preachers are people but sometimes some may have a picture that preachers have super-spiritual abilities when tempted or troubled or that preachers don’t face the same challenges everyone else does. Paul reverses focus from Corinth (chapters eight and nine) to himself in what we identify as chapter ten. His words serve as a good reminder, first for preachers themselves but also for others who view the preacher. What important truths does Paul reveal here?

PREACHERS WONDER HOW THEY ARE COMING ACROSS (1-2)

Paul sought to urge them with Christ’s meekness and gentleness, but he appears to wonder if that was how they perceived him (1). He was concerned about what tone he would have to take when he saw them, between having some unnamed critics and risking his relationship with the church as a whole (2). While some preachers appear to relish the rebuke and scold approach, they are a distinct minority. Yet, every preacher labors under a divine order to “not shrink from declaring…anything…profitable” (Acts 20:20) and “not shrink from declaring…the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). That includes some challenging subjects, and preachers want to be faithful to that while obeying Paul’s instructions to be kind rather than quarrelsome, correcting with gentleness (2 Tim. 2:24-25).

PREACHERS ARE AT WAR WITH THE DEVIL (3-6)

I know preachers who served in the military, and they no doubt have greater personal appreciation for Paul’s military metaphor. Our warfare is not against the flesh, but our weapons mighty before God (3-4). Part of our work is destructive (4-5) and aggressive (5-6). There is a readiness and activeness as a part of this work (5-6). We are not at war with members or other preachers. Paul will say in verse eight that his God-given work was for building them up and not tearing them down (8). But, when we stand against the devil, we know that we may have to stand against those who are ignorant of his schemes (2:11) and led astray by his craftiness (11:3). Yet, we should never relish this part of our work!

PREACHERS WANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD & ACCEPTED (7-11)

Paul knew what his critics said about him. They attacked not only his “preaching style” (cf. 11:6) but even his appearance (10). But, Paul hoped his writing and his words would help these brethren see his heart and better understand where he was coming from and who he was trying to be. I think the vast majority of preachers want that same thing. Each of us has plenty of quirks and flaws, in style and even personality, that become crosses we bear. However, our confidence is that most brethren are so charitable and can see past those impediments (4:7) and allow God to work through our imperfections to his glory.

PREACHERS WILL BE JUDGED AGAINST WHAT IS RIGHT, NOT AGAINST OTHER PREACHERS OR CHRISTIANS (12-18)

It is apparently an ancient practice for preachers to measure their own success by what others have accomplished. Who’s had more influence, baptisms, speaking engagements, local church growth, debates, books and articles published, recognition, etc.? It sounds pretty petty when read in print, doesn’t it? How much does God care about that? 

Paul writes, “We are not so bold to class or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding” (12). “But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord (Jer. 9:24; he also quotes this in 1 Cor. 1:31). For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends” (17-18). Let that resonate and sink down into my heart. God is the only measuring stick that matters. Our consuming obsession must be with being good stewards of the opportunities He puts in our laps (13).

Most preachers do not enter preaching for financial gain, fame and glory, or as an outlet for some frustration. We love the church, love God, love the lost, and love His Word. But, it is easy for anyone to lose their way or forget their original intentions. After all, we have our own struggles in the flesh and deal with our own humanity (12:7; Rom. 7:14ff). Some of God’s people may need the reminder of 2 Corinthians 10, and even more preachers may need it. Thank God for His wisdom, who was “pleased… through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). 

The Local Preacher (Part 6)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

In Acts 20:24, Paul says, “…But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself…in order that I may finish my course.” 

What an incredible attitude. In verse 24 Paul stated the reason he was willing to face the dangers in Jerusalem. He was ready to surrender his life for the gospel. In his epistles Paul often stated his readiness to suffer, even to die for Christ. Paul had completely given his life to Christ. He was willing to die for what he believed. Are we? As ministers we should believe in the word of God so much that we are willing to give our lives for it. What are our lives to us? How much do they mean to us? Do we care so much about our lives that we are willing to preserve them over preserving the word? Those are a lot of questions, but there’s one simple fact that we must remember. A preacher that is not willing to give his life for the cause of Christ is not worthy to preach. 

God’s church, the Bride of Christ, deserves a man willing to lay down his life for the gospel. When Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus, He gave Paul his life’s mission. By the grace of God, Paul completed a lifelong service to Him. As ministers, there is not a better life to model ours after, besides Jesus, than the life of Paul. He was selfless to the very end. His body was a mere tool just for the cause of Christ. What does that take? A lifetime of studying and growing our relationship with the Lord. A man with a poor or lacking relationship with God does not belong in the pulpit. 

From the book of Acts we can pull many examples from Paul’s life and apply them to that of the modern day minister. The Bible is 1900 years old, but it is still a practical guide to today’s preachers. We have different challenges that may seem like new issues, but Paul proves over and over again that following Christ wholeheartedly is all we truly need to make it as successful ministers in the church today. Who does the church see in the pulpit? Who does the church need in the pulpit? These are often two very different things. The preacher can act one way in front of everyone, but who he is when he’s alone is what counts. Does he study and pray constantly? A minister should follow closely the example of Paul, and in doing so he will not fail. If every church had a preacher like Paul the church would be a strong and thriving group. 

Carl Pollard

The Local Preacher (Part 5)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Acts 20:25, “And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.” 

Local preachers must know their congregations. A relationship is key to having a successful ministry. A man by the name of T.D. Jakes speaks of the relationship between a man and a woman, and he relates this to the preacher and the congregation. He once said, “The art of relationships requires that a man who is very different from his woman finds common ground with her and vice versa. We are meant to balance each other by attracting people whose strengths may be our weaknesses.” The preacher has the congregation, and the congregation has the preacher. With this kind of relationship, the consequences of ruining it would be catastrophic. 

Acts 20:27, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Paul taught the whole Truth of God, A local preacher should never shrink away from teaching the entirety of God’s Word! Paul taught the whole truth no matter the consequences of his actions. We have the whole Truth, which is able to save the souls of the lost. If we leave out any part of the Truth, then we are trading our comfort for the souls of the lost. We must realize the magnitude of not proclaiming the whole Truth.

Acts 20:28, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” 

This section centers on the work of elders. Paul gives two imperatives (commands) to them. First, we notice that he says to be on guard. This word (prosecho) means “to be in a state of alert, be concerned about, care for, take care.” Their “state of alert” needed to be twofold: firstly, for themselves (elders). Elders need to take care not to forget their own spiritual lives. This would logically be the first place that Satan would start. Then those under the care of the elders would scatter. When the shepherd disappears, the sheep scatter and become easy prey. If the elders are to guard the flock then it is partly their job to make sure the preacher is preaching what the scriptures teach. They can’t guard the flock if they’re feeding them poison. 

A bad preacher is like a wolf. This term describes a person who deals in a pitiless manner with the congregation. Instead of building the flock up he is slowly eating away at their spiritual lives. The preacher is not completely different than the average member but they are in charge of delivering the “food,” if you will. As ministers we should make sure that we are feeding the flock only the finest foods.

Carl Pollard

The Local Preacher (Part 4)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

Acts 20:22-24 says, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” 

From these verses we understand that the local preacher must learn to trust in the Lord to take care of them no matter what happens in their ministry. We read here of Paul and the affliction and imprisonment he faced in every city. Paul had his priorities in order, he did not wish to save his life, but to lose it for Christ (Matthew 10:39; Galatians 2:20). As a local preacher we may face trials in our ministries, but if there is a trust in the Lord to get you through, then there is always hope. 

Notice that Paul says, “Not knowing what will happen to me there…” Another quality we must have as preachers is that we must fully rely on God. Even when we don’t know what will happen to us. Applying this practically, we should rely on God even when we don’t know where our next paycheck is coming from. We must rely on God when we travel overseas to foreign countries. Many in the world react harshly to Christianity and we may not know how they will receive us. Do we trust in God when the world hates us? How will the members of the congregation act when they see a man who puts that much trust in God? It will inspire them to do the same thing. Their trust in God will grow through our example. 

There were times in Paul’s life when he had no idea what the outcome would be. Sometimes he did not even know whether or not he would die, but he kept on in the service of the Lord regardless of his circumstances. That is faith, and that is the kind of faith we need as ministers for the church in the 21st century. We serve a God that promises a great reward if we live a faithful life, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t trust in Him the way Paul did. 

We also learn from verse 24 that the local preacher must put the Word of God first in life. By doing this, the most important piece of life is given the attention that it needs. Many ministries fail because of a lack of putting God’s Word first. We could never help a local church the way it should be helped without God’s Word. Also, ministers must not fret over the physical. Being so focused on what could happen, or what has happened could cause a train wreck for both the preacher and the congregation. Many ministers are focused on what people want to hear rather than what they need to hear. From reading the writings of Paul we can see that he preached and taught some very difficult topics. As preachers today we need to preach an unadulterated gospel. We should teach those hard topics. We should teach even when we may be the only one willing to stand by the scriptures. 

A congregation must feel some growing pains in order to be strengthened. They need to hear the hard lessons and as preachers we need to be preaching to ourselves as well. When we study the Bible, we should be applying the lessons to our lives first. People will not listen to a preacher who is not living what he is preaching. 

The Local Preacher (Part 3)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

The Local Preacher (Part 3) 

Acts 20:19 says, “serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews.” Paul “served with humility.” As great a man as Paul was, he served (douleuo – ministered to others as if he were their slave). His service is described with three genitives: With all humility (Philippians 2:3), with tears, and with trials. So all of this could be summed up as Paul served with humility, and stayed faithful through trials. Once again we can tie this back to the local preacher, as preachers are put in a position to serve the congregation and to stay faithful to them. Many preachers can become very haughty because every single Sunday they have people telling them how incredible their sermons are. Preachers must constantly keep in mind the humility that they should be practicing (John 13).

The local preacher should not shy away from teaching that which will help the church. Acts 20:20 says, “how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.” Herbert Agar once said, “The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.” 

People will not always be open to the message that preachers proclaim. But the job is to proclaim all truth to the congregation. We also learn that preachers should be vocal about the Gospel. Notice that Paul said “…in public and from house to house.” The word used for “shrink” in this verse is upostello and means to “shrink from and avoid, implying fear.”

The local preacher is to make no exclusions as seen in Acts 8:21 which reads, “Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul preached the Gospel to everyone! He knew what they needed and gave it to them. One way we can put this into perspective is to make a parallel between how we treat others, and how God treats us. As humans, we can sometimes show partiality. Whether it is because of someone’s personality or how they treat us, we tend to avoid those types of people. 

What if God treated us this way? We know from Romans 5:8 that God sent His son to die for us “while we were yet sinners…” God did not, does not, and never will show partiality to anyone. Paul proclaimed to both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews at this time did not get along well with the Gentiles at all. Paul puts that aside and shares the Gospel with them. Romans 10:12 says, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.” 

This all applies to the local preacher today. There should never be partiality shown to different members by the preacher. Even more than that, there should be no partiality shown to those outside of the Church! Yet we see that so much in today’s culture. The Gospel is what people need, so he must never let partiality stand between a soul and eternal life.

The Local Preacher (Part 2)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog 

Carl Pollard

Acts 20:18 says, “And when they came to him, he said to them ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia…” The apostle Paul gave of his time to the church. If a preacher doesn’t give his time to the church, then he is doomed to fail the congregation. 

What is a preacher that does not give of himself? First he is selfish, and secondly he is not treating the Bride of Christ with the respect and care needed. Notice that Paul says “the whole time,” not just “most of the time” or “some of the time.” Paul was fully devoted to those in Ephesus. He was a man that was church-minded. This was a man that showed focus, and likewise we must show this focus and determination to make the church as strong as it can be. A proficient preacher proffers personal time for others. It takes a selfless person to give up time for the brethren. 

Paul uses the Greek word epistamai which means “to acquire information about something, know, be acquainted with” (BDAG 380). Paul knew for certain that the elders knew who he truly was. The same must be true for the preacher and the congregation. So what does this mean? This means as ministers we must be transparent. The elders should know what we are doing to help build and strengthen the church, and so should the members. 

When it is all boiled down we see that a minister, in the most simplistic of terms, is to be a servant. He should be a servant of others in the church, and most of all he should be a servant of God. If the preacher is not a servant and is not setting that example then how are the other members in the congregation supposed to look up to him and follow him? Will they be servants? Most likely they will follow the example of the minister. We, as ministers, in many cases set the standard. We can inspire, or we can harm the church. One thing we should never forget is that our influence and example can be some of our best tools. Are we excited about God’s word and work? We should be showing that and lighting the fires of every member in the church. 

Work Cited: 

Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, edited by Frederick W. Danker, et. al., Third Edition, U of Chicago Press, 2000. Logos Bible Software, 13.0, Faithlife Corp, 2022.

The Local Preacher (Part One)

Thursday’s Column: Captain’s Blog

Carl Pollard

When taking a look at the book of Acts, many insights can be found about the church. From the Lord’s supper to the appointing of elders, there are many things that can be learned about the Lord’s Church and how it should act. Today there are far too many churches that have left and strayed away from the original design. Since we have one Bible, there should be one church. Out of the many things that can be learned from Acts, one of the most prominent aspects seen is the local preacher in a congregation and how he should behave. 

Today when we look in the denominational world, we see the preachers as a sort of leader in the church. The names given to preachers can sometimes be misleading. But the preacher has a very significant job, and hopefully by the end of this article series we will see that the minister is not too different from the member of the body. He is one that proclaims the word. His main job is to be an example and one who can take the word of God and turn it into something that God’s people can learn, and then apply to their christian walks. By looking at the examples given in Acts about the local preacher, we are able to answer quite a few questions. 

Probably the chapter that contains the majority of these insights is chapter 20, specifically verses 17 through 38. These articles will be an in depth study on this section of Acts, and how it applies to a preacher in a local congregation. 

Acts 20:17, “Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.” Notice that Paul met with the Elders of the church at Ephesus. The word for elder here is the word presbuteros, and we know that this is in reference to those who held the office of elders, and were not just older men. We see this in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6ff. 

To be a successful local preacher it is vital to talk to, and build a relationship with the elders of the congregation. Elders play an extremely vital role in churches, and to be an effective minister we must make sure that there is a healthy relationship between the elders and the preacher. Paul set the example, and now we follow what he has set. It makes sense. The elders are the leaders of the congregation and if the preacher is leading in a way other than what the elders have asked then how will the members react? The preacher must be one that uplifts and submits to the authority of the eldership. Paul was a great man. He had given up so much for the gospel yet even he submits himself under the elders. God knew what He was doing when He designed the church, so it is no wonder that many denominations fall away from the original design, and then run into many issues. 

The local preacher is a member, therefore he must submit to the oversight and leadership of the elders.