Episode 003 – Don’t Beat the Sheep

Being the leader in a church is hard work. Church folks can be some of the most frustrating and difficult folks to work with. But, despite their flaws (and our own) and the amount of stress and frustration we may face as church leaders, beating the sheep should never be an option. God doesn’t take kindly to it, and we put ourselves in great danger when we ignore this fact and abuse the sheep for personal gain. Unfortunately, it happens more often than we may realize as beating the sheep isn’t just a physical act. In this episode we introduce another host of the Angry Christian Podcast (Robert Platt) and explore how easy it is to fall into the angry trap as a church leader. [Ezekiel 34:1-11]

Credits:
Intro Music – “Angry Dance” by Simon Panrucker
Other Music as it appears – “Oh Yeah” by Yello, “Sweet Georgia Brown” by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey, “Would Jesus Wear a Rolex” by Ray Stevens, and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” by Fred Rogers

Don’t Beat the Sheep

My particular rod of choice was my tongue. I was (and still am) quick witted and could conjure up snarky unkind responses at the drop of a hat. All a church member had to do was corner me, or hit me up before the church service was beginning to complain about something, and the rod (that was my tongue) would get whipped out and promptly applied to the head of the unsuspecting sheep.

Don’t Just Judge, Judge Rightly: An Inconvenient Truth

I used to be pretty critical about those who didn’t “go to church”. Clearly, they lacked something I didn’t because they didn’t want to be AT church. Clearly they weren’t as committed to God and the Church as I was…I who was on staff and being paid by the church to be there. That is…until […]

6 Signs of an Authoritarian Church Leader

au-thor-i-tar-i-an /əˌTHôrəˈterēən/ adjective: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government at the expense of personal freedom showing a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others; domineering; dictatorial. noun: an authoritarian person Nothing is more unattractive to me than a church who has leaders and a pastor who […]

A Pastoral Epidemic of Biblical Proportions (Part 1)

In recent weeks, months, and even years there has been a growing concern for the mental and emotional health of pastors (especially younger pastors) as we have seen far too many of them take their own lives leaving behind ministries, families, and friends behind to wonder why. Many of these pastors were the senior pastors […]

10 Lessons I’m Learning About Being in Ministry

I’ve been serving in the ministry in one shape or form for the last 15 years. Be it volunteer or paid, full or part time, or as a youth minister, music minister, or both at times. And while I certainly don’t have the track record of many who have gone before me that doesn’t mean […]

Spiritual Authority: This is My Story

I have not always understood what spiritual authority is…nor did I probably even care for a long time. Nor am I claiming to understand it completely now, but I’m definitely farther along than I was. And to understand where I am now, you have to understand where I was and how I got here. It […]

Attempting to move the immovable

Psalm 18:2 ESV The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. When I read scriptures like this, that utilizes imagery to describe God, his character, his personality, his power, his might, his justice, […]

Run to the Battle – 5 Important Points for Pastors Engaging the Culture | Guest Contributor Dr. Kevin Baird

“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” | ‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ I recently attended a specially called meeting […]