When was the last time you saw the hand of God protecting you from harm? How many times are we oblivious to His unseen hand moving on our behalf? Only eternity will tell what He mobilized to defend us and to keep us safe.

The first time we held a missions conference, I was greatly disappointed by the attendance at the Monday and Tuesday evening services. I had assumed that our people would come because I had announced the meeting and had excellent missionaries in attendance.

In a recent post, I shared several concerns and hopes for young preachers. Here I would like to continue the theme with some thoughts regarding older preachers.

If I asked you to define Job’s life, what would you say? Probably most would define it as suffering or sorrow, but God defines Job’s life as filled. We come to the end of the book (Job 42:17) and we read this phrase, “So Job died, being old and full of days.”

“Is that all?” newly elected Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked his budget committee in 2009 during a meeting to find out exactly how much the government was spending. A series of financial scandals led to the ousting of the incumbent party and ushered in a new Greek government—one which would count the money it spent instead of assuming they spent what they had budgeted.

An important aspect of life is influence. Each one of us has influence over someone in this world. It is obvious that the more you lead, the more opportunities for influence you will have.

I was recently with a young preacher here on the West Coast who asked me a thought-provoking question: “What do you see that concerns or encourages you in younger pastors?”

Our first President, George Washington, had a motto for his life that he endeavored to live by: “Deeds, not words.” Reading this, I thought about how simplistic and yet how important it is that our lives as Christians be characterized by that motto.

Sermon outline: This is an abbreviated outline with the complete sermon downloadable at the bottom of the post. God’s Word was written for our instruction. As one must dive deep for pearls and dig deep for precious stones, so must we delve deep into God’s Word if we are going to uncover its powerful principles.

The modern model of the office of a pastor seems to be that of a spiritual executive. The vision is of a man sitting in his office, reading reports, conducting meetings, and issuing instructions. It is true that if we are to “look well to the state of our flock,” inspection and direction are necessary. But the Bible model is one of service.