The pastor who knows his people is going to communicate with his people better. Why? Because he knows their heart. Shortly after coming to Lancaster Baptist Church I was amazed at how well Pastor Chappell knows his people. I would bring up a name thinking, “He’s not going to know this guy in my Sunday school class,” but he would stop and tell me all about that guy or his family, and I would just stand there amazed. But that is what makes a preacher effective.

Next to my salvation and my relationship with God, nothing is more important to me than my relationship with my family. I am very blessed to have grown up in a healthy, spiritual family. My parents were saved before my birth, and early in my infancy they started attending a Bible preaching church. That Bible preaching and teaching helped them in their marriage and certainly helped them raise their children.

We live in a day of analysts. And everyone, it seems, wants to analyze the church. Some analyze to be critical, some to posture themselves as “better than the imperfect church” in order to gain members for their “near-perfect church.” It seems most pastors view themselves to be more balanced than others or to have a better understanding of grace, theology, missions, etc. than others. Perhaps these self-assessments are true, perhaps not.

One of the most often rehearsed quotes from the lips of the apostle Paul can be found in the third chapter of the book of Philippians. After listing all the things he has been through—both good and bad—he reaffirms his intention to continue to pursue Christ by saying:

In the home where I lived as a boy, there was a medicine cabinet that hung on the wall above the sink in the bathroom. That cabinet is where you would find the thermometer and antibiotic cream and other items that relate to health and sickness. In that cabinet were two small bottles that looked very similar.

I recently preached from 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 on having a renewed vision for the work of God. Amazingly, after forty years of leading God’s people, David’s heart for God was still passionate, and his vision for God’s work was still fresh. As I studied for this message, I was impressed by how David personally participated in providing materials for the construction of the tabernacle.

Outside of Christ, there is no greater communicator in the Bible than Solomon. Proverbs is a book of metaphors. One common denominator to all great preaching other than the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is a metaphor. A metaphor uses the imagination to picture your point.

People who call themselves Christians are involved in just about every activity you can possibly imagine, and sometimes attempt to justify very ungodly actions by claiming that they are ministering to others through their sinful lifestyles. As we live in a culture that tolerates every type of life and justifies every type of lifestyle, how can we know what we should and shouldn’t do, especially in questionable areas?

Selfie—it was the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year for 2013. And it says a lot about the influence of social media on American society. But perhaps it says more about the narcissism of American society in general. Because in the end, our social media doesn’t make us who we are; it reveals who we are.

Making a decision to leave the mission field is monumental and should only be done after much prayer and counsel. I pray that the Lord will use these questions to either solidify a direction that you are already leaning toward, or to completely change your mind according to His will.