The Pastor's Primer

339 Pages·2006·0.81 MB·English

by  David Aman

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T P ’ P
HE ASTOR S RIMER
O.S. H
AWKINS
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Copyright 2006 O.S. Hawkins
All rights reserved
ISBN: 0-9779400-0-4
Dewey Decimal Classification: 253-dc22
Subject Heading: CLERGY - HANDBOOKS, MANUALS, ETC.
Printed in the United States of America
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the
Holy Bible, New King James Version.
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Other books by O.S. Hawkins
When Revival Comes (with Jack R. Taylor)
After Revival Comes
Clues to a Successful Life
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Tracing the Rainbow Through the Rain
Revive Us Again
Unmasked!
Jonah: Meeting the God of the Second Chance
Getting Down to Brass Tacks
In Sheep’s Clothing
Tearing Down Walls and Building Bridges
Moral Earthquakes and Secret Faults
Rebuilding: It’s Never too Late for a New Beginning
Money Talks: But What Is It Really Saying?
Shields of Brass or Shields of Gold?
Good News for Great Days
Drawing the Net
Culture Shock
High Calling, High Anxiety
The Question of Our Time
The Art of Connecting
GuideStones: Ancient Landmarks
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About the author
For more than 25 years O.S. Hawkins served pastorates in
Oklahoma, Florida and Texas. A native of Fort Worth, he has
three earned degrees (BBA, MDiv and DMin) and several
honorary degrees. He is President of GuideStone Financial
Resources which serves 175,000 pastors,church staff members,
missionaries and other workers of various Christian organiza-
tions with their retirement and benefit service needs. He is the
author of more than 25 books and preaches regularly at Bible
conferences,evangelism conferences and churches across the
nation. He and his wife Susie have two married daughters and
three grandchildren.
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Dedication
To the pastor at the crossroads who labors with dedication and
determination in that seemingly “out of the way place” where
he often may wonder if he is forgotten. To you is given an incred-
ible promise — “Shepherd the flock of God which is among
you…and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Pet. 5:2,4).
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Table of Contents
I The Pastor and His Purpose......................13
II The Pastor and His Preaching ..................29
III The Pastor and His Preparation................49
IV The Pastor and His Passion ......................63
V The Pastor and His Perspective ................75
VI The Pastor and His Position......................89
VII The Pastor and His Pastorate..................103
VIII The Pastor and His People......................117
IX The Pastor and His Prayer Life ..............131
X The Pastor and His Power ......................141
XI The Pastor and His Privilege ..................153
XII The Pastor and His Passage....................169
XIII The Pastor and His Pastoral Ministry ....179
XIV The Pastor and His Pastoral Care............199
XV The Pastor and His Partner ....................211
XVI The Pastor and His Parenting..................223
XVII The Pastor and His Priorities..................233
XVIII The Pastor and His Personal Life............235
XIX The Pastor and His Possessions..............255
XX The Pastor and His Pressures..................267
XXI The Pastor and His Politics ....................277
XXII The Pastor and The Poor ........................287
XXIII The Pastor and His Pedagogy ................299
XXIV The Pastor and His Pay ..........................309
XXV The Pastor and His Pension....................321
XXVI The Pastor and His Prize ........................331
Scripture Index ........................................................339
About GuideStone....................................................343
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Introduction
In a myriad of ways this pastor’s primer you hold in your hand
capsulates more than a quarter of a century of my pastoral min-
istry. This journey took me from the little town of Hobart out on
the southwestern plains of Oklahoma to the concrete canyons of
downtown Dallas. It has been my joy and privilege to be called
“pastor”to four wonderful congregations of believers across the
years. While at the First Baptist Church of Hobart,Oklahoma,I
learned that the pastorate is the people business and that life is
about relationships. While at the First Baptist Church of Ada,
Oklahoma,those good and godly people with a rich pulpit her-
itage inspired me to become an expository preacher. While serving
the First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale,Florida,for 15 years,
I had the privilege of being on the cutting edge of church growth
and for that decade and a half watched God do what few local
churches have been able to see and experience. Then,at the First
Baptist Church in Dallas I found anew the stewardship of pastoral
authority and the respect that goes with heritage and history.
Along the way of my personal journey I have been fortunate
to have had two remarkable mentors in ministry. Dr. W. Fred
Swank, my father in the ministry who led me to Christ as a
17- year-old young man,consistently modeled the pastor’s heart
before me and was my constant source of encouragement,cor-
rection and counsel. Then, after Dr. Swank’s death, Dr. W. A.
Criswell “adopted”me as his own. He took me under his wing
and into his heart during my days in Fort Lauderdale and then it
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was my good fortune to pastor the same people he had pastored
for 50 years. He was my biggest asset and greatest encourage-
ment during my Dallas days. Both of these pastors,like right-
eous Abel,“though dead still speak”today through much of my
own philosophy of ministry which is found in this volume.
The journey throughout this pastor’s primer will take us
through 26 chapters. Each chapter contains a PowerPointwhere
we will deal with the power of the subject at hand. There is also
a PracticalPointwhere we will seek to put our hand on the handle
of how “to do”ministry at the chapter’s particular point of interest.
This is followed by a PressurePoint. Here,we will be cautious
of various things to avoid and seek to be watchful of potential
problems which could possibly arise at the point of the particular
chapter’s topic. Then we will come to a PulpitPointwhere we will
establish a biblical basis,using an expository sermon outline,for
the chapter’s primary subject. Finally, each chapter will con-
clude with a PersonalPointat which the reader will have oppor-
tunity to make personal applications for future considerations.
As the years unfold before us,it is my prayer that some young
pastor out there somewhere,perhaps going to his first pastorate,
will find some nugget of truth and help from these pages in order
that he might,like David,lead his people “with the integrity of
his heart and the skillfulness of his hands”(Ps. 78:72).
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I
(cid:2)
THE PASTOR AND HIS
P
URPOSE
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14 The Pastor and His Purpose
(cid:2)
P P
OWER OINTS
The pastor has been given by the Sovereign Lord the
highest calling in God’s economy. It is not a vocation to be
chosen among several options. It is a divine, supernatural
“calling”from the Lord Himself. Jesus put it thus,“You did
not choose Me but I chose you,and appointed you,that you
should go and bear fruit”(John 15:16). Paul said,“I became
a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to
me by the effective working of His power”(Eph. 3:7). The
pastor has a special calling from God and a special gift which
is given to him in order to perform the work of ministry.
God’s words to Jeremiah are as poignant and personal to a
God-called pastor as any to be found anywhere. He said,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you
were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the
nations”(Jer. 1:5). I have always considered this one of the
most awesome thoughts a pastor could have. Think about it,
before I was formed in my mother’s womb — He knew me!
But that is not all. He set me apart for a special calling and
ordained me to do His will. Nothing nobler could be said of
a pastor than what Paul said of David in his Pisidian Antioch
address. He said that David “served God’s purpose (his
calling; his will) in his own generation and fell asleep”
(Acts 13:36). God’s purpose is for each of us to find the will
of God for our lives and then to do it.
God does not simply “call” the pastor into ministry; He
gifts him for the tasks of the pastorate. He does not call the