Book of the Quarter: What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church

What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9

On the fifth Tuesday of each quarter of the year, I share a book I’ve read recently. I highlighted “mustard seeds,” which impressed me. I hope you find one or two that will be helpful to you.

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Here are the “mustard seeds” I highlighted:

First, how you serve is critical. Ministry is tough enough. But if you consistently serve outside of your primary areas of giftedness, you won’t last very long under the stress and strain that comes with the territory. I really don’t hear this talked about very much, if at all. But there’s something about large amounts of time spent serving against the grain of your natural gifting that saps your emotional and spiritual energy (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 234, Kindle Edition).

When you hurt, if you don’t find something God-honoring to fill your tank with, you’ll find something that isn’t God-honoring (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 248, Kindle Edition).

I don’t hate anybody. ’Cause the Bible says it’s a sin to hate. But there are some folks I hope dies of cancer of the tonsils. — a Louisiana pastor (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 746, Kindle Edition).

When you give in to envy, you not only desire what another person has and resent them for having it; you want to destroy its presence in the other person’s life. What an envier ultimately wants is not simply what another has; what an envier wants is for another not to have it.
“Yeah, she’s smart, but she doesn’t have any common sense.”
“She’s a good surgeon, but she doesn’t mind charging you for it.”
The “but” approach is utilized when we reluctantly acknowledge a particular gift in someone but then let envy quickly enter to destroy the other person’s gift.
The subtle nature of envy’s destructive bent is not always verbal, much less even active. There is a silent version of envy’s destructive tendencies. Consider the secret satisfaction we experience at the misfortune of others (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, pages 769, 774, 775, 776, 778, Kindle Edition).

The one attitude, the one spirit, that you must meet with zero tolerance is that which fosters division and dissension in the church (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 863, Kindle Edition).

the church, left to itself, will naturally turn inward, which is why it takes a disproportionate amount of leadership energy to keep it turned outward (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9 page 930, Kindle Edition).

The reality is the 10-10-80 principle. Knowing about this principle, and working it to your advantage, is the key to sanity. What is 10-10-80? Ten percent of the people will instantly take to you. They liked you the minute they met you. They liked your face, your family, the story of your life, and your voice. And they will keep liking you.
Then there are 10 percent who, well, don’t like you. They didn’t like you the minute they met you. They didn’t like your face or your voice.
That leaves the 80 percent. These are the people who are suspending judgment. They are open to liking you, but they are waiting to see whether you are true to your God, faithful and straightforward in your teaching, honest and caring in your dealings with them, and diligent in your duties. If so, they will happily join the 10 percent who granted you favor without your earning it (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, pages 1147, 1451, 1463, Kindle Edition).

In my family we had two parents and four children. If we had voted on everything, we would have had ice cream for dinner every night, never gone to bed, and lived at Disney World (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 1620, Kindle Edition).

The church is family, and as a result, it should be understood that its members have differing levels of spiritual maturity. If every decision is made by the majority instead of the most spiritually mature, then there is a very strong chance that the majority could mislead the church (What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary: 25 lessons for successful ministry in your church, by James Emery White, © 2011 by James Emery White, Published by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, ISBN 987-4412-3219-9, page 1622, Kindle Edition).

For more information or to purchase this book on Amazon, click on the picture below or this link: What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary