Phone: (615) 584-0512
I have an idea and I think we ought to do it. Let me tell you where I saw it work. Here are reasons I think we should do it here…Brother Famous Preacher and Brother Dedicated Elder in another congregation endorse this wholeheartedly. I’ve already talked with a couple of you and I know you…
You’ve probably heard the story of the newly married couple. Both were trying to be the perfect partner. The husband noticed his wife cut off about 3” of the ham each time she cooked that dish. He didn’t want to criticize. But she kept doing it. He was calculating how much money she was throwing…
During a gospel meeting, I watched an elder work hard for hours on one of the air conditioners at the building. I asked the preacher if they had a deacon whose ministry was the upkeep of the building. He said they did. “Why doesn’t the elder let him, encourage him, hold him responsible?,” I asked….
What would you think of a leader who says, “I don’t talk on the telephone. I get my wife to make a call if I need to get a message that way”? I heard a few men make those statements 50-60 years ago. I haven’t heard a man make a statement like that about telephones…
How do shepherds, their families, and friends encourage honest, open, and accurate communication? What happens when people want to “send messages” to the elders by someone else? Several years ago, a lady was upset about two issues in the church: she had definite opinions about who shouldn’t be considered as elders and her dislike of…
In a previous post, The Best Day of the Week to Fire Your Preacher, I told of the way my dismissal was mishandled. There is certainly a better way and a better time to tell a preacher he needs to leave. But the elder who did this wasn’t a vicious man. He was a gentle…
It was Sunday, December 19, 1976, 10:20 a.m. I had just taught a Sunday School Class. An elder gently asked me to step into the elders’ office. When the door was closed, he said, “Brother Jerrie, I think you ought to think about resigning today.” What a shock! That had never entered my mind. After…
Our deacons won’t do their work.” “The elders won’t let us do anything!” “They get started and then quit.” “They try to take over.” “We get started and then the elders come in and do it their way without explaining. I’m not going to waste my time anymore.” I hear these comments in congregation after…
If a person kills himself, will he go to hell?” This was a phone call from a person I didn’t know. My question: “Why do you ask?”. The man answered, “If you can’t talk me out of it, that’s what I’m going to do when I hang up the phone.” What do you do when…
As we were discussing prospective elders in one congregation, I suggested the names of two men. The present elders said, “Jerrie, why do you suggest them. Neither has any children.” My reply: “No. They don’t have children but they are both professional firemen. If they were appointed to put out the fires in this church,…