2 Keys I've discovered for Change

This advice for pastors comes from Shawn Thomas:

I think one has to be to pick his battles. Sometimes pastors are unjustly persecuted; but sometimes we bring it upon ourselves by making too much of our own personal preferences. Every hill is not a hill on which to die. Is the change something that is really needed, or just a "fad"? There is much to be said about this ...

Secondly, I would not discount as a trite answer the importance of prayer. There have been situation diffused, when things could have really "blown up", after really seeking God in prayer. Plus EVERY week without fail I pray for His protection vs. Satan's divisive attacks in the church. I just think this is a vital preventative. (I think it is instructive that just after Jesus had us pray "forgive us", He had us pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" -- as if to say: "You've just asked for forgiveness, now realize that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- pray not to get into it in the first place.")


Shawn Thomas has served as pastor of churches in Oklahoma, and currently pastors First Baptist Church of Moss Bluff, La., where he has served for 10 years.