tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

How to Read: The Gospels

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This is part of a series of posts based on the book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. To see the previous posts in this series, click below:
Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?
How to Read: New Testament Letters
How to Read: Old Testament Narrative
How to Read: Acts of the Apostles

It is essential to have a proper understanding on how to read the Gospels for that is where the majority of people begin reading the Bible. The Gospels record the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Through beautiful literary features and powerful speeches, one is introduced to the God-man. Jesus is by far the most influential person who has ever lived. Not only did he live thousands of years ago – he currently reigns above all other rulers as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Below is a list of the Gospels:

  • Gospel of Matthew
  • Gospel of Mark
  • Gospel of Luke
  • Gospel of John

As you meditate upon the powerful truths illustrated throughout the Gospels, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind in order to properly understand how God is speaking through the authors:

1. The Gospels are not biographies. 

Many critics automatically assume that Christianity is not true because there are four different books about what Jesus said and did. People tend to look at the four Gospels, judge them according to the 21st century’s understanding of biographies, and conclude that the Gospels are mostly false. This approach shows both ignorance and arrogance in the person making the judgment call.

Although the Gospels DO include biographical details about Jesus, that is not the primary goal. We have no description of what Jesus looked like or even what specific year he was born. There is very little reference to his extended family or many of the other details that would be included in a modern biography. Rather than reading the Gospels as a biography about Jesus, they are better understood as memoirs about Him. Although many people, myself included, would like more specific details on Jesus’ life, we need to understand that we have none. God, through the use of human authors, inspired what to include and what not to include in the Gospels.

We need to trust that everything that is there is what we need to know – if it’s not recorded then we do not need to know about it.

The four Gospels all hold equal authority in the life of the believer. One Gospel is not “more inspired” than the others. Each Gospel is living and active; if you take the time to study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, you will witness His power afresh today.

2. Learn the historical context.

Similar to our discussion on reading the letters of the New Testament, it is vital to understand the historical context of Jesus and 1st century Judaism. As you read through the Gospels you will encounter many different groups of people: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Tax Collectors, and various others. To truly understand the genius of Jesus in relating to such a vast group of people, you need to have a basic understanding of the culture. This is best done through a solid Bible dictionary which will provide vital information on the historical context.

For example, when you begin to understand the corruption of the tax collectors then the calling of Matthew becomes much more profound. You will also have an understanding of why Jesus was so repulsive to the religious elite. Rather than condemning Jewish people who had betrayed their brothers, Jesus welcomes them with open arms.

As you gain a grasp on the 1st century context, you will be given a fresh vantage point on familiar stories throughout the four Gospels.

3. Understand Jesus’ concept of the Kingdom of God.

In your first read through the Gospels, the Kingdom of God will seem like an elusive concept. You will continually hear Jesus and others refer to this Kingdom but in seemingly strange ways. In some cases it will seem as if the Kingdom of God had already arrived (see Mark 1:15); other times it seems as if it is in the distant future (see Acts 1:7). Without understanding this kingdom concept, you will leave your study in the Gospels puzzled by the language. Jesus speaks as if the Kingdom of God is already here and yet sickness and death still seem to reign in our world.

This begs the question: Is the Kingdom of God something that has already arrived or it is something we are looking forward to?

The answer is YES!

This is a concept that is known as “already but not yet.” The Kingdom of God is ALREADY here to a certain extent (eternal life, forgiveness, healing) but it is not yet here in is entirety as we still face death and sickness every day. Evil still runs rampant in our world just as it did in the 1st century. If anything, it seems as if evil is becoming more prevalent as death tolls rise throughout the world. The Kingdom of God arrived at Jesus’ death and resurrection. It will be fully consummated at Jesus’ Second Coming.

See below for a helpful chart from the book:

Already……………………………Not Yet
righteousness…………………..completed righteousness
peace………………………………full peace
health…………………………….no sickness or death
Spirit……………………………..in complete fullness

As you study the Gospels and the Spirit of God speaks to you through Jesus’ ministry, remember that the Gospels are not biographies, learn the historical context, and understand Jesus’ concept of the Kingdom of God.

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry, Uncategorized

How to Read: Acts of the Apostles

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This is part of a series of posts based on the book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. To see the previous posts in this series, click below:
Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?
How to Read: New Testament Letters
How to Read: Old Testament Narratives 

The Book of Acts is unique in the Bible. It is the story of the early church; its birth, conflicts, and expansions. The Book of Acts is a very readable book and seemingly easy to understand. While this is true for most of the book, there are still principles you must keep in mind.

First, the guidelines I shared on reading the Old Testament Narratives also hold true for the book of Acts:
1. You are not the hero of the story, God is.
2. The narratives to not explicitly teach moral truth.
3. The narratives to do not directly teach doctrine.

Keeping those three guidelines in mind, let’s see how they uniquely apply to the book of Acts.

1. Keep in mind Luke’s purpose for writing Acts.

Luke, the author of the book of Acts, was a highly educated Gentile who had a keen interest in recording history. For those specifically interested in history, the book of Acts is an excellent Hellenistic historiography. For those of you who are terrified of words with more than three syllables, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Luke wrote the book of Acts in order to
– encourage Christians in their faith
– be entertaining
– inform readers about the early church
– offer an apologetic for this new ‘sect’ of Judaism

In other words, Acts is not a theological treatise that addresses baptism, tongues, or other theological disputes that tend to divide Christians today. Although Luke speaks into these issues through narrative, they are not the main goal of his book.

2. Understand the ‘movement’ of the Book of Acts.

Through Acts, Luke shows the abundant power of the Holy Spirit in the early church. Specifically, he shows the expansion of Christianity from a religious sect to a movement that encompasses multiple continents and people groups.

One of the best ways to understand specific passages in Acts is to note where it is in the overall movement of the book. There are six different parts to this movement contained in Acts:

1. The primitive church in Jerusalem: Acts 1:1-6:7
2. Movement carried out by Greek speaking Jews: Acts 6:8-9:31
3. Movement that includes the Gentile people: Acts 9:32-12:24
4. Movement into the Gentile world led by Paul: Acts 12:24-16:5
5. Movement into Europe led by Paul: Acts 16:6-19:20
6. Movement into Rome via trials in Paul’s life: Acts 19:21-28:30

3. The narratives in Acts do not bind us to a certain form of ‘doing’ church. 

Many people have read about the “house churches” in the book of Acts and wrongly concluded that house churches should be the norm of the 21st century. Many zealous Christians have built entire organizations on a restoration mentality based on the book of Acts (oddly enough, these same people use microphones and sound systems in their gatherings..).

The principles illustrated, rather than the specific church models, are normative for us.

  • Today the Church is to be a movement that cannot be crushed by persecution, racism, death, or martyrdom.
  • The Church is to encompass multiple people groups by tearing down the dividing wall of hostility between them.
  • The Church is to be a fellowship of people devoted to the teachings of the Bible and to one another.

Rather than trying to restore specific models from the early church (such as house churches and feeding programs), we need to keep in mind the timeless principles of Scripture. The narratives written in Acts are to encourage and inform God’s people; not lay unrealistic burdens on us from the 1st century.

I am only able to cover these principles very briefly in a blog post. For further reading and greater explanation, I highly recommend purchasing the book!

 

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry, Uncategorized

How to Read: Old Testament Narrative

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This is part of a series of posts based on the book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. To see the previous posts in this series, click below:
Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?
How to Read: New Testament Letters

Narrative is the most popular literary style in the Old Testament. Roughly 40% of the entire Old Testament is narrative. Below are some narratives that you may be familiar with (and ones we often interpret wrongly):

  • Noah and the Flood
  • Abraham’s Migration
  • Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
  • The Exodus of Israel out of Egypt
  • Joshua conquering Jericho
  • Samson deceived by Delilah
  • David defeating Goliath
  • Daniel in the Lion’s Den

A narrative is simply a story. There are characters, plots, conflicts, and resolutions. The narratives of the Old Testament are about real people that lived real lives. As you are brought from scene to scene in the different narratives, there are three important concepts to keep in mind.

1. You are not the hero of the story, God is.

Unfortunately, many people read the Old Testament narratives from a man-centered perspective. What I mean is people try to place themselves into the story as the hero. One example of this is concluding that you are David and the problems you face are Goliath.

Let’s be real – You are not a hero. If you want to place yourself in the story, you would probably be the Israelite army who cowered behind the shepherd boy.

As you read the different narratives, keep in mind that the stories are meant to highlight the greatness of God – not the greatness of man. This is also true for the actual characters in the story.

Moses is not the hero of the Exodus, God is.
Joshua is not the hero in his conquest, God is.
Daniel is not the hero in the lion’s den, God is.
You are not the hero in your own story, God is.

2. Narratives simply record what happened – not what should have happened. In other words, they do not explicitly teach moral truths.

One of the reasons I treasure the Old Testament is how realistic each of the stories are. Rather than showing a highlight reel of each person’s life, God has inspired people to record all of it- especially the bad. From rape to murder, all of it is included throughout the narratives. This shows that we live in the same fallen world that David and Noah inhabited; one in which people do what is right in their own eyes and thus disregard God’s commands.

The problem is when people read a certain narrative in the Old Testament and conclude that is what God is calling them to do. There are some cases where a moral principal is explicitly taught but the majority of the narratives require you to have an understanding of the Law (the first five books of the Bible) in order to decide whether or not a certain action is moral.

One narrative that is often taken out of context in this regard is Gideon and his fleece. If you do not know the story, Gideon lays out a fleece in order to test God to see if God is really calling him. Many well-meaning Christians have concluded from this narrative that is is morally right to set out a “fleece” of our own and test God. When the narrative is read in its proper context and compared to the explicit moral teachings in the rest of Scripture, you will be able to understand that God honored Gideon’s fleece not because Gideon was righteous by doing so but because God is gracious.

This does NOT mean God will honor your “fleece” because you lack the faith to trust Him when He calls you.

3. Old Testament narratives do not directly teach doctrine.

The narratives in the Old Testament DO teach truths about God. Yet we need to keep in mind that these truths are illustrated rather than explicitly stated.

One example is regarding God’s faithfulness. As you study the rebellion of Israel in the Old Testament, many of the stories illustrate the doctrine that God is faithful. This is shown through the way he raises up Judges to deliver His people and the pattern of restoration given throughout the narratives.

On the other hand, if you are using a single Old Testament narrative in order to dogmatically believe in a certain truth, you are on extremely shaky ground.

I am only able to cover these principles very briefly in a blog post. For further reading and greater explanation, I highly recommend purchasing the book!

 

 

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry, Uncategorized

How to Read: New Testament Letters

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This is the second post on a series based on the book “How To Read the Bible for All Its Worth“. Click below to read the first post. 
Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?

The majority of the New Testament is made up of Epistles or letters. These letters were sent from a church leader(s) to a specific church (or churches) in the first century (with the exception of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon which were sent to individuals). While keeping this in mind, the challenge is to put each letter in its context in order to understand the broader meaning for our lives today.

Think for a minute about listening to a phone conversation. As you listen to another person’s conversation, you can only hear what they are saying and how they are responding to the person on the phone. By using some critical thinking, you can get a pretty good idea of what the conversation is about from the one side. This is the same goal when we read the Epistles. You are hearing one side of a conversation so the challenge is to reconstruct the situation to the best of our ability.

Below are a list of the Epistles (or letters) in the Bible:

  • Romans
  • 1 Corinthians
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
  • Hebrews
  • James (could have also been a sermon)
  • 1 Peter
  • 2 Peter
  • 1 John
  • 2 John
  • 3 John
  • Jude

As you can see, most of the books you are probably familiar with are Epistles. Although many of the passages are relatively simple to understand, there are also numerous verses people have taken out of context and built dogmatic beliefs around.

In order to properly understand each Epistle, you will need ask three specific questions. These same three questions apply to the rest of the Scriptures but in varying ways:

1. What is the historical context of the letter?

As stated in the previous post, each section of the Bible was written to a specific people (or person) at a specific time in history. Although the Bible itself is timeless, one needs to understand the historical nature in order to understand the timeless nature of Scripture.

You can learn the vast majority of the historical context by reading through the entire letter and taking note of what the author is addressing. As you are taking notes, I recommend trying to answer the following questions regarding the historical context:

1. Who is the author? What is their relationship to the church in question?

2. Where is the church located and what is its background (it would be best to consult a commentary or Bible Dictionary for this information)

3. What is the attitude of the author? Are they happy? Angry? Frustrated?

4. What do you notice about the church itself? Are there specific areas being addressed?

2. What is the literary context of the letter?

When it comes to understanding how to read the Epistles, I cannot emphasize enough that you need to THINK PARAGRAPHS!!! In other words, you need to consider the overall passage that each verse is located in. As a letter, the individual verses were not meant to be thought of outside of the sections they are in.

The best way to ‘think paragraphs’ is to read a section of Scripture and then ask yourself, “What is the big idea”? Once you figure out what the main point of the paragraph/section is, look for the supporting points. This will enable you to understand each verse as it was meant to be understood; as a logical part of a greater whole.

3. What did the passage mean to the original hearers of the letter?

Once you have a basic understanding of both the historical and literary context of the passage you are studying, you can start to figure out what the passage meant to the original hearers. Even if it is a passage that is relatively clear (such as Romans 1:16), understanding the context of the church in Rome will give you a greater appreciation of the text.

A rule of thumb is that the passage CANNOT mean something entirely different than what the author meant for it to mean.For example, the purpose of the Epistles is not to encourage your insane conspiracy theories about the government as the United States did not exist (this is a pet peeve of mine – rather than trying to justify your wacky beliefs with the Bible, go collect some canned food for the apocalypse).

Once you understand what it meant to the original hearers, you are able to accurately ascertain what the application is for today. For most passages it is easy; other passages are incredibly difficult (see 1 Corinthians 11:2-16).

Once again, I am only able to cover these concepts very briefly. For a more in-depth understanding that includes example from the Epistles themselves, go order How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth!

 

 

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

Are You Reading the Bible Wrong?

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There’s a good chance you are reading much of the Bible incorrectly.

The Bible is the most powerful book we have access to. Rather than just being a beautiful work of literature, it is God’s very Word. It is primarily through the Scriptures that the Living God speaks to His people.

While keeping that in mind, we also need to understand that the Bible IS a book. Actually, it is a collection of books, letters, prophecies, and various other types of literature composed over a vast period of time. Every part of the Bible is originally from an ancient manuscript. This displays the tremendous power and uniqueness of the Biblical text as it still has direct relevance for Christians today.

Unfortunately, many Christians are content to allow their Bible to collect dust rather than to study it. OR, they are content with some guy in a suit telling them what they should think about the Bible.

Yes,  I know all Christians CLAIM reading the Bible is important but the evidence proves otherwise. The church today is biblically illiterate even through we live in a time when solid resources are literally a click away.

As part of my study at Sioux Falls Seminary, I just finished reading How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.

This is an excellent book accurately explains how to build a bridge from the 21st century to the ancient text in order to understand the relevance and power of the Bible for today. Sadly, many Christians misread and misapply the Bible to their own ruin.

Over the next 10 blog posts we will discuss the basics of reading the following types of literature in the Bible (click the links to be directed to the finished posts):

I will be writing very briefly on each of these topics. For a much better understanding, I highly recommend purchasing the book. I pray that these posts encourage you to pursue God with all your mind, heart, and soul.

What do YOU think is the most difficult part of the Bible? Let me know by leaving a comment!

 

tylerramsbey Church Planting, Ministry

Garretson Campus Birthday Party!

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Today I had the honor of celebrating the birthday of the Garretson Campus of The Rescue Church! The Rescue Church is a multi-site church with a vision of impacting rural communities with the Gospel. I have been incredibly encouraged by God’s faithfulness over the past year and a half of ministry. Ultimately, the church exists because Jesus sustains it – NOT because of what I have done!

Here is a short video that explains the journey of the Garretson Campus so far:

The service itself was incredible. We had a time for people to share testimonies of what God has done in their lives over the past year. I am utterly amazed that God would use a little church campus meeting in a leased storefront to change the lives of so many people.. To HIM be the glory!

tylerramsbey Ministry, Missions

Toxic Charity

toxic charity

Thanks to the Kairos Project, I have been profoundly challenged in my views of giving and charity. One of the assignments is to read certain books about the effects of charities on different people groups. The book I am currently reading is – Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help.

To summarize this book, Robert Lupton makes a compelling case that most of our giving to those less fortunate than us is actually hurting them. Instead of seeking time-consuming, holistic transformation of communities from the ground up, we throw a few dollar bills in the direction of those hurting and hope it will provide them with temporary relief.

According to Lupton, this uninformed generosity is far more dangerous than we realize.

I am not saying I am completely on board with Lupton (yet) as I still need to wrestle with the Scriptures in this area. With that being said, Lupton offers an incredibly helpful “Oath for Compassionate Service” inspired by the Hippocratic Oath that doctors affirm. I will try my best to explain each one of the points in a few sentences but I highly recommend reading the entire book.

1. Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.
If you do everything for the person you are helping, you are destroying their humanity. This will foster dangerous levels of dependence which will ultimately harm the recipient of your aid. As Lupton says, “The effective helper can be an encourager, a coach, a partner, but never a caretaker.”

2. Limit one-way giving to emergency situations.
In times of disaster, it is necessary to come alongside the poor to offer monetary assistance. Instead of continuing to give in disaster mode, we should begin to empower the poor to change their mindset and circumstances on their own. Offering millions of dollars of aid with no holistic treatment for body, soul, and spirit will result in toxic charity and crush the community we are seeking to help.

3. Strive to empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements.
When you enable the recipient to pay off the aid they have received, it allows them to regain their sense of honor. Lupton makes a powerful case for the use of micro-lending in order to encourage entrepreneurship. This enables those in the community to see past their present poverty into a future full of possibilities.

4. Subordinate self-interests to the needs of those being served.
Lupton treats many short-term mission trips rather harshly. He refers to it as religious tourism – in essence, Christians in the west spend thousands of dollars to go on one-week mission trips in order to serve poverty stricken institutions such as orphanages, churches, and schools. Instead of these mission trips, this money could be funneled back into the economy to hire local painters, carpenters, movers, etc. to provide the service the organization needs at a fraction of a cost of a mission trip. This will provide employment and help stimulate the local economy.

On a side note, Lupton is not entirely against the concept of short term mission trips. He states, “Isn’t it time we admit to ourselves that mission trips are essentially for our benefit? Religious tourism would have much more integrity if we simply admitted that we’re off to explore God’s amazing work in the world.”

5. Listen closely to those you seek to help, especially to what is not being said – unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to effective service.
Many people seeking aid will not want to share their whole story. This is usually not due to them being deceitful, instead they are often ashamed that they need to seek help. To effectively provide aid, you MUST be listening to the Holy Spirit and studying the unspoken sadness and brokenness of the person’s life. The unspoken feelings may provide substantial clues on how you can truly help them succeed.

6. Above all, do no harm.
Lupton describes this far better than I can – “Before we embark on a new service venture, we should conduct an ‘impact study’ to consider how our good deeds might have unintended consequences. Are we luring indigenous ministers away from their pastoral duties to become schedule coordinators for our mission trips? Are we creating dependencies that may ultimately erode self-sufficiency? As Hippocrates admonished: above all, do no harm.”

I do not fully agree with all of Lupton’s conclusions but I do find his arguments surprisingly strong. Ultimately, we need to hold all teaching in light of Scripture. As I continue to wrestle with this issue, I would highly recommend that you purchase Toxic Charity and read it in its entirety, ESPECIALLY if you are involved in any form of charity.

tylerramsbey Christian Life, Ministry

Jesus and the Crowd

Jesus and the crowd

I hate large crowds.

Yup, I know that is pretty ironic since I am a pastor. I actually do not mind being up front speaking to a large crowd but I hate being in the middle of a bunch of people. What I REALLY hate is if there is a large crowd of people and they are all trying to get my attention. If there are more than a few people talking to me at once, I am bound to shut everyone out.

Thankfully, Jesus is not like me.

In Mark 6, Jesus’ spirit is crushed as he hears about John the Baptist being beheaded. In the same scene, his disciples return to him after a long, grueling day of ministry. In wisdom, Jesus instructs his disciples to go with him to a solitary place in order to find rest. Unfortunately, the crowd has keen eyesight and interrupts Jesus and his disciples while they are trying to rest and mourn in peace.

How would you respond?

I would be angry, impatient, frustrated, and overall disgusted by the crowd.

Let’s see how Jesus responds:

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” – Mark 6:34

Specifically Jesus…

  • SAW the crowd.
  • Had COMPASSION on the crowd.
  • And PROVIDED for the crowd.

I want to encourage you to view yourself in light of Jesus’ actions and allow the Holy Spirit to change you in the following three areas:

1. Slow down so you can truly see people.
Often, when I am interrupted by someone, I try to brush them off as quickly as possible. Instead of looking at the person as an image bearer of God, I see them as an annoying distraction. If the person is “needy” then I definitely try to steer clear of being in a conversation with them because I feel as if they will capitalize on my time.

Not so with Jesus.

In the midst of his grieving, Jesus SEES the crowd. He puts himself in their position and realizes they are like “sheep without a shepherd”. His intense love for people – ALL people – motivates him to see the crowd with love.

2. Seeing should become compassion.
It is one thing to slow down long enough to see people as beautiful image bearers – It’s another challenge to have compassion on them. Compassion is defined as, “concern for the sufferings of others.” All of us would claim we are compassionate people. Unfortunately, our actions betray our speech.

Having compassion for another person is a supernatural work. We are, by nature, selfish people. In order to TRULY have compassion for those who are suffering, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us see people through His eyes. Only when we gain God’s perspective can we have compassion on the crowd.

3. Compassion should become provision.
In this verse, we see that Jesus fed the crowds’ spiritually hungry souls through teaching them. A few verses later, we see that Jesus furnishes their appetites with physical food by multiplying bread and fish. One test on whether or not you are truly exercising compassion for others in your life is if you are willing to provide for them.

James, Jesus’ brother, explains this concept powerfully in James 2:15-16:
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”

What good is it, if you claim to be a compassionate person, if you do nothing to comfort those who are suffering?

Often the “interruptions” in your life are opportunities for you to be used in powerful ways by God. If you neglect to open your eyes to the hurting people around you and instead allow your heart to be filled with selfishness, you will NOT experience the abundant life Jesus promises. Ultimately, your time does not belong to you. Everything, including each minute of your day, is an undeserved gift from the sovereign hand of God.

When you are interrupted today by a hurting person, follow in the steps of Jesus: SEE them as an image bearer of God, have COMPASSION on them in their suffering, and PROVIDE for them in the midst of their neediness.

tylerramsbey Church Planting, Ministry, Vocational Ministry

Five Benefits of Multi-site Churches

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In this season of life, God has called me to be a Campus Pastor in an incredible church called The Rescue Church. The Rescue Church is a multi-site church which simply means we are one church that meets in multiple locations. Every Sunday morning, The Rescue Church meets in Garretson, SD; Flandreau, SD; Colman, SD; Deeside, Jamaica; and Online.

Our vision is to plant healthy campuses in small communities that otherwise lack a strong evangelical presence. Multi-site churches are gaining in popularity all over the world but it is still a brand new concept in rural communities. Because of this, I am asked repeatedly why we begin campuses instead of planting autonomous churches (which I believe should be both/and not either/or!)

Since I pastor in a multi-site church, I want to share with you five benefits I have personally experienced:

1. An incredibly strong support network.
In October of 2015, my wife and I launched The Rescue Church in Garretson, SD. I honestly do not think we would still be around if it was not for the encouragement and wisdom shared by the other campuses. We have an incredible support network since we are part of a larger church.

When it comes to rural churches, pastors tend to suffer from crippling isolation and loneliness. As a multi-site pastor, I meet with the other pastors of The Rescue Church at least twice every week. In these meetings we are able to encourage and pray for one another as we strive to be faithful pastors in our congregations.

2. The ability to reach more people.
Statistically, new churches/campuses reach more non-Christians than established churches (Enrichment Journal). A very high percentage of those in the Garretson Campus are people who recently committed their lives to Jesus. It has been incredible to see the different lives God has impacted through our ministry.

One of the best ways to reach lost people is through church planting. Being part of a multi-site church allows you to plant new campuses of an existing church. This greatly increases the effectiveness and fruitfulness of the campus since it is already part of a healthy church structure.

3. The opportunity to truly shepherd people.
As a campus pastor, I am paid a very part-time salary from the church. The majority of rural churches are not able to provide a pastor with a full-time salary. Since I am not the primary teaching pastor, I am able to devote the majority of my time to actually being a shepherd. I can use my time to be involved in the community, disciple new believers, evangelize the lost, and fulfill my ministry in a multitude of ways outside of the church office!

4. Growing larger by growing smaller.
A multi-site church allows you to have the benefits of a larger church with the close community of a small church. Many people, especially in rural communities, prefer the feel of a smaller church over a very large church. Both have advantages and disadvantages but multi-site allows you to capitalize on the benefits of a large church while retaining the community of a small church.

5. Intentional leadership development.
Unfortunately, leadership development is something that is lacking in many churches. Since multi-site churches are focused on launching new campuses on a regular basis, they are forced to develop leaders. At The Rescue Church, we are intentionally looking for people to develop into qualified and competent leaders. This means raising up young people and shaping them to lead churches!

Have you ever attended or worked in a multi-site church? What are some of the advantages you have experienced? Let me know by leaving a comment!

tylerramsbey Leadership, Ministry, Pastor

Leadership Lessons from a Pastor

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Pastoral leadership is one of the most difficult yet rewarding leadership positions available. On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to encourage people in their faith and exhort them to live according to Scripture. Yet, part of pastoral leadership is leading volunteers. Some say that leading volunteers is comparable to herding cats (If you are part of my staff, I don’t think this is true!) This makes it more difficult than leading a business because there is no financial incentive to encourage productivity.

Below are three leadership lessons YOU should apply today; ESPECIALLY if you lead in the business sector:

1. Lead with vision.
Most of the people I lead in The Rescue Church are volunteers. This requires visionary leadership which is sadly lacking in many organizations. In the rat race of life, it is tempting to dangle financial rewards in front of employees in order to get results. This obviously does not work with volunteers – You MUST exercise leadership that goes far beyond monetary reward.

Successful leadership implements vision in every meeting; failing leadership begrudgingly offers financial security to gain loyalty.

At EVERY opportunity you should bring your people back to the vision of your company. Do NOT assume that people automatically connect their positions to the larger goal of your organization. It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to share your organization’s vision too frequently.

2. Lead with integrity and transparency.
Paul directs pastors to lead lives that are “above reproach”. The majority of leadership qualifications in Scripture have to do with inner characteristics instead of outer performance. Although Paul is speaking specifically to leaders in the church, it would be helpful to apply these characteristics to ALL forms of leadership.

According to 1 Timothy 3:2-7, leaders should have the following characteristics:

  • Faithfulness to family
  • Self-controlled
  • Respectable
  • Hospitable to strangers
  • Gentle
  • Agreeable
  • Not greedy

Hundreds of studies have shown that ethical businesses are more profitable over time than those that focus solely on generating profit. Therefore, lead the way by exercising integrity in all of your activities, even those that do not directly affect your company. You should invite men and women to hold you accountable to the standards you have set. As a leader, you should offer your way of life as a model for those who follow you.

3. Lead your staff relationally.
Pastors intentionally build culture within the people they lead. The relationships they build with their staff are organic and influential. Pastors truly desire to know and care for those that are under their leadership.

As a business leader, you should exercise shepherd leadership. Lead in such a way that your primary focus is on cultivating character rather than generating profit; if your staff grows in their character it is inevitable they will become more productive employees.

This can be as simple as taking a genuine interest in those you lead. If your organization allows it, ask if you can pray for the employee. Even non-Christians find this comforting and encouraging. Another way you can do this is by going out of your way to encourage your employees with occasional thank-you cards, free lunches, flexible schedules, etc.

YOU should lead with vision, integrity, and relationships. What other leadership lessons can be gained from leading volunteers? Let me know by leaving a comment!