Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary

Three experienced pastors (Dr. Dennis Wilkening, Dr. Dean Taylor, and Dr. Jim Tillotson) share their experiences in church planting, church growth, and developing missional strategies.

Scripture Text
Various passages referenced throughout the discussion

Main Points or Ideas

• Administrative Framework for Growth - Developing ministry director positions and pastoral roles using Exodus 18 as a model, creating layers of leadership to manage church growth effectively
• Giving the Whole Council of God - Using systematic preaching calendars, annual vision planning, and rotating emphasis on different biblical themes to ensure comprehensive biblical teaching
• Fostering Evangelism Without Becoming Program-Driven - Training people for lifestyle evangelism, creating invitation culture, hosting evangelistic events, and ensuring pastoral modeling of evangelism
• Church Planting and Missions - Viewing church planting as essential for gospel expansion, being willing to send out best people, and supporting church plants relationally and financially

Conclusion
Effective church ministry requires intentional leadership development, comprehensive biblical teaching, genuine evangelistic passion, and a missions mindset that prioritizes reaching the lost over building large individual congregations.

Mike Hartwig contrasts two pastors' stories - one who died at 37 with no insurance leaving his family in crisis, and another who retired at 62 with over $1 million in assets due to proper planning, showing there's a right way and wrong way to prepare financially for ministry.

Scripture Text

Proverbs 27:23; Proverbs 22:7; Numbers 8:25

Main Points or Ideas

• Know the State of Your Flocks - Pastors must track their financial position and net worth, understanding what they have and taking care of what God has given them through tools like a living balance sheet.
• Take Refuge from Danger - Like prudent people who see danger and prepare, pastors must protect themselves through life insurance and planning for eventualities rather than being cavalier about financial preparedness.
• Save with Passion - Recommending 15% savings minimum (10% for young people, 20-30% for those closer to retirement), emphasizing that real wealth comes through saving habits, not chasing high returns.
• The Three Bucket Strategy - Bucket 1: Regular passive income (Social Security, pensions), Bucket 2: Investable money (stocks, bonds, business), Bucket 3: True liquidity bucket that can fund daily operations or be invested depending on market conditions.

Conclusion

Hartwig emphasizes the importance of starting financial planning early, being disciplined savers, and asks pastors to seek help from qualified advisors rather than trying to figure everything out alone, stressing that proper planning allows pastors to serve out of desire rather than financial necessity.

In this ladies-only session, Gracia Burnham reflects on finding songs of praise and joy even in the darkest circumstances of captivity, drawing parallels between her experience and the Jews in Babylon who struggled to sing joyful songs in a foreign land.

Scripture Text

Psalm 137; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 12:1-2

Main Points or Ideas

• When We're at the Bottom, We Look Up - Like the Jews by the rivers of Babylon who couldn't sing, Gracia experienced times of despair in the jungle, but these desperate moments drove her to seek God when there was nowhere else to look.
• God is in the Heart-Changing Business - Through specific examples like her relationship with 14-year-old Ahmad who tormented her but whom she later helped when he was wounded, Gracia shows how God changed her heart from hatred to love for her enemies.
• Finding Songs in Suffering - Despite the harsh conditions, Gracia learned to sing hymns quietly at night and go through the alphabet with song titles during long hikes, allowing the great hymns of faith to keep her focused on God and maintain her sanity.
• We Have a Great High Priest Who Understands - Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses because He faced the same things we do, and we can come boldly to God's throne for mercy and grace, knowing we're not alone in our trials.

Conclusion

Gracia encourages believers that they have a cloud of witnesses cheering them on, Jesus praying for them, and permission from God to keep going in their race of faith, reminding them that this life is not a competition but a journey we're in together.

Chris Anderson challenges pastors to prepare their ministries for their departure by training leaders and developing expendable leadership, drawing from his 25 years of pastoral experience.

Scripture Text
Acts 11:19-30, Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:23, Acts 20:4, Ephesians 4:11-12

Main Points or Ideas

• The Goal of Ministry - That minister is most successful who gets the whole body to move and renders the church independent of himself, making the pastor expendable rather than indispensable
• Biblical Examples - The church at Antioch demonstrates healthy leadership multiplication, sending out their best leaders (Barnabas and Saul) while remaining strong through diverse, decentralized leadership
• Creating a Sending Culture - Churches should work for every member ministry, decentralize leadership, share the pulpit, expose the normalcy of missionaries, train potential leaders, pursue potential leaders, prioritize short-term mission trips, preach for gospel expansion, pray for laborers from your church, and celebrate when you send people out
• Practical Implementation - Ten specific strategies for fostering a culture that identifies, trains, and deploys leaders for ministry elsewhere

Conclusion
Preparing ministries for departure and training leaders for ministry elsewhere is an essential component of biblical pastoring, leading to gospel expansion and kingdom growth rather than just institutional growth.

Joe Fant addresses the loss of joy in ministry that many pastors experience, using the conflict between John the Baptist's followers and Jesus's disciples to show how envy and selfish ambition destroy joy while commitment to the gospel mission restores it.

Scripture Text

John 3:22-30

Main Points or Ideas

• The Problem: Envy and Selfish Ambition - John's disciples became angry and envious when people left John to follow Jesus, demonstrating how looking at what others have and being angry because you don't have it destroys joy and leads to sin.
• John's Recognition: Everything is a Gift from God - John understood that every aspect of his ministry was given from heaven, recognizing his role was not to be the Messiah but to point to Jesus and then get out of the way.
• John's Divine Focus: It's About Jesus, Not Me - John focused on Christ rather than building his own ministry, understanding that every pastor is an interim pastor and that effective ministry should surpass the pastor's own gifting after he leaves.
• John's Divine Joy: Rejoicing in Jesus's Success - Like a best man at a wedding who finds joy in celebrating the groom rather than drawing attention to himself, John found complete joy in Jesus's increasing ministry even as his own decreased.

Conclusion

Fant emphasizes that pursuing happiness directly leads to misery, but pursuing Jesus Christ brings true joy. The key to restored joy is the inverse relationship: "He must increase, I must decrease," practicing the art of self-forgetfulness and being so wrapped up in God and others that there's no time to think about ourselves.

Jason LaFlamme uses hockey terminology to encourage pastors to stay focused and committed in ministry, sharing personal stories of pioneer pastors and his own ministry experiences to challenge pastors about their calling and perseverance.

Scripture Text

Matthew 16:13-20; 1 Timothy 1:12; 1 Timothy 3:1; John 21:1-17

Main Points or Ideas

1. You've Been Redeemed - The foundational question "Who do you say that I am?" with Peter's answer "You are the Christ" reminds us that Jesus took care of our greatest need. If we trust Him with our souls, why don't we trust Him with our sheep?
2. You've Been Reserved - Paul was appointed to ministry because God judged him faithful, and the qualification of "aspiring" to ministry (1 Timothy 3:1) means having a God-given desire that reaches and stretches for the calling. If God called you and hasn't told you to stop, how could you quit?
3. Perhaps You Need to be Rekindled - Like Peter who went back to fishing, sometimes pastors return to their old ways of life. Jesus's question "Do you love me more than these?" challenges us to prove our love through faithful ministry to His sheep, not just with words but with passionate service.

Conclusion

Pastor LaFlamme calls pastors to keep their heads up and sticks down, staying focused on their calling despite the difficulties, emphasizing that longevity in ministry allows sheep to know they're loved even after they bite, and encourages pastors never to give up because they don't know what impact they're making.

Dr. Jim Tillotson addresses ministry leaders about maintaining faithfulness and endurance in ministry, using the military metaphor from 2 Timothy 2:3-4 to outline principles for long-term ministry effectiveness.

Scripture Text
2 Timothy 2:3-4

Main Points or Ideas

• Be Strong in Grace - Our source of strength must be in the Lord rather than our own abilities; distinguishing between those who give God a nod versus those who truly need God, emphasizing the importance of daily spiritual disciplines and God-dependency in ministry
• Train Others - Committing what we've learned to faithful men who can teach others also, moving from spending time with problem people to investing intentionally in developing leadership and future ministry workers
• Endure Hardship - Enduring as good soldiers requires relying on God through Scripture and prayer, building friendships for mutual support and accountability, avoiding entanglements that distract from ministry focus, and training to please Christ as our commanding officer rather than people

Conclusion
Ministry will be hard, but it's worth it if you love God; endurance comes not from personal strength but from being strong in God's grace, training the next generation, and maintaining proper spiritual disciplines and relationships.

Dr. Dennis Wilkening uses aviation principles to illustrate spiritual navigation, emphasizing how small decisions and attitudes significantly impact our life direction.

Scripture Text
Proverbs 3:5-6

Main Points or Ideas

• Always Trust Your Instruments - Just as pilots must trust their instruments over their feelings during disorienting flight conditions, we must trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding, as our feelings can be real but not true
• Adjust Your Attitude - Attitude determines altitude; our spiritual attitude affects our performance just as an aircraft's attitude affects its flight, which is why we must do all things without murmuring and complaining with the mind of Christ

Conclusion
Staying on course spiritually requires trusting God's Word over our feelings and maintaining a proper attitude of service and gratitude, recognizing that all circumstances work together to conform us to Christ's image.

Dr. Jim Tillotson examines Hebrews 11:32-40 to show that both those who experienced great victories and those who suffered greatly are equally commended for their faith.

Scripture Text
Hebrews 11:32-40

Main Points or Ideas

• The Winners of Faith - Biblical heroes like Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, and Samuel who experienced great victories through faith, demonstrating that failure is never final and that God uses flawed people for His purposes
• The Losers of Faith - Unnamed believers who suffered persecution, torture, and death but were equally faithful, showing that sometimes faith enables people to persevere in persecution rather than escape it
• Equal Commendation - Both groups were commended for their faith; God forgets no one who loves and serves Him, whether they experience triumph or suffering

Conclusion
Faithfulness means doing the right thing regardless of circumstances for life because of confidence in God and love for Him; whether called to do great things or endure hard things, both require the same faith and receive the same divine approval.

Chris Anderson explores Jesus's compassion for the multitudes in Matthew 9:35-38, demonstrating Christ's heart for the lost and His call for laborers in the harvest.

Scripture Text
Matthew 9:35-38, with context from Matthew 8-9

Main Points or Ideas

1. Jesus Had Compassion on Multitudes - Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the crowds because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd, demonstrating genuine care for people's spiritual condition
2. Jesus Had Compassion on Individuals - Throughout Matthew 8-9, Jesus repeatedly stopped to minister to outcasts including lepers, centurions, demon-possessed people, and tax collectors, showing His heart for individuals in need
3. Jesus Told Us to Pray for Laborers - The solution to the great harvest is not just emotional response but earnest prayer to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest field

Conclusion
Christians should develop Christlike compassion for both multitudes and individuals, actively praying for God to send out laborers and being willing to be part of the answer to that prayer through missions involvement.