Brian Tubbs's Blog
Posted by Brian Tubbs
As of this writing, Thanksgiving 2009 is just around the corner. The official start of the Christmas shopping season begins on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving. But, in this day and age, people start thinking "Christmas" right when the kids head back to school in late August or early September, and certainly by Halloween.
I understand that Christmas shopping is an accepted practice - one that I myself practice. And that does lead to valid money concerns during the holiday season. Should people plan to save money or even earn a little extra money for the Christmas season? Absolutely. In fact, I just wrote an article on that subject, titled "Need Help With Money For The Holidays?" I hope you'll click on the link and check it out.
But, personally, I've found Christmas, in the commercial sense anyway, to be very anti-climactic. There's this long and increasingly crazy build-up. Then the day comes, presents are opened, and that's that!
Well, the truth is that Christmas isn't ultimately about shopping for gifts or opening presents. At least, it shouldn't be. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ.
Yes, I know Jesus was probably not born on December 25, 1 A.D. Most people understand that. But December 25 is the day we've set aside to remember and celebrate Jesus' birth. Thus, the celebration of Jesus is what should drive the Christmas season -- not stress over money or holiday planning.
This Christmas, make the holiday season a true time of rest and reflection.
Posted by Brian Tubbs
I just finished writing two articles about pastor pay for Suite101 Protestantism. As the Feature Writer-Columnist for Protestantism, I thought pastoral compensation was a worthy topic for an article. It turned into two articles.
**See "Baptist Pastor Salary Guidelines" and "What Should a Church Pay its Bivocational Pastor?"
Even though the articles were just recently published, I've already gotten feedback. A "Connie" wrote to tell me that $80,000 was too much money for a pastor to make. She also added on a few personal attacks against me, for being a pastor, even though she's never met me nor corresponded with me. (Of course, Connie didn't leave any contact information. It was one of those hit-and-run criticisms so common in today's uncivil climate of debate and discussion, especially on the Internet).
The $80,000 number comes from a US survey conducted by Christianity Today International (CTI). That survey found that American pastors - from all denominations - earn an average of $80,000 in total compensation. According to Connie, this is too much.
Never mind that some pastors lead churches with several hundred or even several thousand members and are literally on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Few people can relate to the day-in, day-out emotional wear-and-tear that a pastor deals with. But, I can tell you, that given the amount of work pastors put into their jobs, $80,000 in salary and benefits is not unreasonable.
Of course, not all pastors make that. Many don't even come close to that. Pastors of small churches often don't make more than $20,000 or $30,000 a year. I know of one bivocational (part time) pastor that makes about $15,000 a year. And a church I interviewed with (before coming to Ohio) was offering me $10,000 a year. (I didn't take that church).
I know some people don't think pastors should make much money. This is not the sentiment we find in Paul's writings, however. Paul says pastors who do their job well are worth "double" the value that most churches give them. And Jesus says that the laborer is worthy of his wage.
It's not wrong to make money, and it's not wrong for pastors to make money. It IS wrong to be greedy for money and to make that one's priority. But providing for yourself and your family is something that each of us is expected to do, and that includes pastors.
Take care of your pastor.
**Care for another perspective? Check out "Should a Pastor Receive a Salary?"
Posted by Brian Tubbs
People have feelings and opinions. And people want to express those feelings and opinions. And this desire to "express ourselves" is what often leads us into trouble. Why? Well, it's because we're often more concerned about getting our point across and correcting the "wrongs" that we see, than we are in listening to anybody else.
About two thousand years ago, James (the half-brother of Jesus) wrote: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to wrath" (James 1:19). Such great advice! Too bad more of us don't heed it.
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey puts it this way: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
We need to be less concerned with whether people hear and understand us, than we are with rather we hear and understand them. We need to listen more and talk less. Remember...we have two ears and one mouth. That should tell us something.
Posted by Brian Tubbs
According to Mark Earley, the president of Prison Fellowship Ministries, scholars and archaeologists of the mid-20th century viewed the Bible as Bible was "a collection of stories that illustrated theological points, while containing little that is historically accurate."
While there are quite a few critics of Christianity (on the Internet especially) that still feel this way, that is no longer the mainstream view in archaelogy or historical scholarship. Earley explains that the studies surrounding King Solomon's mines and other recent discoveries like the validation of King David and the going price of slaves in ancient Egypt have "obliged [scholars and archaeologists] to at least approach the biblical accounts with an open mind."
To read the remainder of Earley's article, click here.
Posted by Brian Tubbs
On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk and professor nailed a statement to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. That priest's name was Martin Luther, and his Ninety-Five Theses were touched off a firestorm - and forever changed the world!
Luther was angered by what he considered to be corruption and abuse of power in the Roman Catholic Church. He was particularly outraged at the selling of indulgences by Vatican fundraiser Johann Tetzel. Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, however, went beyond the malpractices he observed. He challenged the Vatican not only on practice, but on its beliefs. In so doing, he set himself on a collision course with the Roman Catholic Church, that ended with his excommunication and the launching of a new movement.
The seeds of the Reformation began long before Martin Luther's life. There were differences within the Christian community as far as back as the very first century, and there were churches and groups operating outside of the authority of the Catholic Church. But Luther came at a time, when the world was entering a new era -- printing press and all. He was the catalyst that set in motion the most significant reform movement in church history.
For more on Martin Luther, check out "Finding Luther: Archaeologists Trail Reformer," an interesting article by fellow Suite101 writer Stan Parchin.
For information regarding the Protestant Reformation, check out the Hanover College History Department's "Protestant Reformation" Internet archive of texts and documents.
