聖經原文與神學建構，並傳道人

要持之以衡，不是每天的話，每周都要有進賬。我覺得其中一個最好的方法，就是寫功課、寫講章時，盡可能加以使用。

以上說的是學聖經原文。今天學習/複習希伯來文，加油！

將來不是要反省猶大滅國和王夫之眼中明朝亡國兩者之史觀比較嗎？

將來不是要就聖經歷史書以左傳等為傳統的史觀作比較嗎？

將來不是要以「勢」為切入點談聖經歷史神學嗎？

不求精，只求叫自己能在當今軟體工具的協助下幫助自己處理相關章節的時候，能對語境有所掌握！

我的方法是讓一般傳道人也能掌握的方法。

一）基本聖經語文：上課或自學都行

二）聖經原文軟體

三）對照好的原文釋經書數本

四）相關課題的專書討論

The Motivation of the Pastor

“This brings us to the pastor’s motivation.  Lippitt, Watson, and Westley, on the basis of their analysis of processes of planned change, conclude that ‘an important function of the change agent is an honest self-examination.  He needs to think through for himself the reason why he wants to help others.’  (The Dynamics of Planned Change, New York-Burlingame, 1958).  The personal problems of a change agent are diverse.  But one generalization can be made, namely, ‘that the change agent’s problems of motivation cannot be safely ignored.  No change agent can afford to take himself for granted.”

“A. van Kaam is of the opinion that a counsellor should examine his motivation after every session.  He needs to confront himself and his actions with questions like these: ‘Does he need to sound like an oracle? Is he in love with his sonorous voice or clever verbalizations? Does he feel that he ‘knows’ people through and through? Is he authoritarian, domineering? Des he need to be popular? to be liked or exalted as a ‘nice chap’ by his counselee? Is he afraid of depth in himself and others? Does he repress his own feelings and paralyze his spontaneity? Is he afraid to verbalize or to hear the verbalization of certain experiences?” (“Counseling from the Viewpoint of Existential Psychology,” in R. L. Mosher, R. F. Carle, and C. D. Kehas, Guidance, New York-Chicago-Burlingame, 1965)

Firet, Jacob, Dynamics in Pastoring. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans,  1986), 240.

“One could say that for the choice and all pastoral behaviour which followed, there is but one legitimate motive, namely, the one Paul mentions in II Corinthians 5:14: ‘… the love of Christ constrains us. …’ This is not a motive in a psychological sense, however.  What Paul says here is that the power which moves him in his apostolic work is the love of Christ, i.e., the love which moved Christ to die for all (cf. v.15).  it is that love which took possession of Paul; it grips him–synechei–and activates HIM.

Perhaps one could say: apart from the strictly personal motivation which is dependent on the psyhosomatic disposition, the personal history and situation of a man or woman, there is something which transcends a person and grips his or her life with new power and direction.  To distinguish this from motivation one could call it synechia.  This synechia did not arise from within the person; it cannot be explained in terms of the person’s history or disposition.  It is another power, or the power of the Other who has come over him.  As Paul says: ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Gal. 2:20).  This synechia as such is not psychologically ascertainable; it cannot be inferred from a person’s behaviour.”

Firet, Jacob, Dynamics in Pastoring. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans,  1986), 242.

Brothers! We are not professionals

Preview this book

Buy this book B&H Publishing Group Amazon.com - $10.19 Barnes&Noble.com - $14.99 Books-A-Million Borders - $14.99 IndieBound Google Product Search Amazon.co.uk Blackwell Waterstone’s WHSmith   Borrow this book Find this book in a library A senior pastor pleads with his colleagues to abandon the secularization of the pastorate and return to the primitive call of the Bible for radical ministry. More details Brothers, We are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry By John Piper Published by B&H Publishing Group, 2002 ISBN 0805426205, 9780805426205 286 pages 3 reviews  -  Write review   In my library [ Remove ]

Brothers! We are not professionals

Preview this book

Buy this book B&H Publishing Group Amazon.com - $10.19 Barnes&Noble.com - $14.99 Books-A-Million Borders - $14.99 IndieBound Google Product Search Amazon.co.uk Blackwell Waterstone’s WHSmith   Borrow this book Find this book in a library A senior pastor pleads with his colleagues to abandon the secularization of the pastorate and return to the primitive call of the Bible for radical ministry. More details Brothers, We are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry By John Piper Published by B&H Publishing Group, 2002 ISBN 0805426205, 9780805426205 286 pages 3 reviews  -  Write review   In my library [ Remove ]

Words to Churches Regarding Ministers/Pastors

Do no ask or allow a minister to marry the church.  Efforts to the contrary result in an unholy as well as an inhuman union which quickly will diminish the minister as a person and ultimately be of no benefit to the congregation.  Pastor and people as loving participants in the church as a family of faith is a wonderful biblical image.  A picture of a minister and a congregation as spouses in wedlock is theologically incorrect and psychologically sick.

Know that the church is the bride of Christ.  Every minister is to be a servant of Christ.  Christian ordination to the ministry does not require a rejection of intimate relationships with the human family.  Both church and pastor will best relate to each other while jointly fulfilling a God-given mission if the biblical identity of each is maintained.  Please do not accept the existence of a pastor-congregation relationship that is clearly objectionable ideologically.

Be realistic in your expectation of ministers.  One Sunday evening prior to leading a service of worship in a deep-South city, Carlyle Marney met with the pastoral search committee (then called ‘pulpit committee’) of the congregation.  Having spent an hour listening to members of that committee discuss their expectations for a new pastor, Marney announced to the worshipers, ‘I have some good news and some bad news for you.  The good news is that you have a fine pulpit committee.  The bad news is that there are no more thirty-five-year-old ex-Confederate generals available!’

Ridiculous? Sure.  But no more ridiculous than other pastor-related expectations that never get challenged. (‘Our pastor will help our church to grow numerically, increase its budget, better supervise the staff, revise its committee structure, and more efficiently conduct its business.  Of course, our pastor also will need to pay attention to shut-ins, be present in crises, visit the hospitals, serve as a leader in the community, be available for counselling, remain biblically and theologically astute, teach Sunday school classes, join social functions among the members, and preach sermons that are powerful, substantive, and short.’)  Please do not set up your pastor for failure.  Some congregations call a pastor to do the work of several people, to guarantee what cannot be guaranteed, to serve as a stand-in for God.

Remember that perfect pastors are as difficult to find as perfect parishioners.  Even if you think you have a perfect pastor at first, be assured you are wrong.  Only human beings are available for the pastorate.  Imperfection is a certainty.  Expect mistakes, failures, and sins, and pledge to be understanding, supportive, and forgiving.  Treat your pastor with at least as much tolerance and care as you would a member of your human family or a prospective church member known to be very wealthy.

Realize that no minister, whether pastor or other staff member, can meet all your needs or all your church’s needs.  In fact, students of human relations tell us that no one person can meet all the needs of any other person.  Pastors are persons.

Praise your pastor for taking time off as well as for working hard and for efforts that failed as well as for programs that succeeded.  You can best know your pastor’s needs in this regard by looking at your own needs.

Dismiss, desist from, and forget both the language and the attitude of ‘hiring’ a pastor.’  Think and speak of your pastor as a colleague in ministry.  Sure, the congregation pays its pastor’s salary.  A congregation certainly may ‘fire’ a pastor.  But no congregation ever should be able to buy a pastor.  Prophets and priests are not for hire.

Insist that your pastor participate in regularly scheduled experiences of continuing education and relaxation.  Everyone, pastor and congregation, will benefit from these times.  If the pastor becomes so busy as to assume such experiences must be delayed or ignored, be a minister-friend and challenge that view.  Faithfulness in this area is just as crucial as compliance with any part of a pastor’s job description.

Do not promise what cannot be delivered–to the pastor through the pastor.  Honestly brief a prospective pastor on what legitimately can be expected from the congregation.  If you cannot be precise, understate, rather than overstate, expected benefits, and overstate, rather than understate, possible problems.  Also, please refrain from making a pastor responsible for the fulfillment of unrealistic promises made by the church to the community or to any group of people in it.

Allow the pastor the same freedom enjoyed by others in deciding about sacrifice.  Sacrifices should not be imposed on the pastor.  The fact that a person functions within a ‘holy calling’ is not an adequate reason to take advantage of that person.

Practice love and grace.  As much as  possible rid yourselves of the ‘but’ that precedes a compromise of New Testament principles and practices.  Refuse to be satisfied with your church or to give yourself to any other priority within your church until your church can exist as a community of love and grace.  At stake is your basic identity–the church as just another community agency with commendable  progress and services or the church as a fellowship  of the people of God.  Do not expect the community to understand the depth of your forgiveness, the breadth of your acceptance, or the greatness of your open heart.  Of course, a church practicing love and grace is not for the good of the pastor but for obedience to Christ, for the benefit of all who need its ministry, and for the glory of God.

From C. Welton Gaddy, A Soul Under Siege: Surviving Clergy Depression, (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991), 162-165