Life Of a Minister +++ Derek Prime & Alistair Begg in "Life of a Pastor" examined the "call" of a Pastor, his life and character which he ought to possess following the example which Christ has first set, goals and priorities in the context of his call, family, leisure, personal study, prayer and devotional life. As all of us are Ministers of God, called to live a life of our utmost for God's glory.
The authors gave wise counsel and a clear distinction between teaching and preaching. These counsels not only apply to Pastors but Ministers at large, who share the Word of God to any level of listeners. Their vast experiences and encounters have enabled them to guide a pastor from the preparatory stage of expounding the Word in his self-study to the pulpit. They taught that in expounding on the Word of God, "Expository does not need to be synonymous with exhaustive and exhausting" to the hearer. A good teacher, they claimed "is like John the Baptist", who "clears the way, declares the way, and then gets out of the way". This is so true because a good teacher should be expected to clear one from misconception, direct one to the way of truth and allow God to receive all the glory. The preacher must not try to impress the church with his knowledge at the pulpit as this defeats the purpose of making Christ known. They explained that in teaching, the aim is to give people an understanding of God's truth beginning with doctrines and all its aspects. Whereas in preaching, we attempt to make an appeal to people's wills, and emotions, to respond to the Word that they have understood through teaching. The link of shepherding with teaching is in teaching the practicalities of life and reality so that the preacher does not merely deal with hypothetical situations. In this way, we can identify with the message and make life applications and response to the preacher.
"privilege can seldom be enjoyed without corresponding responsibilities, and shepherds and teachers will be judged more strictly than others (James 3:1)", advised the authors.
