TOUGH STUFF: Pastoring Tough Churches and Skills to Lead God's Way

A TURN THE TIDE REFERENCE BOOK

In 2018, God prompted me to answer a pressing need causing decline in evangelical churches and among their pastors. 2021-2022 on-line surveys by The Barna Group revealed that large proportions of lead pastors are becoming too discouraged to carry on. This stirred me to investigate practical methods to meet the challenges we face, a book to turn the tide for stronger evangelical denominations.

As I probed the problems, from biblical guidance and research, it became evident that the crux of decline in the Church focused mainly on pastors failing due to incompetence, or by incapacitating interference.
God speaks firmly concerning the irresponsible and incompetent:
“The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered. (Jeremiah 10:21}

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:1-2)

Yet again…
“The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” (John 10:12-13)

Furthermore…
“When he saw the crowds, he [Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

God considers pastors and the quality of their ministry most essential to the wellbeing of His church, so my aim is to protect and enable faithful Godly pastors.

If we are not willfully irresponsible, we pastors certainly need special skills for handling the complexity that throttles so many ministries in our modern environment.
To make matters worse, aware of the importance of pastors, Satan targets them with all he can muster. For greatest impact in discouraging and disheartening pastors Satan especially stirs opposition from among those who ought to serve alongside their pastors.

It is biblically clear that the essence of church life and health is based on the quality of pastors, their relationship with their Lord and with the congregants they serve. As the scriptures proclaim concerning the ministry of our Lord and His pastors …
“Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered;” Zechariah 13:7
Biblically, it is evident that pastors are the primary target for disabling and destroying the Church of Christ.
So I set out to write a resource-filled reference work to enable pastors to manage congregational tough stuff I know from thirty-five years of lead pastoral experience in new and old, small and multi-pastored congregations.
I don’t know whether this information can be found elsewhere. I have just followed the Lord’s lead to provide godly, biblical and functional guidance to resolve what pastors will almost definitely encounter through their pastoral career but very unlikely received no instruction to manage. TOUGH STUFF is meant to be an essential book in every congregational pastor’s library - a turn the tide book of specialized training for longer, stronger pastorates.
As I wrote TOUGH STUFF, I sighed often, “I wish I had known this while pastoring! I wish my pastoral training had supplied this! I could have been so much more effective!” While under the stress of pastoring, it was so difficult to pull back to develop perspective. Now retired, I was able to pour six years of intensive research into these essential issues – how Christian pastors and churches can be strong and resilient to the glory of God.

LET’S TURN THE TIDE!

Raymond Cross Bth BA describes himself as an "improvementist". Ray always looks for ways of breathing new life, creativity and healing into all of his relationships and activities - a life drive that uncovers improvements and solutions to perplexing inefficiencies and weakness. Ray applies this drive to all he experiences. His books, therefore, touch on a variety of challenges that have crossed his path, both conceptual and practical. Ray pastored Baptist churches in Ontario, Canada for thirty-five years. Since retiring from pasturing the Lord has led Ray to write a number of books about various aspects of ministry and spiritual life, Ray has been happily married since 1971 to Diane, a nutrition expert and retired public school teacher They have two grown children and three grandchildren.