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Sunday, June 01, 2008

What is Pastoral Care Ministry?, Part One

Grace Moment by Moment-monthly column
A Theological and Practical Approach to Pastoral Care
Introduction:
A wise pastor recently shared this counsel with me. He said, “If you want to have a pastoral care ministry, get into line at a grocery store, cinema complex or baseball stadium. Watch, see and listen to the people around you; before you know it, God will open doors of communication so that you can walk through them and be in the center of His plan for your life” (Pastor Warren Kirkwood).
As I lived, breathed, and applied the principles the Professor shared these past few weeks, I’ve come to understand that pastoral care and counseling, if it is what God is calling you to do, will become a natural extension of your faithwalk with Him. It doesn’t matter to God if you have a ministry degree or doctorate, whether you are a pastor, shepherd and/or spiritual director with all kinds of accreditation. So long as you love God, and submit your will and life to His leading, He will guide you on the path He has called you to walk. All we have to do is trust Him as the ultimate “Source of everything, be vulnerable and open without duplicity and without brokenness or breach, and be willing to live life [fully] in submission to God” (People Grow, Cloud & Townsend, 29-31).
What Pastoral Care Means to Me
The first images that God brings to mind when I think of how this class has shaped my view of pastoral care is Matthew 25:31-46, and Acts 2:42-47. These Scripture passages sum up what I believe is Jesus’ definition of the ministry of pastoral care. If we are to love people the way God loves and sees them, unconditionally, we must first “love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27, NKJV). By keeping who we serve in mind at all times, we can (hopefully!) maintain a balance in our lives, ministry and family. Failure to do that will sabotage, and dilute the Holy Spirit’s work within and through us, personally and professionally.
Another image that God brings to mind to shape my view of pastoral care is the people in this class. Over the course of the last seven weeks, we, as a loosely knit team have supported, prayed, encouraged, counseled, and loved each other. Team-wise, we are an extension of Christ’s Love to His body, the church. I saw this time and again, first with Ted, and his situation involving consequences for the poor choices he made before he reconciled with God. To Alicia, and her family with the choices forced upon her by her husband’s increasingly irrational behavior. Then me last week as several friends and classmates witnessed unpredictable behavior by another student who believes I did her wrong. The truth of that mess is better left for God, the police, and campus security to deal with. The point is, though the situations were all different, the gifts God used through each of us ministered God’s grace to the myriad needs expressed.
Prayer Makes All the Difference
The instant I realized the danger of the situation I was in, I immediately went to the bathroom, called my family and friends and asked for prayer. God also brought to mind key people who were fellow students attending class that night that I knew were prayer warriors/intercessors, who I asked to pray for me. At the beginning of class, I made the same unspoken request of my classmates and the Professor, and they too lifted me up in prayer. Though I still continued, physically, to look over my shoulder to make sure no one was approaching me unawares, spiritually, I was confident God was interceding on my behalf. When it came time to go home, I was relieved. I knew or thought at least, I’d be safe in my apartment. However, when I got home I found another message on my voicemail from the person I had dealt with earlier at school. I had a hard time sleeping that night.
The next morning, my sister called to check on me and in the course of the conversation, told me what God had revealed to her the night before, when I asked her to pray. She said, “Immediately after going to prayer God revealed to me I was to pray for your safety. He impressed on me your life was in danger.” She had no idea why God impressed such an urgency on her spirit until I shared with her the details of what had happened at school, and when I returned home the previous night.
Needless to say, I was shook up. Ever since then I’ve been wrestling with the demon of fear, and my physical reaction to such. My mind, heart and soul understand I am held in the palm of God’s hand, and He will protect and shield me. However, calming my body’s instinctive, natural tendency to alternately hide and/or fight has been tough.
The one thing I know that has made all the difference is the reassurance that people are praying for me. This reassurance has given me the courage to speak up about it, first to Loretta, then more recently to the police, and campus security. I’ve found that this courage comes not from the absence of fear, but prayer in the midst of it. Like the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the Day of Jesus Christ.”
So, what began as a physical reaction to fear has turned into a spiritual expression of Truth. Chiefly, that God knows “you are all partakers of grace with me” (Phil.1:7-11).
I am not afraid of what will happen to me so long as I know other Christians join in a concert of prayer on my behalf; I will stand by faith in God’s Grace until the day he calls me home to be with Him. I will stand, therefore, girded in the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20), prepared to battle Evil and spiritual darkness, and the rulers of this world, not in my own strength but in Christ Jesus my Lord (Phil. 4:13).

The Full Armor of God:
Weapons of War to Defend God’s Light


Resistance to God’s Will rather than surrendering our own
builds a wall between us rather than a bridge to our Celestial home.
If we are to fight the Darkness with the power of God’s might
we must turn instead to the weapons of the Light.
Do not be afraid to speak the Truth
in love, even when it hurts; this strengthens the weak and bolsters the youth.
The choices we make in life count for something
if we honor Christ, otherwise they cause us and those we love, harm for nothing.
If we walk the pathway of life led by God
we will spread the Good News of His Peace all across this sod.
With the shield of faith held aloft to blunt the insidious arrows of the Evil One
we will conquer the Enemy’s mental tape recorder of our faults one by one.
Each time we go to battle stations
we proclaim victory through God’s Salvation
by using God’s Word
as the Spirit’s Sword.
When we combine these weapons of Light with prayer
We behold a vision of God’s Power that is beyond compare!
For if we remain united in Christ, we will stand, but if we become divided we fall
victim to the very Darkness we are called to fight. But, most of all
we must never give up or stop believing that Christ has got our six
we must just keep trusting in Him no matter what else comes next.
These weapons of war
have prepared countless generations who have come before
we ever entered the fray,
so if we want others to follow our example we must not be afraid to lead the way.
So get out there and put on the full armor of God
And show the Enemy just what we are made of!

Written by:
Belle Anne Leslie

Written on:
May 28, 2008

Scripture Reference:
Ephesians 6:10-20

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