The Man, the Message, the Ministry

By Dr. David Peacock

The Man: You cant separate the man from the message. This chapter deals with the preparations and surrender that a true God-called preacher must be willing to endure. Drawing from Pauls pattern to the Thessalonians, Dr. Peacock deals with issues like confrontation, preaching for results, and discouragement.

The Message:
God has a message He wants to be imparted to the congregation each Sunday. This chapter explains what biblical preaching is and how to find the right message. Dr. Peacock tackles things like harsh preaching, outward conformity, and preaching on isms. He also deals with what to keep out of the pulpit.

The Ministry:
A biblical ministry is built on the proper foundation: the Lord Jesus Christ. This final chapter addresses many concerns in the ministry. Dr. Peacock offers his advice and biblical explanation for things like when to start a church, the appearance of church facilities, how to treat visitors, missions, street preaching, counseling, and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490819891

Dr. David Peacock

Dr. David Peacock (BD, ThM, ThD) has been around the ministry all of his life. His father, Ben Peacock, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist. It was his father who led him to the Lord at age seven. He was not always in the ministry however. His original career was in law enforcement, one in which he made the rank of captain at the Jacksonville sheriff’s office. In 1992 he founded Bible Believers Baptist Church and eventually left his position at the sheriff’s office to pastor full time. Dr. Peacock is also the president of the Bible Doctrine Institute, a correspondence seminary designed to train men in the Bible and biblical preaching.

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Copyright © 2014 Dr. David Peacock.

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Scripture quotations are from the Authorized King James Version.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-1988-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1990-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-1989-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013923609

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/04/2014

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PREFACE

The MAN

The MESSAGE

The MINISTRY

FOREWORD

The feeling one has when entering the ministry can be described as both a burden and a blessing. It’s a blessing because we have a desire (1 Timothy 3:1) to serve God, and there is no greater joy; it’s a burden because there are cares and responsibilities in the ministry (2 Corinthians 11:28). The thought that God would use sinners like us to proclaim His word is humbling indeed, and sometimes overwhelming. Add to that a lack of experience, and a few church-related problems, and you have the potential for a shipwreck of your ministry. Many sincere God-called preachers leave or destroy their ministries simply because they lack the wherewithal to handle a problem, or perhaps because they have adopted an unbiblical approach from the outset.

The Bible admonishes us to [h]ear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not (Proverbs 8:33). Preachers need preaching too, and pastors need pastoring from time to time. This book does both. It addresses questions and situations that pastors face, and it provides biblical answers. It is written by a man admired and respected by many pastors, including myself. Dr. David Peacock is both a preacher’s preacher and a pastor’s pastor. I know I would not be where I am today without Dr. Peacock’s influence and help through the years.

Dr. Peacock is a perceptive pupil of the scriptures as well as a powerful preacher of the gospel. If you’ve ever heard him preach, you know this to be true. He is also a compassionate pastor whom the Lord has used to grow his congregation at Bible Believers Baptist Church, both spiritually and in numbers, over the past twenty years.

To the veteran preacher who has heard it all, I challenge you. This book may hold some ideas you’ve never thought of or heard expressed quite this way. To the young preacher just starting out, take notes! In the following pages lies a wealth of information that is both biblical and practical for the man, the message, and the ministry.

Dr. David E. Walker, Pastor

Calvary Baptist Church, Monticello, Florida

PREFACE

Let me say, by way of introduction, that the material presented in this book is by no means the absolute authority regarding preaching or the pastoral ministry. The things that I would like to share with you are simply suggestions for you to consider, as they come from my years of personal experience in the ministry. Many things I have learned the hard way through failure instead of success, but I trust they may be a blessing to you.

This book is designed not only for those currently in the ministry, but for those who feel God’s call to begin or start a work. It is my prayer that you may avoid some of the pitfalls to which I have fallen prey, and have a fruitful ministry for the Lord.

Let me also affirm that the ideas presented in this work are not given as commands but rather suggestions. Please take what you want and throw out what doesn’t work for you.

Many of the storms that I experienced in the early years of my ministry were caused by the fact that I didn’t know better. I didn’t have any instruction. People normally learn three ways: God teaches them, they learn from their own mistakes, or they learn from the mistakes of others.

It is my prayer that you may learn from my experience.

Dr. David Peacock, Pastor

Bible Believers Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida

The MAN

THE GOD-CALLED PREACHER

I have been around the ministry and in the ministry long enough to see people who have genuinely been called and those who have not. A God-called preacher is not a preacher because that is something that he does; he does it because it is something that he is.

Real God-called preachers seem to be an extinct species. There are not many men who stand behind pulpits anymore. Instead we have these effeminate men or women attempting to fill an office they were never called to in the first place.

Biblical preaching is supposed to be male oriented, in the sense that it is to have a thrust and present a charge to the people in such a way that it is authoritative on behalf of God. Women can minister better in some areas, but God ordained that men are to be the leaders and preachers of the word of God.

THE PREPARATION OF THE MINISTER

The first thing that you must do before any other preparation is to be willing to admit that you have been wrong in the past.

Acts 26:9-11

9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

In the above passage we know that Paul was a very religious man, doing those things that he thought he should be doing. He was even doing those things in the name of God.

When the Lord spoke to him on the road to Damascus, Paul thought of himself as the Lord’s right-hand man. He thought he was honestly serving God by persecuting the church. He thought he was doing God a service, but the first thing God revealed to Paul was that everything he was doing was wrong.

After that revelation Paul had a choice to make. He could choose to justify himself and make excuses or he could repent and admit before God that he was wrong.

This is the first step in surrendering to the ministry and the first step in future growth. As God reveals more and more of Himself, you must be willing to say, I have been wrong, and I acknowledge that what I have been doing is wrong. I was going the wrong way, doing the wrong things. That is step one. If there is no recognition of past failures there can be no promise of future success. Until the foundation is cleared of everything corrupt, nothing pure and right can be built on it.

TRUE SURRENDER

Second, there has to be a true surrender for the purpose of God in your life. This is where you say, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Phil. 3:8). This is the total and complete sacrifice of everything that we plan, everything that we are, and everything that we hope for. At this point there is no fence-straddling. If you desire to be God’s man instead of the man of God you will have to take this step. Being God’s man is being a man that God can control. It means God can say, Do you love me? Are you willing to lay down your life for me?

There is a message I preach called What is your Isaac? As preachers, our Isaacs can be our jobs, our reputations, our families, our friends, or our finances. You must understand that before your preaching can have any power or take effect you must make this choice to surrender fully. You must be willing to do what the Lord would have you to do in his time frame. This step concerns willingness, plain and simple.

You can know a lot of things about preaching and how to preach, but unless your heart, mind, body, and soul are surrendered to preach, you are only a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). If your service is just something you do because there is a need, or there is nothing else to do, then it will never be the right kind of service. You must give yourself to the Lord wholly; completely.

If God can save your soul and preserve you for all eternity, you shouldn’t have a problem surrendering your life to Him. God can run our lives better than we can. And He will never do anything to hurt you or harm you in any way.

Anything that stands between you and full surrender to