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Why Pastors' Conferences?

Why Pastors' Conferences?

People have often wondered why we don't televise our ministry nationally. They ask, "Wouldn't you have a greater impact if you became more visible and spoke to a larger audience? Why the emphasis on pastors and leaders at your Renewing Your Passion for Christ conferences?" There are several reasons why we've placed our energies and emphasis on speaking to pastors and other leaders in the church:

1. Pressure to conform to the world

Church leaders today are being pulled in many different directions. They're being bombarded with ever-changing church growth programs, new waves of revival, new methods of doing church and new styles of worship. Also, the people in their congregations pull them in a multitude of directions, each wanting their personal preferences met on demand.

Today's minister is expected to make his church a raving success. It must be hip and cutting-edge, growing quickly and keeping everyone happy. This leads to pressure to perform, rather than a commitment to integrity and faithfulness.

The church desperately needs to get back to the simple message of Jesus and the cross-centered life.

2. Lack of encouragement and support

Many in ministry are serving God in profound ways without support, prayers or encouragement from others. I think of heroes such as a pastor friend who has opened a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled drug rehab center in the middle of a Muslim nation. Hundreds are flocking to him for help. He is understaffed, lacking in funds, weary and worn, yet he stands strong, giving all he has to reach hundreds of addicted men and women.

Another dear pastor, who ministers in one of the poorer countries of the world, has worked hard to keep his people safe from the garbage flooding into churches from various new movements. Recently he was asked by his denomination to step down from ministry because he refused to lead his church into a "new wave." The congregation, however, asked him to continue leading them and they now meet for open air services in a park and continue to grow.

We hold pastors' conferences to hold up the hands of these hero pastors, to encourage them and offer our support and prayers.

3. A sense of hopelessness

Many ministers are alone, discouraged and ready to quit. In one of our meetings, over 200 pastors came for prayer, confessing they were preparing to quit the ministry immediately. So many today feel like failures because they think they're not doing enough. The church leaders of our generation need an extraordinary infusion of encouragement.

4. Overwhelming ministry needs

The needs of these leaders are immense. The tasks they're engaged in are daunting. The calling on their lives is of immeasurable value, and all hell has been loosed and pointed in their direction, seeking to bring them down. This is why we are called to help. We believe that as we minister to these leaders, their spirits will be stirred, resulting in a powerful ripple effect on their churches, cities and even nations.

5. Carnality in the church

We also conduct ministers' conferences because of the fallen condition and the prevalence of carnality in the church today. I read recently of a charismatic mega-church where the pastoral staff convinced their wives and female staff members to get plastic surgery. A church I know of recently told an unmarried pregnant teen to marry quickly and quietly so she wouldn't have to step down from helping lead the worship team. The church needs a sobering wake-up call to holiness.

6. A vile onslaught of the enemy

Pastors and Christian leaders throughout the world are facing an onslaught of temptations from the enemy. Every generation has the same evil one crouching at the door, and every generation has to deal with the internal struggle with the flesh. But this is the first generation of leaders that has been bombarded by the relentless force of illicit sexual temptation. Pornography shops are no longer isolated in the dark corners of inner-city hovels; with the technology of the Internet, every home now has the potential to be exposed to the most vile images right on their private computer screen.

Pastors who would never risk going into an adult theater or bookstore have, sadly, discovered they can "sneak a peak" at home. And too often they become addicted. This overwhelming assault from hell has caused a crisis in the ministry. Over twenty percent of pastors recently surveyed admitted they were addicted to pornography.

At one of our recent conferences, a young pastor walked up to me sobbing. He said that after the first night of our meetings, he had gone back to his hotel room and called for a prostitute. He was in agony, crying, "How can I ever break free?"

7. Pastors need to hear a strong word of God that will set them free!

In the coming months, we will conduct conferences in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and hold a World Summit in Jerusalem. Pray for us as we strive to serve these leaders well. We charge nothing for our preaching; we pay our own expenses, and we help cover all the conference costs in poorer nations.

You can be assured that we deeply value your support in making these conferences a life-changing reality.