This is the third and final post on an interview I did with pastor Michael Burchfield (see Part 1 and Part 2). It's about how he used John Piper's The Swans Are Not Silent biographies to do a series of staff devotionals, and what the effects were.
Encouraging Other Churches
Mark Struck: Mike, this devotional series obviously made a huge impact on your staff and it is easy to tell others they should do the same. But in this case, what is your advice to other pastors, especially senior pastors?
Mike: We can get weary of devotions that are always theological. There are times when we need examples of people whom we can imitate who clothe themselves with the theological and who lived lives worth imitating to some degree. These books record for us the words of ancient mentors.
Mark: Why else are these biographies so valuable?
Mike: Dark times. It is so easy to call it quits and end the race for many pastors. These biographies were used by God to encourage our staff to stay in the race. The lives reached out and spoke to all of us and brought light to our dark times.
Let me go one step further and recommend these biographies, the complete series in either the written or audio files, to seminary students. Students have some unrealistic dreams about their first ministry and first church. These biographies will help students connect the theology of the classroom with real life in the church or on the mission field.
I admire a man like Jonathan Edwards who did not consider it a demotion to go from a large church to a small work among the Native Americans. In fact, that change gave him time to write some of the greatest works this world has ever read.
DG: Mike thank you and your staff for this time. Before we go, tell me, what biography was your favorite and why?
Mike: My favorite hero was Charles Simeon. Wow, what a hardship he endured. He persevered against all odds in order to preach the Word of God to his congregation. When every elder was opposed to him as senior pastor, he remained true to the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. He was true to his calling.
I learned from Simeon that the role of pastor may be an upward climb, but that, if I am called, then I will remember that the gospel ministry is a marathon. As I look at all the staff in the room, I would say that each one also had a favorite who saved their faith, their life, and their ministry.
Pastors, fill your shelves with these stories and fill the hearts of your staff with each and every biography. We are in the trenches of real life. Sometimes the hero saved me and sometimes I found that the hero saved the person I was counseling.
The fifth book in the Swans Are Not Silent series, Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ, is now available in a ministry edition paperback for missionaries around the world. If your mission agency would like to give their missionaries a free copy, fill out our online request form. The books are free of charge to any missionary outside the USA.
