Crash Prevention—Time

Over the past several Mondays, Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has shown us some disturbing statistics concerning ministerial failure and burnout. Those have been followed with a series of his suggestions as to how to prevent that burnout. This is the final, most important step to preventing ministerial burnout.

Spend time in the presence of the Lord. I have noticed very clearly in my own life that the more time I spend in the presence of the Lord, the easier it is to deal with the difficult people in my life. When we pray and worship, we receive from God. We are strengthened, we are lifted up, we are emotionally healed, and the burden is taken off of our shoulders. More than anyone, pastors and ministers need prayer time; they need worship time; they need time alone with the Lord. Not time when they are praying for their congregations, but time when they are just being alone with Jesus . . . time to pray for themselves, their families, and to receive strength from the Holy Spirit. This means, rising early in the morning to come into His presence.

Dr. Deel concluded with this message to pastors:

Remember the wisdom of the apostles in Acts chapter six. They found they weren’t able to spend the time they needed in prayer and Bible study, because of the demands of the ministry. So, they asked the people to select deacons from amongst themselves; in order to take some of the burden of the ministry off of the apostles.

Why did they do this? So they could spend their time in prayer and study of the Word. If your leadership isn’t taking that load, then they aren’t leadership. You need to train them in their duties, and allow them the blessing of truly serving the people of God.

Be encouraged, brother. You don’t have to become a negative statistic. God wants you where you are, not so that your church can be a millstone around your neck, but so that you can be a blessing to them. There is victory for you at the foot of the cross. Take your burden there, and allow the Lord to lift you up.

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Crash Prevention—Study

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. We have seen his first and second suggestions. Today is the third:

Fall in love with studying the Word of God. If the only time you spend studying the Bible is to prepare a message, you have put a muzzle on yourself as you feed your sheep. They’re receiving, but you aren’t. You need to be fed as well. Take time to study for yourself. If messages come out of that, that’s fine. But the point is to receive. Take time to go to pastor’s fellowships, where you can receive ministry and encouragement. Take time to be with your wife and children.

Next Monday we will look at the final prevention step.

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Crash Prevention—Relationship

Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, has given some helpful advice on how to prevent the kind of ministerial crash described in these earlier posts. Last Monday we saw his first suggestion. Today is the second:

Get into relationship with a mentor. We all need help from time to time, maybe even more so when we’re in the ministry. You need someone who has the wisdom, experience, and hopefully the anointing to minister to you as a pastor. God has provided for this need within His ministry to you. It is part of the “calling” of an apostle. Jesus never built an organization, nor did Paul. They built relationships with other ministers whom they could pour their lives into. All of Paul’s letters are an example of this. He wrote to the elders and ministers over the churches he had established, giving them help and instruction. Find someone with the same anointing, and enter into a mentoring relationship with them. Pray with and for your wife and children.

Next Monday we will look at the third prevention step.

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Crash Prevention—Covenant

While researching his doctoral thesis, Dr. Don Deel, the Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, uncovered some disturbing statistics about pastors and the ministry. I reported those statistics in a series of posts.

Now for the good news. Dr. Deel has given ways to prevent the kind of crash described by those alarming statistics. He writes, “There are certain steps that we, as ministers, can and must do to help ourselves not only to survive in the ministry, but to excel in the ministry.” One of those steps is:

Enter into a covenant with another pastor. This should be a mutual, trusting relationship where you can openly talk and pray for each other, without fear that the other pastors will gossip about you. As ministers, many times our lives are very lonely. Finding others whom you can build relationships, will help alleviate the stress and loneliness of being a pastor.

Next Monday we will look at another prevention step.

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Crash Prevention

Over the past several Mondays, we have looked at a series of disturbing statistics concerning pastors, their families, and their personal relationship with the Lord. Dr. Don Deel, Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions discovered these statistics while researching his doctoral dissertation. In his introduction, he wrote, “These facts should cause a pastor, staff, wife and church to take notice.”

They certainly have made me take notice. That’s why I am thankful that Dr. Deel didn’t just leave us with a sad report of the existing situation—he also gave suggestions as to how to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Each of the next four Mondays will feature one avenue of prevention. If you are a pastor, take heed. If you are a lay-person, encourage your pastor in these areas. If you are a pastor’s wife, come alongside your husband and encourage him in each of these areas.

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Crash! Speaking, Hearing and Not Doing

This is the final installment of Mountain State Baptist Association Director of Missions, Dr. Don Deel’s statistics he uncovered while researching his doctoral dissertation. As he wrote in his introduction, “These facts should cause a pastor, staff, wife and church to take notice.”

• Seventy percent of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.


• Ninety-five percent of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses.


• Eighty percent of pastors surveyed spend less than fifteen minutes a day in prayer.


• Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

If your reaction is similar to mine, these past three weeks’ statistics have startled you. Next week I hope to encourage you by posting Dr. Deel’s take on how to avoid becoming one of the statistics he has reported.

James 1:22

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