Gary L. Pinion, D.Min.Is the Founder/President of Encouragement Dynamics, a non-pro
fit 501c3 ministry of encouragement, restoration, motivation and education focused on the needs of pastors and churches for the 21st century. He has thirty years of ministry experience. Dr. Pinion currently lives in Richland, WA with his wife, Georgia, two daughters and seven grandchildren.
About the Book
Churches all across this nation are in disarray. Pastors are being terminated because of an emergence of a few rebellious-religious zealot “control freaks.” Members are hurting and inflicting hurt on one another as well as their pastors with a dictatorial style of leadership.
Why are so many pastors and churches experiencing such devastation? Why do Christians, many of whom have been raised and trained under some of the godliest pastors and churches in America, end up acting like pagans?
This book is about what is going on in the ministry environment in the 21st Century. The stories and ideas in the pages ahead reflect the real experiences of real people and real circumstances living out their sometimes difficult and complicated lives in what is known as the “church” world.
H. B. London and Neil B. Wiseman in their updated Pastors at Great Risk book Pastors at Greater Risk say, “The risks in ministry are greater than ever. Pastors are working harder in a world that’s more corrupt. They wonder why their parishioners expect them to squander energy on trivial matters when evil threatens to wreck the human race.
Read the first chapter
As you begin this book, let me make it very plain that I am a Barnabas. My gift is “encourager” My wiring is totally 100 percent positive! As John Maxwell once said, “You type and cross match my blood and it is “Be Positive!” (For real). I am an extreme optimist. My ministry is Encouragement Dynamics. You may not get very far into this book before you say to yourself, “I thought this guy was a Barnabas, an encourager, an optimist, a positive man with a ministry called Encouragement Dynamics. Well it sure doesn't sound like it to me!” Please, I do not write this book as a doomsayer but as an instigator of change. I have truly walked miles and miles in the moccasins of those of whom I speak. I have definitely “been there and done that” and experienced for myself many of the examples you will be reading in the pages that follow.
We can learn something from everyone, but we can learn a lot more from those who have been through both the good times and the bad times. Those who have taken the time to assess their experiences and who are willing to share their painfully gained wisdom with others!
Have you ever felt beaten by the world?
Have you ever felt that your spirit had been stripped and left bare to the harsh elements? Have you ever felt that no one cares about your future?
I have been there. I was the one lying on the side of the road as many passed by. They continued on—unconcerned or unaware of my need.
But today I am thankful. Thankful for the one who did stop and reach out. One who took the time to bring comfort to my wounds. One who supported me when I could not stand on my own. One who cared enough to see hope in my future.
I can share this story with you because of one …one who became my “neighbor” and extended the love of God to me.
—The Traveler
I do not write this book with the assumption that I am an expert and know all there is concerning the status of today's pastors and the state of the churches in America in the 21st Century or the environment that engulfs the evangelical church as we know it today.
Nor do I boast of having a claim to fame with a modern day spiritual pharmaceutical miracle “cure all pill” that will fix all the problems, perplexities, pressures and pain that churches and God's chosen servant leaders are experiencing in today's world.
I do however write this book, consumed with a burning passion in my heart planted by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by the Word of God. My desire is to articulate and inform the reader through my personal observations and experiences of the state of the church and shepherds that have a God-given call upon their life to minister in the postmodern world in which we live.
I am very well aware that a growing number of ministers are female. Some are senior ministers while many others fill a variety of posts in the ministerial leadership of the church. The principles in this book are not limited to any gender or denomination. Those who abuse clergy also tend to be females, so I have stayed with masculine references.
Let me say two things emphatically and dogmatically. First, I love the church! The church that Christ loved, “A love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evokes her beauty. Everything He does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness” (Ephesians 5:25-27 MSG).
The church has been and continues to be an integral and vital part of my life since March 16, 1975, when in a small church in Texas I was first introduced to Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I eat, breathe and sleep church. I have dedicated my life to the growth and health of the local church. The rest of my life will be devoted and dedicated to the church and the pastor/shepherd men that have yielded to the Divine call of God upon their life to lead congregations across this nation.
Secondly, I love the ministry! For nearly thirty years I have been involved in ministry and am absolutely convinced that I could not have chosen any other profession, calling, or vocation and been any happier, fulfilled and rewarded.
I believe very strongly that, as one of my graduate school professors once said, “The ministry is an incredible call to an inadequate man to an impossible task for an indefinite period of time!”
