Introduction: Pastors, God’s Gift to the Church
Promise Keepers has been raised up and sustained by God to serve as a resource to the Lord’s pastors. As Promise Keepers has developed, our mission has become increasingly clear, and today we have no doubt about our mission. Our “customer” is you, the pastor. We exist to help you connect with men so that you might lead them to fulfill God’s call on their lives.
Chapter One: We don’t Know what We Don’t Know
Blind spots. While everybody has them, few of us can name our own. That’s why we need others around us to identify our blind spots and help us compensate for them. We ignore them at our own risk.
Chapter Two: The Core Issue
Through these experiences, coupled with a close reading of Scripture, we believe that we have identified the key to repairing the growing divide in the church. We’re convinced that we will succeed in our efforts at reconciliation only when we focus our attention on the rift most highlighted in Scripture: the breach between believing Jews and Gentiles. All others are subordinate to this one. Our mission is to rally the church and repair the divide.
Chapter Three: Make Room in Your Heart
Why do we have to clothe ourselves with deep humility when we say to someone, “Come near to me?” I’ll tell you why. Some men have been so hurt by what life has served up that they distrust any show of concern or personal interest from anyone belonging to another ethnic group.
Chapter Four: Good Defense, Poor Offense
Our failure to do justice arises not from an orchestrated or intentional omission but from blocked vision. The way I see it, while the suburban church focuses on issues of righteousness, the urban church, by necessity, concentrates on problems of justice.
Chapter Five: Come Near to Me
I believe the Father heart of God is waiting for the members of his church to hear one another, understand one another, and work closely with one another for his glory and their benefit. More than anything, I think the Lord is saying to us, “I want muy sons to come together.”
Chapter Six: A Shocking Discovery
I’ve noticed what I can only call a shocking spirit of independence in ministry. Before I entered ministry, it never occurred to me that many in the church could leave the team whenever they got “a better offer” or as soon as they suffered an offense, real or imagined.
Chapter Seven: Four of a Kind Beats a Full House
Everyone who wants to make a lasting difference for Christ and his kingdom has to find a way to build and maintain an effective prayer covering. Failure in ministry can often be traced to failure to create an active, unified prayer team.
Chapter Eight: Take Me Where I Can’t Take Myself
Successful pastors take guys where they can’t go by themselves. Effective pastors understand why a guy isn’t responding and go after him. They see Jesus Christ in him, the hope of glory. And they know that man is a dynamo just waiting to be unleashed for the kingdom.
Chapter Nine: Winning the War Together
Imagine that Gentile believers and Messianic Jewish believers drew near to each other in a new encouraging and dynamic relationship. The synergy of this restoration could create an empowering witness across all divisions in the body of Christ.
Chapter Ten: Going From Good to Great
While it’s “good” to be saved, a man longs to be “great.” And God declares that greatness comes from moving beyond personal righteousness to doing justice. Greatness comes from seeing a need in others and doing something concrete to meet that need.
Purchase Blind Spots.