Hi Ray,

Periodically I read articles where the author mentions there are not enough men coming out of the Christian Colleges and Universities planning to be preachers and that the result will be empty pulpits.

I am reading a book by Shawn Mathis entitled Man of God. It is 29 essays on the life and work of a preacher. One of the essays is by Larry Mathis, the minister at Southside Church of Christ in Dresden, Tennessee titled Expectations of the Man of God.

He writes:

"Men of God are expected to perform well in areas which bear little or no resemblance to the role revealed by God.

God's man is expected to positive and motivated. The modern preacher is expected to preach positive sermonettes which keep constituents happy, calm, and contented. God's man is expected to be a dynamic performer.

In some places his task is to be visionary and to dream up new ideas and then push every work to fruition.

A second expectation is that God's man should possess administrative skills comparable to top executives in the secular world. In some cases God's man is loaded down with administrative responsibilities which are demanding and time consuming.

He may have the responsibility of regulating the work of a staff. Part of his work may consist of making sure the assistant ministers, secretary, and janitor all put in a day's work for a day's wages. He is their supervisor.

It is not uncommon for the local minister to be responsible for organizing everything from the nursery to advertising for the annual gospel meeting. He may be expected to collect news tidbits for the church bulletin, change the marquee message, and monitor the committees in the congregation. He is often expected to be on every committee in the church, work with all the special interest groups within the congregation, and in some places he draws up the proposal for the annual budget.

He is also frequently expected to: counsel, perform weddings, baptisms, sit with the dying, conduct funerals, hold seminars, write for local papers, act as purchasing agent, host a radio or television program, work with the youth, visit the sick, shut-ins, hospitals and nursing homes. The preacher is expected to teach or conduct day Bible camp, oversee vacation Bible school, and be active involve din community organizations and functions. All of this is to be done while still produce highly motivational sermons every Sunday."

Suppose we have arrived at the time Paul told Timothy was coming?

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." 2 Timothy 4:3, 4

With churches fading away and the lack of young men wanting to "fill the pulpit" the question becomes can we find the concept, in the Bible?