When his father-in-law [Jethro] saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws." Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
             Pastors tend to be people pleasers. They want to help out as many people as they possibly can. Often pastors end up saying yes to things they just do not have time for. Or pastors believe that they need to handle every counseling case that comes their way from "his flock". A reality pastors need to realize is that they are not alone. They can not be everything to everyone. If pastors try to this, they will burn out. Even the lone ranger was not alone. Statistics say that a pastor can only effectively minister to 40 people. What if his church has over 300 people; does he simply neglect the rest? How can a pastor be a shepherd to his sheep if he can't do the job alone? What options does he have? I believe a pastor has many options yet I want to focus on only four here. The four options a pastor has are: (1) quickly counsel his people alone, (2) use professional counselors, (3) use lay people to counsel by establishing a Stephens ministry and (4) teach the congregation what a community is.
             We live in a world of quick fixes, fast foods and instant replays. We aren't content with waiting for answers of healing until tomorrow; we want answers today – right now. When it comes to unraveling difficulties, most people want immediate, painless solutions. Solutions do not exi...