Ron Runyan

Ministerial Clowns

MY TEEN years were frequently punctuated with chapel exercises and Weeks of Prayer. A large cross section of Adventist youth leaders and speakers were seen and heard during those academy and college days.…

 Influence and 40,000 Men

THE influence of every minister I have ever known intimately has, like Gerizim and Ebal, blessed or cursed me. Regardless of our posi­tion, whether needle or pole, an influence vibra­tion of weal…

BEING reared in a good solid Adventist home is a great advantage. My father was not a minister, never­theless our home standards were as high as any preacher's home I have visited. My "three-R" years found me in public school. Home was a…

Introduction

John Bunyan's allegory, Pilgrim's Prog­ress, gave birth to the idea of setting forth the experiences I have either had or per­sonally known about during my race of life thus far. Episodes having a…

IT IS not so strange that Satan throws a II tantrum when souls are wrested from his grasp and placed on the side of Christ. The devil doesn't try too hard to stop any church program as long as it doesn't involve the saving…

The kind of start a man gets in the min­istry usually sets the pace and attitudes for his future work. I am convinced that my own internship under the direction of two well-qualified pastor-evangelists proved to be an inestimable blessing.…

The editors of the Ministry recently received a large envelope containing 46 responses to my February article titled "Religious Side Shows." An accompany­ing letter from Leo Van Dolson, associate professor of religion at Pacific Union Col­lege,…

Some  will say before they read these  paragraphs that I am discussing the im­possible. Sad, but true, there are those who by example support the idea that a minis­ter with a family cannot possibly live on one salary. Additional income derived…

Twenty-eight dollars a week, plus a monthly pittance rent and car allowance, was the total financial investment the church made in my wife and me when we began our ministry. I say our ministry, for a dedicated minister's wife is…

THERE is a philosophy that is gaining increasing acceptance among us, which is dangerously subtle. It is the idea of doing good with no strings attached and no hooks involved. In an important sense the concept of being a…

Give Me Liberty Rather Than Death!

The record of performance . of those claiming to serve God reveals one major consistency. That is the never-ending strug­gle between the demands of desire and…

Involvement

Although overworked, the word involvement should have special signifi­cance for the Adventist minister. Types of involvement are numerous, such as aiding the poor, unconfusing…

We had no Pathfinder clubs, no foreign tours, no junior camps, no elaborate MV programs when I was a youth. The exiguity of church socials was most evident. This situation caused the usual vocal crusaders to decry the church's out-of-touchness…

IF AN unconverted circus manager ever sot to heaven, can you imagine what o J O would occupy his time? He probably would try to talk Daniel into challenging the lions again. Lazarus would get top billing as a man who died and was resurrected…

INGATHERING and Adventism are two entirely different words but in a sense are almost synonymous to preachers and deeply-rooted laymen. Ingathering can almost be classified, when it comes to church values and emphasis, as a doctrine. My second…

SINCE this special issue is dedicated to those wonderful wives of ours, the editors requested that I slant my thoughts toward women's fashions. I'm a man whose household boasts the presence of three lovely ladies. The smell of hair spray…

THIS young preacher's first funeral was comparable, as far as expenditure of nervous energy was concerned, to the budding pianist's first recital or the neophyte doctor's first appendectomy.

When the telephone rang that night and…

RARE is the time when marital troubles spring from only one side of the two-party marriage union! My authority for ad vising women stems from a quarter of a century tie to one I consider the most wonderful wife a man could ever have or hope…

A FEW months ago an anonymous letter came to the MINISTRY editors. It was passed along to me for answering. Here is how the familiar, as old as sin, account read:

"Dear Sirs: I am wondering if you can give some advice in an article…

A CERTAIN young intern learned a good lesson the hard way during his first pastorate. The brethren held him responsible for a church until the conference evangelist took over the reins of leadership several months later. During those few…

TIME is the lifeblood of humanity. It is given to all men equally. "But time and chance happeneth to them all" (Eccl. 9: 11). Job sensed the elusiveness of time when he declared, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6). The…

THE world is careening down the highway of anarchy. High-minded youthful hoodlums in all countries are intent on developing their talents in the direction of the three R's of ruling, ruining, and rioting. Society in general acts like that…

THE following story told in the third per son is a true one. It is in the exact words of the professor involved. I have not added or detracted one syllable. The young man involved is one of our educators with more than three alphabetical…

MEETINGS assisted--23. That sounds good. Sermons preached--3. All you can expect for an assistant pastor in a large city church. Calls or visits--129. Nobody could complain about that. Count all those telephone calls.

But now that…

I HAVE always been a preacher who likes a good illustration. But as I look back over my earlier ministry I am appalled at some of the illustrations I used. A lot of the stories were spine-tingling and ear gripping, but to be honest about…

SEVERAL interesting documents have been delivered to me, two of which I want to share with our readers. Both deal with a person's appetite. Whether we wish to admit it or not, there is a moral issue involved in what a man eats and…

THE histrionic revivalist, George Whitefield, was accused by his enemies of uttering "sound without sense." His ability as an orator jammed the churches with motley throngs. Some of his outdoor crowds were so large that he would turn to the…

THE scene is the celestial courtroom. The time is postmillennial. The defendants are the lost of all ages—Satan's crop of tares. Among them are some Seventh-day Adventist preachers. One of them could be you or me. Let's use me for an example.

Christ,…

Should unproductive ministers be invited to exercise their talents in some other line of work?

In the Adventist ministry the traditional answer has seemed to be No. Firings are rare. Trading problem workers from conference to conference—or…