Our
Pastor Has Gone Mad Again looks like a great personal story. Do you
plan any follow ups?
It
is not a personal story as such. It is a collection of experiences
from different sources. The general idea is that pastors make money
off their congregation and live lavishly. This is the exception
rather than the rule. Yes, a few pastors are successful, but for
every successful pastor, there are at least one thousand unsuccessful
ones. I have a personal friend, who died at 39 in the process of
establishing a ministry in Colorado. I have friends, who toiled for
years without making much progress at all.
Do
I plan any follow-ups? Yes. Actually, my second book is already in
the works. It should be out in a couple months
What
do you think makes a great pastor?
I
am not sure how to answer that question. A great pastor in one part
of the world may be a bad pastor in another part of the world. I am
not even sure, if pastors are called to be great. Pastors are called
to be faithful to their calling. It is required of servants to be
found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 12: 42; Romans 14:12)
In
the sense that you imply, a pastor should fundamentally, be a man of
faith and prayer. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. For
he that comes to God must believe. A man of much prayer, much
love.(Hebrews 11: 16, Acts 6: 8; 1 John 4: 8) I am not sure that God
wants pastor to be great, the way the world implies greatness. What
man calls a great pastor may be a total failure in the sight of God
What
inspired you when writing Our Pastor Has Gone Mad Again?
The
inspiration is to produce a book of faith, using day-to-day
experiences of pastors and their church members. Most pastors today
have to deal with issues that go far beyond "church" as it
were - immigration, marriage, divorce, joblessness, homelessness,
child abuse, just to mention a few. Pastors have to deal with the
issues in church members' lives in addition to personal and family
issues. By God's grace, some pastors are able to do this
successfully. For many reasons, some are not able to handle this
challenge very well
What
are your ambitions for your writing career? Full time? Part time?
I
plan to continue to write part time, to highlight issues in
Christianity, but not as a Bible scholar or theologian. From the
perspective of a pastor, dealing with complex day-to-day issues
When
did you decide to become a writer?
I
have been writing for many years. I self-published two books in 2005
and 2006. I also frequently write my sermons or messages. Even during
personal Bible study, I write instructions down. I also write during
prayers. Some of the directions for the current book came during
prayer.
When
writing Our Pastor Has Gone Mad Again did anything stand out as
particularly challenging?
Well, yes. I think
bringing out this perspective that pastors make money off their
church members. The truth is that a lot of pastors do struggle in
ministry. The popular story out there is that of pastors earning
millions in salary, pastors making money off poor members, pastors
living lavishly, etc... Well, there are a few like that. Very few.
Extremely few. Most pastors do struggle. According to some
statistics, out of about 4,000 ministries founded I think in 2014,
about 3, 700 have closed. You can imagine the mental, physical,
spiritual state of those pastor/founders. The popular stories in the
media do not include these stories. So, writing a story like that is
a challenge. It is not popular, not trending.
What
made you decide to write Our Pastor Has Gone Mad Again?
I
wanted to get the story out, that there is another side to the
mega-rich pastor, the super wealthy pastor, the rich and famous
pastor.
What
do you like to do when not writing?
I
like to read generally, but particularly gospel books. In addition to
the Bible, I always have books wherever I am, including when I am on
vacation. I checked my bag to answer this question. I had two books.
Battle
field of the Mind,
by Joyce Meyer, and Healing
the Sick
by T.L. Osborn.
How
can readers discover more about you and your work?
The
book is widely available in most online retailers - Barnes and Noble,
Amazon, as well as most bookstores in the United States and Canada-
over 39,000 online and traditional bookstores. The publisher is also
in the process of creating blogs and other online strategies. I guess
the quickest way to find out about me and my works is to google it.
Thanks, and God bless.