Monday, October 3, 2011

Pastor's Circle - Bert Harper

Bert Harper, chairman on the board of American Family Association, joined The Matt Friedeman Show today to talk about pastors and their families. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Tell us about your new position at AFA.
The position is Director of Family Life and Pastoral Ministries. AFA has always been a great ministry warning people about what the family is coming up against.

They felt like it was time for us to get in this fight of equipping families. My wife and I will be going and sharing in conferences about the family, and at the same time encouraging pastors.
In what ways are you going to do that?
If you're not right at home, being in the fight is not going to do any good. In fact, the devil will try even harder to take you down. Jan and I are going to be really encouraging pastors to be involved at home.

We feel like pastor's kids are open game. And Satan is doing everything he can to get pastors off their calling.

I think the reason so many pastors take the low road is because they're a target.
So you think that Satan targets the pastoral family?
I really do. I realize more and more, if he can get me off of my message, if he can get me more concerned about what all is going on in my life, I will be less focused on Christ.

People look up to their pastor. But I want to tell you, he is a target for Satan. And Satan does everything he can to mess up his family.
What tips do you have for parents?
Two things come to my mind. I was raised on a farm by a dad who raised mostly by example. I was around him all the time. I'd see my dad read the scriptures, and I caught it. 
So I went into fatherhood thinking that was the way to do it. But you have to do it both in a casual way and a conscious way. If we don't, we are not fulfilling God's purpose in our life.

The next thing is activities. Activities are killing us. When I was busy trying to get my kids to all their events, we didn't have time for the things we needed to be doing. Activities are killing the family.

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