Chapter Summary

Q&A

Course Recording

Pastoral Theory Foundations Training (Course 301) - Lesson 1 Assignment

1. Listen to the recording above.
2. Take notes.
3. Based on the topic of this lesson, raise your confusions or questions.
4. Submit your notes and questions to your zone leader.
5. We will record Q&A sessions based on everyone's questions on the weekend, respond to individual questions, and post them on the VIP resource website. You can freely arrange time to listen to the Q&A recordings.
6. If you do not have a VIP website account, please contact your pastor or zone leader.
7. Then proceed to the next lesson.

Issues on Healing and Deliverance

1. A lamb has several physical symptoms, such as tinnitus, brain bloating, high blood pressure, heart disease, finger numbness, etc. How should I lead them in healing and deliverance? Should I mainly target the spirit of the knowledge of good and evil, or also deal with the Old Man, the spirit of death, etc.? Is it less effective to cast out several demons at the same time?
2. The lamb's own condition has improved, but their family has many problems. Should I lead them to confront the dark forces behind their family, or choose to ignore their family's affairs? Should I encourage the lamb to rise up and pastor their family, or teach them the word of God?
3. During the healing and deliverance process, there are some effects, but they are not significant. What is the reason? (Liming)
4. There is a sister who is 60 years old and feels unwell all over, sometimes experiencing body pain and severe sleepiness, like horse neighing. Before believing in the Lord, she had a serious habit of being critical and disapproving of many things. How should a pastoral plan be formulated for such a person? (Suni)
5. Teacher, this sister has suffered from insomnia for over 20 years. She claims to be an old Christian, but in reality, she lacks faith. She only focuses on those who are not healed. When she first came, we led her in prayer and studied the word of God. After a period of guidance, her sleep improved, and her faith in God also changed slightly. However, before long, she started to suffer from insomnia again. During the guidance and teaching process, we discovered that this sister is quite self-righteous. When being taught, she always says, Yes, I know I had this problem before, but now that I believe in the Lord, I have changed, or Yes, I know I like to dwell on things, and I am always entangled in small matters, and I am changing. But she just cannot sleep! What key areas should I focus on in pastoring her next? (Ruying)

Financial Issues

1. A lamb has just believed in the Lord, and the main problem is that they are not blessed financially. I explained tithing to the new believer, and the lamb frankly stated that they find it a bit difficult to accept in their heart, but they are willing to listen to the teachings. How should I better teach them next?

Issues of Being Passive in Service

1. Often lacking wisdom and being presumptuous. The lamb is not eager and is very passive. How can I make the lamb active, eager, and desiring to be served?

Issues of Taking Notes

1. The lamb consistently fails to complete assignments according to requirements and does not correct their behavior even after being told several times. They always say they cannot remember. What should I do?

Issues of Implementing the Word of God

1. Teacher, for those who are inspired when they hear the word of God but have significant deviations in implementation, is this a failure to keep and follow the word of God? What methods can motivate people to eagerly and actively implement the word of God after hearing it? (Ma Xile)
2. Regarding the implementation of the word of God, how should we determine whether a lamb has implemented the word of God in pastoral care? Are there any quantifiable indicators? (Liangliang)
3. Teacher, this chapter mentions that there are four steps in pastoring: healing and deliverance, dealing with the flesh, hearing the word of God, and implementing the word of God. Are these four steps the entire system of pastoral care? How can these four steps be effectively connected? (An De)
4. The teacher clearly explained the four steps of pastoring in the course, but there are deviations when doing it. Can the teacher share some past successful pastoring experiences? I heard the teacher mention in his sermons that he often wrote and drew in his notebook. I would like to know how the teacher implements these pastoral strategies. (Xiao Nai)

Issues of Loving the World

1. The recording mentions loving the world, loving cars, etc. How should I pastor those who love the world? If the person is willing to change, but the feeling of loving the world is very strong. (Suni)

Issues of Being Dominated by the Flesh

1. Regarding urging people to implement the word of God and breaking the bondage of the flesh, can the teacher provide some successful cases? I feel that I am very lacking in this area. What I say is very religious, and I only put on the airs of a pastor, often failing to truly solve people's problems and edify them. (Wu Lude)
2. In the practical operation of dealing with the flesh's lusts and desires, do we still need to rely on the Holy Spirit to deal with them? For example, we all know that the knowledge of good and evil is very corrupt, but we often fall into it in real life, and it is difficult to overcome on our own.
3. How can we avoid falling into catering to the flesh of those being served in the pastoral care process?
4. What should I do if the lamb is unwilling to cooperate in dealing with the flesh? (For example, they just cannot sleep late.) (Yanzi)
5. In pastoral care, I often encounter a scenario: if I push too hard, there will be side effects, and the person falls into the knowledge of good and evil; if I push according to the person's desires, I am afraid of falling into the pit of catering to the flesh. How can I avoid being biased in either direction in such situations? (Titus)
6. In terms of breaking the flesh, what aspects of the flesh do we need to deal with in people? How should we deal with them? Facing the people I pastor, who have a serious tendency to cater to the flesh and have a heavy worldly value system, and my own tendency to be a nice guy, what should I do first?

Issues of Religious Weasel

1. The elderly person I pastor has been staying at home for many years after retirement because her husband's health is not good. She doesn't like to interact with people, and she basically faces her husband every day. She has a strong smell of a weasel on her. I told her to go find something to do and interact with people, not to be a medium, but to be a normal person. I asked her to read historical books like Zizhi Tongjian, but she has no interest and is only interested in the Bible. She is very religious and speaks in a mystical manner about the living God. How should I help her? (Micahel)

Issues of Pastors Lack of Love

1. Sometimes I cannot empathize with the lamb's problems and do not have strong empathy, focusing more on the matter than on the person's growth. How can I truly understand the lamb's situation and be able to weep with those who weep?
2. Regarding my own pastoral care of lambs, I lack the love for the lambs in my heart and simply follow the steps to serve. How can I deal with this problem? (Haibin)

Pastoral Plan Issues

1. What should I do when I involuntarily feel nervous and the lamb's reaction is different from my plans before connecting with them during service?
2. Some lambs can clearly explain the Bible and the word of God, but they cannot put it into practice. Should I make specific plans and implement them one by one? (Baijia)
3. How should a pastoral plan be formulated in pastoral care?

Issues of Receiving Newcomers

1. Teacher, regarding new brothers and sisters who have just come and do not know much about our church's pastoral methods and the word of God, when I discover that they have many carnal habits, should I point out their problems one by one and deal with them one by one, or should I point out everything I see? Sometimes I have concerns that pointing out too many things at once will undermine people's faith and that they may not accept it well. Is this a nice guy mentality?
2. I have been trying to serve newcomers, including my own family members, for the past six months, and it is obvious that they are very much catering to the flesh. Is it appropriate to start dealing with the flesh after first serving with healing and deliverance? Does the pastoral relationship need to be truly established at some point between breaking spiritual bondage and dealing with carnal habits?
3. When pastoring newcomers, if they do not have obvious needs, it is difficult to build a relationship. What should I do? How can I discover people's needs in specific service?
4. When receiving a newcomer, I discovered that they are simultaneously seeking healing and deliverance from many online platforms, including Chinese Mingding Doctrine. How should I serve such a person? What advice should I give them?
5. What should I do when a newcomer comes to us for healing and deliverance, but their words imply suspicion of us and even feel that you are a bit ridiculous? (Usually, I will feel embarrassed and want to show them God's healing power, but I also feel that they are not worthy. It also makes me lose confidence.)
6. What should I do when a person is driven to the church by demons, receives God's grace, and then feels that it is enough to offer a little or read a little of the Bible, and then denies that God has solved their problem? Moreover, this has happened many times, and even if I tell them, they still insist on this idea. Should I continue to pastor such a person? Is it also the knowledge of good and evil to feel unworthy of God when encountering such a person in pastoral care, and how should I deal with this kind of knowledge of good and evil?

Issues of Dealing with Self-Righteousness and Stubbornness

1. If a person has a strong ability to reflect and the courage to overturn their own opinions, and is relatively gentle and humble, and grows relatively quickly, then how can I transform a self-righteous and stubborn person into someone who is soft-hearted and often thinks they are wrong? Besides needing to fight in prayer, is there anything else I can do?
2. How should I pastor those who are self-righteous, disobedient, do not understand or follow what the pastor says, and have their own way of doing things? (Baijia)

Old Bird Issues

1. When I see that my pastoral care recipient has become lazy, prays less and less, and gradually relaxes in Bible study, if I add a little pressure to them, I feel that I am pushing them a bit far. How should I grasp this measure?

Issues of Pastoring Family Members

1. I want to deal with my mother's flesh. But whenever I point out my mother's problems, she sometimes says: You just can't stand me. Everyone else says I'm good, but you have the most problems with me. What should I do? It makes me afraid.
2. My maternal grandfather is over 90 years old and has a severe cough accompanied by insomnia. The examination shows pneumonia or lung cancer (without in-depth examination), and the hospital cannot cure him. I said I would take him to pray, and he was initially willing. However, after I prayed with him for more than ten minutes, sometimes even shorter, he was unwilling to continue. He said he had not seen Jesus heal him and was unwilling to listen to my teaching. The pastor taught me to overcome myself first, not to judge good and evil, and to practice the ability to cast out demons. I have now temporarily put him down and focused on pastoring my mother and grandmother, who both have testimonies and are willing to persevere in prayer. What should I do if I encounter a situation again where serving does not immediately see results and the other person immediately loses faith and interest? (Anqi)
3. In the process of pastoring family members, I can never beat the demons behind them. Those demons know my weaknesses very well. How can I improve my spiritual height and defeat those demons? (An De)
4. There is a sister whose family has serious idol worship, and her family members also reject believing in the Lord. This sister is a little anxious. How can this situation be changed? (Suni)

Issues of Pastoring Children

1. What can I do when facing a child who does not attend meetings, pray, or study the Bible properly? If I, as a mother, strive to grow, can I have an impact on her, or should I deliberately deal with her flesh and push her to do things? Sometimes when I call her to meetings, she does not resist, but there is no action. Sometimes she agrees very well, but she does not attend the meetings properly, saying she forgot the time? (Ma Xile)

Other Issues

1. How do I know if my teaching of the lambs is correct? Can I speak according to my existing knowledge with faith?
2. What kind of pastoral relationship is healthy?
3. Some lambs listen to sermons from other pastors or churches online everywhere and think they are good, but they do not want to leave our church. How should I teach them? (Yanzi)
4. How can I avoid being defiled in the pastoral process? (Xianglan)
5. There is a sister in her seventies who is illiterate and does not know how to use a mobile phone. She can hardly remember the biblical truths I tell her. Is this a problem with the pastor's spiritual height? (Kuaile)
6. There is a sister who is particularly charitable and willing to give everything she has to others, but the result is that others are ungrateful to her, which makes her very hurt. She has also seen through the deceitfulness of people's hearts. She says she trusts in God, but she still takes worldly things very seriously. How should I guide her to trust in God?