Every pastor leads with a finite amount of trust. Theologians might call it credibility; leadership writers call it relational or political capital. Whatever the term, it functions the same way: it accumulates slowly through faithfulness and depletes quickly through avoidable mistakes.
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There are many ways to prepare for Vacation Bible School. Prayer is an obvious one. Prayer walking offers every church member an opportunity to lay an intentional, strategic spiritual foundation for ministering to children.
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The hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” has the line, “How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away.” Yet is that what happened? Did the Father literally abandon the Son?
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We've all been there. We want to pray but the words won't come. Maybe we don't what to say. Perhaps the burden is heavy it's hard to articulate. Chuck Lawless shares 10 tips to help you in these moments.
Just this week, I had a conversation with an aspiring pastor asking about the importance of pastors staying at a church even it’s tough. Our studies over the years have indeed shown the value of longer pastoral tenures. When staying at a tough church is challenging, maybe these reasons below will challenge you to hold on...
I love preaching the Word. That’s my calling, and I can’t imagine not doing it. So, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities I get to speak in different churches, and I’m especially thankful to worship with believers around the country. Moreover, I’m always pumped when . . .
Let me be honest with you. I’m busy. Too busy, in fact. I go to bed with things to do on my mind, and I wake up with even more things to do on my mind. Somedays it feels like I’m on the proverbial hamster wheel, wearing myself out while getting nowhere.
I’m just opening my heart to my readers. I’ve been burdened recently about identifying, confessing, and overcoming things in my life that I sometimes elevate to the level of idolatry – meaning, I sometimes let these things distract from my time with the Lord, dominate my thinking, or rob me of my sleep. Here are some of those things I allow to grip my heart too often:
Here are some of my fears for a young generation of church leaders who’ve grown up with the Internet.
I still struggle with that issue, and I’ve learned that many pastors share that struggle. Here are some reasons we’re susceptible to this sin:
Over the years, I’ve seen churches divide. What I’ve learned, though, is that no division happens overnight; every church has some kind of previous problem that no one addressed. To help you evaluate your church’s possibility of division, here are some of those warning signs to consider:
Leading a church to be a discipling church—especially if that’s never been their focus—is not easy. You might, in fact, be learning that truth the hard way. Here are some obstacles to effective discipleship in the church:
Let me get right to the point: the devil wants to hinder your worship of God this weekend, so he will work to distract and deceive you. Even before we get to worship this weekend, he wants us to:*
In many churches, generation gaps are still wide. I’ve learned, though, that generations often resist one another without knowing each another. In fact, it’s easy to blame others when you don’t know their names or their stories. Here are some practical ways to close those gaps by guiding the generations to get to know each other.
