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.
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Father’s Day gives pastors and church leaders an opportunity to speak into the family unit by ministering to the hearts of men.
Every ministry leader needs the opportunity to hear from those who lead them as to how they are doing and what they can do more effectively.
Because of my love for the local church and for pastoring, I think often about that role. I reflect on joys and blessings of my fourteen years of pastoring, but I also remember mistakes I made. If I were pastoring again, I would do these things more often.
I once heard a pastor say, “The enemy of your soul hates you.” You probably hear sermons and social media clips about how much God loves you—and rightly so, for He does indeed love you. Yet it is also important to hear about the other side of the coin: the devil hates you.
When Charles Spurgeon was asked if he could reconcile the sovereignty of God and human responsibility, he said, “I wouldn’t try, I never reconcile friends.”
At least seven times in the pastoral epistles, Paul directly charges Timothy and Titus to “avoid” and to “have nothing to do with” ideas and people who pose a threat to their flock. This is jarring since one of the main purposes for these letters is to encourage Timothy and Titus to engage false teaching and teachers. Yet here is where the paradox emerges: Paul teaches a pastoral virtue of avoidance—showing that sometimes the wisest form of engagement is careful restraint.
Sacred cows are often defined as something that needs to be addressed but few are willing. In this post, Chuck Lawless offers tips on how to recognize and address sacred cows.
What comes to mind when you think of attrition in your church? Perhaps you think about the attrition of membership or attendance. Maybe you think about financial attrition. However, I want to draw your attention to a different and often overlooked category: cultural attrition.
My own moral failings, intrusive thoughts, and moments of doubt have sometimes left me feeling worthless and weak. In those moments, I can’t help but feel that God is ashamed of me or distant. And in my weakness, I ask myself, “How can I hold on to Him more earnestly?”
Today, every worship leader has become a curator and gatekeeper. And that’s not a small responsibility.
Sometimes, when you’re in the middle of a church renewal initiative, it can be difficult to measure the kind of impact you’re hoping to see. It often requires stepping back, taking a breath and prayerfully evaluating what God is doing.
