The net effect of many cultural variables is a reality that has built a bit of a barrier to fatherhood. This challenge is compounded when we consider a generational effect that we have yet to truly experience, at least on the larger scale.
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Pastors don’t need to serve in fear. However, we do need to be protected from all of the dangerous threats to our lives, families and ministries.
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As a young pastor in my first church, I was keenly aware my congregation had a lot of problems. It had suffered years of numerical decline, in no small part as a result of immorality among the pastoral staff and embezzlement by a church treasurer. People were disillusioned, cynical and defensive.
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We almost can’t help ourselves. When we gather with a group of friends or people who share something in common, we often start talking in a way that excludes others.
Vision is not measured by statements on a wall. Vision is revealed by how a church operates, evaluates ministry, and envisions the future.
Youth and student ministry have a robust history in Southern Baptist and evangelical circles, and rightly so. But, if you reach the children, eventually you will also grow a thriving youth ministry, as those sweet kids grow into teenagers.
There are only two ways to do local church evangelism – come and see or go and tell. Every church has a “come and see” strategy as it gathers on Sunday morning, posts its service times and welcomes guests to come and hear the Gospel.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
