Ministry leaders should have a complicated relationship with data. We should value data because it can be used as a tool to help us make wise decisions. But we must not value data too much, and must not find our worth and identity in a number or spreadsheet. Data can help ministry leaders make wise…
Church Leadership
7 Principles of Wisdom from the New CSB He Reads Truth Bible
For the last several years I have been using the Christian Standard Bible for my personal studies, sermon prep, and when teaching. The following helpful and encouraging article about wisdom is from the new CSB He Reads Truth Bible, designed to foster a growing affection for God and His Word and to increase biblical literacy….
The Great Commission and 3 Types of Churches
After Jesus walked out of the tomb alive and just before He ascended to heaven, Jesus gave His disciples authority to join His mission of reconciling people to God, people of all nations. Jesus commissioned His disciples, sending them out to make disciples. His words have been called the Great Commission: “All authority has been…
Church Leaders: Ministry Is From God, But It Is Not God
When I first began serving in local church ministry, a pastor told me that “church is a great place to hide out and a great place to burn out.” He further explained that ministry can attract workaholics, those who live off affirmation from others for the work they do. And that ministry can also attract…
Grave Clothes and the Importance of Community
The biblical account of Lazarus in John’s gospel is the account of every Christian. Like Lazarus, we were dead. We were dead spiritually, dead in our trespasses and sins. Like Lazarus, Christ raised us to new life. Just as He called Lazarus by name and pursued him, Christ pursued us. He set His love and…
4 Reasons to Consider Theological Education While Serving on Church Staff
When I was a college student, the Lord made it clear to me that He wanted me to serve His church for the rest of my life. In college I knew I was going to be a pastor. In fact, I became a pastor while in college and started working on staff at a church…
3 Practical Challenges of Less Frequent Church Attendance
Several years ago, while I served at LifeWay Christian Resources, we noticed a big shift in the definition of “regular church attender.” The speed of the shift seemed to be fairly dramatic and it transcended theological tribe and type of church. In other words, people from every type of church were attending less frequently than…
4 Reasons Megachurch Pastors Are Susceptible to Fall
There has been, in recent years, a growing concern about the number of moral failings and integrity lapses in megachurch pastors (churches with attendance north of 2000 people a week). Words like “epidemic” have been used, as the number of leaders disqualifying themselves has felt extremely high. I have been asked if a megachurch pastor…
A Counterintuitive View of Multiple Campuses and Sudden Pastoral Transitions
Gosh, that is a long blog title. It almost reads like a dissertation title, so let me explain. One overwhelming argument against a church having multiple campuses or congregations is “what happens to those campuses if the celebrity pastor dies or blows up his life?” By a church having multiple congregations or campuses, I am…
Church Leaders: Because Leadership Is Transferrable…
In the book The Leadership Code, Dave Ulrich and his coauthors articulate that as much as 70% of leadership is transferable from one context to another (the other 30% is specific to that context or industry). This means that the vast majority of what makes someone an effective leader in one context is transferable to…