We offered VBS at our church last week for kids and families in our church and in our community. Our team did an amazing job serving kids so well, teaching them about Jesus, and giving them an incredibly fun time. Trisha Graves, who built VBS at our church years ago, is a hero as her…
Church Leadership
3 Indications Data is King and Not Friend
My friend Ed Stetzer often says, “Facts are our friends,” when encouraging leaders to learn from important research. He is right. Wise leaders don’t ignore facts. They understand reality and offer hope and mission in the midst of that reality. Data should be a friend of ministry leaders. As examples: Data about the number of…
A New Tool From My Friends at Visioneering Studios
When I served at LifeWay Christian Resources, I regularly recommended Visioneering Studios to church leaders who are considering building or renovating a facility. They do excellent work and they ground their design in the story of what God has done and is doing in the life of each church. When I became the senior pastor…
Data in Ministry: a Cruel God But a Great Tool
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…
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…