3 Reasons Student Pastors Make Great Senior Pastors

First Baptist Church in West Monroe (First West) is a great church that has served North Louisiana well for a long time. A year ago they asked their student pastor, Michael Wood, to serve as their senior pastor. Not only were the people convinced of his character, as they watched his life for several years, […]

3 Ways to Identify Your Ministry Convictions

Most church leaders will claim they have a conviction to develop leaders and a conviction for biblical community—to help people grow together in community. But it is one thing to say you have certain convictions and quite another to display those convictions in your everyday leadership. If something is a conviction in ministry, you cannot […]

4 Words Leaders Must Say on a Regular Basis

Leaders are always communicating, even when they are not talking. But what words must a leader say on a regular basis? Here are four words leaders must use, not merely every now and then but continually. Over and over again. 1. Why Wise leaders constantly ask “why” and continually communicate the “why.” Wise leaders communicate […]

Balancing Love and Honesty as a Leader of Leaders

The following is a blog post by Ed Stetzer. Ed is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research and he blogs daily at Christianity Today. This blog post originally appeared on the LifeWay Church Leaders blog. People often say, “If you love someone you should just be honest with them.” While there is truth there, it is […]

5 Ways to Communicate Better

The following is a blog post by Philip Nation. Philip is the Director of Content Development at LifeWay. This blog post, which first appeared on the LifeWay Church Leaders blog, is particularly helpful. Communication is a key component to leadership. If you are communicating, then you are leading in some way. Here are five principles […]

5 Phrases Leaders Need to Say More Often

The following is by Art Rainer. Art serves as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a cofounder of Rainer Publishing. He has written two books, Raising Dad and Simple Life, and lives with his wife, Sarah, and two sons in Wake Forest, N.C. This article originally appeared at Art’s personal […]

3 Steps in a Language Audit

When we lived in Miami, several times my wife, Kaye, was asked in Spanish, “Como se llama?” which means, “What is your name?” Since she knows a little Spanish, she responded appropriately, “Kaye.” If you know Spanish at all, you know that “Kaye” sounds like “Que,” and that “Que” means “What?” So the person would […]

10 Signs You Have a Silo Leader

Wise leaders are often repulsed by the idea of a ministry or organizational silo. A silo is, by definition, “a system or department that is isolated from others.” Silos can cause ministries or organizations to move in a plethora of disparate directions. Thus, a silo sucks funding from the overall mission, causes confusion as to […]

The Myth of Insider Language

The biggest myth of insider language is that there is really no such thing as insider language. “Insider language” will inevitably become outside language that everyone hears—meaning, it does not stay insider language. If it did, the term never would have been coined because no one on the outside would have heard the language that […]

Leadership and Language

Wise leaders understand the importance of words. They grasp the importance of language in describing the culture of the organization and the direction she is headed. But the role of a leader in relationship to language does not end when the doctrinal statement is finalized. It does not end when the mission and values are […]