Three Blessings of Being a Pastor’s Wife
Recently, I shared three common challenges of being a pastor’s wife. These were based on conversations my wife has had with dozens of pastors’ wives in recent years. She has also spoke with them about the great things in ministry, the blessings of being married to a man who serves the Lord in full-time Christian […]
Discuss the Process
Imagine this scenario. A pastor and team of leaders invest months in crafting a vision or purpose statement. They have late-night meetings with pizza and M&Ms. They debate the wording. They choose key Scriptures to emphasize the direction of the church. They are filled with excitement, and they come up with a plan to share […]
Learned Helplessness and the Need for Community
Martin Seligman’s research in the 1960s on “learned helplessness” is still widely respected among psychologists. Seligman and his team placed a dog in a cage designed to receive electric shocks. When they hit the cage with a jolt of electricity, the dog jumped and yelped as expected. They waited a few minutes and shocked the […]
Airplane Churches
When the apostle Paul wrote the believers in Philippi from prison, he told them: “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5). The word for partnership in the original language is […]
The Example of Jesus
The biblical writers Peter and James joined Paul and Timothy in identifying themselves as servants. They opened their letters proudly bearing the title doulos, a bond servant of Christ. Peter was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, so he saw firsthand the example of Jesus. He heard Jesus speak passionately about serving others. And he watched […]
Gospel and Marriage
In his letter to the Ephesian church, the apostle Paul specifically addressed marriage. In Ephesus men typically viewed women as property, not as someone who should be loved and cherished. They often treated marriage as a business transaction for the sake of social appearances, thus they sought sexual gratification outside their marriage. While the cultural […]
Christ Was Cursed
No one longs to be cursed before God. We want His blessing, His favor. Yet unless we continually obey everything in the law and never falter at one point (James 2:10), we are guilty of violating all the law. And because of our sinfulness, we were cursed before God. But the scandalously good news is […]
Leadership or Micromanagement?
What some people call micromanagement is really leadership providing necessary accountability. And what some leaders call leadership is really micromanagement. For example–when meeting with staff teams, I have often heard conflicting statements from both leaders and those they lead. A leader will say, “I wish I had people I could trust with greater leadership,” while […]
Measure the Process
Preseason NFL games are boring to watch, even for serious fans. Seriously, Sportscenter on ESPN barely mentions preseason games. The anchors even poke fun at how little the games matter. The best players are not in the game at critical times. It is basically a practice with real referees. It just seems that no one really […]
Reminded, Not Instructed
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Sometimes we forget the fact that New Testament letters like Paul’s to the Romans were originally meant to be read, studied, and practiced in community. Commands like these from Romans 12, then—to rejoice, to be patient, to be persistent in prayer—are not just for […]