Four possibilities when hearing “the teaching is not deep enough”
When I speak at a large event, inevitably someone in a local church will pull me aside and tell me the teaching in their church is not “deep enough.” If you have been involved in church ministry, you have surely heard the phrase. For a pastor who longs to faithfully feed people the Word of […]
3 Challenges of Being a Pastor’s Wife
Ministry can be hard on families. The constant burden of loving and leading a local church is taxing, and the pressure a pastor feels inevitably impacts his wife. In recent years, my wife has frequently facilitated groups for pastor’s wives. As she has interacted with them, she has found the three most common challenges to […]
Serving Is Greatness
One of the reasons bondservants chose to stay with their master was because life was so much better in the master’s care. Perhaps sometimes bondservants would reflect on how life was before. They could remember how miserable the nights were hoping someone would let them stay in their home. They could recall how painful it […]
True Repentance
After Nathan, the prophet, confronted King David on his sin, David prayed an incredible prayer of repentance and begged God to create a new heart in him (Psalm 51). We are mistaken if we believe that David’s prayer is for us only if/when we commit the “big sins.” In David’s prayer, he does not mention […]
Why People Are Not Sharing Their Faith
For years, I have heard church leaders bemoan the reality that the majority of Christians never or rarely share their faith with unbelievers. Though declaring the good new of Jesus to others is the responsibility of every Christ-follower, few people in our churches embrace the holy assignment. Why? In his book Contagious, author and professor Jonathan […]
Illustrate the Process
Illustrating your church’s process is vital. If you want your church members to see your simple process clearly, you must illustrate it. The simple process is more likely to resonate with each person if it is visual. People are more likely to remember it. Consequently, people are more likely to experience the reality of the […]
Let “Philadelphia” Continue
“Love one another with brotherly affection.” Jesus-centered community is genuine and abhors evil. It is also filled with “brotherly affection.” This is much deeper than sitting in a small group, drinking sweet tea, eating Doritos, and going home, all the while talking about how great our community is because we’ve spent a few minutes with each […]
How Can I Make a Bigger Impact?
Some of the most common questions I have received from people who first enter vocational church ministry relate to their desire to make a big impact in advancing God’s kingdom. Many younger people in ministry are filled with a holy ambition to do great things for the Lord. And while the desire can become an […]
The Folly of Mr. Autocorrect
If you communicate via text messaging, Mr. Autocorrect is often your friend. He appears to be highly educated, knows more words than you know, and knows how to spell words that you never were able to spell correctly. Thus, you often trust him to automatically correct misspelled words for you as you feverishly type messages […]
Living Out the Gospel
In the research conducted for Transformational Discipleship, the issue of biblical engagement was a key attribute in discipleship. As believers grow in their faith, they should have a deeper longing to encounter biblical truth. When believers are willing to place their lives on a collision course with God’s Word, then transformation can occur. When faced […]