The Drain and Gain of Student Ministry
I am very grateful for the student pastors and volunteers that serve students in churches every single week. As Christ stepped into our culture to serve us, they step into the teenage world to love and lead students. Because of the responsibility to pass on the Christian faith to a new generation, churches must have […]
Sabbatical Insights for Churches
I know that the decision makers for giving pastors a sabbatical vary according to context. The ones responsible with the decision may be executive staff, elder team, deacon body, or personnel team. If you are on one of those teams, I encourage you to give your pastors a sabbatical for two reasons: (1) for the […]
Seven Sabbatical Insights for Pastors
The church I served as executive pastor for eight years (Christ Fellowship) graciously gives their pastors a sabbatical. Mine was scheduled for six weeks in the summer of 2010, but I was not quite sure I was going to make it until then. In January of 2010, some signs of exhaustion were clear. I was […]
Why Your Pastor Needs a Sabbatical
In a church I served years ago, I was in a committee meeting where some members were bemoaning the fact that my senior pastor was taking “a sabbatical.” One man boldly proclaimed, “The devil does not take a day off; if we want to make a difference in this community – how can our pastor […]
Burying a Program
Since writing Simple Church with my boss Thom Rainer, a common question has been, “How can we eliminate a program or an event?” Those who ask the question often know that a program on their church calendar accomplishes very little for the Kingdom and is not aligned to the mission of their church. But they […]
God’s Work of Art
Frank Gasparro was an artist with very little name recognition, yet his artwork has been held by millions of people. You have owned one of his works. Frank designed the images on the penny. All pennies from 1959 through 2008 have his initials on them. If you look at the lower right of the Lincoln […]
God and Synergy
Every time a great group of individual players come together on the same team, fans and commentators raise the question of synergy. Will the players be able to play well together? Will there be chemistry? As a Heat fan, I desire synergy from Lebron, Wade, and Bosh, but my hope is that the new Lakers […]
When Your Church Needs New Wineskins
The great folks at The Gospel Coalition recently asked me to write a few articles on church staffing. My latest article is below. One day a group of people approached Jesus, confused that his disciples were not fasting. After all, John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees were fasting. Why were Jesus’ disciples not […]
Crush These Clichés
There are several unbiblical and untrue clichés that are seemingly passed from one generation of Christians to another. And these clichés need to be crushed. Believers must continually repent of the thinking represented in these clichés, and Christian leaders must not allow these clichés to be passed off as Christian truth. Here are my top […]
Paths of Righteousness
Psalm 23 is a passage that many people love because of the comforting imagery of the Lord being our shepherd in difficult and painful moments. And He is. He restores and cares for His own. He provides for His sheep, His people. And He leads. But notice where the Scripture promises us that He leads […]