5 Ways You (and the People in your Church) Will Grow This Year
When God wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32), God won Jacob to Himself by making Himself weak. In His love for Jacob, He withheld His power as even a slight touch to Jacob’s hip dislocated it. God has won us to Himself through weakness too. He emptied Himself, took on human flesh, and submitted Himself to […]
4 Ways to Set Effective Goals for 2020
It is a new year and many people will take time to set new goals or make new resolutions. Goals can be helpful as they cause us to evaluate our lives, consider what is important to us, and decide what changes we need to make. Setting goals has also proven to be fruitful, as research […]
4 Important Lessons From Marathon Runners About Your New Year Goals
As a new year begins there will be a lot of new goals set: physical goals about exercise or weight loss, financial goals about paying off debt or making more money, and relational goals about more time with loved ones. Setting goals can be very helpful because they force conversations about what is going to […]
“Christmas Makes me Sad/Glad” and 3 Reminders for Us Preachers
Christmas season tends to bring out emotions in all of us – some emotions of sadness and some of gladness. A recent Google search of “Christmas makes me sad” turned up 347 million results with lots of articles telling us why Christmas makes us sad. Psychologist Ken Duckworth commented “Holidays are a great example of […]
Merry Christmas From Genesis 3 (and 3 Reasons It Is Important)
The Christmas story does not begin in a manger; it begins in a Garden. Genesis 2 ends with Adam and Eve in perfect paradise where they “felt no shame.” Then after surrendering to the temptation from the evil one, they immediately feel shame, attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves, and hide from the Lord. […]
4 Ways to Make Reading Your Bible a Daily Habit in 2020
Charles Spurgeon said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” The more we read the Bible, the more likely we are to wish we read more of it. That’s what the State of the Bible 2019 found when they surveyed people on how consistently they interacted with the Bible and […]
Pastors: Shepherd and Lead “the Teacher in You”
Kenton Beshore (my predecessor and pastor emeritus at our church) and I meet every other week for lunch, and I always learn something. Recently Kenton shared some helpful insight about managing the multiple responsibilities of a senior pastor. They would likely apply to other roles too. I am paraphrasing, but he essentially said: “You are […]
4 Systems Church Leaders Should Care About
Some church leaders resist systems because systems can feel “unspiritual” or “corporate.” I have heard the critique for years. Yet church leaders who are critical of systems enjoy their systematic theology textbooks while blood flows through circulatory system and the sun is held in perfect distance from the earth in the solar system. In other […]
7 Reasons to Be Thankful to Be a Christian in America in 2019
To be thankful to be a Christian in America in 2019 is really to be thankful for three different things. First, and most important, it means to be thankful to be His, to have God as our Father. Second, it includes, of course, being thankful for our country and the freedoms we enjoy in America. […]
Church Leaders: 5 Items on the Top of Your List as 2019 Ends
For several reasons the last six weeks of the calendar year is an important time in local church ministry. The Christmas season gives a church many opportunities to serve the local community. The Christmas worship services are a time where people new to the faith or curious about the faith are willing to come if […]