3 Huge Downsides to a Busy Church
Adrian Rogers was perhaps the first preacher to coin the phrase, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he will make you busy,” but many others have echoed the pithy statement. And for good reason. Pastors have seen the numbing effect of busyness on the people they serve. Busyness can harden our hearts as we work […]
3 Reasons Some Church Leaders Focus on ½ of the Great Commission
Unlike business leaders who are responsible to define the mission of their organizations, church leaders don’t have that freedom or carry that burden. We have already received our mission. Jesus’ words to His disciples, often called the Great Commission, is our mission: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the […]
One Thing We Know For Sure Is God’s Will for You…
Pastors are often asked questions about God’s will for a particular decision someone is facing. “How do I know which job is God’s will for me?” Or which relationship? Or which city to live in? Often I do not know the answer to a question about God’s will in a specific situation, but I can […]
4 Practical Ways to Have Fewer Announcements in Your Worship Services
Earlier this week I lamented the existence of lots of “announcement time” in church services because of the ineffectiveness of the announcements and the disruption the announcements bring to the arc or flow of the service. I acknowledge that the desire to give announcements comes from a good place – a place of wanting to […]
5 Reasons Not to Give Announcements in Worship Service
Several years ago my former boss and wise sage, Thom Rainer, made the observation that large churches (700 and up in average worship attendance) are highly unlikely to have announcements as a part of the worship service. Thom always has a keen sense of what is happening in large number of churches, so while many […]
The Only Way To Rejoice Always
I have been thinking about the command to “Rejoice Always” a lot over the last five weeks for two reasons. First, I have been preparing for a teaching series on God’s will in the Scripture “rejoicing always” is clearly His desire for us. The apostle Paul wrote: “Rejoice always. Pray constantly, give thanks in everything; […]
About “Your Truth” and “My Truth”
Words matter. We deploy them to communicate, to capture what we are thinking, feeling, and sensing. Words can build people up or tear people down. Words can divide or they can unite. Leaders know that the leadership axiom “words create worlds” is true, that the words we use in our ministries and organizations create the […]
4 Advantages of Advanced Planning for Sermons/Teaching Series
When I served as an executive and teaching pastor in Miami, I learned the benefit of planning sermons and teaching series months ahead. I don’t mean the entire sermon completely prepared, but a specific direction for a teaching series and a general direction for each sermon within the series. The advanced planning was not only […]
Pastors, Conferences, and Coaching Networks and What I Look for in One
Pastors get hit up with lots of promos for conferences. We get email invites in our inbox and full color brochures to our office. The response of a pastor to these promos falls somewhere on a spectrum. One on end is the pastor who goes to tons of conferences. The conference junkie pastor lives for […]
Adam Sandler’s Sermon on Happiness
OK – it wasn’t actually a sermon. Sandler’s message came in the form of a funny sketch, but it is loaded with much truth. Adam Sandler recently hosted Saturday Night Live and starred in a sketch as a tour guide warning people against using his tours to Italy to make them happy. Romano tours […]