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…
Church Leaders
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…
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…
Church Leaders: Ministry Is From God, But It Is Not God
When I first began serving in local church ministry, a pastor told me that “church is a great place to hide out and a great place to burn out.” He further explained that ministry can attract workaholics, those who live off affirmation from others for the work they do. And that ministry can also attract…
Church Leaders: Because Leadership Is Transferrable…
In the book The Leadership Code, Dave Ulrich and his coauthors articulate that as much as 70% of leadership is transferable from one context to another (the other 30% is specific to that context or industry). This means that the vast majority of what makes someone an effective leader in one context is transferable to…
Your Marriage Is Your Most Important Ministry
Last week Kaye and I celebrated 22 years of marriage. Over dinner we talked about the journey the Lord has taken us on together, what we enjoy about each other, and how our marriage has made each of us better. Though our marriage is not perfect, it is healthy and I am so grateful for…
Links for Leaders 6/8/18
3 Weak Phrases You Should Drop From Your Leadership—Scott Cochrane Here’s the point. When you’re a leader, you know that people listen to your every word. So choose your words carefully. And pay as much attention to the words and phrases you don’t say, as you do to the words you do say. Take Care…
Two Views: Severance and Financial Support for a Fallen Leader
I have enjoyed and benefited from the theological books that present multiple views on important theological vantage points. They have helped provide clarity on differing positions and caused me to research further and even challenge my own viewpoints. Today I want to offer two different views on severance or financial support for a fallen ministry…
4 Reasons Why Pastoral Honeymoons Are Shrinking
In the last several years, I have had many conversations with pastors who have expressed surprise over how short “the honeymoon” period was at their new church. At first I thought that maybe it was a few isolated cases, but I have been hearing it continually for several years. All of these pastors had served…