Articles
Self-Emptying, The Mystery of Our Salvation
Pastor Resources · Self Emptying If I want to be full, open to receiving abundant grace—more human, selfless—first I must be emptied. He must increase, and I must decrease (John 3:30 ESV). The word I discovered is kenōsis. Oh, it’s not that I never heard the word. On...
Memory and Mercy at the Table of the Lord
Pastor Resources · Memory And Mercy At The Table Of The Lord How do we remember well? How do we recall the pain of history without reinforcing its trauma or repeating its mistakes? How do we memorialize without sanitizing? In the wake of monuments tumbling-- in some...
How to Debate the Bible—and Win
Pastor Resources · How To Debate Most often, when we debate the Bible, we make secondary things primary. When we love our opinions, perspectives, or judgments at the expense of loving people, we are at risk for not loving people at all. C. S. Lewis put it like this,...
Compassion & Conviction
Pastor Resources · Compassion & Conviction No one makes political decisions from a neutral position. To make a policy decision is to choose certain values and goods over others. Political decisions are inevitably informed by a certain worldview or outlook. When...
Wherever, Whatever
Pastor Resources · Wherever, Whatever When I first gave my life to Jesus, I remember saying to him, “Wherever you want me, whatever you want, however and whenever you want it—I am all yours.” Honestly, I think that kind of response is just what love, in fact, does. If...
Leading: What’s a Leader to Do?
Pastor Resources · Leading: What’s a Leader to Do? Let’s just put it out there: the word evangelism is usually a turnoff—and not only to non-Christians. I’ve taught classes on evangelism to undergraduate and graduate students at three Christian colleges, and I’ve seen...
Unlucky Charms: How Flattery, Favors and Alliances Lead to Abuse
Pastor Resources · Unlucky Charms “You are the smartest person in the room.” “I was hoping you could do me a favor,” “You and I have more in common than you think.” Tactics of charm, like flattery, favors, and...
Redemption
Pastor Resources · Redemption The musical Hamilton resonates with me more than any piece of art I have ever experienced, primarily because it teems with the most important themes of my life. Engaging these themes of grace, shame, forgiveness, and...
Loss
Pastor Resources · Loss
Marching Around Jericho
Pastor Resources · Marching Around Jericho My spiritually mismatched marriage chronicle began in a dance club in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ya, that’s right! That is where I met my husband. We dated long-distance for more than a year then married quickly. It wasn’t the...
What’s Our Problem?
Pastor Resources · What Kind Of Foundation Following Jesus as never been easy, but some believe it’s becoming even more difficult as Western cultures become increasingly post-Christian. Today, fewer people identify as “Christian,” fewer attend church with any...
Leading the Church
Pastor Resources · Leading In The Church I have been disappointed by how many church leaders avoid having crucial conversations as if they were the bubonic plague. Instead, they believe the innuendos, reasoning, and deductions they’ve never investigated but...
California Beach Revival Brings ‘Beautiful Harvest of Souls’ Together For Worship, Baptism
What Kind of Foundation?
Pastor Resources · What Kind Of Foundation In times like these, we begin to realize how critical our foundations are. We all strive to value strong foundations all the time, but we all know that we struggle to put down strong foundations. It is often easy to...
Waiting is More Than a Season
Pastor Resources · Waiting Is More Than A Season By any name—attitude, orientation, choice, habit, discipline, virtue, or practice—learning to wait on the Lord is an essential, transformative, and rewarding dimension of spiritual formation. This perspective is...
Top Tips For Managing Grief Through Self-Care
Pastor Resources · Top Tips For Managing Grief When we lose someone we love, we ask God why it happened. Sometimes, we get the answer we seek. Other times, we have to wait. But regardless of closure, grief hurts, and it hits hard. Here are some ways you can...
God Is Still Writing Your Story—Here are Four Likely Characters
Pastor Resources · God Is Still Writing Your Story You only have to spend a few minutes on Facebook to know we are living in an epidemic of inner emptiness, complete with a cast of characters who escape in all kinds of “isms” or put others down as a path to...
Mastering the “Art” of Church Communications
Pastor Resources · Mastering The Art Of Church Communications To communicate effectively, church leaders need to use precise, carefully chosen messages with accurate and complete details. Words are certainly a key component, but they’re just part of the equation....
Major Impact from a Minor Character
Pastor Resources · Major Impact From A Minor Character Might you ever question whether or not your modest life can make an impact? You’re not alone. Allow me to introduce a man I am quite confident will be a new friend, colleague, and favorite prophet. In your...
A Pastor’s Worst Nightmare
Pastor Resources · A Pastor's Worst Nightmare The first recorded sermon by Jesus is a pastor’s worst nightmare. Halfway through the place erupts violently. The hometown synagogue crowd furiously drives Jesus out of the city “in order to throw him off the cliff”...
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