Articles
Am I ready to die in two weeks?
One evening I was quietly considering the news concerning Covid-19 when a still small voice asked, "Are you ready to die in two weeks?" I was startled and puzzled by the question and checked off some crucial things in my life: I am a follower of Jesus Christ,...
Small churches and the COVID-19 crisis
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for American society and for the American church. The economy has ground to a virtual halt, arts and entertainment have been severely limited, and congregational meetings have been restricted for perhaps the first...
COVID-19 and your church!
The demands are coming fast and furious. Do we offer services online? Offer communion during those services? How do we minister in a time of isolation? What about ministry in rural settings? Why should our students even study at such a time? Below you’ll find...
This Too Shall Pass
Pastor Resources owner and his daughter write an instrumental to bring hope and peace during these crazy times...
Our Church’s 3 Priorities During Covid-19
Lewis, Clark, and the Corps of Discovery explored their way towards the Pacific with an overarching belief: to find a river flowing westward was the ticket to success. Imagine their shock when they saw the Rocky Mountains. Instead of navigating waterways,...
The Good News of the Apocalypse
The other night I found myself having thoughts that were……. apocalyptic. I know the news is constantly talking about potential worst-case scenarios as the entire world adapts to the novel coronavirus. But, my thoughts were a little different. Let me explain. My...
Televangelists
The word “Televangelist” was first used in a 1958 miniseries produced by The Southern Baptist Convention. It gained widespread use and notoriety in the 1980’s as millions of dollars were poured into television ministry. It was during this time that I entered...
Appreciation when everyone is remote
Hi! This is Dr. Paul White, co-author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace along with my friend and colleague Dr. Gary Chapman. We apply the 5 love languages to work-based relationships and that’s really been helpful to a lot of both individual...
How to GO When You Can’t Go!
One of the biggest challenges for most people during this current pandemic is how to move forward. Everything is on pause, and yet, American nature tells us that the thing to do is strategize, look to the future, and figure out next steps. Cancellations feel...
5 Reasons to Cling to Hope in the Midst of the Storm
In the midst of this pandemic and quarantine, I think of storms. I live on two islands in Alaska, and my family commercial fishes every summer out on stormy waters. So I feel a deep connection to the disciples and the two storms in the gospels. Those two storms have...
A 2020 Resurrection Sunday Question
WERE THERE TEAR STAINS ON THE AUTOGRAPH PARCHMENT? A 2020 Resurrection Sunday Question As far as we know, there are no surviving autographs of any of the Books of the Bible, including the newer writings of the Apostles. An autograph is the original document as...
Thinking deeply and leaning in during COVID-19
In a matter of weeks, (almost) everything has changed. COVID-19 has transformed pastors across the country (and parts of the world) into digital-church-planters. We are learning and living on the fly, adjusting to a new normal, figuring out how to be the...
Happy Are the Hungry and Thirsty
I long for sad things to be untrue one day. I hunger for wrongs to be made right. I thirst for the hurt to be healed and the broken to be fixed. I want decay and death to give way to life and human flourishing. Like you, I’m longing for God’s justice and shalom...
9 Ways We’re Trying to Engage Online During this Crisis
I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced a week quite like the one we just had in America. The coronavirus is changing our lives on a daily basis. First, the CDC recommended no large group gatherings of more than 250 people, then 50 people, and last...
Should We Have Church During the COVID-19 Crisis?
Wow, talk about a loaded question! Unless you have been living in a proverbial cave, it’s no secret that we are living through, probably, the most life altering crisis we have ever seen In our lifetimes. Many in our grand country are locked in a debate over how...
Fear starts a turning
The Old and New Testaments teem with God encounters: Abraham serving three strangers, Moses taking his sandals off to approach the burning bush, Elijah watching the Almighty pass by at Horeb, Gideon putting out his fleece as a test, Balaam’s talking donkey,...
Interrupt The Downward Spiral
Anxiety is an out of control thought pattern. It settles over the mind like a severe weather system, spewing thunderclouds and casting lightning bolts. Life feels like an airplane in a tailspin. It feeds on what-ifs and worst-case scenarios. What if the...
Moving from Incarnational to On-Line Worship: Some suggestions
First COVID-19 meant we cancelled gatherings of 500 or more. Then fifty. Then ten. Now some cities are near lockdown. Normally, the church gathers as an expression of our love for God and for one another. But in this moment we must do the opposite—for the same...
What’s with churches having security teams?
“We left our former church, in part, because they had a security team with guns!” I was told. I respected their decision and them for following their convictions. The only problem was, we had a security team with men and women carrying guns; they’re just not an...
Surviving Sorrow: Help Grieving Parents In Your Church
Helping parents who’ve lost a child must be one of the most difficult things pastors and church leadership teams must face. I am one of those parents. In 2008, when our three-year-old son died from strep throat, I did not know the Lord, nor go to a church. I...
