Articles
Gifts
“However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” (Ephesian 4:7 NLT) I have a friend that is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard. He has an uncanny ability to explain the most complex theology is concise, simple, and often,...
Preventing Pastoral Stress and Burnout
Serving the local church as a pastor is a calling, and on the best days, there’s nothing more fulfilling than leading a congregation into deeper relationship with God. But, on other days, we pastors face challenges that are unique to our individual...
God’s Grace in Using Your Free Will for the Better
Decide never to misuse or abuse your free will to indulge in your fallen human nature. In the physical world, falling is easier than climbing. Climbing takes effort; to fall, all you have to do is let go. Because of the law of gravity, the natural state of any object...
Evil Has a Strategy and So Should We
I often find myself saddened and frustrated as I watch the news. Hearing the news of shootings, burnings of churches, human trafficking, death, disease and disorder is heart breaking. The more I hear these stories the more I am reminded that the pain and trails of...
Every Day Can Be a Special Day
There are many days scattered throughout the year that emphasize certain things, though many of them are tucked and hidden away. Apparently National Rocky Road Day, Hug Your Cat Day, and Flag Day are among just some of the special emphases that make the June...
Are You a Disquieted Pastor?
It happened again this past Monday. A dedicated, hard-working veteran pastor told me about the problems within his church. He listed a number of tell-tale markers as he expressed his deep frustrations. When he was done, I paused, noting the pain written...
The Danger of Ugly Duckling Theology
I was looking at the results of a major survey of pastors the other day and noticed a trend. Pastors of small churches are more likely to be less energized by their ministry than those who serve large churches. They are also more inclined to question their calling....
Getting Honest About the State of Our Witness
How would you characterize your own witness efforts? A characterization must be accurate enough to truly name reality, but short enough to be memorable and useable. Getting to a place where you can honestly characterize your own witness efforts should take some time...
This is your wake-up call…
beep…Beep…BEEP! Your alarm clock goes off. Do you… __groan and go back to sleep? __press the snooze button? __get up ready for action? How does your answer mirror your reaction to what’s happening to the church today? Well, we just got a wake-up call: According to a...
How to Practice Compassionate Curiosity
1. Be Interested Birds of the same feather flock together. We typically are interested in others who have something to offer us or have something in common with us. To be interested we need to notice the dirt path off the side of the four-lane highway of our lives. We...
THE DOMINANT FAMILY INFLUENCE
My mother chuckled as she penned her poem, a parody of “The Church in the Wildwood,” entitled, “The Wild Woods in the Church.” In our small congregation, three separate and unrelated Wood families occupied the pews. While the other two Wood families consisted of only...
3 Ways to Fight Negativity and Slander in Your Church Community
As a former church staff member, I’ve seen it happen over and over. A growing congregation, fully unified and working toward the same goal, starts to slowly splinter off into pockets of like-minded people. Those pockets live in harmony—for a while. But then, you start...
When Church Conflict Happens QA
You write that conflict is something to be expected as part of our human experience—that wherever there are human relationships, sooner or later, there is conflict. What makes conflict that happens in a church more complicated than conflict in other contexts? Most...
7 Ways to Avoid the Summer Slump
June 20th is the first day of summer. I can barely contain my excitement. It may sound like I’m being facetious, but that’s not the case. After enduring a spring that was filled with dogwood, blackberry, and cotton britches winters, I’m ready for some warmer weather....
Chicken Little
In the story of Chicken Little, an acorn falls on the head of a young chicken, causing him to panic, feeling that the sky itself is falling. Armed with this myth, Chicken Little sets off to systematically convince his friends that the world is ending. Each friend...
The 95 5 Principle
Many years ago when I was in seminary, I was given an assignment to write a research paper on any problem a shepherd (pastor)/staff may face on a regular bases. After several weeks of interviewing multiple shepherds and staff I began to see a pattern emerge that I...
For the Love of Jesus
Why do we serve? Why do we give of ourselves, day in, day out, week after week? We all know the answer: because of love. Right. But what is the object of our love? Whom or what do we love in order to allow ourselves to be given? Once again, the answer seems obvious:...
I Considered Your Church, And Passed
Isn’t one of a pastor’s unspoken fears that lurking about in the community are unknown people who have given your church—the place you sacrificially pour out your soul to grow—a preliminary examination and decided visiting wasn’t worth the bother? Ouch, that’s harsh!...
The Power of Praise!
This is something we are super passionate about in Planetshakers, and something that Ps Russell and Sam Evans are always teaching and showing us. It’s something they have carried to a generation. I can honestly say, that it was as a young person going to Planetshakers...
Build a publication from the ground up.
Have you ever had to start a church newsletter from scratch? If not, you may face that challenge someday. Maybe you’ll accept a job at a church that’s never had a newsletter. Or a publication might become so outdated that church leaders ask you to start over. Or a...
