Articles
Taking Back Advent Part 3
During this Advent season and throughout the year, how wonderful it is to call upon Christ as Lord and Savior! No matter what is going on in the world - we don't lose heart and we don't lose hope. Jesus is faithful and God has shared with us His redemptive plan for...
Healed Without Scars
“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” ...
5 Reasons Pastors Struggle with Facebook
Have you been on Facebook for over a year but yet you only have under 1000 followers? Are you posting content 2-3 times a day but yet your engagement is low? Do you have a huge following but your content isn’t getting many likes? You are probably making 1 of these 5...
Four Types of Pastoral Leadership
As a pastor it can seem noble and even Biblical to try to be all things to all men. The apostle Paul even said as much in his letter to the church in Corinth. “19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To...
Worship in All Directions
At some point in your life, you may have been as I was (and so many in our pews still are!). Anytime you heard the word worship, you assumed that word mostly referred to singing, clapping, and talking to God. Worship is actually much more than that: True biblical...
Christianity & Creativity
We have a problem—whether we recognize it or not. It has to do with the relationship between Christianity and creativity. Many Christians have grown suspicious of creatives. Creativity impedes true spiritual progress, doesn’t it? So many have given up on...
Praying for Your Missionary
Why a Book on Praying for Missionaries? I’ve been in pastoral ministry for over twenty-three years now, spanning four countries—America, Canada, Australia, and South Korea. So I know how hard, lonely, and challenging being a pastor can be. I grew up thinking pastors...
Taking Back Advent Part 2
During this season of Advent we are reflecting on God’s love for us through the birth of His Son Jesus Christ, as we remember and anticipate his return. How do we define love and how do we express it? We can go to Scripture for the answer. Read the famous “love...
Where You Go
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16 The implications of this action were so grand because Ruth essentially saved...
Keep Up
“You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way . . .” (1 Peter 3:7 NASB) I often joke that it’s easy to see that Peter was married and Paul was not. In his instructions to husbands, Paul spent a great deal of time talking about...
Time to Simplify!!!!
Let’s face it…life is complicated! The more advanced our society becomes, the more complicated every single thing has become. Oh, yes, there are many who will tell us how these gadgets and systems are making life easier. Perhaps there is some validity to that, but...
Ten Tips on Church Growth
Sometimes we make ministry harder than it should be. Now, I’m not saying it’s easy. We all know that’s not true. I’m just saying, it’s usually not as complicated as we make it out to be. I’m guessing that most small town churches could see substantial growth by just...
The Power of Live Stream
We live in a very digital world and if your church or ministry is anywhere on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and all the other social media networks you know that these platforms offer live stream. Live Stream is a feature that allows you to stream your content onto...
Taking Back Advent
As we are getting closer to Christmas during this Advent season, it is easy to find ourselves overwhelmed with busyness. The pressures of making preparations for family gatherings, Christmas shopping, church activities, and attending Christmas functions can make the...
You’re Already Discipling
Sometimes it feels like we should be doing more. Our preaching could improve, and there’s always something more we could be doing. Add to that comparisons to other pastors and churches and it’s easy to get discouraged. I have good news for you today: You’re already...
Smoke Machines in Church?
My teenage son, Justin, had been invited to an area church by a friend. Since he had grown up as a PK (pastor’s kid) and had never been to a megachurch like this before, I wondered what impression it might give him. Sure enough, soon after his experience, Justin asked...
Pastor Practices
Now a word about pastors with doubts. When I was in college, I waited tables at one of my then-favorite restaurants, which served amazingly soft rolls with cinnamon butter and allowed you to throw peanut shells on the floor, a brilliant combination of two of my...
Masks
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT) Halloween. It’s the time of the year that stores and homes get paper ghosts and skeletons out of their closets and hang them up...
Ask the Experts!
Do you remember when you were younger and you wanted to know something? Did you head straight to your parents? As a teenager, did you head straight to your friends? Perhaps as you matured, you expected that your teachers or a book might have all the answers to your...
Here in Spirit
The Holy Spirit. Three words couldn’t divide the church more. I suppose “I hate you” is up there, but that’s more of a division between people rather than churches. Entire swaths of Christianity have divided over the third person of the Trinity. This division, over...
