Articles
How Heroes Become Villains
Have you ever seen yourself as a villain? Most of us don’t see ourselves as the villain of our stories… We don’t wear a greasy mustache. We don’t have an evil lair. We don’t have elaborate plan to rule the world, “mua ha ha ha haaaaaaaa.” We often see ourselves as...
Abundant
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10b NASB) Jesus intends that the life experience of those who follow Him should be rich and rewarding, exciting, and full of joy, meaning, and purpose . . . in a word, abundant. Jesus revealed the...
Becoming an Unhurried Leader
Hurried leadership makes me think of a childhood toy called a Chinese finger trap. This long, narrow cylinder is often woven from bamboo strips. A child puts a finger from one hand into one end and a finger from the other hand in the other end and pulls. The trap...
When God is Good
God tells us His thoughts and ways are above us, so far above both our thoughts of how life should work and our ways of responding to life’s challenges that how He operates is “far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55: 8 NLT). And yet our ubiquitous attitude...
Counselor
“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” (John 14:16 HCSB) There have been many times in the middle of a counseling session I’ve thought, “Boy, this person really needs a counselor!” This is when I take comfort in the...
Church Diversity Requires Intention
You don't drift toward diversity, it requires intention. As pastors, we are tasked with representing the values and priorities of God‘s kingdom as a local outpost called the church. Those around us should know what God is like and who He cares about by how we live,...
Turning the Hungry Away
Why a ‘juice and cookie’ Jesus can never satisfy our souls. My two brothers and I sat in the back of our rusty, over-sized late 1960’s Buick, stuffing our faces with cream horn pastries-one of the few traditions we had as a homeless family living in an abandoned...
Becoming Resilient
You've been through a tough season of pain. You're finally beginning to heal and discover hope again. You feel like you're beginning to understand the meaning of the word, Resilient. You are bouncing back from the unthinkable, but you still crave something more. What...
Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership
When the early Wesleyan bands of Christ-followers got together in small group meetings, their first question to each other was “How is it with your soul?” This is the best possible question for us as Christian leaders in light of Jesus’ warning and in light of what we...
Press On
"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the down; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth." Hosea 6:3 NASB The passage encourages us to "press on to know the Lord." Paul wrote,...
The Thinkers
As a baby boomer, enough of the 1960s rubbed off on me to make me willing to question everything. I still believe there are absolutes, however, no matter how politically incorrect that may be, the cataclysm of the Sixties started long before. You could say it began...
Looking at the Life of Charles Simeon
One of 12 Faithful Men The Salvation & Struggles that Shaped a Living Legacy Charles Simeon was the pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, England as well as a fellow at King’s College Cambridge, from 1783 to 1836. Simeon was a well known As a model Bible...
Kept by God! from What??
A look at the letter of Jude Too often we hear of another pastor falling, another story of moral failure. I wonder how many similar stories remain untold from among the hundreds of thousands who attend church every Sunday. How many teens in good youth groups...
One Month to Live: Our Example
Your time on earth is limited. No matter how much this idea makes you squirm, it’s a fact. No matter who you are, how young or old, what measure of success you’ve attained, or where you live, mortality remains the great equalizer. With each tick of the clock, a moment...
Disconnect to Get Connected
One way to connect with other people is to disconnect from technology from time to time. I’m a techie, and I love my gadgets. But a few years ago, I became a reluctant convert to the discipline of disconnecting. The insidiousness of having work with me wherever I...
A Message To Pastors About Using Film in Church
This post was originally featured on www.cityonahillstudio.com. Pastor Resources is reposting it here in hopes that it will be useful to our pastors. In the movie, The Father of the Bride, Steve Martin tells his daughter, Annie, she should put her jacket on because...
How to Overcome Writer’s Block Once and for All
by Jerry Jenkins You well know the frustration. It comes time to write, and you can’t produce a single word. Maybe you’ve tried for weeks, months, or even years. But still nothing comes. You’re suffering the dreaded Writer’s Block while your writing dream, your story,...
As Easter Approaches, Story of Judas Iscariot Reminds Christians To Never Give Up On Their Faith
Author & Pastor Colin S. Smith Presents Narrative of the Ultimate Betrayal In New Book, Heaven, So Near – So Far: The Story of Judas Iscariot CHICAGO, Ill., March 1, 2018— “I came as close to heaven as a person can be, without getting in.” So begins the compelling...
Men, It’s Time to Leave A Life-Giving Legacy
Men, It’s Time to Leave A Life-Giving Legacy. “Get rid of your junk or move!” Those unsettling words were spoken years ago when a village near Chicago took action against one of its families. The family had a business at their home—collecting, storing and selling...
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10 NIV) Human strength is relative. One person may be considered strong until compared to a professional weight lifter. The professional weight lifter’s strength is weak compared to that of an ox....
