Issue #39 : The Work of a Shepherd
Last weekend, my wife and daughter went to Indiana to visit family. I stayed behind to work. It was...read more
Faithful and Fruitful Pastoring
Issue #38 The Most Important Thing
Today I and our church’s pastoral resident, Morgan, visited a man from our recovery ministry,...read more
Issue #37 Am I Making a difference?
I was recently talking with a pastor who was discouraged. He said to me, “I am genuinely helping...read more
Issue #36 Establishing and Casting Vision
Leaders must establish and cast vision. If we don’t lead our people with vision, our people will...read more
Issue #35 Don’t Quit Today
At my church, we have a pastoral residency program. Seventeen men are a part of this ministry, but...read more
Issue #34 Bring Back the Regulative Principle
Churches do silly, and sometimes shameful, things in Sunday worship services. I recently saw a post...read more
Issue #33: When People Leave
I will never forget when I heard a senior leader say, “if you think that every person in your...read more
Issue #32: How to Deal with Church Bullies
Every pastor has put up with bullies. Maybe you’re facing one right now. Church bullies are the...read more
Issue #31: A Resource for the Soul
Andy Davis is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. When he arrived...read more
Issue #30: Can Women Be Pastors?
Unless you have been living under a rock, I am sure you heard about Rick Warren’s attempt to...read more
Issue #29: Church Bullies and Cowards. Pastor Craig's Story
Craig is the pastor of a normative size Baptist church (50 people). Like most pastors, he loves to...read more
Issue #28: Unrealistic Expectations and a Surprise Ending Pastor Dale’s Story
For the pastor, the only thing worse than uncommunicated expectations are unrealistic...read more
Issue #27: Death, Scandal and Redemption Pastor Jason’s Story
NEW SERIES
...read more
Issue #26: Who Should Choose the Worship Music?
I don’t want to re-live or restart the worship wars. I hope those days are far behind us. But I...read more
Issue #25: 9 Signs Your Ministry is Not Sustainable Long-Term
The average pastor stays at his church 3-5 years. Most ministry leaders don’t make it more than...read more
Issue #24: Preach, Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
Jonah did not want to preach in Nineveh as the Lord instructed him. He hated the Assyrians because...read more
Issue #23: A Pastor’s Greatest Sacrifice
Thousands of churches across the United States are in decline. Many are in danger of closing their...read more
Issue #22: Don’t Create Walls
I was hurting. The church was growing but at a great cost to me and my family. Some of my closest...read more
Issue #21: A Very Odd Piece of Advice
I am 37 years old. I have been sober from drugs and alcohol for 16 years. You might say I bloomed...read more
Issue #20: Don’t Be Afraid To Seek Help
This is the Tweet I woke up to.
...read more
Issue #19: How to Make Changes
One of the first questions I was asked in the interview process was, “What do you plan on...read more
Issue #18: How to Choose Leaders
I run our recovery ministry. This week, my team was presented with an opportunity to help lead a...read more
Issue #17: Pastor, Keep Preaching the Word
I am convinced that one of the greatest challenges pastors face is the temptation to stop preaching...read more
Issue #16: The Importance of Calling
I’ve had some rough weeks in pastoral ministry. I bet you have too. Ministry is difficult....read more
Issue #15: How to Know When It Is Time to Leave
I once heard John Piper say, in 33 years of pastoring at Bethlehem Baptist Church, there were times...read more
Issue #14: 5 Reasons Why Pastors Should Share Their Pulpit
Every bad church story happens either at a business meeting or a deacon’s meeting. This was a...read more
Issue #13: How to Protect Yourself from Pastoral Burn Out
I was ready to quit ministry for good. There was a time when I didn’t believe that was possible,...read more
Issue #12: Can Your Church Replant Other Churches?
If you lead a normative size church (75-100 avg. weekly attendance), you probably aren’t thinking...read more
Issue #11: How to Build Leadership Capital
In my last Twitter post, I outlined six reasons why it takes years to gain leadership capital...read more
Issue #10: Pastors, Stop Chasing Numbers
For years, I let numbers control me. What was attendance today? How many baptisms did we perform...read more
Issue #9: 5 Reasons You Should Consider Getting a Pastor’s Coach
I pastored a church in need of revitalization for eight years. For the first four years we grew,...read more
Issue #8 : A Mindset Every Pastor Must Have
Jimbo Stewart (NAMB, Replanter Development) tells the story of a pastor ready to quit. To encourage...read more
Issue #7: Ten Roadblocks to Change and Solutions for Moving Forward
Recently, I wrote a Twitter Thread that outlined ten roadblocks (challenges) church leaders face...read more
ISSUE #6: My Top Ten Ministry Mistakes
The Proverb says, "Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean" (14:4). It's easy to keep stuff...read more
Issue #5: Six Ways to Deal with Church Antagonists
After my candidacy meeting, my wife said, “Helen seems really nice.” I thought so, too. Boy,...read more
Issue #4: How to Clean Up the Rolls
In my last article (read here), I talked about why it’s important to clean up your membership...read more
Issue #3: Why You Should Clean Up Your Membership Roll
When I first spoke with the leaders of my new church, they asked me: “Are you going to change...read more
Issue #2: How Our Church Transitioned From a Church Board to Elders
When I arrived at my church as the lead pastor, two families dominated the church board. There were...read more
Issue #1: How to Reach and Retain First-Time Guests
If you’re in a normative size church (50-200), you might not see a ton of new faces. And when you...read more