I’ve never really had a moment in my life—39 years—when I wasn’t going to church. My parents got...
Issues in the Church
Learning to See the Beauty of a Gospel-Centered Church
I love the gospel and the church, and I can’t wait to teach them every Sunday. But it wasn’t...
Four Ways to Respond When a Ministry Leader Is Removed from Ministry
It happened yet again. A popular ministry leader fell into sin. Over the years, I’ve sadly seen...
The Delusional Dream of Secret Sin
“What I did is certainly known.” Moses (Exodus 2:14; HCSB) Sin absolutely wrecks the lives of men and secret sin wrecks them absolutely. In my experience counseling with men, it has usually been public sin issues that have garnered the concern of family, friends, and...
How Pastors Can Help Their People Find Their Calling
I remember sitting in church hearing sermon after sermon on the importance of giving it all up to serve God. These were great convicting sermons God used to melt my heart toward him. But I never knew exactly what God’s will looked like, specifically. Did it mean...
Being Theologically Intentional: The Importance of the Sunday Morning Gathering
From Monday through Saturday we are beat up by the world. We are persuaded to believe that our lives ought to be consumed with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). The week has the ability to take its toll on us. This is...
Gospel-Centered or Practically-Sensible? Yes.
Imagine this scenario that is all too real: A family who has not been to church in years pulls into your parking lot. The husband works with a member of your church who has been faithfully proclaiming and embodying Jesus to this man for years. Invitations to attend...
Spirit-Filled Worship is Christ-Centered Worship
How do you know if your church is Spirit-filled? One answer, the charismatic one, is to equate passion with presence. The presence of the Spirit is displayed in a congregation’s passionate expression and rockin’ music—to use technical language. As an example, recently...
Three Ways to Receive a Compliment While Giving God Glory
Receiving compliments can be awkward. This is especially true if you are in ministry. While you want to be appreciated for the work you do, you also want to avoid taking the glory. Nobody wants to be guilty of—or experience in—what Herod did in Acts 12 when the crowds...
Improving Your Preaching
Earlier this summer I had a conversation with David Prince and he mentioned to me that he was thoroughly enjoying H. Grady Davis’ Design for Preaching. Davis was a Lutheran pastor and then homiletics professor at Chicago Lutheran Seminary, and he published this work...
A Greater Vision for Your Church: Pastoral internships
As a local church, dare to think beyond yourself. There is everything right about encouraging or inviting people to your church services, and promoting such outreach events as a summer VBS. In fact, it is good and right to focus on ministry in our own little portion...
Why You Should Become a Knowledgable AND Wise Leader
I pastor a fast-growing church, and our staff is incredible. We are young. The median age of our staff is 31 years old, and if it wasn’t for our 52-year-old family pastor—who is a rockstar, but busts the curve—our average would be 29 years old. Having a young staff is...
Five Reasons to be a Member of a Local Church
The belief that professing Christians should gather together as members of a local Church in is waning many sectors of Christianity today. Some feel that faith shouldn’t be “institutionalized” and should be a private matter between individuals, not something to be...
Six Ways to Fight the Monday Morning Pastoral Blues
Monday Morning. The weight and pressure of another week rolls around as you roll out of bed to find that first cup of coffee. But this Monday is different. You feel “off,” like something is wrong. There is that lingering thought in the back of your mind to just stay...
Three Emotions Pastors Bear Which Are Unknown to Most Congregants
Pastors are like ogres. No, we are not hideous monsters who smell, at least not all of us. We are like ogres because we have layers. My Shrek reference and a poor attempt at humor are to lead into a discussion about the emotions pastors often feel. As I seek to...