August 27, 2019
wife

Navigating the Life of a Pastor’s Wife

The life of a pastor’s wife (PW) has, for the longest time, been popularly known as a life of self-sacrifice, of discouragement, disillusionment and hurt. With Pastors’ Wives conferences or retreat themes like “From Bitter to Better,” “Embracing My Role as a Pastor’s Wife,” “Enjoying the Ride,” “Overcoming,” “Responding to Trials,” etc, it would thus seem that for most of her life, she is in an embattled situation, facing problems and difficulties on a regular basis with members of the church, other women and even with herself – situations that make it difficult for her to enjoy her life and […]
August 22, 2019
succession

The Emotions of Pastoral Succession

resharing with kind permission from Carey Niewholf Succession has emerged as one of the major issues facing the church in the next decade. Businesses are not that far behind in struggling with succession. Most senior pastors (especially founding pastors) hang on too long. The question is why. In a candid and disarmingly honest interview, Amplify Founding Pastor, Lee Kricher, and his successor, Jason Howard, talk about how they paved the way not just for the next generation of leader, but for the next generation of church, allowing the model to change while the leadership changed. In the midst of it, […]
August 15, 2019

Leading in Suffering

reshared with kind permission of Leading International. Last month in Nepal, I had dinner with a pastor who spent time in jail for evangelizing. His case is still ongoing and he potentially faces several years in prison. I asked him whether he was nervous about going back to jail. Without hesitating, he simply replied, “No brother, we have already won!” His statement took me by surprise. How can someone view this as a victory? He explained how in jail he was able to share Christ with all the inmates and guards, and I realized that his comment about winning wasn’t […]
August 13, 2019
sermon

5 Ways to Preach a Half Done Sermon

Whenever I meet with a pastor or church planter, I ask them, “What are you preaching on this Sunday?” I love hearing what series other guys are doing, the creativity. Recently whenever I ask this question, I get blank stares or a response of “I’m not sure, I think I have a title.” Sometimes they aren’t even that far along. Too many pastors allow the busyness of their lives and ministries to crowd out their sermon prep. Here are 5 ways to make sure that you are killing yourself on Saturday night to put a sermon together. Is your sermon […]
August 9, 2019
delegate

Delegation & Accountability

In order to be an effective leader, one must learn to properly delegate responsibilities and hold others accountable to their commitments.  Since we cannot do all of the ministry by ourselves, especially as our ministry grows, we will need to delegate some of our responsibilities to others if we are to get the work done that the Lord requires of us.  Learning how to delegate effectively and then hold others accountable will produce action and not excuses. Delegation “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.  We will turn this […]
August 6, 2019
summer

2 Questions that Lead to Health

reshared with kind permission from Breeze Church.  I don’t know about you, but where I live it has been HOT. I’m wondering how your summer is going? For church leaders, summer is often a change of pace. Many of us take time off. Others of us shut down our regular ministry programming and do something different and perhaps less involved. Summer is often a good time to take stock, evaluate and think strategically. So, here’s the question: How healthy will you be next summer? A year from now will you be closer to Jesus, have better boundaries, have more margin…or […]