April 23, 2020
Pastor Forero shares the thought that being in quarantine doesnt equal stillness. Being still before the Lord is where true peace can be found.

Stillness Versus Quarantine

In the face of world-wide quarantine, Pastor César Forero outlines God’s call to stillness to believers.  We hope you will be encouraged by our second devotional in this series of weekly articles over the next few weeks.  For more on Pastor César, the situation in Panama, and what inspired his devotional, click on the image below to view his short (1min.) video message. Read his timely article further below:  “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 When the virus was first detected […]
April 17, 2020
Jason Tan shares what our posture should be during this time of worldwide panic. Repentance starts with us.

Isaiah’s Call to Repentance “Here am I. Send me!”

Dr. Jason Tan shares a timely exegeses on Isaiah’s call to repentance. We hope you will be encouraged by this first installment of a weekly devotional article. For more on Jason, the current situation in the Philippines, and what inspired his devotional, click here to view a short (1min15s) video. “Here am I. Send me!” A call to repentance amidst the panic. (Isaiah 6:8b) Isaiah’s calling as a prophet started at a time of great political unrest. An imminent threat of invasion looms over the nation of Israel as the Assyrian army overtakes one nation at a time. National leaders […]
March 19, 2020
Disappointment in ministry is inevitable but

5 Ways to Handle Disappointment in Ministry

If you are in leadership or ministry long enough, you will have seasons and moments of disappointment. It might be someone you are counseling that walks away and doesn’t want your help. It might be a leader who decides they aren’t on board anymore, and they leave. Some will create division or hurt in your life. Maybe someone is mean to your wife or kids. The list is endless. What do you do in those moments? For many, these moments are when someone leaves for a new job — explaining how God has called them to a church that will […]
March 17, 2020

3 Spiritual Phrases Christian Leaders Should Stop Saying

I often hear from people who say “We don’t any need more ideas/strategies/conferences/skills…all we need to do is ________,” and then they fill in the blank with something that sounds spiritual. Maybe you have people like that at your church, or someone like that on your team. It’s amazing how common this perspective is. You know the drill.  Every time you suggest “Why don’t we try reformatting our services/changing our kids ministry/reaching out into the community” they shoot back with “what we really need to do is just pray” (or “what we really need to do is get back to the Bible…”) as though […]
March 12, 2020
Kevin Halloran shares the importance of vulnerability and transparency on a ministry team in order to grow in integrity.

Establishing Transparent Ministry Teams

This is the final part of the transcript of a conversation on Preventing Disqualifying Sins in Ministry between Kevin Halloran and John Eichholz. Reshared with kind permission from Leadership Resources Intl. Listen to the audio interview here: It’s important for us as individuals to think about, how we can we best prevent sin in our ministries, sin that could derail our ministry. How might we encourage a leadership team in a church or an organization to seek to protect one another? JH: I want to bring out our organization, Leadership Resources, as a good model. I find this mission organization a […]
March 10, 2020
Kevin Halloran interviews the field director of Leadership Resources Intl. about preventing sins in ministry.

Preventing Disqualifying Sins in Ministry: A Conversation

reshared with kind permission from the Leadership Resources The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16 to “watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (NIV). Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to think of ministers who haven’t watched their lives or doctrine closely. Within the last couple of years, two high-profile pastors in the Chicago area have had their sin exposed publicly, even covered by news outlets like the Chicago Tribune. Major sin by Christian leaders leads to great pain, not only in the ministers’ lives […]
February 20, 2020
Our perspective is everything as we choose how to adapt to change

Times of Change: Navigating Messy Transitions With Honest and Grace

Excerpted from “Making Peace with Change” by Gina Brenna Butz  Change is hard on our hearts. It requires heart energy to adjust to new and different ways of living. Starting new relationships, finding your way around a new place, learning the new job, adjusting to another culture, carving out new routines—these all take an emotional toll. So how do we navigate change well? How do we experience it as a gift with the potential to transform us?  It begins with honesty about what we’re experiencing, so we can find the grace we need to receive the lessons God has for us in […]
February 18, 2020
DTS podcast discusses what makes a good elder board

What Makes a Good Elder Board

What Makes a Good Elder Board? 00:15 Brandenburg’s background in pastoral ministry 02:17 What is an elder-led church? 10:19 What are the qualifications of an elder? 19:15 Is there an age requirement for elders? 24:00 Developing young leaders in the local church 27:04 Utilizing giftedness in the local church 34:48 Creating healthy relationships between pastors and elders 40:57 Building culture in the local church Bill Hendricks: Hi, my name is Bill Hendricks. I’m the Executive Director for Christian Leadership at the Hendricks Center, and I wanna welcome you to The Table Podcast, where we deal with issues of God and […]
February 6, 2020
Pastor Josh talks about the true cost of ministry which goes beyond financial resources.

The True Cost of Ministry

reshared with kind permission from Josh Reich. Picture this, your church just pulled off a big event, and you are sitting in a room evaluating it and deciding if it was a success. The answers are often dependent on how excited you were before the event and during it — the number of people who attended, people who became Christians, or how you experienced the event. Then someone asks, “Do we do this again next year?” Now, if you are smart, you would stop the conversation at this point. Churches are notorious for throwing money after things they’ve done before […]
January 23, 2020
Pastor Nieuwof breaks down the big shifts that will be needed to change the direction of the church in the coming years.

6 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2020

So what are the 2020 church trends you should watch in what is shaping up to be a very pivotal year? In this post, I’ll share six new trends that really have my attention. While it might seem like a lot of change and challenges ahead, you and I lead in an age of massive disruption. Industries are being disrupted or obliterated in years, not decades, and once-dominant companies are falling fast (just ask Polaroid, Blockbuster or Compaq computers). And leading in the church is even a little more complex than leading in the marketplace for numerous reasons. Here’s one of them: […]