The Apostle Paul gave his beloved young co-worker Timothy some timeless advice when he admonished, “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” (NAS) With a little imagination we could paraphrase that […]
Ten Ways To Respond To Gossip About Your Leaders
It’s out of style in today’s world, but in the value system of God, church leaders are to be held in high honor. I Thessalonians 5:13a says we should “Hold them in the highest regard in love, because of their work.” The “highest regard” means that we treat our church’s leaders as being just as […]
Six Ways You Can Help Unhappy Church Families
I’ve done some writing in this blog on the subject of dysfunctional church systems, which I’ve referred to casually as “unhappy church families.” By whatever name, these congregations are often characterized by one or more of the following: Unofficial heads of the family – Someone other than the pastor is the leader Triangles – Three […]
Four More Characteristics of the Unhappy Church Family
In an earlier post I wrote about how family systems theory applies to local churches. Family systems theory says that families are more alike than different. They’re characterized by patterns, roles and habits which show up in the Jones family from First Street, the Smith family from Second Street and the Swanson family from Third […]
One Big, Unhappy Family
For several decades family therapists have been thinking in terms of family systems. Family systems theory says that a key to understanding the behavior of individual family members is the family system to which they belong. Just as individuals affect the system, the system affects individuals, in many cases assigning certain roles to members without […]
Two Decent Reasons – And The Best Reason – To Join A Church Fellowship
Whether you call them church fellowships, associations or denominations, organizations through which local churches join forces have always been controversial theologically and hotly debated as to their utility. Rethinking what we do and why we do what we do is always in order, so I laud the current round of re-examining the worth of these […]
What Structure Can And Cannot Do
I have to admit it. I’m a structure guy. Even during periods when evangelicals seem intent on denigrating the importance of Biblical, workable, church structures, I’ve stuck to my guns: good structure can help a church to function well. But it certainly can’t do everything. Biblical, workable, understandable constitutions, by-laws, governance systems and policies have […]
Six More Evenings When Boards Are At Their Worst
The meeting began almost on time but ended well past everybody’s bedtime. At seven pm the members were still sharing prayer requests about their relatives’ physical ailments. At eight pm everybody started reading their reports. At nine pm the long discussion about what kind of baptistery heater to buy commenced. At ten pm the real […]
Three Evenings When Boards Are At Their Worst
Some of you knew it was coming. After writing two posts about evenings when boards are at their best, you guessed I’d be blogging about evenings when boards are at their worst. Boards are at their (absolute) worst when self-willed people are fighting to get their own way. James put it bluntly when he said […]
Three More Evenings When Boards Are At Their Best
In spite of all the snide remarks, jokes and complaints we pastors make about church boards, in the last analysis, most of us know that they are necessary. No, not a necessary evil, just necessary. “What’s the definition of a board?” “Dead wood.” What’s the other definition of a board? “A group of highly competent […]
Six Evenings When Boards Are At Their Best
I’ve been through a lot with boards. I’m sure it’s also true that boards have been through a lot with me. They remind me of the old saying that “you can’t live with ‘em and you can’t live without ‘em.” However frustrated we may become with boards, it’s pretty clear from Scripture that God intended […]
Six Characteristics of Pastors Who Deserve to be Followed
I received some pushback regarding a couple of blog posts I wrote about allowing pastors to lead their churches. I argued that most churches which are actually making devoted followers of Christ out of the raw material of lost people have pastors who are expected to actually lead. Actually leading means that these privileged pastors […]
Six Marks Of A Genuinely Loving Pastor/leader
I’ve seen it repeatedly. When church members are surveyed regarding what they want in their church’s next pastor, the attribute most frequently mentioned is “a loving caregiver” or “a loving shepherd.” However we may feel about the level of Christian maturity reflected in these results, this is reality and it’s not lost on pastors. Pastors […]
The Anesthesia That Makes Church Surgery Possible
I love to use the medical model for church revitalization. It is so blessedly simple. Anybody can remember that the process is going to involve a few weeks of diagnosis, followed by approximately a year of surgery, followed by about another year of recovery. Diagnosis, surgery, recovery. A fifth grader can understand it. After explaining […]
Encountering Dysfunctional Church Systems
In the 1962, Western classic, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” Jimmy Stewart plays a fresh-faced young lawyer, Ransom Stoddard, determined to bring law and order to the wild west town of Shinbone. Before he even makes it into town he is robbed and brutally beaten by the outlaw bully, Liberty Valance. As much as […]
Three Benefits of Getting a Fresh Start
Not so long ago, the ideal among evangelical pastors was the “lifetime pastorate” of 20, 30 or 40 years. Our models were a few famous pastors. “Since their ministries were long and successful,” we reasoned, “if I have a long ministry it will also be successful.” That was a poor deduction. Those long ministries were […]
Change The Values – Change The Church
I still believe in the importance of having good, simple, understandable, non-obtrusive, biblical, church structures. Top notch constitutions, by-laws, covenants, ministry descriptions, guiding principles, can’t, by themselves, produce healthy churches. Bad ones, however, can make healthy churches almost impossible. But structure doesn’t count for much compared to the values in the hearts and minds of […]
The Problem With Exciting Church Growth
“Problem? What? Are you kidding?” Most of us find the growth of our churches to be exhilarating, exciting, heady. Especially if this growth follows an extended period of little or no growth. New people walking in every Sunday! Favorable comparisons to your newbie’s former pastors! Long dormant ministry slots finally being filled! Except for a […]
Can Ordinary Pastors Become Revitalization Pastors?
The short answer is a happy “Yes!” I should define my terms. “Traditional” pastors preach sermons, teach classes, pray, give pastoral care and do administrative tasks. Those are all important. The revitalization pastor does all of those things and is also able to provide the visionary and strategic leadership which can take a willing (key […]
Five More Excuses For Our Gossip
Everybody knows that gossip is both wrong and harmful. It ruins reputations. It separates the best of friends (as in Proverbs 16:28 and 17:9). It allows us to “wimp out” of the important face-to-face conversations which we need to have. It sullies our consciences. It demeans those whom we talk about, those of us who […]
The Top Ten Excuses For Our Gossip, Part One
Here’s a concise definition of gossip: Saying negative things about a person which the hearer does not need to hear. Everybody knows that gossip is wrong. Almost everybody knows that gossip is harmful to individuals and organizations. Almost all of us indulge in gossip in one way or another at one time or another. It’s […]
