Over the past three weeks I’ve shared fourteen ways in which we might move towards solving our pastor shortage in the evangelical world. While I’ve done some bemoaning of our situation, your responses have been encouraging. I have not felt like a “voice crying in the wilderness.” I’ve found that many of you share my […]
We All Need A Monitoring Pilot
I’ve mentioned before that my wife and I are fans of airline disaster podcasts, particularly, the Mentour Pilot, Petter Hornfeldt. Petter’s great stories have frequently highlighted the importance of the monitoring pilot. Before they get into the cockpit, the commercial airliner’s captain and co-captain make a decision regarding which one of them, on this particular […]
Ending Pastor Abuse
Pastor abuse is a serious problem, but there’s nothing new about it. Old Testament prophets – spokespersons for God – and even Old Testament-era Jewish kings, who were shepherds (“pastors,” in Latin) of God’s people, endured harsh treatment at the hands of those who should have respected them. Mocked, thrown in pits, beaten, stoned and […]
Why Pastors Should Commit Themselves To “Extended Stays”
Pastoral terms are too short. The average tenure of three to five years1 is not working well for anyone. There are, of course, no Bible verses that say that this is too short, for the pastorate as we know it today was not yet commonly practiced when the New Testament was completed. So I’m not […]
Some BIG Advantages Of SMALL Churches
I have the privilege today of writing about a very good movement within the American Evangelical world. With all our issues, there are also some healthy trends in Christianity in the US today, and here’s one of them: A whole new (and old) attitude toward small churches. By “small” I also mean “average,” as the […]
What An Outward Focus Actually Looks Like
Nowadays, just about everybody knows that churches should have an outward focus. The average evangelical church member has heard the term enough times to know that, when cast as a “Sunday School question,” as in, “Does your church have an outward focus?” the orthodox answer is “yes.” I’m realizing that if I really want to […]
Help For Frustrated (or angry) Pastors
If you’re not a pastor, you may have been surprised by my title. “What? Pastors, frustrated or angry? He must mean, ‘frustrated by their golf games, their cars, their lawns or even their kids’ but surely he can’t mean ‘frustrated by their churches or their ministries!’” But frustrated by their churches or ministries is exactly […]
The HEART of Church Revitalization
A few months back I did a lot of studying and thinking about what church revitalization actually is. It’s not a “Bible” term of course, but it’s derived from an important Biblical concept: the teaching, quite simply and astonishingly, is that the one and only triune God Himself indwells His people, and in, what we […]
Six Ways Your Vision Can Be Dangerous
Donna and I just watched a documentary film called Titan, about the ill-fated deep-sea submarine of that name in which five people lost their lives on June 18, 2023. The key figure in the story was visionary entrepreneur Stoddard Rush. As with so many great dreamers before him, Rush was brilliant, charming, passionate, fiercely devoted […]
The Seventh Danger: Vision Frustration
It’s an awful picture isn’t it? The ancient, venerable leader Moses, who had been through so much and was so special to God and so needed by mankind, loses his temper and strikes the rock, a picture of Jesus Christ, with his precious shepherd’s rod, a symbol of both his God-given authority and his God-given […]
Six Reasons Why We Struggle With The Coming And Going Of Pastors
The recent home-going of Dr. John MacArthur, senior pastor of Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, has reminded us of a perennial challenge which I call the coming and going of pastors. After twenty centuries of struggling with the coming and going of our pastoral leaders, we’re still not very good at pastoral transitions. […]
How We Can Do Better With The Coming And Going Of Pastors
I mentioned last week (Six Reasons Why We Struggle With The Coming And Going Of Pastors) that: After twenty centuries of struggling with the coming and going of our pastoral leaders, we’re still not very good at pastoral transitions. The grieving which pastors and church members experience when a beloved pastor moves on is only […]
Some Churches Don’t Deserve To Have Pastors
According to Ephesians 4:7-16, the gifted church leaders whom we typically call “pastors” are gifts of the risen, glorified Jesus Christ to his churches. According to Ephesians 2:10, each of them is a custom-designed “masterpiece” and Acts 20:28 adds that each one has been appointed an overseer by the Holy Spirit himself. The great pastoral […]
Pastors Who Don’t Deserve Churches
Last week I wrote about churches that don’t deserve to have pastors. I’m disheartened that such churches exist, and your responses lead me to think that there are more of these congregations out there than I realized. Sadly, there’s also such a thing as the veteran pastor – or the would-be pastor – who doesn’t […]
“Our pastor’s gone; we got our church back!”
Television’s Art Linkletter used to say that “kids say the darndest things.” He was right of course, but the same could be said of church members who are being interviewed by interim pastors, denominational leaders or consultants: “Church members say the darndest things!” The first time I heard this phrase I was gob smacked. I […]
Before You Say “I Do” – 24 Questions The Prospective Pastor Needs To Have Answered
The original “Before You Say I Do” was a premarital counseling program that I used a number of times. It was very helpful. Today’s Before You Say “I Do” post is a little different. I’m writing about some of the questions that a prospective pastor needs to ask and get answers to before accepting a […]
Spiritual Leadership: What It Looks Like In A Church
Spiritual leadership is one of those nice, amorphous, high sounding Christian terms. It’s rather like the weather: “everybody’s talking about it, but nobody’s doing anything about it.” I don’t think the term is in the Bible, so is there such a thing at all? And, if so, does it matter? Personally, I think that it […]
The Nitty-Gritty Of Spiritual Leadership In A Church
Last week I wrote about spiritual leadership in the context of the local church. I conceded that the term isn’t in the Bible, but I insisted that the reality is, and I described it by way of Scriptural citations. Let’s try this for a definition: Spiritual leadership is influencing others to join you in obeying […]
Are All Sins Created Equal?
Some of you may be wondering why a guy who writes about church health issues would even be addressing this question. But it really is relevant to church health, which I’ll demonstrate just below and again, at the end of this post. Here’s how this question – which folks have put to me a number […]
America’s Favorite Bible Verse: “Judge Not”
Last week I wrote a post about the mistaken idea that “all sins are created equal.” The phrase is all-too-often used by folks who defend their serious, destructive, sinful behaviors by putting them at the level of other people’s minor infractions. At the end of the post I said that “church leaders must deal with […]
Programs, Paradigms And Presuppositions: Why We’re Struggling With Disciple-Making
Trends come and go. Some are good and some are…not so good. The disciple-making trend, which can legitimately be called a movement is one of the most encouraging trends I’ve seen for a long time. At its heart, the “new” disciple-making movement (or DM) is a shift back towards an understanding of the Christian life, […]
