Author: Administrador

Icon of the First Council of Nicea – Wikicommons By Trevin Wax Many years ago, I worked alongside a Sunday School teacher who insisted that he didn’t need any curriculum or study helps. He just wanted to take his group through the Bible without any guidance. “Who needs a commentary or study notes?,” he said. … Continue reading “3 Reasons to Read Scripture With the Church Fathers”

Brunel Johnson photo – Unsplash By Joe McKeever Once in a while I’ll get a call from a pastor that goes like this: “Joe, my church did not recognize my 10th anniversary. Man, that hurts. What should I do? Is it okay to feel hurt?” After commiserating with him a moment, I’ll say something like, “Good. Good for you. It … Continue reading “What to Do When Your Congregation Hurts You”

By Matt Henslee Serving on a pastoral search committee is a tough assignment tasked to church members who may not have interview training or anything to go off other than their personal preferences for a new pastor. As such, most pastors have had their fair share of interesting search committee experiences. We asked pastors to … Continue reading “10 Crazy Questions Asked By Pastoral Search Committees”

jonathan romain photo – Unsplash By Nik Ripken Many of us are willing to do almost anything … as long as we can be sure that we’ll be safe. Safety, it seems, is one of the core values of our world. But safety is not one of God’s core values. And safety simply cannot be … Continue reading “Is Your Church Willing to Take Risks for the Sake of the Gospel?”

Luis Galvez photo – Unsplash By Joy Allmond For most church leaders, the idea that their church might harbor a sexual abuser is “horrific,” says J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and lead pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. “Most pastors I know got into ministry to serve and protect … Continue reading “7 Myths the Church Believes About Sexual Abuse”

By Chris Hulshof When I first accepted a position on a church staff, nursing home visitation wasn’t in my job description. There was another pastor on the leadership team who had that responsibility. That all changed one day when the pastor sent me a text message that he was sick and would be out of … Continue reading “3 Valuable Lessons Nursing Home Visitation Taught Me”

Jesper Aggergaard photo – Unsplash By Aaron Earls Sticking to a weight-loss or exercise goal can be tough on your own, which is why many people hire personal trainers. Unfortunately, too many Christians treat their pastors and other church leaders as if they were a spiritualized version of this, whose job it was to yell … Continue reading “You Are Not Your Congregation’s Personal Spiritual Trainer”

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash By Joe McKeever Let’s suppose you’re visiting a church and considering joining it. You have lots of questions. You want to know as much as you can before making the important step of joining your family to this pastor/staff/congregation. You might soon realize some things are hard for you to learn. … Continue reading “6 Unseen Burdens of Church Leaders”

By Robby Gallaty When I was a senior, there was a girlfriend in the picture. Isn’t there always? I’d been dating her for almost year, and naturally, she was way up my priority list. She was headed to LSU, nearby in Baton Rouge. I wasn’t interested in North Carolina girls—this was the only one who … Continue reading “The essential component of effective evangelism”

Gemma Evans photo – Unsplash By Gary Thomas Since Jesus came from heaven to walk among us, Christians tend to think that walking away from anyone, or letting anyone walk away from the truth, is a failure on our part. But Jesus walked away or let others walk away … a lot. I recently reread … Continue reading “When Is It OK to Walk Away from Toxic People in Ministry?”