Adoption
The Doctrine of Adoption and its Importance for Pastoral Ministry
Dr. Ligon Duncan (Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary) discusses the importance and pastoral implications of our adoption […]
Pastoral Ministry
Mental Health
3 Areas of Life Pastors Must Pay Careful Attention To
Imagine a shepherd out in the fields watching over his flock. The shepherd is fully alert, unable to […]
Brad Hambrick
Panel: Hot Topics in Pastoral Ministry
Dr. Tate Cockrell leads a panel discussion on “hot topics” in pastoral ministry with Drs. Dwayne Milioni, John […]
Episode 77: Pursuing Fruitful Theology with Ronni Kurtz
THIS WEEK’S EPISODE: What is the goal of theology? How does thinking about God lead to a greater […]
Health
The Pastor’s Health
Pastor, how are you doing? If you’re like me, when people ask how you’re doing, you have a ready-made, default answer along the lines of, “Pretty good…just hanging in there.” But how are you really doing? How are you feeling physically? How are you doing mentally and emotionally? What about your spiritual health? How long has it been since you assessed how healthy you are?
Pastoral Ministry
Dealing With the Unique Stress of Pastoral Ministry
At the time this article was written, the music video for the song “Stressed Out” by the band […]
Church Health
15 Reasons People Walk Away From the Church
Most, if not all, of us know someone who attended church but then simply walked away from God’s people. The pandemic, I believe, has only increased that number. Based on my work with churches and the unchurched, here are some of the reasons I’ve heard:
Chuck Lawless
6 Reasons All of Us, No Matter How Old We Are, Need an Older Mentor
The older I get, the more I recognize that accomplishing what this title suggests is not easy. Eventually, we become one of the very old—and the number of faithful Christ-followers older than we are becomes increasingly hard to find. Nevertheless, I think we should try.
Change
Leading Your Church Through Change
If you have ever been whitewater rafting, you know how important the role of the guide is. The responsibility for getting the rafters through the rapids safely falls to the guide. A rafting guide must know the river well, aware of the shallow and dangerous sections that might stop the rafts or even cause them to flip.
Andrew Hébert
Bold or Broken?
On October 19, 1856, Charles Spurgeon was preaching to an overflow crowd of several thousand people at the Surrey Garden Music Hall in London when he experienced perhaps the greatest tragedy of his life. As thousands crowded into the building with thousands more waiting outside, someone shouted that there was a fire and the balconies were collapsing.
Cody Evans
What Can Pastors Learn From Nick Saban?
Pastoring is a lot like coaching. I am not sure if you have noticed the similarities or heard others talk about them, but I know for sure that pastoring is a lot like coaching. In coaching, you must help people come together around a common mission, you must help people find their role in that mission, and you must continually help them see the bigger picture of that mission.
Joy
Guarding Your Joy in Ministry
According to the Barna Group, 38% of pastors in the United States have considered walking away from ministry in the past year.[1] Maybe this number should surprise me, but it does not. I have heard firsthand about the sadness, grief, and disappointment from friends in ministry. To a certain degree, I have even experienced these emotions myself. But as I reflected on my conversations with other pastors and my own experiences, I began to see that it is not just the difficulties driving pastors to quit—difficulty is a part of ministry. Instead, it is how the difficulties and frustrations steal our joy that causes us to throw in the towel.
Disabilities
Pastoral Ministry and Persons with Disabilities
“Shepherd the flock of God among you,” says Peter to pastors (1 Pet. 5:2). Similarly, Paul exhorts those in ministry to “Equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12). If we pastors want to be faithful in shepherding the flock and equipping the saints, we must know our people...including those not like us.
Hope
Pastoral Lessons from John Bunyan and The Pilgrim’s Progress
Pastors are always on the lookout for the next book to help us be more effective and faithful in ministry. Some books help us shore up weaknesses, others teach us how to effectively carry out the everyday tasks of pastoral ministry, and then, there are those that inspire us to persevere through the challenges of shepherding God’s people.
Compassion
The Temptation of Lesser Opportunities
For a brief time, I had the fanciful idea that a life in the political arena might somehow be in the cards of my future. In college, I worked for several politicians and led the college’s conservative political organization.While I enjoyed my work, it was certainly not the calling I know the Lord had placed in my heart as a teenager. One election cycle was enough for me. Political work is certainly important work and like so many other professions, we need believers in this profession to be light in the darkness.
Encouragement
A Plea to Exhausted Pastors and Their People
I have been back to the traveling aspect of my ministry since July. Since then, I have noticed a consistent reality among those who are leading our churches. It affects pastors regardless of ministry title: lead pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor, or children’s pastor.
Acts 20:28
Pastor, Pay Careful Attention to Yourself
Last week, my grandma died at the age of one hundred. During her final year, she could not care for herself in any meaningful way. Because she lived across the street from my dad, much of her personal care fell to him. It was a role he gladly accepted, but one that also took its toll on him. Much of his day revolved around when she needed medicine, food, and sleep.
Hospital
5 Tips for Pastoral Care in an Intensive Care Unit
Death exists as an unnatural act for all human beings to endure. Perhaps the foreign nature of death in the created order causes many of us to either ignore its existence or become infatuated with its mystique. Death was not originally a part of God’s created fabric, but rather God created a world where death could come into existence depending upon humanity’s obedience (Genesis 2:15–17).
Criticism
Facing Attacks and Criticism
How do we or should we face criticism and attack in our ministry?I just completed preaching through Nehemiah as part of an interim pastorate. We often recite the lessons of leadership learned from Nehemiah, and rightfully so, but something more specific struck me this time: how he reacted to criticism and attack. Nehemiah faced an extremely difficult context with enemies who did not want the people of God to focus upon the work of Yahweh.
Comparison
Pastors, Preach the Gospel…to Yourself
Can I confess something? I used to hate going to pastor’s conferences.To be clear, this was never the fault of the conference. Most that I’ve attended have done an incredible job of trying to offer a place of rest and encouragement for those in ministry. It wasn’t an issue with the content, who was speaking, or the accommodations available.
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