Books
Recommended Resource: 40 Questions About Elders and Deacons
40 Questions About Elders and Deacons by Benjamin L. Merkle “Organized around common FAQs, 40 Questions About Elders and Deacons tackles […]
Pastors
Books
Recommended Resource: Daily Readings from The Christian in Complete Armour
Daily Readings from The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare by William Gurnall and edited by […]
ministry
8 Reasons I Still Love Ministry
Today, here are some the reasons I still love ministry, even when it’s tough. For whatever reason, God […]
Aspiring Pastors
10 Things I Wished I’d Done as a Young Pastor
I’ve written previously about my lessons learned as a young pastor (here, here, and here), but I’m thinking […]
Books
Recommended Resource: “The Unhurried Pastor”
The Unhurried Pastor by Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin “The Unhurried Pastor provides a practical and biblical prescription […]
Books
Recommended Resource: “The Imperfect Pastor”
The Imperfect Pastor by Zach Eswine “Dear Pastor, Desire burns within you. You’ve trained and dreamt of doing […]
Evangelism
9 Ways A Pastor Might Prioritize Evangelism
I’ve said it before on this site: “I’ve never seen an evangelistic church without an evangelistic pastor.” If […]
Endurance
7 Characteristics of Pastoral Leaders Who Don’t Give Up Easily
I spent a few minutes recently with a pastor who’s led his church for 25+ years. Seeing him […]
Pastoral Ministry
Words of Advice for Young Pastors
I don’t claim to be a perfect pastor, but I’ve been doing ministry a long time. Here’s a […]
Denomination
8 Reasons I Believe in Denominationalism
I’m a Southern Baptist. We’re hardly a perfect denomination, but I’m honored to be part of our team. […]
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?
Art Rainer
Episode 65: Pastors and Their Finances (with Art Rainer)
This week’s episode: Brandon sits down with Dr. Art Rainer (Vice President for Institutional Advancement at SEBTS) to discuss how pastors can steward their finances well.
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.
Deacons
Episode 44: Pastors and Deacons (with Matt Smethurst)
In this week’s episode of Pastor Matters, Ronjour and Brandon sit down with Matt Smethurst to discuss his latest book, Deacons.
Pastors
The Power of a Preaching Process
My family and I moved from High Point, North Carolina to Dallas, Texas in March. The “settling in” process has taken far longer than we imagined. Losing one of our children in a pile of boxes is no longer a threat but there are still at least a dozen boxes that remain unopened.
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.
Pastor Matters
Episode 36: Pastors and Prayer
In this episode of Pastor Matters, Ronjour and Brandon discuss the prayer life of a pastor. Why is it so difficult to create consistent patterns of prayer? What does the Bible say about prayer? What role does prayer have in preaching and fulfilling the Great Commission? Join us this week as we answer these questions (and many more)!
christmas
How to Pray for Pastors During the Christmas Season
Christmas is my favorite time of year. But often, it’s also the busiest time of the year. Most pastors I know would say the same. Pastors often feel pressure to craft sermons on the incarnation that are new and fresh. Pastors are often asked to be part of every Christmas celebration within smaller groups in the church.
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