What to consider when hiring and firing team members
“We need him at the table! He has got to go!” The following post is a...
Resources for Holiness and Humility
Qualities of a senior pastor: Boss or friend?
One question that rarely gets asked in church leadership is whether the senior pastor, as the...
Team Matters: Conflict Dynamics
Imagine a world without conflict. Two political candidates bound onto the stage in front of a...
Stories of Doubt: Kent Bateman
Stories of doubt from an apprentices’ perspective Send Network: Tell us about the church you are...
Send Network: Tell us about your church plant and when you all started meeting. Andy Hall:Redemption...
Stories of Doubt – Jeff Phillips
At the immense risk of sounding negative, this reality is true when it comes to church...
Putting God first: Leading my family
The heresy of the evangelical order A divine order has become almost sacrosanct in evangelical subculture;...
Putting God first: Leading myself
The most difficult person that you will ever have to lead is yourself. You are a...
10 Ways to Drive Away First-Time Guests
If you attend a church regularly, you’ve probably noticed the phenomenon. A guest shows up for...
Ten Unique Challenges of Ministry
In an earlier post I wrote that seminary cannot prepare anyone to be a pastor. Only a church,...
10 Tips to Becoming a More Productive Pastor
The work of pastoral ministry is a joy, but it’s also demanding. Every pastor is on...
The last year has seen a steady dose of media stories that focus on the issue...
Porn wreaks havoc on every church. Some people cower in shame and fear, hoping that they...
Addictions are typically associated with alcohol and drug abuse, but when we dig deep into the...
It has been said that pride is the original and underlying issue for any sin—a willful...
Rocky Balboa is talking to Adrian and he says: “Who am I kiddin’? I ain’t even...
Just prior to take-off, the scheduled, and albeit slightly annoying, safety instructions are announced on the...
Six surprising traits of effective pastors
I have looked at characteristics of effective pastorsfrom different perspectives over the past few years. But this...
Father Models – Ten Roles Dads Play with Their Kids
Continuing our parenting series, we look specifically to fathers. Fathers play many roles in rearing their...
Getting to Know God With Your Children
We’ve been working through a series of biblical and practical thoughts on parenting. This is something...
He wasn’t a hero by any stretch of the imagination. He was a wimp, but God...
Human beings were built with limits. God didn’t design you to be a superhero. You and...
Church Planting Essentials pt. 4
The fifth essential every church planters must have, is this: You have to be willing to...
Avoiding Disappointment Distraction
At Buck Run, we designate June as a special month of Wednesday night events, most of...
How to thrive during pastoral challenges
When Paul described the burden of ministry that God has given us, he concluded by asking...
When I first moved to New Orleans, a couple of church planters invited me to a...
Shepherding the Harassed and Helpless: Counseling and the Local Church
Counseling in the local church can be a daunting task, riddled with complexities on numerous issues...
Just a couple of years ago, in the city where I am a pastor, I saw...
In a blog post yesterday Slavery: We Must End It, I wrote about the Christian’s responsibility...
Do Christians have a role in addressing slavery?
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy...
Church foundation: Eating from gardens we didn’t plant
Alan Briggs It’s easy to criticize that which we don’t understand. As a young church...