Free to Dream: Pastors and Imagination
Perhaps it started with The Phantom Tollbooth. I still remember reading the children’s fantasy novel when I was a child.[1] The strange, and at times bizarre, text captured my imagination. I sat eagerly with the hero as he drove his toy car through the mysterious tollbooth, and I was catapulted into a magical kingdom alongside him.
Chapel Rewind: Devote Your Life to Prayer and the Ministry to the Word
David Platt, the Lead Pastor at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA, preaches on Psalm 8. In his chapel message, Platt encourages us to devote our lives to both prayer and the ministry of God’s Word.
How to Pray for Your Missionaries During the COVID-19 Crisis
When originally asked to write this article, COVID-19 was the talk of the town. Yet, in just a week’s time, a worldwide killer virus that has claimed nearly 400,000 lives, stymied the global economy, and persists in over 200 counties has taken a back seat in the headlines. Just weeks ago, our streets were eerily empty. Now they are eerily full with protests. America is on fire. As believers, we take seriously the commandment to love God and love neighbor. And therefore, we ask ourselves: What am I to do? How can I help?
8 Reasons Questions Are Helpful When Offering Unsolicited Input
Recently, I was assisting a missions organization with team development. During conversations about healthy conflict, feedback, and buy-in, a team member asked for advice on how to give constructive feedback in a non-threatening way—especially when no one has asked for your input. With the right heart and proper attitude already in place, one of the best ways to contribute in that scenario is to ask good questions.
Weaponizing the Spirit in Preaching
Every preacher that I have ever met has a genuine desire to preach powerful sermons. It seems that the general consensus among those who teach or write about powerful preaching is that you must diligently and “sacrificially” pray for Holy Spirit power in order to anticipate spiritual potency in the pulpit. To use a common metaphor, your spiritual gun must be loaded before you fire your sermon.
Chapel Rewind: Speak Up for the Vulnerable
Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor at Anacostia River Church in Washington, D.C, preaches from Proverbs 31:1-9. Those who are pro-life speak for those who cannot speak for themselves like the unborn, the poor, the widowed, the abused, the immigrant, the hurting and the needy.
10 Questions to Consider Before Regathering
The possibility of churches gathering again soon has raised several important questions, including: What date should we regather? How do we greet folks from a social distance? How do we take the offering? How will we accommodate our entire church family when we must deal with spacing? Here, though, are some more questions I think we need to ask:
The Phantoms of Pastoral Ministry
I must confess: I am a pastor, and I have anger issues. No, not issues because of ministry or because of church members. Just issues — because I’m me. I want what I want when I want it. And if I don't get it, I tend to get mad. I’ve learned to hide it well, I think. But if you get close enough you’ll pick up on my anger. Yet God sees it all. I can’t hide from him. That even tempts me to anger. Goodness, I have issues. Can anyone relate?
Chapel Rewind: The Essential and Prominent Place of Preaching in Worship
John Piper examines the biblical warrant for the prominent place preaching holds in worship both historically and today.
How to Pray for Smaller Churches and Their Pastors During the COVID-19 Crisis
Since mid to late March, this has certainly been an interesting season of ministry for all churches and their pastors. I currently serve as a pastor of a small church in Louisburg, NC, which is 20 minutes from the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. This season of COVID-19 is unique as I try to strategically shepherd and care for my church members.
Grief: The Silent Dilemma
For those called into the ministry, we have been given an amazing opportunity to love God’s people and encourage them towards growth. However, we are also on our own spiritual journey and must be open and honest about our own spiritual health. The COVID-19 pandemic has steered all of us into uncharted territory.
Struggling with Spiritual Disciplines
I imagine most church members would find it hard to believe their pastors struggle with practicing spiritual disciplines. If any group of people should excel at personal Bible reading and memorization, prayer, worship, evangelism, fasting, and a number of other important Christian exercises, it should be the shepherds.
Chapel Rewind: How Are Christians Special?
Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., preaches on 1 Peter 1:14-22. He passionately exhorts that Christ’s blood is not special because of some magical force, but that it’s special because of who He is.
Pastors, Keep Fighting The Good Fight
Do you ever feel weary from the battle of Christian ministry in this broken world?Think of the last few weeks: a global pandemic, extreme isolation, escalating counseling concerns, #AhmaudArbery, another beloved pastor’s death, and on top of all that the daily pressures of the church.Seasons like this remind me of why the Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to, “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). The Christian ministry is lived out on the battlefield of a broken world. Perhaps you are currently weary in this battle and could use encouragement to keep fighting. I would like to offer you an acrostic, F.I.G.H.T., that has been particularly helpful to me in difficult seasons. My hope is that it will aid you in your battle.
3 “Essentials” to Weather the COVID-19 Crisis
Maybe you’ve heard the word “essential” a lot during this COVID-19 crisis. Essential businesses. Essential workers. Essential supplies like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, face masks, and decent internet. Or, even more essential items such as ventilators and PPE. But, these aren’t the essentials I’m writing about today.
Chapel Rewind: Longing for God
Chuck Lawless, Vice President for Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers, preaches on Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 about longing for God in times of despair as a follower of Jesus.
The New Normal: Preaching to a Camera
In a perfect world, preaching is normally a point-in-time experience in front of a live audience. However, we don’t live in a perfect world, and these certainly aren’t normal times. We’re currently living with a ‘new normal’ in just about every area of life and ministry, and that includes preaching.
The Psalms: A Book Designed For God’s People During Times Of Crisis
William Carey is considered a hero by many Baptists. He is the Father of the modern missions movement and called churches to spread the gospel throughout the world. He even risked his own life to practice what he preached. The Lord blessed me with the ability to spend a summer in England on the Oxford study trip. In Oxford, in the basements of the Angus Library, is Carey’s personal Bible. What makes this Bible extra special is that some pages are clearly more worn than others. You can tell which sections of the Bible were Carey’s favorites.
Chapel Rewind: Watch Your Life and Doctrine
Tony Merida, Pastor of Imago Dei Church Raleigh, preaches on how we don’t need more conference speakers; we need millions of faithful ministers who will saturate the nations with sound doctrine.
For Pastors’ Wives: What You are Experiencing is Not Normal
Real talk, ladies. What you are experiencing is not normal, but maybe you wish it were. You husband is home like you’ve always wished he would be. How many times have you begged your husband to come home early for dinner, to attend your son’s baseball practice, or take turns reading to your little ones at bedtime? Well, guess what? You’ve got your wish! He’s home. Are you enjoying this newfound togetherness, or have you found yourself desiring more space? Whatever your reaction, I challenge you.
Sign up for the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership newsletter now!
