Escaping the Burden of Pastoral Work
Pastor, do you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Do you toss and turn at night, restless over lagging attendance, non-existent baptisms, and deficient offerings? Do you stress and worry, half-present at the family dinner table because your mind is still at the office or the last deacon meeting?
Square Boards from Round Trees: The Challenge of Theological Preaching
When I was a kid my father owned a small lumber mill. As he explained it, the sawyer (i.e., the person who sawed the logs) faced a challenge. The main challenge for the sawyer was deciding the best way to produce square boards out of round logs.
Pastor’s Wife: Check Your Mental Temperature
We live in an age where we check our temperatures to go to work, school, the dentist, and even inside a restaurant. This external thermometer gauges how healthy our physical body is, but is no help in gauging our mental and emotional health.
Preaching a Suicide Funeral
Pastoral ministry is full of first-time experiences — from the first nursing home visit to one’s first baptism. Since I entered “full-time vocational ministry” over ten years ago, seldom does a month go by where I don’t learn something new or do something for the first time.
Pastor, Remember to Apply
In Chapter 15 of Engaging Exposition, Danny Akin makes this statement, “Exposition that is faithful to Scripture will […]
Chapel Rewind: Ministry by the Mercy of God
Shane Shaddix, Pastor for Discipleship at Imago Dei Church, preaches from 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 about how God’s mercy is the foundational and controlling principle for everything we do in ministry.
Preachers of the People: Spurgeon and His Men
In 1857, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–92) officially founded the Pastors’ College, a training center for gospel ministers that revolved largely around the preaching genius of its founder. Between 1857 and 1892, Spurgeon oversaw the training of 863 pastors, the planting of nearly 200 new churches in Britain alone
Chapel Rewind: I Just Need Something Deeper
Dean Inserra, Lead Pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, Florida, preaches on Luke 24:44-49. In his message, Inserra explains that we are never more like Jesus than when we follow Him into a lost world.
The Pastor and Social Media
Social media is one of the greatest blessings of our time. It serves as a marketplace of ideas that allows a platform for Gospel advancement. But if we’re honest, social media can also be a platform that brings out the absolute worst in people. Such is the world we live in. And as pastors, such is the world we minister in.
3 Ways Your ‘Church Hurt’ Isn’t Being Wasted
A few days ago, I read a story about the baptism of King Aengus by Saint Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. I’m not a history buff, so I couldn’t tell you a thing about King Aengus, though it did make me hungry for a steak. I know a little more about Saint Patrick, but this article won’t be a history lesson about either one of these men.
Chapel Rewind: What Does It Mean To Be A Disciple?
Jamie Dew, President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, preaches on Mark 10:35-45 and passionately proclaims that if you want to follow Jesus you need to deny yourself.
Learning to Embrace our Weakness
Several years ago, I was going through a particularly painful season of ministry. Everything came to a head one Sunday morning. As soon as I finished preaching, I walked into a side room beside the stage, and I sat in the dark for twenty minutes. While sitting there, a few thoughts began to run through my mind.
Helping Your Kids Navigate through Uncertainty this School Year
Going back to school used to be a time most kids and parents looked forward to. There is the excitement of who your teacher will be, and which friends will be in your class. Maybe your child would have gotten a locker for the first time or they could finally go off campus for lunch! But for many families, this school year brings more uncertainty and stress than ever before.
How to Plan a Preaching Calendar
The primary task of a pastor is to preach the word. This happens in day-to-day conversations of ministry, planned meetings and classes, and the congregational sermons that will be delivered every week.
How the Book of Daniel Brings Hope into a World of Chaos and Confusion
Navigating a pandemic, as a pastor, has been very difficult. Navigating a pandemic, amid incredible social unrest, during a presidential election year, with a church full of people who are suffering in various ways and confused, has at times, felt completely overwhelming. It’s probably necessary to offer a whole list of appropriate caveats before moving on. Over the last several months, pastoral ministry isn’t the only job that’s been difficult and overwhelming.
The Pastor and Exercise
As a teenager, I dreamed of becoming an exercise scientist and nutritionist. When I was nineteen, I had one year of college under my belt and was on my way to earning a couple of degrees in these fields with hopes of one day opening my own practice to help others build healthy bodies.
Chapel Rewind: Welcome to the Family
Scott Pace, Dean of the College at Southeastern, preaches on Colossians 1:1-8 about being welcomed into the family of God.
Chapel Rewind: The Secret to Enduring Cross-Cultural Ministry
Ronjour Locke, Director of the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership, preaches from Ephesians 3:1-13 on how to endure through the challenges of cross-cultural ministry.
Leading from Online Engagement to In-Person Gatherings
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, every church leader had to make a decision regarding the use of online-broadcasting for their weekly worship services. Some churches chose not to broadcast their services. Others, like ours, decided to utilize technology as a means to continue leading their congregations with biblical exposition and music.
7 Reasons You Should Plan a Preaching Calendar
Pastors are called to do many things. Lead. Feed. Know. Protect. Correct. Counsel. The list goes on and on. But, the primary task of a pastor is to preach. It is through this primary ministry of the word a pastor shepherds his people. So, should a pastor plan what he will preach ahead of time? Should he plan just a few days in advance so he can respond to his Bible in one hand and his newspaper in the other, like Karl Barth encourages us to do? Or, should he plan what he will preach a year in advance by developing a preaching calendar?
Sign up for the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership newsletter now!
