We preachers love praise—the love of adulation runs deep in our hearts. Man-pleasing is a complicated sin because it is a heart-level struggle. While the sinful pursuit of praise is not limited to pastors, our vocation provides extra temptation in this area of pride. Rather than keep this struggle in the dark, let’s throw some …
Church Leadership
This is the sixth in a series of articles on pastors and the spiritual disciplines. One of the disciplines we can practice either alone or with others is fasting. As with prayer, we fast in the hope that by His grace, God will bless us.
Pastoral ministry is hard work with many hardships, disappointments, and reasons to quit. It is easy to get caught up with all the negativity in ministry. However, pastors experience certain joys that others in different vocations may not experience. Here are some to encourage your hearts as you shepherd God’s flock.
People leave churches for many reasons, and your response to their leaving will depend, in part, on why they are going. Remembering that Scripture will help you keep even the most difficult exits in perspective.
Being a mom of young children and a pastor’s wife are both wonderful callings, but they also bring responsibility and can sometimes be unpredictable. Is there a way to balance it all?
In order to meet the challenges of today’s church, there are three key factors for church leadership to consider: the complexity of these challenges, the need for new leadership skills, and the importance of adapting to a changing context.
Fear can make us behave irrationally in our ministries. Trying to get people to like us prevents us from effectively serving the Lord. The approval of man adds nothing to our purpose, person, or calling. Instead, it takes energy and time away from what we should be focused on the most – pleasing God.
Dear pastor, proudly appreciate your treasury of books. Treat those precious gems with reverence. Keep reading and share their wisdom with your flock.
If you are a pastor, I assume you know the importance of Gospel-like marriages. But what you may not know is that missionary marriages face unique challenges.
Be under no illusion: your church is in danger. But be in no doubt: your church can confront them, overcome them, and thrive in the face of them.
While no process can perfectly solve the vetting process of potential pastors, churches need to ensure that they are aiming their hiring efforts at the right elements. The real thing every church needs to be healthy is a healthy pastor as defined by his character in how they treat their family and neighbors.
God has blessed us with many resources to endure adversity in ministry. One unique and under-appreciated source of encouragement is pastoral friendships. Such friendships are not easy to cultivate, but worth the investment. Here are six ways they foster longevity in ministry and a few practical first steps to build relationships between fellow pastors.
This is an article about frustration. To be specific, it is about how husbands frustrate their wives. If you want to know how to treat your wife, look at Christ’s love for the church. We will see the frustration factors that can arise when contrasted with the elements of Christ’s love for us.
George Müller, one of the most prayerful and faith-filled men in Christian history, prayed the Psalms. The Lord Jesus Christ himself and the apostles of the early church prayed the Psalms. Why not you and your church?
In Ephesians 5:25-33, the one imperative for husbands is to love our wives. Paul gives greater detail about what love should entail from a husband to a wife. A husband’s love is to be sanctifying, nourishing, and unifying. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are three thoughts from Paul for pastors loving their wives.
You and I know Pastors who are awarded tons of stickers. They deserve them. I think the Apostle Paul’s helmet would have been about full. But at the end, he only talked about the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, would award to him at that Day—and also to you, and to …
Though being a pastor’s wife is a uniquely challenging calling, it is also immensely rewarding. Pastor, by finding ways to minister to your wife, you can help her realize some of that blessing.
Take heart: faithful pastors and missionaries achieve greatness not because of anything they bring to the biblical text but because of what it brings to them and their hearers. God has already equipped you as a teacher of his Word to help disciple all nations, carrying his unchanging truths from one culture to another.
It turns out that God created marriage for one glorious purpose – to illustrate the love relationship between the Lord Jesus and his church. If couples understood this, then most of the practical problems in marriage could be negotiated and managed successfully.
What can be done to help a pastor and his wife in their marriage? How can they move into a healthier situation so their marriage can do more than survive but maybe even thrive?
