Advice to Young Pastors
Kevin DeYoung, a Senior Pastor in East Lansing, Michigan, recently created a list of personal advice to theological students and young pastors. I agree with most of these forty-five items. Dr. DeYoung says of the list: “I wish I knew when I began the ministry”. All in all, it is wise and seasoned advice. 1. [...]
Key Sermon Points
I recently ran across this list of important milestones/goals in top-notch sermon prep. This pretty much describes exactly what I try to do with every single message. It’s a passion of mine… to say the least… Communicate the timeless truths of Scripture in timely ways Capture your listeners’ attention in the first 30 seconds of [...]
2011 Planning
Will Mancini, a clarity evangelist, has posted some planning ideas for pastors and church leaders for the coming year. There is some really great stuff in this list of ideas: #1 Write down your top 12 leaders and an action-item bullet point for each one. How can you invest in each this year? How will [...]
Deep Preaching
Often, the overwhelming response from our people is, “We want deeper messages.” The trouble comes in finding out what “deeper” means. “Deeper” typically means at least five different things. Thinking through how to deepen these five different areas could revolutionize the way you plan series and develop messages. Biblical Depth No matter how thoughtful, passionate, [...]
The Handle
I grew up on bad sermons. For most of my childhood preaching examples, a good sermon was chock full of points, poems, and platitudes but not much else. No creativity. No basic communication technique. Sadly, I recall few examples of excellent exposition. I can count on one hand those that were insightful, biblical, and–most of [...]
Swindoll on Preaching the Word
Chuck Swindoll recently wrote: “Following one of our Sunday morning services, while greeting fellow worshipers, I noticed an older couple waiting patiently. Their eyes were red from weeping, and a few long moments passed while they struggled to find words. “The husband could hardly get it out. He said, ‘We’re starving. We’ve not been fed [...]
Pastoral Succession
History tells sad stories of good churches that calcified as monuments to former pastors. Few churches we closely associate with prominent ministers maintained their influence when the pastor left. Fire twice destroyed London’s famed Metropolitan Tabernacle, once in 1898 and again when the Luftwaffe dropped an incendiary bomb during the Blitz of 1941. But these [...]
Timothy's Example
Timothy (the venerable Apostle Paul’s protégé and co-laborer in ministry) had spent years being the servant of Paul and God; in fact, Timothy had spent fifteen years traveling with his mentor throughout the Roman Empire. Yet, he was still relatively young, a man in his mid-30’s. He would have gotten little respect among the churches’ [...]
Preach the Word
“Paint a picture in their minds,” my Homiletics professor said, just before giving me a C- for a sermon on which I’d diligently worked. At the time I appreciated neither his advice nor his letter grade. Fortunately, I soon realized he was right on both counts. The ‘art’ of the sermon has been lost and [...]
The Light at the End
There are few moments in life that are truly transcendent. The day I placed a ring on her finger, the birth of my firstborn, perhaps one or two other memories. But there is one in particular that haunts me… a moment that I am unable to get out of my head. – – – – [...]
Why I Want to be Reverend Camden
“7th Heaven has all the ingredients of a show I should hate. Sappy storylines. Unrealistically good characters. The equation of religion with morality. And yet…there’s something unhateable about it. The characters may be good, but they are flawed. The stories may have pat endings, but they are not quite trite” says Judge Diane Wild. I [...]
Paralyzed
Christmas Eve, my father-in-law’s life changed. A stroke nearly took his life, but God had other plans. The months that followed have brought about much improvement. Sometimes overnight; sometimes excruciatingly slow. And yet God was in the midst of the uncertainty. For uncertainty gave way to hope. Hope gave way to healing. And healing gave [...]
Preparation to Lead
“Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people.” – Genesis 50:20 Like most great leaders, Joseph of the Old Testament labored in obscurity before he became qualified to lead others. Nearly twenty-three years passed from [...]
Persistence
John Maxwell says that persistence is the ultimate gauge of leadership. “Our enemies learned that we knew all about their plan and that God had frustrated it. And we went back to the wall and went to work.” – Nehemiah 4:15 One of the great tests of leadership is how you handle opposition. Nehemiah faced [...]
Matt Chandler on Pastoring
I first crossed paths with Matt Chandler, Pastor of the Village Church in northern Dallas, when he was regularly preaching at Prestonwood Baptist Church’s weekly Metro service for young adults. I don’t believe we ever officially met, even though I was on staff at Prestonwood and my department supported each service of his. But each [...]
Rob Bell on Preaching
“Essentially, I believe the world needs more, better sermons. And I’m passionate about this. I do not think a sermon should be boring; I think it should be electric. I do not think that it should be something people sit through so they can go to lunch. I think it should be something that rattles [...]
20th Grade
“I know how much education means to you and how awesome of an opportunity this is for you.” My friend could not have summed it better. Six years ago I left the hallowed halls of Dallas Seminary for the last time, not sure where the journey of life would take me or if I’d ever [...]
Dangerous Pursuit of Growth
Three years ago, Jack Trout wrote an article for Forbes that discussed the danger of making growth your mission. That desire for growth is at the heart of what can go wrong for many companies. Growth is the by-product of doing things right. But in itself, it is not a worthy goal. In fact, growth [...]
Cathedrals Make A Comeback
Lifeway Research recently discovered what many of us in the church world already knew: the unchurched prefer cathedrals to contemporary church design. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building. The survey found [...]
The Sermon That Changed My Life
The year was 1995. O.J. Simpson was on trial, eBay was founded, and I was closing out my high school career. As a part of a local barbershop group in my hometown, named Twice, I had the opportunity to travel a lot. Our group performed for senior events, lodge parties, the occasional school function, and [...]
A Sad Wake-Up Call
“Pastor: Minister in Sex Sting Resigns” … you read a news headline like that and you never think that it is going to be your church. The byline kept hitting closer and closer to home: Dallas-area, Megachurch, Baptist. Could it be? OMG. IT IS PRESTONWOOD! That is exactly what went through my mind. My next [...]
Lessons Learned
It’s been a few weeks since I lost my pastor and mentor. And oddly, both Sally and I both are still reeling from it. We can’t get it out of our mind and have had a difficult time figuring out why. My hunch is that there are some lessons that need to be taken from [...]
Here's to you, Mr. Robertson
Jesus loves you more than you could know. Oh. Oh. Oh. Dr. E.G. Robertson has been a part of my life since before I had life. He was Pastor of my home church (Connersville Baptist Temple) the year I was born. In fact, he had officiated my parents wedding five years earlier. Though God’s plan [...]
the Bradford Pears
A hauntingly beautiful drive… That is what I get to enjoy on my way to work one week a year because of a simple tree named the Bradford Pear, a tree that lines the last stretch of the journey between the outside world and my working world. For years these sentries have stood towering over [...]