8/27/2022
Fending Off Wolves
Ripped. Completely. Apart. It’s amazing what a pack of wolves can do to their prey (and quickly). On many occasions they don’t even see or hear them coming until it’s too late. It’s no wonder that...
7/5/2022
Q&A: How Do I Deal With Theological Differences?
The purpose of my book, podcast, and blog is all centered around one goal: to lead church leaders on the right foundation for life in the ministry. I really appreciate the questions that have been coming...
4/24/2022
Q&A: 2 Goals for Your First Two Years in Ministry
If you’ve been around my podcast lately, you’re probably familiar with what I call The "God is Calling Me" Season: whether it’s for the right reasons or not, leaders all around between...
4/4/2022
The Paradigm Shift for Fundraising
Whether you’re headed to camp, a mission trip, or just doing a project around the church, you’ve probably heard someone step up and say… “you need to do a fundraiser!” Some are very effective and hit or even surpass whatever the goal...
3/20/2022
Short-Term Missions?
You’ve probably heard it many times that short-term missions do more damage than good. The most common reasons (at least, the ones I’ve heard) are relationally centered. You’ll struggle to lead people to Jesus if you haven’t developed...
1/13/2022
The “God Is Calling Me” Season
I like to refer to the time of year from March to May as the “God Is Calling Me” season. Maybe I should come up with a better name. Either way, it’s the season when church staff members from literally everywhere are making...
12/22/2021
Shutting Down Ministry
Yep, you read that right. I’m a pastor, and I’m encouraging you to shut down ministry. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging you to STAY shut down, but if you don’t shut down at some point, you’re...
11/22/2021
Resilience in Ministry
In a recent post, the Life.Church Open Network said: “Ministry is hard. What do you do to stay emotionally healthy?” No doubt we’ve all been in seasons of joy and seasons of struggle in this area, and we all have different ways of managing...
11/2/2021
Shepherding in Youth Ministry – Part 2
So you’ve found the right leaders. How do you raise up student leaders? We can’t possibly expect ourselves to have an impact for Christ with every single student. For me, I split out our youth group into family groups. After our midweek sermon, the...
10/19/2021
Shepherding in Youth Ministry – Part 1
An ongoing and unfortunately ever-growing problem in youth ministry is the missed opportunities to develop student attendees to become student leaders. It creates a culture of great fun with no roots, and it’s killing the next generation of the church...
9/29/2021
Never Again
“Never again” still haunts me to this day. This was the last thing I said after leaving my first leadership position in a church. It wasn’t the church...
9/14/2021
Youth Ministry – Rebuilding After COVID, Part 4
Can you imagine? What a glorious day this will be! But from now until that amazing day, let me ask you: What is your local church being “clothed” with? If we’re honest...
8/31/2021
Youth Ministry – Rebuilding After COVID, Part 3
Who are you? A simple question, but really… who are YOU? What are the skills that you bring into the church? Can you get a clear picture of the good and the bad...
8/10/2021
Youth Ministry – Rebuilding After COVID, Part 2
What’s next? You’re still probably wondering what programs to use, curriculum to purchase, events to attend, but I still want to encourage you to slow down: It’s a marathon, not a 100-yard dash...
7/21/2021
Youth Ministry – Rebuilding After COVID, Part 1
“We’re finally reopening!” “What programs should we use?” “What curriculum should we purchase?”Sound familiar? You’re not alone. I just want to encourage you with...