A time-honoured, effective method of evangelism is the giving of your personal testimony. No big deal. Just telling about your spiritual pilgrimage. How you found bread as a beggar. The sceptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been cleaned up and revolutionised. […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Pastors
Practical Advice for Perilous Times
What are the marching orders for people who live in these difficult, perilous times when the courts are out of control, when the schools are out of control, when neighborhoods are out of control, when it seems as though even your home at times is living on the ragged edge? Let me give you four […]
Read MoreA Tough Assignment
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” How familiar we are with Paul’s penciled words; Paul’s oft-used salutation rests upon God’s grace in salvation and peace that comes through the work of Jesus Christ. The subject matters vary: to the Romans, he wrote of unshakable truths for the […]
Read MoreDelegate the Workload
Read Exodus 18:1-27. The Christian worker is a strange breed. He or she wants it to look as if the work is terribly hard. In fact, the more difficult and strained the look, the better. Christian workers are notorious for what I call the “tired blood” look, better known as the overburdened and outdated “missionary […]
Read MoreA Shepherd’s Heart
Read Numbers 27:12-23. Moses asks for a man “who will go out and come in before them, who will lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd” (Numbers 27:17). In other words, “Lord, we need a man who realizes he must […]
Read MoreEasy Ways to Help a Family in Need
When families are dealing with special needs, many of the basic chores of everyday life go from humdrum to hassle. As your friends, neighbours, and church members care for family members with special needs, take some time out of your week to offer a helping hand. Here are several ideas: Offer to clean someone’s home […]
Read MoreHelping Men Who Are Addicted to Internet Sex: For Pastors
Scripture to reference: Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5; 2 Timothy 2:2; 1 John 1:9 “Pastor, I need to speak with you.” “Of course,” you reply to the man on the phone and set a time to meet that afternoon. It’s one of your leaders at the church, Sam. Later, when he arrives at your office, […]
Read MoreCultivating a Tender Heart and a Tough Hide
For as long as I have been in the ministry I have asked the Lord for a balance between a tender heart and a tough hide. It isn’t an easy balance. In fact, the latter is more difficult to cultivate than the former. In order to be fully engaged in ministry, job number one is […]
Read MoreTrue Teamwork: What It Takes
As a lifelong admirer of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, I have devoured more than a few biographies about him. Among the best was Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a volume that presents Lincoln’s brilliant political act of enlisting into his cabinet some of the men who had run against him. Surrounded by a […]
Read MoreSeven Building Blocks for Leaders
I can’t think of a better model of leadership than Nehemiah. I once sat down and looked over Nehemiah’s shoulder for a couple of hours, reviewing the things this ancient Jewish leader recorded while rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. As I read, it dawned on me that his journal is a storehouse of leadership insights. […]
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