Church Leadership
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Every Kid Included
I’ve seen it, and it’s sad. It’s sad that it would happen anywhere, but when it happens in one particular location, it is heartbreaking. And it really hurts when it’s your own kid. It’s when, for some reason, a young person is not part of the youth group. Oh, they are part of it by age or grade, but, for all intents and purposes, they are outside the group. And it’s as much the fault of the adults in charge as it is the young people who are being taught. Of course kids (yes, even church kids) can form little clans and can, at times, be quite mean about things.…
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How to Frustrate Church Leaders on a Sunday Night
By “Sunday night,” I am not talking about the Sunday evening worship assembly. In fact, the term “Sunday night” is meant as a placeholder for anytime after worship services are finished for the day. It stands for the next time one of those faithful men who serve a congregation as an elder or as a preacher jumps on social media. Maybe they are just scrolling through Facebook to kill a few minutes before going to bed on Sunday night. Maybe they are checking their feed as part of their Monday morning routine. But it’s whenever they are on again and just seeing how things are going. Want to frustrate them?…
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Another Look at Being Blinded by the (Wrong) Light
Some who read this may have read a previous post of mine that dealt with what I believe may be a danger for those of us who preach and teach God’s word. The short version of what I wrote then is that there is the possibility that the fact that we are often “in the spotlight” can distort our message, our lives, and our eternal destiny. This post is intended to “shed some light” (pun intended) on another dangerous issue. There are those who attempt to influence others by dazzling them with their personalities, their oratorical skills, impressive Hollywood style productions, and a host of other things. Those who experience their…
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A Religious Equation
I realize that some who read this may not be familiar with the name, Dr. Albert Mohler. Dr. Mohler is, among other things, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Among those “other things” is hosting a podcast to which I listen on a fairly regular basis. The podcast deals with news items, various societal trends, etc. from his perspective as a religious leader. While some of the rest of this post may be enough evidence to suggest that I do not agree with some of his theology, I still find his “take” on things to be interesting. One of the features of his podcast is…
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A Defense of Sunday Night Worship
Yes, I think it is a good idea for congregations to have a “second” worship service on Sunday evening. Before sharing some reasons why, let me make a few very clear introductory statements. The Lord’s Church is to meet on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7) to worship.The time of day on Sunday is not specified in Scripture, but is left up to the wisdom of the elders, so long as it is on the Lord’s Day.Whatever that time is, each member needs to be present (Hebrews 10:25) and actively worshiping in spirit and truth (John 4:24).There is no command to worship more than once on Sunday. It…
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Some Thoughts on “Restudying the Issue”
Every so often, word will spread that a congregation has made a massive change. Maybe the congregation has decided to appoint female elders or deacons. Maybe the congregation has decided to allow mechanical instruments of music in worship. These and other similar issues are often made with a big statement by the elders (or by the preacher) along with words such as “after restudying the issue…”. Very often, the leaders will speak of how they have been studying this for some time, usually about a year. Immediately, many push back on that phrase, “restudying the issue.” The reason, it seems to me, is that it is almost exclusively used at…
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A Proverb and the Bible School Program
Leah and I both have a passion for a church’s Bible school program. And our passion for it works out well, because she has such a heart for mostly children’s classes, while I greatly love thinking about teens and adults. We talk often about Bible classes and we try to think about ways to do better–both with our own teaching and in the entire program of work. As we look around congregations (both where we are and other congregations we visit), we see some similar struggles. But there is often one thing that is missing that would help the program improve, and (surprise, surprise) it comes right from the Bible.…
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A Losing Quarterback with a Winning Quote
It was not “just another” Army-Navy football game. There were many factors that contributed to this particular game being unique. This particular game was scheduled for November 30, 1963. That meant that, if it was played as scheduled, it would take place only eight days after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. There were questions about whether it would be advisable to cancel the game altogether. Ultimately, the decision was made to go ahead with the game, but to reschedule it for a week later. That meant that the game would be played on December 7th – the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. There were questions…
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Paul, Sports, and Preaching
Illustrating sermons is an artform. It is one that I have always struggled with. So this is not being written by some expert in that part of sermon preparation. However, there is something I have heard a fairly significant number of preachers say that bothers me. They will be getting ready to share a sermon illustration–maybe their second or third in a sermon–and they’ll say something like this: “Paul wrote about sports a lot, so I’m going to go back to the world of sports.” With that, they will launch into a story from some sport to illustrate the point they are making. Now, let me say this: I am…
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From Pester to Pastor
For a little over two decades of my time as a preacher, it was not uncommon for people to refer to me as a pastor. While I didn’t want to offend anybody who was trying to show respect for me and/or my work, I also did not want to assume a role and/or position for which I was not qualified. So, in an attempt to use a little humor to (hopefully) make a point or cause somebody to think or ask questions, I often responded, “I’m just the pester.” Since a lot of people seem to think that preachers pester people about what they are doing wrong or not doing…