Pastors

When churches are unhealthy, far from being a transformative presence in their communities, they can wreak havoc in the lives of the people who interact with them or who languish in their midst. 

The secret to continuance in Christian ministry is found in serving others with transparency, diligence, and tears. It is also in recognizing the dangers that face us when we fill roles of leadership in the church.

While social media, and even traditional media, are still preoccupied with megachurches and multisite churches, the reality is that most churches in North America are quite small, well below the 200 attendance mark.

Happiness comes naturally in the same sense that fruit comes naturally from a tree. If the tree gets sufficient sunshine and water, if the ground is rich in nutrients, if the tree doesn’t contract diseases, then yes, it “naturally” produces fruit.

Nobody except a pastor can fully understand the excitement that comes with a first pastorate. What I didn’t know then, though, was that the pastorate often brings its own types of pain capable of hurting pastors.

This weekend, we celebrated the most crucial, world-changing, heart-rendering, paradigm-shifting, life-reorienting truth in the universe: Jesus is alive.

I’ve always been a bit unsettled by Jesus’ reference to the Canaanite woman as a “dog.” But I noticed something a few nights ago when our associate pastor was teaching on this passage. I’d never noticed this thread before and I think it’s actually the key to understanding the passage

It seems like all “we” do is preach about problems without actually doing something about them.