Articles for Pastors

Spiritual formation and discipleship are more like horticulture than education. Good soil brings great harvests. Success in making disciples is not (at first) measured quantitatively, but qualitatively.

Jesus is not a cosmic vending machine where we put in our quarters, hit the correct button, and then enjoy the soda or candy bar we purchased.

A pastor's heart often goes through heartache. I make no claim that pastors are perfect people. We can be arrogant and uncaring at times. But at the same time, most pastors I know are genuine, faithful followers of God who love their congregations.

As church leaders, there is a connection between our beliefs on generosity, fundraising, funding, giving, and what happens in our churches. We must identify inherently negative ways of thinking and replace these thoughts with the mindset God desires of us. 

Those Christians who pause each Sunday morning to go to church need a pastor who has taken the time to read, think, and pray; someone who can deliver the good news in with power and insight. That starts with books for pastors capable of deepening our own life in Christ.

If you want to know how God works, and if you want God to work in your life, you have to be part of the church.

The five insights below from Nehemiah’s response to his chronic critics give us a good template to follow when we’re criticized.

I’m sure that pastoring a church has always been difficult. At the same time, though, it seems much harder today than it was 35+ years ago when I started in full-time pastoral ministry.