Asking people to respond by making public commitments in a worship service seems to be less and less common today. There are several reasons for this. Some pastors are reluctant to ask for decisions because they don’t want to embarrass people. Some don’t want to ask for decisions because they...
Last week, the old-left fired a Google engineer for questioning their views about diversity and the alt-right disrupted a community with anti-diversity protests. On Sunday, I spoke in two churches – one predominantly African-American and the other predominantly Korean. This evening, I drove...
Eric Liddell, Olympic champion and missionary to China, was made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1982). A central feature of the movie was Liddell’s conviction about the Sabbath which prohibited him from running on Sunday.
The longer you lead, the more susceptible you become to discouragement, cynicism, and bitterness. Frankly, losing hurts. It’s painful when evil prevails. No matter how hard you preach, teach, and counsel, people still make horrible choices that destroy relationships, families, and churches. No...
One of the best things about getting older is gaining perspective. Over time, your viewpoint on past events changes. What once seemed really important now seems less so, and mountain-sized problems look like anthills in retrospect.
Peter emphasized shepherding as a priority, the necessity of fiscal responsibility, developing character more than skills, and discerning the demonic forces behind our spiritual battles. While other issues may deserve careful treatment, these priorities can’t be ignored.
As you near the end of your leadership career, you will likely look back over a mixed bag of decisions – some good, some bad. You will also look back over countless situations where you chose a course of action when the options were muddled and the consequences unclear. In other cases, the...
Building healthy relationships throughout your community demonstrates the authenticity of the Christian faith. When your actions in public, at work, and at home reveal Jesus – your words about Jesus will receive a much more receptive hearing.
Maintaining right relationships, including (but also broader than) personal moral purity, is an essential part of preserving your legacy. Transparency with others, keeping short accounts of wrongs committed, letting love cover egregious behavior, and sacrificing personal preferences to...
The most recent statistical report for the past year of ministry by the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention has been released. The news is not good. As a denomination, we continue our multi-year decline on the most important indicator of our spiritual health – baptisms.