Blog Articles and Resources for Pastors and Church Leaders

What if You Don’t Know Your Life Goal? 7 Practical Steps to Take Now

1. Do what’s before you with excellence. When you don’t know what your goals are or what your vision in life is, the last thing you should do is nothing. Instead, do what’s before you with excellence. That is often the path to identifying what you...

Where Does The Future Of American And The Stability Of The World Lie?

In 2011, I wrote a book titled I Never Thought I’d See the Day . In that book I discussed the changes occurring in America that, in my younger days, I never dreamed possible. Throughout the first half or more of my life, the principles of...

Will Your Church Reach the Next Generation? 9 Questions to Help You Find Out

How important is it to you personally that your church continue to have positive impact for future generations? How confident do you feel that your church is effectively reaching (or will continue to effectively reach) the next generation—those who...

How Cultural Backgrounds Can Shed New Light on Familiar Bible Stories

Your congregation has heard many Bible stories dozens of times. But are the people in your care missing key behind-the-scenes details into the biblical world that would deepen their understanding and appreciation of Scripture? The NIV Cultural...

A Common Problem that Good Christians Have with Evangelism (And How to Overcome It)

“I am trying to reach out to a guy in my neighborhood, but I don’t have much in common with him. The truth is, I don’t really get along with him all that well.”I received this question during a session at an evangelism conference. As I listened to...

2 Tough Questions that Muslims Will Ask You (And How to Answer Them)

Can we be confident that Christianity or Islam is true? It took Nabeel Qureshi four years to answer these questions, and they remain so important to him that he has studied them for another decade beyond. No God but One is his brief answer. It’s perfect for independent study or group discussion.

A Christ-Shaped Vacuum (Or, Why Preaching Should Create a Crisis)

Faithful biblical teaching should, and will, produce a response. And people’s response should, through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, reflect the response that the biblical text itself was seeking to produce. We want people to think,...

Turning Grass-Munchers into Spiritual Champions — One Way to Fulfill the Great Commission

We’re not just wanting to keep Christians happy and growing. We aren’t attempting to lure believers from other churches by having glitzier services and better programs. We’re starting with hard-core skeptics and trying to transform them into...

God Then Gold – Michael Phelps’ New Purpose In Life

Editor’s Note: Just before the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, ESPN shared a magazine article and video about Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps that chronicled his downward spiral following the Beijing Olympics and his subsequent recovery. A...

7 Pointers for Teaching, Preaching, and Understanding the Old Testament

It’s about God. It is easy for us to focus our attention on the human characters of the Bible or on our own needs. Instead of looking to the Bible to give us tips for living or decision-making, our first line of interpretation should be to seek to...

Assessment: Jesus & You (How are You Different or the Same?)

Take this quiz at the beginning of a Bible study and again at the study’s end. The goal: assess change in your image of Jesus and yourself. Work quickly. There are no “correct” answers. Part 1: What Do You Think of Jesus? Please answer each...

These 6 Short Prayers Will Kickstart Your Way to Recovery

Believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. Prayer: Dear God, I’ve tried hard to fix and control my life’s hurts, hang-ups, and habits. I admit that, by myself, I’m powerless to change. I need to...

How to Face Your Personal Goliath

Every one of us at one point or another will have to stand and face our Goliath. The moment you decide to step out of the crowd and follow Christ not only as a disciple but to publicly declare the message of the cross, you enter a battle zone....

Reality Check: Is this “Gospel Culture” or Just “Salvation Culture” ?

Evangelicalism is known for at least two words: gospel and (personal) salvation . Behind the word gospel is the Greek word euangelion and evangel , from which words we get evangelicalism and evangelism. Behind the second word salvation is the Greek...

How to Make the Most of Your Christian Tradition

You cannot read the New Testament apart from some tradition. Even the most jiving and thriving of Pentecostal churches has a normal way of doing Sunday morning worship that does not jump directly from the pages of the New Testament. This normal way...

Enemies: An Unexpected Source of Character Growth

I became something else, something other than what I naturally would have become, by becoming an evangelical pastor. Do not underestimate the difficulty of the task. While I generally agree with evangelical theology, I am at odds with the...

Free Resources

Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?

Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?

Here are some tools to help: 

The Small Group Tool Kit includes two mobile-friendly invitation cards, reflection cards to enhance your small  group experience, and a worship song playlist curated by Hosanna Wong that can beplayed during small group meetings or personal Bible study time. 

The Church Tool Kit includes a downloadable poster, bulletininsert, invitation card, and Power Point slide.

Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.

Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.

Shawn Johnson, lead pastor of Red Rocks Church, gives a
searingly honest portrait of anxiety and depression and shows readers how to fight back and live free. He also has put together three free tools pastors can use to help their congregation have a productive conversation around mental health, including a discussion guide, sermon notes and key Scripture verses.