Blog Articles and Resources for Pastors and Church Leaders
Blog Articles and Resources for Pastors and Church Leaders
Paul's Pastoral Theology for a Perplexing Topic | NT Wright
I have been interested in the question of adiaphora – ‘things indifferent’, as expounded by Paul in particular – for many years, both at the historical level (what did Paul mean and why did he take the line he did?) and at the practical level (how...
Where Is God in the Midst of These Difficult Times? | Dr. David Jeremiah
As we move through this pandemic and begin to think of its impact and effect, many people are asking what is going to happen now. Some are predicting the worst. “The world will never be the same,” they say. “We’ll never go back to normal.” The...
Is God Slow? | Mark Buchanan
God is slow. This is perhaps the most obvious thing about God, though rarely noticed. Of all the divine attributes that we laud or debate, ponder or puzzle over, it’s seldom or never we mention God’s slowness. Yet nothing about God is more...
Our ‘Secret Weapon’ in an Age of Us-Against-Them | Scott Sauls
When Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson harshly mocked Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw because of his eye patch and flippantly remarked, “I know he lost his eye in the war or whatever,” no one expected the former Navy SEAL and decorated war...
3 Myths about Male-Female Relationships Every Pastor Should Bust
Few of us expected pastoral ministry to involve so many conversations about relationships . For many of us, deep convictions about salvation and scripture draw us into ministry; and yet beyond the halls of seminary, we discover that the issue of...
Faith, Economics, and the Road to Loving Our Global Neighbor | Bruce Wydick
Many in the church would like to have meaningful and fruitful engagement with those living in poverty, but they are uncertain about what are genuinely effective ways to serve and give. As a result, their ministry to the poor is stifled by feelings...
5 Things the Psalms Teach Us about Being Honest to God
Is it possible to stand honestly before God without fear, to face one another vulnerably without shame, and to face the world without any of the secrets that would demean and distort our humanity? For most of us, the answer to this question is...
7 Priorities That Change Everything
Sometimes, church can look a whole lot like our hometown of Las Vegas. During the 2008–9 economic recession, an issue with squatters emerged. People were moving into abandoned homes, usually foreclosures, and making them their own. One of the best...
Why Your Prayers Need to Be Dangerous
Prayer is sacred communication, the language of longing, a divine dialogue between you and your heavenly Father, your Abba, your Daddy. When you pray, the God of the universe listens. And not only does he listen, but he also cares. About what you...
Does your community know what you are FOR or what you are AGAINST? | Jeff Henderson
I believe the world needs more growing, healthy organizations – growing, healthy churches, growing, healthy nonprofits, growing, healthy businesses. Think of it this way. What creates a vibrant community? A vibrant community has healthy, growing...
The #1 thing people want from their church | Randy Frazee
The passion of every pastor I know is to help people reach the destination they were created for, even before they were born – to be like Jesus. The question becomes “How?” – what is the most effective approach to make this a reality in people’s...
Has yesterday stolen our ability to hope for a greater tomorrow?
The evening news serves as a daily reminder that our world is more discouraged, more defeated, and more hopeless than ever before. Rising suicide rates, increasing depression, political divisiveness, and a general sense of negativity only provide...
Turning Down the White Noise
The two most consistent things about distractions: one, the barrage of them is growing louder and louder. That’s just true. The second is that they always make good on their promises. Distractions make this promise: they say to you, they say to me,...
How Paul Dealt with Toxic People in Ministry
The apostle Paul was as zealous as any person has ever been in spreading the message of Jesus, but when he faced stubborn resistance, he did what Jesus did: he walked away. He didn’t run away at the first sign of resistance. He reasoned and pled...
How to Protect from Fear-Driven Frenzy
Every day, it seems, we’re forced to make a choice: Will we be the tortoise or the hare? An idealistic young bootstrapper might opt for the former. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Sure, until an investor comes along to remind her that the...
The Only Way to Break Money's Power Over You
The only way, and I mean only way to get a grip on money’s power in your heart, is to return it to its owner. And that’s not you or me. I’ve found myself occasionally getting trapped in the “when I, then I” spiral. Maybe you can relate. When I have...
Free Resources
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.
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.