If you are on the staff of a church, you are an example to someone. You may just think of yourself as a secretary, or office worker, but in reality you are more than that. Just being “on staff” makes you an example and a leader. You need to accept it, and allow it to affect what you do and how you behave.

Many youth leaders have a “lone ranger ” type of mentality when it comes to their student ministry. They think they can do it all by themselves. This type of thinking will frustrate you (and your family) and will cause you to be ineffective.

The education of our children is a grave responsibility for every parent. For years, Anna and I have counseled Christian parents to either homeschool their children or to have them in a quality Christian school. I tell people that one of the primary reasons our children are serving the Lord today is because we kept them out of public school and gave them a Christian education.

The goal of Sunday school is to accomplish one of the greatest needs in the 21st century– to provide Biblical education to individuals in a particular life stage.

Many years ago I was reading a prayer letter from a missionary in the Dominican Republic. In the last paragraph, the missionary wrote these words, “Alexis asked me a couple months ago: ‘What would have happened to me and all the people in our church if you had not come to the Dominican Republic?’”

In the final twelve words of this verse, we discover a consolation for thankful people. When we give God gratitude, there are two gifts of assurance God gives us in return.

I find Caleb to be one of the most inspiring personalities in the Old Testament. At eighty-five years old, he had not relinquished the spirit that had motivated him when he was forty. He still believed that through the help and power of God great things could be accomplished. Mountains could be possessed!

In over thirty-two years as a pastor, I’ve known many burden-bearing Christians. But I’ve discovered that, while some people may do this initially because of their natural temperament, Christians who do this over the decades do so because of growth in grace.

There is nothing more rewarding than serving the Lord. But sometimes we get into survival mode and we forget to fulfill the Great Commission. The fields are white unto harvest.

Most Christians know that God has called them to be witnesses for Him and to share the gospel with others. But sometimes—perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of preoccupation—we miss opportunities to do so.