The number one killer in the Western World over the last two decades has been heart disease. Many of us have been touched in one way or another by a friend, family member, or colleague who has suffered with the symptoms of heart disease. The longer I work with people in ministry every day, the more I am convinced that the body of Christ is suffering greatly with heart disease. This disease is more dangerous than our physical hearts being affected, for this disease affects every part of our lives as believers.

I don’t remember that I thought too much about the word legacy—not in a personal sense, anyway—until my first grandchild was born. As parents, we’re so involved in the daily aspects of guiding our children, and we’re so committed to being there for them every step of the way, that we don’t think as much in terms of what legacy we leave for them after we are gone.

When it comes to planting churches, I think we romanticize the spiritual condition of our nation. Do you wonder how many Americans actually believe the Bible is accurate? Do you wonder which cities most need a gospel-preaching church?

Young children are especially attentive to what we teach, not just with our words, but also with our lives. Most of a child’s character is developed before he is five years old.

As a part of my work as a chaplain for the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department, I took a course in critical incident stress debriefing. While I did not look forward to this investment of time and did not expect to learn much, I found it very practical and quite helpful. One of the things they said was that in an immediate crisis, you would not do a complete debriefing, but you could do a defusing. I have found that, as a pastor, there are many times and circumstances that can benefit from “defusing.”

It was August of 1973, and I was sitting on the back of my car in the driveway of 637 Atwood Avenue in Rockford, Illinois. Next to me was a young lady that I had been dating for three years. Her dad was putting the barbeque grill away in the backyard after a cook-out. We were talking about a variety of things when out of the clear blue came a question I was definitely unprepared to answer. “John, do you love me?” she asked inquisitively.

Leading in ministry is like walking a tightrope. Not only does it require delicate balance, but the stakes are high if we slip. As spiritual leaders, it is our responsibility to walk with balance. Ephesians 5:15 puts it succinctly—“walk circumspectly.” But if we were to get off balance, what would it look like?

In 1980, Cambodia was just emerging from one of the most horrific periods of time that any nation has ever endured. Between 1975 and 1979, the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, under the leadership of the infamous Pol Pot, abused the Cambodian people in a way that is hard to describe and even harder to comprehend.

“Pastor, I love him, and he used to love me!” “I don’t know what happened; everything was going great, but now all of the sudden he is telling me that he does not love me anymore.” These are excerpts from two counseling sessions that I have had with two separate individuals in recent days.

I believe in checklists. Actually, I believe in lists, period. They help me keep focused on completing projects, and they keep me from forgetting important details. In Philippians 2, we have a checklist of a different sort—qualities of a productive Christian servant. The first several verses of this chapter describe a servant leader as they reveal the mind of Christ and His humility.