Last week, we had the privilege of hosting several hundred teens for the annual Higher Call Youth Conference. I’m always mindful during this conference of the incredible potential of teenagers to make a difference in their generation.

Do you ever talk to yourself? I plead guilty. I really don’t like to admit it because when I was young I remember my mom talking to herself, and I said that I would never do that. And, here I am, all grown up, and I find myself talking to myself. Sometimes I say good things to myself and sometimes I have some negative talk going on.

This verse is a simple beginning to a lengthy book—some forty-eight chapters—all filled with wonderful visions from God and sometimes some pretty amazing and even difficult to understand prophecies.

I could ask if you have ever made a spiritual decision after a church service, only to break it within twenty-four hours. But every honest Christian would answer that question the same—yes.

Time Magazine has not been normally known for being a staunch supporter of the Scriptures, but in March 5, 1990 they ran an article in their science column. “Science: Score one for the Bible! Fresh clues support the story of Joshua at the walls of Jericho.”

Over the years archaeologists have come to differing conclusions about Jericho. Jericho is the second most excavated city in the land of Jericho, second only to Jerusalem. The 9-acre Tel (or mound) has been examined by Germans, British, Americans, Palestinians, and Israelis.

All of us who are passionate about ministry recognize that we can have competing interests when it comes to balancing our ministry and family responsibilities. If we’re not careful, we can yield to the addiction of busyness in ministry to the neglect of our own family.

The story of Rehoboam in first Kings 12 seems increasingly relevant to independent Baptists in the 21st Century. Rehoboam, of course, was the son of Solomon and the one to whom the Proverbs had been written. He was given excellent advice and excellent training.

It has been said, “Leaders know the way, go the way, and show the way.”

While I agree with that statement, I have discovered that it only takes place if it happens intentionally. In other words, leaders don’t automatically know, go, and show the way—especially all at once and in a systematic way.

How then can leaders intentionally invest in their teams? Below are five ways, which I’m specifically applying to the ways a senior pastor can regularly develop his staff. But these could certainly be applied in a variety of settings.

Last week my wife and I celebrated our forty-seventh anniversary as husband and wife. That is not as long as some, but a whole lot longer than many! They have been wonderfully blessed years, and I thank God for the wife and home He has given me.

One thing I have learned after inheriting a church building that is over thirty-five years old: don’t change something until you get an idea of why it was there. Sometimes, when I investigate why something was put up, I find it to be a matter of tradition, preference, or taking a shortcut (and okay to remove, improve, or replace). Other times, I discover that there was a reason something was put together the way it was; and I have no business trying to change it without compromising the entire structure of our building.

In life and ministry it is no different.