This month I will celebrate my fortieth year being ordained as a Baptist pastor. No one could have prepared me for the changes that were ahead in the church and ministerial landscape over this forty-year period.
Pastoral Leadership
When most of us think of ministry work, we think of shepherding people, leading souls to Jesus, and teaching and preaching God’s Word. Yet for these essential roles to be successfully fulfilled, there is an unglamorous, easily-neglected side of local church ministry—the administrative side of managing projects and processes. It’s the daily grind, and, frankly, it doesn’t come naturally for many ministry leaders. But local church ministry benefits from intentional strategies and processes.
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I am nearing my ninetieth birthday. I made public my call to preach on Thanksgiving night of 1954. A few days after that I preached my first sermon in the prayer meeting service of the Black Oak Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana.
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Recently, as the Lord saw fit to have me walk down this road once again, I began to write down some of the things that God has been teaching me about the process
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We are tempted to think that the time in which we live is the worst time in the history of civilization. That’s nonsense. The Bible speaks of a time when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25). What is new, however, is the way in which Christians have succumbed to social pressure during such a time. I believe some Christians’ lack of indignation at what we see in our world today is not a sign of their spirituality but of their indifference.
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Have You Strayed from Your Message?
Sometimes in preaching it seems that the Scripture text has as much to do with the sermon as the National Anthem has to do with a football game—it gets everything started, but you never hear from it again.
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Maturity Does Not Happen Automatically
It’s true for people, and it’s true and for churches: the passing of time does not guarantee the development of maturity. When it comes to church growth, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of measuring only numeric growth or decline.
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7 Thoughts on Leadership in Time of Crisis
Times of crisis are the most difficult times to lead. The leader faces all of the same pressures and difficulties that everyone else does. On top of that, he carries the weight of the organization and the people within it upon his shoulders.
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Thirty-four years ago this summer, the Lord brought our family to Lancaster, California. On our first Sunday night service, I preached a message from Philippians 1:27 which not only set the direction of our church for these past thirty-four years, but also became our theme verse.
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These next few weeks are going to hold changes for all of us as our communities work through the challenges posed by COVID-19.
In the midst of these uncharted times, we who know Christ, can still proactively practice faith. And even when our world is turned upside down, we can trust that God is in control and that He is working.
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In recent days, we have been wisely encouraged by medical professionals to practice social distancing to help avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
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Revival Preaching Is Biblical
With the rise of interest in real, scriptural revival has come concern in some quarters that seeking and preaching revival might do us harm. Some voices express the fear that a revival emphasis will bring disappointment that will hurt faith.
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An echo chamber is a lousy place to serve. Isolating ourselves to hear only an echo of our own opinions keeps us from growth. This is because part of the process of growth is for our thinking to be challenged.
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Ministry Is All about Relationships
You cannot be a recluse and be effective as a pastor. If you are called to a shepherding role of ministry, you must be actively engaged in healthy relationship building you want to be eternally effective. Ministry, and life for that matter, is all about relationships.
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Over the years, it has been my great privilege to spend time with older preachers. From them I have learned many valuable lessons: lessons which I put into practice daily in my ministry.
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Sunday, June 2, 2019 was my final day as the pastor of the Cleveland Baptist Church. So on that Sunday evening, after forty-one years of ministry (12 years as an associate, 5 years as co-pastor, and nearly 24 years as the senior pastor) we passed the mantle of pastoral leadership to the next pastor.
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If your schedule is anything like mine, from Thanksgiving to early June is booked. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, starting off new school semesters, winter revival, stewardship emphasis, Easter, graduations…. It fills up pretty fast.
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This week, Terrie and I celebrate thirty-three years of ministry at Lancaster Baptist Church with the Anniversary Sunday and host the Spiritual Leadership Conference. (And I hope you’re planning to join us!)
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Thoughts from Rehoboam's Tragic Mistake
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.
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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.
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