10 Things You Should Know about Church Discipline
Church discipline is not man’s idea, but God’s. Learn more about what it is and why it's so purposeful in the Christian life.
Articles on Church Leadership
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10 Things You Should Know about Church Elders
Jeramie Rinne lists 10 things we should know about church elders.
7 Good Reasons to Leave a Church
Illegitimate reasons for leaving a church abound, but there are circumstances when it is right to make the painful decision to leave.
This Day in History: Jonathan Edwards Preaches “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
When Edwards came to preach in Enfield, God blessed the preaching of his Word in an extraordinary manner.
8 Things to Remember When Teaching Kids Theology
Theology, taught well, must inevitably result in doxology—and we shouldn’t be satisfied with less just because we’re teaching children.
Should Drinking Alcohol Disqualify a Pastor from Ministry?
“Not a drunkard” means more than just “Knows how to toe the line and stay within the legal limits.” It implies a positive vision. It calls for men who are reliable, ever vigilant, “ready in season and out.”
Why the Call to Preach Is Unique
Expository exultation is a unique kind of communication. It is different, radically different, from anything in the world.
Is There a Difference between Pastors and Elders? (1 Timothy 3)
Besides having good character, what qualifications must one meet in order to oversee others in the church?
The Hidden Cancer in Our Churches
What is the most urgent need of the church today? Better leadership? Better training? Healthier giving? Orthodoxy? Moral integrity?
10 Key Bible Verses on the Church
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
What to Do If You’re Chronically Frustrated at Church
If you're chronically frustrated at church, the primary solution is not to try to fix things but to recenter your focus on God.
Pray your pastor would love God, and you, so much that he would be willing to disappoint you for God’s glory.
The New Testament Epistles offer several characteristics of false teachers and those susceptible to their teachings.
2 Reasons Bully Pastors Rise Up in the Church
The church is experiencing a leadership crisis. Two key elements contribute to this crisis.
I want to conduct a thought experiment by thinking about how some of our behavior can negatively affect our pastors.
10 Things You Should Know about Pastoral Counseling
If God has given you his Word and his Spirit dwells within you, there is much more you can do than you probably realize.
10 Things You Should Know about Youth Ministry
Youth ministry is a vital part of growing and equipping the church. Here are ten things to remember about the work of discipling students.
7 Key Characteristics of the Church
Reformation theology established seven characteristics or identity markers of the church.
Should the Sick Be Anointed with Oil? (James 5)
James instructs the church elders to “anoint” the sick person with oil “in the name of the Lord.” Throughout the centuries, Christians have struggled to understand and apply this verse.
10 Things You Should Know about Preaching
What is preaching really all about? How should we approach it, as preachers and ordinary Christians?
5 Guiding Principles for Church Elders
God has called elders to be men worth imitating. A healthy local church typically has many people, men and women, whose example we could follow.
Are You a Healthy Church Member?
A healthy church member is deeply committed to and practices particular disciplines within a local church.
Podcast: Are Christians Obligated to Give 10%? (Sam Storms)
What does the Bible teaches about tithing? Are Christians still obligated to give 10% of their income today?
7 Bad Reasons to Leave a Church
Before you begin searching for a new church, consider these 7 reasons you shouldn't.
10 Things You Should Know about the Church after COVID-19
In all the important ways, nothing has changed about church. We are still the people of God, gathered in the presence of God, to bring glory to God.
10 Things You Should Know about Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Learn more about the man who is as relevant to us today as he was in his own lifetime.
3 Distinguishing Characteristics of a True Church
How can we tell if a church is really a church? What characteristics distinguish a true church?
Seminary can by no means teach a minister everything he needs to know, but it puts strong tools in his box to set him up for a lifetime of learning and growing in the Lord.
50 Reasons We Appreciate Our Pastors
We recently invited our readers to finish the following sentence: "In the last year, I have appreciated my pastor because he . . ." Here are 50 of our favorite responses.
An Open Letter to the Weary Pastor
The gospel gives hope and encouragement to weary pastors—hope and encouragement that cannot be found anywhere else.
How do we preachers handle the Bible faithfully and accurately so that Jesus is seen in every passage?
This Day In History: The Death of Charles Spurgeon
It was January 31, 1892, and after twenty-four years of ill health, the ‘Prince of Preachers’ went to be with the Lord, aged just fifty-seven.
10 Key Bible Verses on Teaching the Bible
Scripture has specific instructions for those in the body who are charged with teaching other believers. Read what God has to say to teachers.
Why Churches Languish under Cowardly Pastors
If there is anyone in the world who ought to have courage, it must be pastors.
Are Pastors Free to Accumulate Wealth?
Few people acknowledge the narratives that drive the assumptions that provide our framework for how we relate to money.
One of Satan’s methods to mislead preachers is the false dichotomy. Here are 5 particularly dangerous ones.
15 Things Seminary Couldn’t Teach Me
Real pastors get honest about the joys and challenges of the first five years of pastoral ministry—and how they bridged the gap between seminary training and life in a local church.
What Should a Youth Pastor Spend His Time Doing?
Youth pastors should dedicate their time to three primary things—spiritual growth, relationships, and Bible study.
Why Our Expectations for Teens in the Church Are Way Too Low
Historically, one of the failures of youth ministry is that kids have not been seen as potential contributors in the church, and that is a disservice to them and to the church as a whole.
Why Did Paul Publicly Rebuke Peter? (Galatians 2)
This passage clearly teaches that this subtle but very common problem in the church is a serious distortion of the gospel and needs the corrective rebuke of the apostle Paul.
3 Practical Ways to Remain Faithful in Ministry
Practical things you need to do in your life to remain faithful in ministry are the same means of grace that are available to every believer.
5 Common Ways Church Members Go Astray
How can church elders engage relationally with their local fellowship and keep a watch out for church members who may be straying?
Pastoral Concern about Evangelical Prophecy
Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley
The question about the cessation or continuation of special revelation has very practical ramifications for the Christian life, for God’s special revelation carries great authority.
6 Gospel-Centered Leadership Values
If the primary driving force of leadership in local churches around the world was the gospel of Jesus Christ, we could avoid so much sadness in the lives of church leaders.
5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s Preaching
I owe more to the ministry of Martyn Lloyd-Jones than I can put into words.
Podcast: Complementarianism Is Not about Competency (John Piper)
John Piper discusses complementarianism, with both personal and practical implications, and how we should think about it in the #MeToo era.
3 Times You Should Disobey Authority
No human authority is absolute. Authority is always relative to the assignment given by the Authority Giver.
2 Traps that Lead to Ministry Failure
Realize you don't deserve anything, realize that it is a privilege, honor, and a mercy that you've even been called into ministry.
A Category You Won't Find in the Bible: The Churchless Christian
The New Testament apostles can't conceive of anything called a Christian that's not connected to Christ's body.
Help! I Have a Problem with My Pastor
Don't let your pastor be the only thing that connects you to your church.
10 Reasons Pastors Should Study the Bible in Its Original Languages
Every pastor—as time and opportunities arise—should study the Bible in its original languages. Yes, it's that important.
What Is a Healthy Way to Leave a Church?
Leaving the church is painful for Christians and pastors, and we've seen a lot of it over the last couple of years through COVID, election crises, and racial crises.
5 Stumbling Blocks to Pastoral Honesty
Why isn’t humble candor more of a regular part of our ministry leadership culture? Why aren’t we more ready to confess spiritual discouragement or struggle?
5 Myths about Being Called to Ministry
Are you called to the ministry? How can you tell if you’re called to ministry? What should you do to find out?
A Superlative Guide to All 15 Elder Qualifications
As Christians, we have our conflicts and controversies to grieve about our leaders, but the risen Christ has not left us to confusion about what to expect, pray for, and hold our leaders to account for.
5 Questions about the Local Church
Ultimately, the local church makes visible what is invisible, and reflects in words and deeds the kingdom life that is to come.
Dear Pastor . . . Your Shepherd Doesn’t Care How Big Your Church Is
What the Lord requires of us is faithfulness. And while it’s perfectly normal for every pastor to want his church to grow, it’s also idolatrous to marry our validation and our justification to our attendance.
What Is the Job of the Pastor?
Collin Hansen, Jonathan Leeman
Your ability to do your job as a church member depends on pastors or elders doing their jobs.
5 Myths about Being a Pastor’s Wife
What every congregation really needs to see is a family serving God with wholehearted devotion while dealing with the realities of sinful parents raising sinful children.
10 Disciplines of a Godly Pastor
As we sweat out the disciplines of a godly pastor, remember, with Paul, what energizes us to live them out.
An Open Letter to Those Suffering from Depression
Although you feel hopeless and helpless, I want to assure you that there is hope and there is help.
Dear Pastor . . . You’re a Shepherd, Not an Entrepreneur
If we plant churches as pastors, not entrepreneurs, whose aim is to love Christ and feed and tend the sheep of Christ’s reward, then we can sleep well knowing our work will endure.
The Hidden Value of Pastoral Gentleness
As leaders of God’s people, we all long to make a difference for Christ. We don’t want to be unfruitful. The main reason to nurture gentleness is neither pragmatic nor historical, but biblical.
6 Things to Look for in a Pastor
What are some things to consider when searching for a new pastor to lead the church?
How to Pray for Your Pastor’s Family
Would you like to show your pastor your appreciation but are unsure what might be most helpful to him? More than any other gift you could give your pastor, he will treasure your prayers for his family.
Is the Pope Really the Appointed Successor to the Apostle Peter?
Evangelical theology dissents especially from Catholic theology’s doctrine of apostolic succession.
The Church and Homosexuality: 10 Commitments
Of the many complexities involving the church and homosexuality, one of the most difficult is how the former should speak of the latter.
We instinctively recognize that the solution to bad authority is seldom no authority, but almost always good authority.
The Importance of Preaching the Theology of Suffering
Preach to your people a theology of suffering that places all our trials in the hands and will of a loving Father.
How to Prioritize Your Spouse in Ministry
She’s not been called to serve. You have been called to serve and she’s been called to serve alongside of you as your helper.
Help for Humanly Impossible Acts
The languishing come to drink at the fountain of God’s life-giving word. That too is worship. It magnifies the necessity and desirableness of God.
An Open Letter to a Children’s Ministry Worker
The children entrusted to your care have ears, and they use them. So teach these little ones the big truths. God willing, it will yield fruit for many years to come.
A Church Is Not Just a Truth-Dispensing Center
The church is the household of God, so we can expect relationships, interaction, and shared identity to be fundamental aspects of its life.
5 Hats That a Lead Pastor Must Wear
If the quality of our elder plurality determines the health of our church, then we need to know which hats will best help us to cultivate solid teams. Here are five hats senior leaders should wear.
5 Guidelines for Preparing Congregational Prayer
Effective public prayer must be well-prepared prayer. This is the engine that will move all the other principles.
Deaconing is not for the faint of heart. Much of it is thankless: grunt work, not stage work.
How to Preach Biblical Narrative
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
I love stories. You love stories. Your congregation loves stories. The unbelieving world loves stories. Below are seven suggestions for preaching a sermon on a biblical narrative.
Why a Pastor Needs to Learn His Context
To faithfully pastor those who are culturally different from you, the first thing you should do is learn as much as you can about your context.
Dear Pastor . . . You Need to Recognize Your Limits
Our limits and weaknesses are not in the way of what God can do through us, but our denial of limits and our delusions of independent strength are.
7 Tips for Planning a Sermon Series
How can pastors approach teaching the whole word of God to the people of God? It can be a daunting task.
Why Youth Ministry Can’t Function Like Little League
The job of a youth pastor involves equipping the whole church to invest in the whole lives of young people.
The Story of the First Ordained African-American Pastor in US History
If the church is to prosper and mature, she will need faithful men to lead and care for her.
7 Checklist Items for Your Next Church Search
Consider these seven key items to look for and prioritize when you embark on your next church search.
The ministry of the deacons is an extension of the ministry of the elders to care for the flock of God.
Dear Pastor . . . Let Christ Preach
If preaching isn’t simply transferring data or trying to make people feel something through our charisma, what is it?
10 Things You Should Know about Shared Church Leadership
God loves patience, so he imposes a way of governing that requires humble listening and trust that he is working in the lives of others. God loves humility, so he gave us plurality.
Podcast: What It Takes to Persevere as a Pastor (John MacArthur)
Seasoned pastor, John MacArthur, reflects on what it takes for a pastor to persevere through the challenges of a long and faithful ministry.
John Calvin on the Role of the Pastor
Calvin did not imagine that the New Testament gave us a precise liturgy or church order, but he was convinced that it gives us clear guidelines.
How to Train Your Youth Group for Real Ministry
The first priority for students is increasing their ability to competently read, study, understand, and apply the Word of God.
The Character of the Christian Minister
Christian ministers must be vigilant, prepared to endure.
7 Tips for Navigating Criticism as a Pastor
Receiving criticism is part of pastoral ministry. Expect it and be ready to learn from it so that you can grow in your walk with the Lord and in your service of the saints.
The Most Important Part of Youth Ministry
What attracts people to ministry to youth? Why are they in this field?
2 Dangers In Doing the Lord’s Work
Doing the Lord’s work in our own way is betrayal. It is a stab in the Lord’s back.
Why the Church Needs Teens and Teens Need the Church
Because they are a part of the body of Christ, teens should be included in the active community of the church.
Dear Pastor . . . You Need the Monday Gospel
Monday is the preacher’s dog day. Ask any of us. In the cold light of day we see just how far short we fell from what we wanted and hoped for.
Of course, every Christian faces difficulty—Jesus called us to a life of carrying our crosses as we follow him. However, the challenges of those in pastoral ministry are often more acute.
An Open Letter to the Pastor Doubting His Calling
A pastor may hear the still, small, devilish voice of inner doubt: Maybe I’m not really called to pastoral ministry.
How the Reformation Transformed Church Architecture
The Protestant Reformists believed that Scripture is our final authority—and that made a difference in the layout of the church itself.
The Intersection of the Natural and the Supernatural in Preaching
How do the supernatural and the natural intersect in the act of preaching?
The same grace that saves sinners from the penalty of their sin also instructs them in holiness.
A Word to the Youth Pastor Who Feels Discouraged
To a youth pastor who is feeling discouraged, your reward is in heaven where you’ll see in glory the things that Jesus has done through your ministry, you’ll see the fruit of your labor.
Should I Choose a Church for Its Pastor?
The centrality of the Word coming from the front, from the preacher, the one specially gifted by God and called to that ministry, is the most important thing you can look for in a church.
3 Misconceptions about Christian Growth
For the Christian to grow in a healthy way, we must clarify what growth is and is not.
3 Ways That Scriptural Leadership Differs from Secular Leadership
Preaching is inherently a form of leadership. But in order for our preaching to qualify as scriptural leadership, we must be careful to exercise it according to biblical standards rather than worldly principles.
5 Myths about Pastoral Leadership
We can, with true humility and firm confidence, call our people to repent when they are sinning, assure them of God’s care when they are hurting, promise them eternal riches when they are dying—all on the authority of God’s most precious word.
10 Helpful Books for Church Leaders
Crossway suggests 10 books would be valuable for every church leader to read and have in their library.
Podcast: What If I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church? (Gunner Gundersen)
What do we do when we just don't feel like gathering with God's people in corporate worship, and how has the pandemic affected us in this area?
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
Parables feature what the whole of the New Testament covers: gospel need, gospel proclamation, gospel response, and gospel ethics. In your preaching, follow Jesus’s pattern.
Why Pastors Have a Unique Responsibility to Counsel
You must counsel. It’s not optional. You can’t say no as if it were simply a career choice, a matter of personal preference, or an absence of gifting.
Dear Pastor . . . No, You Are Not a Failure
Our present failures make us long for future heaven, to hasten the day when the pain of failure and the torture of disappointment will be gone forever.
Pastor, Don’t Quit—Learn to Lament
In order to stem the tide of weariness and burn-out, pastors should learn how to lament.
3 Goals of Pastoral Counseling
We need to rely on the gospel like this throughout our lives. Remember, Christ is both the means and the goal of counseling.
How to Be an Effective Bible Study Leader
Nancy Guthrie lists several issues that have a significant impact on using the time allotted for small-group discussion effectively.
5 Myths about Counseling and the Church
We come to Jesus as people in need, and we continue in Jesus as people in need.
5 Questions about Church Discipline
What is church discipline? Is it biblical? Jonathan Leeman answers five questions about church discipline.
An Open Letter to Pastors about the Teens in Their Congregation
The relationships, the preaching, the teaching, and the admonition of a specific church body are as vital to teenagers as they are to every other believer.
4 Things Jesus Taught about Children’s Ministry
Jesus told his glory-seeking disciples to become like children, to welcome kids, to protect them, and to value them as a kingdom priority.
A Guide for Your Personal Worship Today
One day of structured content from the 31-day liturgical guide Be Thou My Vision to help you in your daily worship.
7 Things I Prayed for My Husband through 30 Years of Ministry
Marriage to a man in any particular profession has particular difficulties. Over the years, I have learned to pray for the needs of my husband that are distinct to his calling as a pastor.
Why You Should Read This Obscure Old Book about Pastoral Ministry
Every pastor faces that tension of cultivating a rich inner-life, focusing on the spiritual aspect of calling, without neglecting the mundane responsibilities of ministry.
How to Move Doctrine from Head to Heart
If you preach to the heart, you enter into the experience of the people of God as they encounter doctrine in their own lives.
4 Ways to Help Save Your Pastor from Burnout
The reasons for pastoral burnout are deeper and more complex than just how congregations relate to their pastors. Intentional support can help alleviate some of the main causes.
The Single Most Important Task of the Pastor
Preaching is central to the pastor’s ministry because that is primarily our calling.
Why the Local Church Needs Good Biblical Theology
Biblical theology is a vital help for pastors to faithfully declare the glorious truth that Jesus is the main point of the whole Bible.
Where Did Youth Ministry Go Wrong? Identifying a Way Forward
It's concerning that our ideals about how to do family discipleship have sometimes distracted us from our more primary responsibility to teach kids the gospel. Here are a couple of the ways we get distracted.
Is Singleness an Advantage in Ministry?
Pastors being single is not prohibited by Scripture, nor is singleness necessarily a hindrance to effective gospel ministry, even in contexts where the majority of people are married.
Why Youth Pastors Must Be Gifted to Teach God's Word
Historically, churches have had a false paradigm for what youth ministry should look like. It's far more than getting kids in the door and keeping them out of trouble.
There are three important factors that will help pastors combat burnout: hardness, honesty, and humility.
The Proper Expectation for Pastor’s Wives
It's important to remember our families are members of our churches and not unpaid staff.
You’re Insignificant for God’s Glory
We are weak. We are common, plain, fragile, breakable, dishonorable. But our weakness does not diminish the power of the gospel.
Dear Pastor . . . Rely on Your Congregation in Ministry
D. A. Carson, John D. Woodbridge
Brother, we need one another in ministry. You should not try to be an evangelical superman and by yourself direct all the principal tasks of the church.
How Charles Spurgeon Learned to Preach through a Broken Heart
When the heart is overwhelmed, it’s one thing to survive adversity; it is something entirely different to continue preaching Sunday after Sunday, month after month.
7 Tips for Improving Your Ministry Team
Jesus does not mean for his followers to go about their work alone. He is the one singular leader in his church. No peers. The rest of us follow his example together.
Pastors' Wives: 5 Misconceptions
Pastors' wives don't have it all together, despite what others might think or expect.
An Open Letter to the Preacher Writing a Sermon
Grace is slow sometimes. But grace is also powerful. The Lord will do his work.
How Elders Shepherd by Example
A church should be able to direct a newborn believer to an elder and say: “Do you want to know what a real Christian should be like? Then look at him.”
Why Your Youth Group Needs Generational Integration
Offering students opportunities in the church makes them feel as if they are contributing—here and now.
Given that liturgy concerns the order of worship elements in a church service, it’s not whether a church has a liturgy; it’s just which liturgy the church has.
Deacons are not the church’s spiritual council of directors, nor the executive board to whom the pastor-CEO answers. They are a cavalry of servants.
What Your Church Needs More than Productivity
Prayer shows our dependence on God. It honors him as the source of all blessing, and it reminds us that converting individuals and growing churches are his works, not ours.
How Slowing Down Speeds Up the Church
The kingdom of heaven is like a marathon runner. He gets better at running fast by running slower. In this is a parable for church planting that demands we pay attention.
Pastor: What Your Wife Wishes You Knew about Being a Pastor’s Wife
Having been a pastor’s wife for many years, let me share with you some of the struggles your wife may be dealing with.
The Mission of Your Church Will Shape How You Think
A church’s mission impacts what kind of church you will join. Different churches will shape your conscience, your spiritual life, and your worship differently.
A pastor preaches on marriage often enough to know how a husband should love his wife, right?
Dear Pastor . . . Save Your Church from Yourself
Pastor, you also must keep a close watch on yourself. Neglect your own soul, and your public teaching, however seemingly fruitful, is a ticking time bomb.
3 Crucial Qualities of All Good Sermons
Pastors need all three of these views in order to give an accurate account of what God is doing and will do.
Dear Pastor . . . We Are Out of Balance
The world as God created it was designed with perfect balance. What is balance? It is everything in its right place doing what it was meant to do. We cannot even picture such a world.
Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression.
Don’t Let Go of God’s Sovereignty over Your Worst
God did and does have something to do with your tragedy. I know this sounds like a cruel statement, but stay with me. There is hope in the end.
5 Myths about Children’s Ministry
Children’s ministry shouldn’t merely be about teaching Christian character and morality to the younger generation. No, it’s an incredible opportunity to help kids see Christ!
What Should We Do When Members Won’t Attend?
Pursuing longstanding non-attenders and disciplining those who can’t be found is a mark of a healthy church.
Podcast: The Church's Leadership Crisis (Paul David Tripp)
What is the church's leadership crisis and what is the solution?
A Guide for Your Personal Worship Entering Holy Week
A sample day’s readings from O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, a 48-day devotional liturgy to help readers effectively prepare their hearts from Pascha (Easter) to Pentecost.
How to Pray When You Want to Give Up in Ministry
If you’ve been in the pastorate very long, you most likely have considered walking away and doing something else—anything else—with our lives.
Dear Pastor . . . Don’t Undervalue the Sacraments
Many pastors and churches today grant the sacraments a low status in public worship, but the sacraments have played a vital role in nourishing God’s people throughout church history.
Why Pastors Should Catechize Their Congregations
Catechism benefits adults and children alike by giving them a deeper understanding of theology and the ability to communicate those beliefs well.
Who’s in Charge at Church? 3 Ways the Answer Is You
The whole congregation has the responsibility for its health, its preaching, and its membership. All the members together are responsible.
How to Make Time for Your Family as a Pastor
Even the busiest pastors can make it a priority and count it a privilege to spend quality time with their families.
Explaining and defining terms in preaching are both important—but that's not all a preacher is to do.
What If I Differ with My Pastor on Politics?
You may disagree with your pastor’s approach on a particular issue. He could be wrong. You could be wrong. It may be important enough to leave. It may not.
How Do We Define “Success” in Ministry?
We do the work of pastoral ministry so that our people might treasure Christ together. That’s the often unheralded yet beautiful definition of “success.”
Dear Pastor . . . Pride Is a Subtle Enemy
How frequently does pride come with us into our studies and sit with us as we prepare our sermon? How often does it choose our subject and more often choose our words and ornaments?
Dear Pastor . . . Your Leadership Is Needed in the Pulpit
Pastor, the work of shepherding God’s people naturally involves and requires good leadership. There’s no more important place for that to happen than in your preaching ministry every week.
Joanne J. Jung, Richard Langer
These statements about leadership are endorsed by our culture, but may not be true. In fact, these statements may even be harmful to individuals and organizations and the missions they pursue.
How to Avoid Pastoral Arrogance
There are two things that a new pastor experiences that can help knock the smirk off an ego‘s face.
Why Expository Preaching Is Important
When you do expository preaching you get a sermon's symmetry and structure from the biblical text.
Dear Pastor . . . You Should Follow More Than You Lead
Joanne J. Jung, Richard Langer
We challenge people to lead, we train and equip them to lead, and we celebrate and praise them for leading (or condemn them as the case may be). Followership, in contrast, is almost completely ignored.
Catechesis is meant to be a robust witness to biblical faith and practice, a tool which in the hands of skilled practitioners to be used to instruct, form, and make mature disciples.
Dear Pastor . . . the Sabbath Was Made for You Too
The exhaustion that comes from trying to hold things together in such a hostile climate eventually takes a toll on pastors.
The way deacons are described in the New Testament and the way they operate is that they are exemplary servants who function on behalf of a congregation to assist the elders by doing at least three things.
6 Purposes for Plural Leadership
Leading in community puts us under a holy spotlight. But it’s all part of God’s plan and protection.
It is deeply wounding to be accused falsely and to be treated as if you dishonored the Lord when you haven't.
An Open Letter to the Pastor about Embracing Weakness
The Lord, in his love and mercy, shows us that we are weak, and he often does it through affliction. But it is a certain sign of his love.
3 Ways to Prepare for the Battles of Ministry
How do we strategize together as leadership communities for the battle?
4 Ways to Prepare for Ministry
Perhaps you’re looking for boxes to check, some way to easily measure your progress toward the pastorate. Now you’re left feeling a bit frustrated. So what now?
The Biblical Foundation for Church Partnerships
In thousands of cities across the globe, churches large and small haven’t considered the amazing things God could do through them in partnership with others.
What Do They Know? Learning From "Secular” Leaders
When God speaks through his world, we call it general revelation or common grace.
Church, State, and the Authority of Jesus
Imperium means supreme power or absolute dominion, and it gets at the idea of where the buck stops in a society.
Pastors’ Wives: 5 Misconceptions
Misconception #1 You have it all together. You’ve worked through all your issues. Sure, you may struggle, but not with anything major (whatever that may be). Oh, sister, may I encourage you? On this side …
Dear Pastor . . . Let’s Cultivate Honesty in Our Churches—Starting with Us
We don’t have our Christian lives fully together. In Christian ministry, we necessarily stretch the pastoral metaphor because we shepherds are, inevitably and undeniably, still sheep.
Impatience, tiredness, zoning out, interrupting—these are just a few of the things that can lead to poor listening.
The church is led to maturity on her mission through intentional, earnest, persistent intercessory prayer. A man of God leads from his knees!
A Pastor’s Guide to Celebrating Christmas as a Church
Christmas sermons and services should evoke the question, “What do these things mean?” to which the pastor then heralds the eternal answers.
What Makes Pastoral Ministry Enjoyable?
Pastoral ministry—while having its unique challenges—is also filled with particular, and sometimes unexpected, joys.
What All Healthy Churches Have in Common
The most important things about a Christian church are always the things that make it a Christian church. The things that are unique about your church or mine can never be the most important things about it.
Podcast: Prayer as an Invitation, Not an Obligation (John Onwuchekwa)
In this episode, John Onwuchekwa discusses how prayer can deepen our relationship with God instead of being a source of guilt.
What Makes the Preaching the Word Commentary Series Unique?
The Preaching the Word commentary series is unique because I’ve asked all the contributors to have preached the content of their commentary viva voce, or live.
Is Your Check Engine Light On?
Are you experiencing any warning signs of burnout? This articles tells you what signs to look for.
10 Things You Should Know about Leadership
There is not a square inch of knowledge that doesn’t belong to God.
Dear Pastor . . . You Can Serve Both Your Ministry and Your Kids
It is not easy to be fully committed to the people we minister to and to our families at the same time. But the strain of doing both (the balanced life) is our cross.
Podcast: What I Wish I Knew in Seminary after 30 Years in Ministry (Dave Harvey)
What can be learned in seminary and what can only be learned through years of experience in ministry? Hear from Dave Harvey about his own path to the pastorate.
7 Tips for Pastoring Your Children
If you’re a pastor and a father, you already know how hard each is, and how much harder the two in tandem can be.
Podcast: Help! I’m Married to My Pastor
In this episode, Jani Ortlund discusses the joys and challenges of being a pastor's wife for nearly five decades.
Jesus is king. Jesus obeys. How do we hold those two truths together? And what does it teach us about any authority we’ve been personally given?
The Real Cost of Building a Healthy Church
A call to ministry is a call to die—to self, to sin, to selfish ambition, to idolizing your own success, and to enhancing your own image.
Why You Should Join an Imperfect Church
We need the body of Christ to grow and to know what it means to be a mature Christian.
You need to be willing to stand on the shoulders of those that have come before.
God Blesses Holiness, Not Pastoral Talent
If you’re not cleansed from the things that corrupt your life, you’re not a vessel fit for the Master’s use.
The 2 Battles Every Minister Fights
In ministry, there will be a war in which you’re called to come and lay down your life as Christ laid down his life.
The Passionate Plea of Preaching
Alistair Begg, Sinclair B. Ferguson
There is a vast difference between simply conveying information to people, which can be cold and ineffectual, and true preaching and witness.
Spiritual Authority in an Anti-Authoritarian Age
God-appointed church leadership is for our good, stability, health, and protection.
Zach Eswine shares his own story of loss and the stunning realization that true faithfulness is not synonymous with ministry success.
3 Questions Leaders Should Ask Themselves about Equipping the Church for Ministry
Here are three questions for church leaders to ask themselves before trying to help their people love each other better.
What Churches Should Look for in a Missionary
Churches should carefully assess the character, fruitfulness, and Bible knowledge of the missionaries they hope to send.
Aim to be mistaken for an elder before you are appointed an elder. All pastors are elders, and every elder is a pastor.
Developing doctrine in the church is one more in a series of improvisations.
Preach the Bible, Not Your Dog
One of the big dangers that faces pastors today comes from a desire to connect with people.
Podcast: Where Is God in Suffering? (Ligon Duncan)
How can Christians can face profound life-changing suffering with their faith intact and find encouragement from God's word in the midst of a season of intense pain?
What I Learned from Pastoring a 106 Year Old Widow
Although she died a few years ago, I am often reminded of what an amazing lady she was and what the Lord had graciously taught me through her as a young pastor.
Pastor, Are You Prepared to Shepherd Your Flock through Dementia?
The tragedy of dementia is more common than you think. Over 30% of the average church congregation will die with some form of dementia. That represents an enormous challenge in pastoral ministry.
Dear Pastor . . . You Have Wonderfully Unique Opportunities to Counsel
Pastoral counseling is unlike any other form of counseling because of the many unusual opportunities a pastor has to engage lives. Here are seven unique facets of the pastoral life that open doors.
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Using Creeds and Confessions in Your Church
Not long ago a friend asked what I’d say if I had thirty seconds with someone in an elevator and had to explain why I think Christian Confessions are so important. As you can see, I know what I’d say.
Podcast: A Better Way to Talk about the “Call to Ministry” (Bobby Jamieson)
Bobby Jamieson talks about his own path to church leadership, what role seminary played, and as well as what advice he'd give to those aspiring to be pastors.
How Spurgeon Avoided the Calling Calamity
Spurgeon understood the critical importance of helping men evaluate whether they were genuinely called to pastoral ministry.
The antidote to hypocrisy is humility. What good deeds do you do that are seen by few or none? When did you last volunteer for a menial task?
Shouldn’t God’s Power Fast Track Me to Big Things?
There is to be no Christian guru. We must reject this constantly and carefully. Leaders are to serve in humility.
Growing a Disability-Effective Church
How can churches become equipped to be disability effective? By living transparently with weakness and allowing these weaknesses to issue forth in fruitful labor in Christ’s church.
3 Ways Youth Leaders Can Help Parents
Many youth pastors are young, but they still have valuable insights on teenagers that can be of great help to parents.
How Pastors Can Benefit from Studying Archaeology
When we understand what's going on culturally in the Bible, we're more able to understand the world that much better.
Pastor: Expound, Apply, Repeat
You are hired as a minister in your church to be a preacher—not just to expound the Word, but to apply it.
6 Joys and Perils of Full Time Ministry
Josh Moody shares with us 6 joys and perils of full time ministry.
Podcast: What Pastors Can Learn from Richard Baxter (Tim Cooper)
Tim Cooper discusses the importance of Richard Baxter, a Puritan responsible for many key (if not misunderstood or difficult to read) treatises on church doctrine and the role of ministry.
Raising Kids as a Pastor's Wife
Children are truly a gift—a reward from the Lord himself, and parenting is such a glorious privilege, but it's not easy.
Dear Pastor . . . in a Lonely World, Cultivating Community Is Worth It
Of all the many things we do, cultivating spiritual community in a lonely world ranks among the most difficult, time-consuming, and personally demanding efforts.
Help! I Don’t Know How to Reestablish a Healthy Church after COVID
Not meeting together has meant missing out on the countless interactions that establish and enable the very practical supports which overflow from our spiritual unity in Christ.
When Ministry Becomes a Mistress (by Dave Kraft)
Ministry idolatry is becoming increasingly widespread, reaching epidemic proportions.
Why Pastors Must Be More than Professionals
The knowledge of God that the fear of the Lord brings is not a sterile knowledge. Those who fear God come to know him in such a way that they actually become holy, faithful, loving, and merciful, like him.
Ministry Is Best Learned in the Trenches
Seminary education is to the church what basic training in the military is to war.
7 Tips to Help Your Church Support Adoption
A congregation that embraces the priority of adoption will find all sorts of ways to help those who want to adopt.
Podcast: The Blessings and Burdens of Pastoral Ministry (Jeff Robinson)
What are the joys and hardships of doing ministry for the long-haul and what does it look like to be faithful in the midst of pastoral overwhelm and exhaustion?
Why Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry Is Important
When we’re so concerned with keeping the youth entertained or promoting a moral lifestyle, we can easily forget the message of first importance.
How a Pastor Can Prioritize Family during the Holidays
For those of us in ministry, Sunday is not a day of rest. We should try to ensure that we have a Sabbath rest so the family can refresh itself.
The Biggest Detriment to Longevity in Ministry
The call to pastoral ministry is unlike anything else you're going to do in life. What's the key to staying the course?
Pastor: Your Ministry Is a Mercy
Paul’s deeply rooted understanding that his calling was a totally undeserved expression of God’s great mercy to him was itself one of the core convictions that kept him faithful to the end.
How to Foster a Gospel Culture
Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrine of grace creates a culture of grace.
What Should I Do if I’m the Only Elder in My Church?
If you are the only elder in your church, be encouraged that God is still working in your congregation.
Podcast: The Meaningful Work of Church Deacons (Matt Smethurst)
Matt Smethurst discusses the important role that deacons should play in the life of the local church.
Podcast: Why Your Church Needs Plural Leadership (Dave Harvey)
Dave Harvey discusses why plural leadership—a team of elders—is so crucial for the health of a local church.
If the people in our charge are to teach, admonish, and exhort each other daily, no doubt we pastors may do the same for one another
What Questions Should a Pastor Ask Himself after Preaching a Sermon?
You actually can’t tell how effective a sermon was by the response you receive.
Introducing the 'ESV Pastor's Bible'
When life and ministry demand of you, where do you turn?
Why Your Church Is Not Exempt from the Work of Church Planting
It is important that every local church find some way to focus their ministry efforts on church planting.
Some people expect the pastor’s wife to have the most ideal and perfect relationship with God. What should we—women married to men in ministry—do to stay spiritually radiant?
16 Ways Pastors Can Work for Unity in Politically Divisive Times
Jonathan Leeman, Andrew David Naselli
In an increasingly anti-Christian culture, what’s important is how we respond to those who vote or believe differently, to learn how to make at least some space for them, and to encourage charity and forbearance.
Podcast: When Churches Get Doctrine Right and Everything Else Wrong (Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry)
Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry discuss the connection between gospel doctrine and gospel culture and share what it looks like when a church is theologically careful but culturally sick.
Pastor: Is Your Holiness a Priority?
There's diminishing interest in holiness and godliness among this generation of younger pastors because of pragmatism.
Help for When a Pastor’s Time and Energy Are Limited
As you think about God-ordained limits of time, what changes are needed in your leadership community?
How Celebrity-Pastor Culture Impacts Pastors
We wrestle with this invitation to do a truly great thing by serving the least, while inside of us and outside of us, we're pressured to make much of ourselves.
3 Ways You Can Ignite a Passion for Church Planting in Your Church
If you desire to spread a passion for church planting in your church, go to Scripture, partner with other churches, and pray, pray, pray.
What Dietrich Bonhoeffer Can Teach Us about Seminary Education
Bonhoeffer is usually remembered as a university professor, pastor, spy, and martyr, but he also served as a seminary director.
How to Stay in Ministry Over the Long Haul
It's important for those in ministry to establish checks and balances in their lives to prevent burnout.
Why Your Identity Is Not the Same as Your Role
It is the temptation to find your identity in your role.
An Excerpt from The Pastor's Wife
Introduction “There you are,” a woman whispered in my ear as she grabbed my elbow during a church gathering. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Startled, I braced myself. You never know what a statement …
Ministry leadership, at its core, is about a community of leaders practicing together the presence of the Lord.
How Should a Pastor Handle Ministry Success?
Though the Lord doesn't often do large, famous, and fast things, he sometimes does.
What’s to love about George Whitefield?
Dealing with Hurt as a Pastor's Wife
Pastors’ wives bear relational burdens and outright attacks that most of us cannot imagine.
Podcast: God’s Work in the African Church (Conrad Mbewe)
Conrad Mbewe discusses what American Christians should know about the church in Africa, dispelling common misconceptions and sharing some of the big issues facing local congregations.
Raising Kids as a Pastor’s Wife
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. —Psalm 127:3 It Ain’t All Roses Children are truly a gift—a reward from the Lord himself! Parenting is such a …
One Reason We Shouldn’t Get Rid of Youth Ministry
We need missionaries and evangelists out there reaching teenagers and sharing the gospel with them.
Are you a pastor's wife who is at the end of herself? Christ understands and empathizes with all you go through.
Podcast: D. A. Carson on His Life, Vision for Ministry, and Biggest Influences (D. A. Carson)
D. A. Carson talks about his life and ministry, how God led him to the academy, the original vision behind the Gospel Coalition, and what it looks like to pursue simple faithfulness before God in his stage of life.
Don’t Just Teach—Teach Your Church to Love God’s Word
There are three things to bear in mind when trying to grow a church in the conviction that the Bible is worth studying over a lifetime.
Gospel-Centered Leadership: A 12-Day Devotional
Over the course of twelve days, be encouraged by Scripture and wise leadership principles as you seek to become a better leader at home, in your workplace, and in the church.
5 Practical Ways Pastors Can Care for Their Wives
Though a pastor expends much energy and effort on relationships in the church, he shouldn't neglect his most important at-home relationship.
How to Achieve Pastoral Success
Do the work set before you and trust that God will bear fruit.
Preaching Can't Love You Back (but People Will)
I love expositional preaching. It re-centered my ideological world, exploded my love for Jesus, and opened my mind to the wonders of the Scriptures. But expositional preaching has never loved me back.
Listening Well to Preaching Is a Spiritual Discipline
We need to listen well—attentively and prayerfully—remembering that as our pastor preaches the word, it is the Lord who is speaking.
Why the Church Can Rest in Christ’s Victory
We’re a part of what the Lord is doing in the world when we’re pastoring a church or even a member of a church. We know that he will accomplish his good end.
One of the deepest fears an earnest pastor has is that he is going to let God down.
Pastors must guard against these three common pitfalls in ministry.
The Grace of Mentors in Pastoral Ministry
We need not only solid teaching and preaching about obedient Christian living, we also need to see holiness in practice.
Why Admitting Limitations Is Life-Giving
There is freedom in admitting that we are not Christ—we are not perfect. But Jesus loves us anyway and only asks that we follow him.
The Calling of a Pastor's Wife
Pastor's wife and blogger Jen Thorn talks about the unique calling of the pastor's wife to the church and her family.
5 Ways to Serve Your Pastor's Wife
There are practical ways that we can help and support the women who support our pastoral staff. Here are five.
How We’re Equipping Leaders with God’s Word around the World
Pastors and church leaders, serving in some of the most challenging places on earth, have been equipped with God’s Word—many for the first time.
You must be willing to do whatever is necessary to position yourself as a tool of redeeming grace.
Counseling and Pastoral Heartache
Walking with people in the complications of their lives will increase your heartache.
Can Burnout Ever Be a Good Thing?
God is good, and we will experience that goodness if we humble ourselves in the midst of burnout and become teachable.
When Did You Realize You Were an Imperfect Pastor?
Recognition of pastoral imperfections and flaws comes with experience and reflection on past ministry.
Shepherd Your Flock, Not the Flock You Wish You Had
We frequently find ourselves trying to shepherd the flock of God that we want, but God through Peter commands us to shepherd the church we’ve actually got.
The antidote I need is to remember that each of us has been called with different gifts.
Counsel for Pastors Intimidated by Counseling
The call to counsel can be a bit intimidating. But having wise conversations with God’s people is something he intends for us to do.
3 Ways Pastors Can Promote Gospel Fluency in Their Churches
Pastors can speak the truth of Jesus into the everyday stuff of life by preaching, training, and ministering.
Serving the Church as a Pastor's Wife
Pastors' wives (and all believers) are uniquely gifted by God to serve the church in a multitude of ways.
We are often tempted to find contentment in our circumstances: If things were only going better, then I would be happy.
Cultivating Friendships as a Pastor's Wife
Pastor's wife and blogger Jen Thorn talks about navigating the sometimes difficult process of making friends in the church as a pastor's wife.
Podcast: When Authority Fails to Reflect God’s Good Design (Jonathan Leeman)
Jonathan Leeman calls on anyone with some kind of authority to think carefully about how they're using that authority, encouraging them to embrace a posture of humility and repentance.
Church Exists to Advance the Gospel
We should prize conversion and spiritual growth over church structure. And the Great Commission should be uppermost in our minds, but should we pit church structure and conversion against one another?
Why has there arisen this impulse in our day toward pastor-scholars and scholar-pastors? Why are so many in the younger generation reluctant to let the pastoral and scholarly roads diverge?
It's the End of the World As We Know It
Many people likely read the concluding chapters of the Westminster Standards and note is subdued tones, its careful statements, and its rather generic conclusions about the end of the world.
Is Success a Friend or Foe? (by Dave Kraft)
Maybe, just maybe, we need to revisit our working definition of success to see how much of what we believe is truly biblical and not merely cultural, with a few verses added for “seasoning” here and there.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Sermon Feedback
Gloria Furman responds to Megan who writes, "How can I give my husband good sermon feedback in a constructive way?"
Video: What Leaders Are Saying About "Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament"
A variety of Christian leaders testify to the depth, quality, and gospel-centered practicality of Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament.
Why Do Pastors Need the Gospel?
We need to know the message so we can live it, speak it, communicate it.
Podcast: How Can We Show God's Heart for the Widow? (Brian Croft)
Brian Croft discusses one area of church ministry that is too often neglected: the care of widows.
Why I Wrote a New Book about Pastoral Ministry
A new book for pastors grounded on the conviction that all Christian ministry must be gospel-centered.
5 Things Pastors Should Ask Themselves Before Sunday
Pastors must check in with their own hearts and minds before proceeding with leading their flock each and every week.
Christian Leader, Are you Forgetting Something?
In his book Practicing Affirmation, Crabtree explains in further detail why we should affirm people and how to restore affirmation to relationships that have been lacking it.
What Can Small Churches Do Together?
In what ways might God be calling your church to partner with others?
How to Be Present With Your Family As a Pastor
Some advice for returning home to your family without carrying the whole church on your shoulders.
What Pastors Should and Should Not Share with Their Wives
Every aspect of pastoral ministry is not meant to be shared at home. Find out what is best kept at church.
Finding Strength in Weakness as a Pastor's Wife
Nancy Guthrie encourages pastors' wives to find strength in weakness as they trust in God's promises and rely on his grace.
Misconceptions about Pastors' Wives
Pastor's wife and blogger Jen Thorn confronts some common misconceptions related to being a pastor's wife.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Prayer Life
Gloria Furman responds to Laura who writes, "How do you organize your prayer life?"
Podcast: Our Pastors Are in Crisis, and You Can Help (Peter Orr)
Peter Orr talks about why he thinks we're facing a pastoral crisis and what regular Christians can do to help stem the tide of pastoral burnout.
Ask a Pastor's Wife: Community
Gloria Furman responds to Annie who writes, "How do a pastor and his wife have transparent accountability in a small group setting?"
Podcast: The Basics of Good Preaching (Doug O’Donnell)
Doug O’Donnell talks through common questions laypeople and pastors alike have about preaching and what makes for a good sermon.
Podcast: Growing as a Follower in a Culture Obsessed with Leadership (Richard Langer, Joanne Jung)
Richard Langer and Joanne Jung point out the prevalence of books, podcasts, and workshops on leadership and suggest that the contrasting idea of followership is where our focus should be.
I am amazed by God's great love and compassion for his church.
Podcast: The Secret to Reaching the Next Generation (Kevin DeYoung)
Kevin DeYoung encourages youth leaders to remember that reaching the next generation will not be done through relevant pop culture references or harnessing the power of social media.
Podcast: Embracing Spiritual Authority in the Face of Pastoral Failure (David Mathis)
David Mathis discusses the topic of spiritual authority—what it is, who has it, and how we should respond when that authority is abused.
Podcast: Who’s in Charge of the Church? (Sam Emadi)
Sam Emadi breaks down the different leadership roles that Scripture outlines, explaining how God designed all of them to strengthen the body and glorify Christ.
Podcast: Should Our Churches Be Political? (Alan Strange)
Alan Strange discusses the doctrine of the spirituality of the church—a doctrine focused on clearly defining the church’s central mission and mandate.
If you treat your church like a business, you will see other churches as competition. You'll worry about turf and market share.
What I Miss Most about Pastoral Ministry
Pastor R. Kent Hughes shares what he misses most about pastoral ministry since retiring nearly a decade ago.
Video: What Does the Bible Say The Church Should be Like?
Mark Dever suggests that there are nine marks that church leaders and members can cultivate to make their church more healthy.
Podcast: The State of Women’s Ministry in the US (Courtney Doctor and Joanna Kimbrel)
Courtney Doctor and Joanna Kimbrel delve into the key questions and concerns that arise in women's ministry, touching on practical issues like how to get started and how to encourage discipleship.