First, a disclaimer: I am not opposed to i-Tech. I own an iPhone, an iPad, and a MacBook. I am not put off by the current myriad of newfangled, whizz-bang gadgets and apps – except perhaps the plethora of Bible apps.

A second disclaimer: I have and do make frequent use of...

Note: From 1973 until 1978, Ron Pracht served Olivet Baptist Church of Wichita, Kansas in various roles: as the minister of music, as the minister of students, and sometimes as the minister of both music and students. In 1978, the church recognized him as an associate pastor. And then, from 1989...

Muslim extremists murdered Ayub’s grandmother on one of the many islands of Indonesia. We stayed in the home of this warmhearted Christian leader. He serves as an elder for the church meeting in a home nearby. We loved this brother and his wife immediately and shared some really happy moments...

Genesis 34 is a dark and difficult chapter in the life of Jacob and his family. To begin the chapter, Dinah, Jacob's daughter, is raped. As the story unfolds, the young man who took advantage of Dinah, Shechem, wants to marry her. Dinah's brothers, who are justifiably outraged, deceitfully strike a...

On April 30th, 1943, the corpse of Major William Martin washed up on a beach in Spain. When the body was examined, the Nazi authorities discovered not only the typical wallet litter (license, receipts, bills, pictures, etc.) but a letter from a General to the now-deceased Major Martin alluding,...

You probably have a calendar. In fact, you probably have several calendars. Unless you’re of the type who puts endless sticky notes on every surface to remind you of things, you likely use that calendar to organize your appointments, priorities, and dates to remember.

For most of us, using a...

The man who would eventually become my doctoral supervisor, Tom Nettles, taught me three profoundly valuable words for ministry during my first week as a seminary student: “I don’t know.”

Those words came in reply to one of my fellow MDiv student’s questions about Baptist...

First, let me get the obvious out of the way. Apologies for the "clickbait" title, but there's no real sure-fire way to affair-proof your pastor. A man set on sin will have his way no matter how watchful and loving his support system. To put it another way, and to be even clearer, when a pastor...

Here I am. I’m staring at my manuscript for the sermon I am supposed to preach tomorrow and I am just not feeling it. It happens every so often, especially when you are preaching through a book of the bible. You come across a passage and struggle to get excited about it. It is not...

Balancing Love and Honesty as a Leader of Leaders

Ed Stetzer writes about how a pastor should relate to the other leaders in his church. He explains how various things affect good communication and how to speak the truth, but without withholding love. 

How Bonhoeffer Used Spiritual Disciplines...

"Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."-- Psalm 25:5

When the believer has begun with trembling feet to walk in the way of the Lord, he asks to be still led onward like a little child upheld by its parent's helping hand, and he...

I’ve believed many lies throughout my life. Different stages led to different misconceptions - some more detrimental than others. When I was a young brunette living in the bay area of California, I believed everyone had the Golden Gate Bridge in her backyard. I took advantage of a view many...

When I was in high school, my friends and I would do something almost every night during the summer. It wasn’t necessarily anything big or exciting. A lot of the time we would end up sitting on the tailgates of our trucks in our school’s parking lot. Even though we just sat in...

On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper and interprets this meal as a remembrance of his death (Mt 26:26-29). He knows infallibly that he will die and what his death will accomplish. Indeed, he has taken several opportunities before this night to...

Every week at the end of our worship gathering at Liberty Baptist Church, one of our pastors or members comes up to leave the congregation with a few, final words. Among other things regularly said, I always hear this specific recommendation directed towards the visitors at our church that day...

A few years ago a radio personality coined the phrase “jumping the shark.” The genesis of the phrase comes from an episode in the 70's television show Happy Days. While waterskiing in his leather jacket, Fonzie actually jumped over a shark. 

The phrase now refers to a scene within...

"The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."-- Galatians 5:1

This "liberty" makes us free to heaven's charter--the Bible. Here is a choice passage, believer, "When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee." You are free to that. Here is another: "The mountains shall depart, and the...

I’m a pastor. Cut me and I bleed local church. Cut the church and I’m spoilin’ to protect her. As a pastor, even the threat of a cut can evoke a negative or reflexive reaction.

Which leads me to parachurch ministry.

As a younger pastor, I saw parachurch ministries as...

I was saved listening to a celebrity pastor. Yes, you read that correctly.

The year was 2009 and I was on a road trip between Montgomery, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi. For those who don’t know, that stretch of road is about ten miles past the middle of nowhere. I was listening to...

Change is constant; nothing stays the same. By definition then, leadership is always leading through change.

So whatever the spectrum of change you’re leading in right now—the constant, everyday change on one end to the change you are driving, the vision you are pursuing, the controlled...

At the start of the year, I stood before my church and presented an opportunity for each of us to enter into a daily experience of joy. I held a Bible in one hand and a reading plan in the other. 

For many, “joy” and “reading plan” don’t jive. How many of us have...

Generally speaking, a church will over time become affected by, influenced toward, and transferred into whatever her preacher is most excited about.

Pastor, our people don't usually get excited about what we tell them to be excited about. Have you figured that out yet? Instead, they get excited...

From the beginning, God intended for humankind to be in a relationship with Himself. Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect communion with God in a sinless and perfect world while they lived in the Garden of Eden. Then one day, Adam and Eve chose to forsake their relationship with God to pursue their sin....

How To Be A Burden

Garrett Flatt writes that our tendency is to try to avoid being a burden or asking for help. He challenges this perspective and reminds us that we need help from God and one another.

Planting Seeds of Gospel Hope

"When I offer my children grace, love, and acceptance in their...

"The voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day."-- Genesis 3:8

My soul, now that the cool of the day has come, retire awhile and hearken to the voice of thy God. He is always ready to speak with thee when thou art prepared to hear. If there be any slowness to commune it is...