I don’t believe God is personally responsible for every pain we endure. Sometimes God does inflict pain in order to discipline us – just as parents discipline children.

For the sake of your wisdom and holiness, and of your future, would you join me for perhaps fifteen minutes in hanging out with three men in the Bible who were almost unbelievably stupid?

Please share your relevant experience(s) or wisdom in the comments below.

In ministry, innovation can be a great thing when utilized to reach and serve people. But like all great things, innovation can become an idol—something that ministry leaders seek as an end in itself. When innovation becomes the goal, it has moved from tool for reaching people to an object of affection. How do we know the difference?

Wise leaders learn from their previous experiences in cross-cultural situations. In this anecdote, Bill was well-prepared to face the physical challenges and slight inconveniences associated with his environment. One of his assumptions, however, resulted in a productive lesson learned in humility and vulnerability.

Discipleship is messy. I would love if it were a simple upward trajectory of growth, but that’s not reality. Sadly, my own laziness and selfish desires did not fit well in some of my discipleship efforts. As a result, I learned a few lessons about leading others closer to Christ.

I realized at the funeral that I need to change my perspective. As the Bible clearly commands: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice” (Phil 4:4).

Leaders need to be able to say no, but many find it a hard thing to do. When we think of our marvellously creative Lord, we tend to think of His creativity as a resounding YES. This is correct, but let us also be creative in saying NO when we need to, so we can say yes to the Lord’s best for us.

One of my biggest challenges in leading teams has always been conflict management. I usually try to let it resolve itself but sometimes that...

Believers should be the most generous people on earth. Give something to someone in need this week, then wait for God to surprise you.

I had been having back pains, neck pains, headaches ‒ and eventually I wound up in the hospital having three stents put in my...

Tough situations under the sovereign hand of God actually make us better leaders because we then lead in His power, not ours. Trust Him if today is a difficult day.

Research studies all seem to return to one major theme to explain the exodus of church members: a sense of some need not being filled. In other words, these members have ideas of what a local congregation should provide for them, and they leave because those provisions have not been met. But many times, probably more than we would like to believe, a church member leaves a local body because he or she has a sense of entitlement.

Pastors are surrounded with people. We confer with them in meetings, conflict with them in ministry, visit them in hospitals, counsel them in crises and train them in seminars. We pour our lives into them. But who pours their lives into us?

If you serve in a small church, you understand tension. You can’t get away from it. Truthfully, ministry anywhere comes with tension regardless of the size of your church. But the tensions in a small church are unique and are worth a fresh look.

So here I am, 63 years old, having been in ministry for 45 years ‒ since I was a teenager. I’m sharing a 10-hour...

You've heard of “buyer’s remorse” ‒ that feeling of regret just after you put your money down for something. But whether money is involved in a decision or not, there’s always a price of some kind. Every decision risks something.

Knowing the thoughts and trends of potential churchgoers is not bad in itself. Yet how much attention and how quickly churches are apt to change their approaches to living out the gospel in light of such knowledge is tragic.

Problems come. Difficulties arise. Challenges persist. Yet, an attitude of gratitude can keep our hearts hot for Him, our focus in the right place, and our leadership most effective.