Tagged with pastoring

Rebuking

A few weeks ago, I came across an excerpt from a sermon where the pastor at a church started “rebuking” members of the congregation for their various faults. That video has gone viral now and, as I write this, about 600 thousand people have seen it on Youtube. So Christianity Today asked a number of … Continue reading »

After Matthew Warren’s Suicide

I feel so bad for Rick and Kay Warren, grieving the suicide of their son Matthew at 27. Of course, there are no words, but as Greg Laurie said on his blog, there is the Word: God with us. I can’t imagine losing one of my children at all, much less to spend a lifetime … Continue reading »

Dallas Willard on Satisfied Preachers

Dallas Willard has an great piece over at Preaching Today, on the subject of excellent preaching. The subhead really says it all: “learning to preach from the overflow of your deeply satisfying relationship with the Savior.” As usual, he nails it. The lowest spots in my ministry have mirrored his. “I know my temptations come … Continue reading »

Pastors’ work hours tallied in new survey

This is why we get paid the big bucks: A telephone survey found that 65 percent of the 1,000-plus senior pastors surveyed work 50 or more hours a week — with 8 percent saying they work 70 or more hours. Meetings and electronic correspondence consume large amounts of time for many ministers, while counseling and … Continue reading »

My Sermons Should Be Improving

I liked seeing this in my twitter feed the other day: No matter what you do, your first 200 sermons are going to be terrible. It’s attributed to Tim Keller. If he’s right, then my preaching will be getting better, because I’ve surely passed that number. In fact, I’m coming up fast on 250 sermons.

Heroes and mentors

Only last night, I was bemoaning how the PC(USA) does such a lousy job of developing new pastors. (I.e., me.) You get an education, you get evaluated on your gifts for ministry, and then you get turned loose on some poor, unsuspecting church. In too many ways, you’re on your own as a pastor. Our … Continue reading »