Good pastors are hard to find. Some churches that are without a pastor have spent two years or longer in a search for their next one. But what if you already have a good pastor? What are you doing to help him and his family enjoy their service to your congregation? 

As you step up to welcome the congregation, your heart skips a beat. Is that a new young family? Will they be the first step in reaching young adults at your church? You’ve been working hard behind the scenes, upgrading the worship stream, revamping the website, and even making the occasional social media post. Maybe it’s finally paying off.

I join a multitude of believers in mourning the death of Dr. James Clayton Dobson, Jr., who went to meet his Creator and Redeemer on August 21st. He was the founder of Focus on the Family, a faith-based radio program that is broadcast in more than a dozen languages on over 7,000 stations worldwide. Although he was not an ordained minister, he was a champion for social and traditional conservatism.

American filmmaker, actor, and comedian Woody Allen once said, “It’s not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be around when it happens.” The fact is, he will be there when it happens. So will you. So will I.

Today, there is much confusion about what it means to be Christian. For years, I, too, felt that I was not living as a Christian should. This was after trusting Christ as my personal Savior. Each time I sinned, I had some doubt as to whether or not I was really saved.

I love serving as a pastor. Since a calling that came at age seventeen, the joy of my life has been training for and working in the local church in order to build up the body of Christ. With all sincerity, I cannot imagine doing anything else and I am grateful for the privilege of representing the Lord in this way.

​In a recent sermon, I encouraged the congregation to promote unity by avoiding negative talk, criticism, and gossip, the unproven, sometimes inaccurate or malicious information passed along by people who want you to think they’re “in the know.” Gossip is destructive to the church, erodes the fellowship, and undermines God’s activity.

In Mark 9:41, Jesus said, “For whoever gives you a cup of cold water in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Every church has a unique story of how God birthed and blessed them over the years. The congregation I lead, Englewood Baptist in Jackson, Tennessee, was the fruit of heartfelt prayer and a compelling vision.

My ministry calling has allowed me to build relationships with people who serve in a similar capacity as mine. Whether it was in the pastorate or in state convention work, I have always benefited from times with ministry colleagues. 

Unless facing an emergency, most people don’t get serious about prayer. And yet, it’s one of the greatest opportunities we have as believers. Can you imagine getting to converse directly with God, which means not just speaking, but hearing from Him as well?

There was a prophet named Elijah who lived a long time ago in the land of Israel. He was great and did many marvelous things because he listened to the Lord and was obedient. He lived during the reign of King Ahab, who was more evil than all the kings who were before him.

The apprehension of quadruple murder suspect Austin Drummond on Tuesday morning in Jackson, Tennessee, was one of those rare events that reminded all of us how fragile life and the freedoms we enjoy can be. The search began one week before its conclusion after police discovered four victims in Tiptonville and an abandoned child left on a random lawn in the heat.

Marching band was a big deal when I was in high school. While still just a novice clarinet player, I looked forward to the day when I would join the “Band of the Braves.” The high school band practiced on Thursday nights, polishing up their halftime show.

Sometimes, as pastors and ministry leaders, we fly so high over the landscape of ministry that we miss what’s happening on the ground. We see our calendars packed with events, meetings, and strategies. We chase metrics and milestones. But amid all this activity, it’s dangerously easy to lose sight of this truth: People aren’t distractions from the mission. People ARE the mission field.

In Matthew 22:1-14, we read of a parable Jesus told the people around Him that was aimed especially at the chief priests and Pharisees. This parable compared the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast given by a king for his son.

How can we make this work? My wife fought back tears as she tried to process the mixed emotions that gripped her. We sat in what felt like eternal silence, occasionally looking at one another but without words to articulate our feelings. During the darkest valley of our adult lives, this news was the last “blessing” we expected to receive.

I first learned about the military chaplaincy 65 years ago during a Sunday service at my home church in Rome, Georgia. Up to that point, I’d never met a chaplain. The only thing I had heard from others was that a pastor who couldn’t preach often left the ministry to become a chaplain. That humorous perception has been proven wrong countless times.

My wife Connie recently discovered we have bagworms on one of our evergreen trees. Bagworms can infest trees and shrubs and, if left untreated, can destroy your favorite sources of beauty and shade.  

I read about a wealthy miser who gave his daughter and son-in-law a gift of $5,000 as a wedding present. The money was sent by another daughter, a sister of the bride. When she returned after making the delivery, her dad asked, “Did they cry when you gave them the check? 

We adults always think of ourselves as grown-up and responsible. But as Christians, we need to realize that God has adopted us as His children. And, as such, we need to acknowledge that fact and learn to act in ways that please our Heavenly Father. Salvation is free for the asking if we repent and seek it, but God does have expectations of us as His ambassadors for Christ.

Walking through the fellowship hall, grabbing a cup of coffee, and making his rounds, a pastor heads toward the hallway where groups are meeting on a Sunday morning. It’s not often he has this kind of time to enjoy a cup of fresh coffee, engage in relationships, and settle in the presence of the church before worship. Rounding a corner, he notices an empty room he thought was for a class they launched last year.

What began as a lighthearted moment during a Coldplay concert quickly turned into one of the summer’s most scandalous viral stories. When Andy Byron, the now-former CEO of Astronomer, was caught on the concert’s Kiss Cam in an intimate moment with colleague Kristin Cabot, the clip was replayed millions of times across the internet. What followed were resignations, investigations, news coverage, and, predictably, the world’s jokes.

We are living in a day when societal acceptance of gambling is beyond anything we would have thought possible in our times. I have seen statistics that reveal there are as many as 48 states in the U.S. that have some form of legalized gambling.

Several seasons ago, Justin Verlander pitched for the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Houston Astros. This season he plays for the San Francisco Giants. On one occasion, Verlander faced Oakland A’s David DeJesus at the plate with a runner on first base.