Friends, I’m spent. These last four months of social upheaval and cultural discord, and all the ministry adjustments that accompanied it have me worn pretty thin. Do you feel it too?  I was scrolling through Facebook early this morning – I know, Facebook? Yup, I’m barely relevant anymore – and within ten minutes I was a weeping mess, but not for any reason you may imagine. I was not buried under an avalanche of heated memes or loaded gifs or accusing banter that discouraged me to the point of tears. Actually, it was quite the … [Read more...]

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12, ESV). I find myself in many conversations with Christians about calling. Now what I mean by calling is specific to ministry within the local church, whether volunteer or vocational status. The questions that I field are specifically about location, time frame, and ministry tasks such as: Am I called to this city, country, or people?Am I called to go now or later? And if later, then when?Am I called to this particular type of ministry? … [Read more...]

Pivot, change, reassess, unknown…anybody else getting weary of the frequency with which these words are overwhelming our everyday vocabulary? It almost feels like just when we start to feel like we are getting some footing in the “COVID world,” another wave of uncertainty crashes in. Some details for the fall are starting to become clearer, but probably the only for sure detail we know about the fall is that it is going to be different! So, what do we do as we face an uncertain fall? We may have a lot of questions, but I think we … [Read more...]

In the Coronavirus craziness that we’ve been living in for several months, everyone in ministry has been faced with hard decisions, challenging questions, and a lack of answers to those questions. We’ve developed amnesia about how things used to be. We’ve felt upside down in our current situations. And we’ve found ourselves terrified of what the unknown future could look like. If you lead in ministry, and you’re able to take a step back, now is as good a time as ever to evaluate your current situation in ministry and take to the … [Read more...]

This wasn't a ministry strategy that was original to me … honestly it was a trend in our church that I inherited. But it's become a mainstay for me in my church's ministry to college students, young adults, and young parents. They're called empty nesters, and they make up over two-thirds of the leadership in our young adult ministry. And, they should probably make up a large percentage of leaders in your ministry, too. Now don't get me wrong. I love seeing young adults lead their peers, and we're working hard to see many of our … [Read more...]

At the outset I’ll say this: These words may be for you as a church leader, or they may be words to pass along to those you love and serve. Regardless, here are the words… The Church seems to be having a Hamlet moment. “To be, or not to be, that is the question:Whether tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troublesAnd by opposing end them?” (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Scene I) I don’t know what the social-religious climate is like in your … [Read more...]

Developing people is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of ministry. It’s challenging because committing to the long-term growth of a person is not instantly gratifying or guaranteed. And it’s rewarding because when it takes, it can be unbelievably life-giving and potentially even world-changing. Despite the nature of the risk vs. reward question of whether or not to commit to developing people in your ministry, I believe it is a must. In my efforts to grow as a developer of people, I’ve come across three different … [Read more...]

Like all of us, the pandemic has provided me with windows of time for introspection and reflection. In addition to planning and re-planning, I’ve also thought about God’s hand at work throughout this crazy time. I’m sure it was no accident that in the early days of the crisis, I was reading through Exodus, Deuteronomy, and into Joshua during my personal devotion time. We can all think of trials in our lives that we’ve had to endure and periods of time where God was at work helping us pass through. When I think of the great “passing … [Read more...]