Features

When Speaking Truth in Love Isn’t Easy

Never deliver a difficult message fueled by emotion. Preparation, not emotion, is what will strengthen your courage and help you realize positive and productive results.

Lebanon Baptist Church: A Sweet Way to Serve

Churches seem to have an expectation that people need to come to us. We need to change that paradigm.

Brandon O’Brien’s Top Books on Small Church Ministry

Rather than being a subcategory of American ministry, the small church is the norm. If you take a longer and broader view, most churches throughout history and in most parts of the world are and always have been small.

Why Humility Is Essential in the Midst of Conflict

Conflict. Most of us do not like the word, and even fewer of us like experiencing it. Given a choice, many people would rather...

Dave Gibbons: The Shift Already Happened—Before COVID-19

Ready to get back to normal? Church on Sundays, small groups, well-oiled programs and a professional staff as the focus. We may now even...

Who Is the Main Character in the Story of Your Life?

What’s the point of your life? We’re on this earth, the apostle Peter says, to glorify God and amplify the gospel: “Conduct yourselves honorably among...

Looking for the Least of These

When Angie and I moved into the first home we ever purchased for ourselves, we moved into an aging neighborhood where we were surrounded...

Why Your Time Off Isn’t De-Stressing You

Let me guess. You feel like you really need to de-stress. 2020 has been unreal, and almost unbelievably trying—far different than any year you’ve led...

8 Reasons Some Pastors Are Finding Renewed Hope During COVID

Recently, I wrote an article about why some pastors will likely resign when the “normal” returns after COVID. Here, I want to look at...

How Strong Is Your Leadership?: A 3-Point Evaluation

Every leader has their own productive strengths, internal capacities and external opportunities. That’s part of what makes each of us unique. And within that,...

5 Tips for Young Leaders in the Church

I spend a good amount of my ministry investing in younger leaders and I love it, because it fuels me to know something I’ve...