Blog
This week, my wife, Marty, and I had the honor of attending a church planter's retreat sponsored by the Converge Northwest District and held at the beautiful Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center on the rugged Pacific coast in northern Oregon. Read on to discover just a small amount of what was seen and heard at that relaxed gathering. Maybe you and your church can learn from my observations.
In mentoring, either the mentor or the one being mentored sets the agenda and the mentor provides wisdom, knowledge and skill training for the one being mentored where needed. In coaching, the person being coached sets the agenda, expectations, goals and actions, not the coach. Read on to find out more.
The Bible has a lot to say about hearing or listening. To master the skill of listening, especially active and empathetic listening, it might help you to dig into the Word of God to understand and apply what the Lord says about it. Read this blog to get started.
Everyone struggles with change, especially churches. Pastors and church leaders need to know how to lead through change as they follow the Lord of the church. Here are three book resources that might help you make a change that builds up the church and moves it forward in loving God, loving others, and making disciples.
Effective coaching helps produce ministry leader champions. Maybe that's why it's such hard work. In fact, it's a spiritual battle and our arch-enemy, Satan and his demonic forces, work hard to defeat and destroy ministry leaders. Their methods include using the world and the flesh against those who would encourage and equip others who would become ministry champions for Christ. Here are 10 enemies who would defeat ministry coaches in their very important work.
Your Pastor deserves your appreciation. Here are some ways you can show appreciation to God's servant who is called by the Lord to shepherd you and others 24/7/365. Appreciate your Pastor in a tangible way during this month of October which is Pastor Appreciation Month.
In over 40 years of ministry I have preached on and heard other preachers speak on and teach from Ephesians 4:11-12. Here's the text: "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ°" (ESV). When the lightbulb came on today, it dawned on me that I have focused on the equipping without ever reading, studying about or preaching on how to equip. I have been missing something and I believe most churches and ministries are missing something very important in this responsibility of church leaders. Read on to find out more.
What Do You See on the Road Ahead? Every church or ministry needs a compelling vision or picture of God's preferred future. You need a BIG picture including a BOLD vision, an INNOVATIVE vision, and a GOD-CENTERED vision. Read to find out more about the characteristics of a God-given BIG vision.
What is it like for a church to go through a transition of one pastor to a new pastor? This blog describes what happens and what to expect when a congregation goes through a process of grieving.
A few days ago I took in a tour of the Boeing Plant in Everett, Washington. It was amazing. After the tour, I began to contemplate and compare the Boeing assembly plant with the average local church in North America today, maybe not a fair comparison but it did generate some questions.
Church leaders should have a working knowledge of certain numbers that are indicators of the health of the congregation. Here are my top 10 church numbers you should know. Read this blog to find out what they are.