Strategic Ministry, Neglected Minority, Steamroller Politics
Nothing works. Things are not improving. Gridlock, controversy, stubborn resistance and loss of vision and perspective prevails. What’s up with that? Right now the world is celebrating the life and work of Nelson Mandela. One of the strongest facets of his amazing life is that once he had a position of power, he listened to the […]
Continue readingDear Journal: Sure Has Been Lots of Change
It is nice to be home in the USA, but things sure are different now. CHANGE in our Church! Going to worship at our sending church was something I had so looked forward to doing. Wow! I didn’t feel like I knew very many people. So many of our friends that prayed with us and […]
Continue reading5 Missionary Do-Overs
Listening to experienced pastors and ministers give advice to young ministers is always an eye-opener. Too bad I seem to hear advice that was sorely needed long after I too learned things the hard way! So here are some thoughts on my missionary career adventures and a few things I wish I could do-over. Missionary Do-Overs: […]
Continue reading5 Tips to Kick Start your Ministry Career Transition
About 25 years ago, a popular topic in ministry circles centered on Kings (marketplace leaders) and Priests (vocational ministers). One of the hottest discussions I recall was that Kings did not know how to talk to Priests and vice versa. They each spoke a language of their own and didn’t understand what was being spoken […]
Continue readingMissionary Success: What has our Missionary Culture Done to us?
In his book, Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tripp shares three factors that crept into his personal life and ministry. In a very transparent and compelling manner he shares how the Lord helped him see the problems and make changes. Tripp describes how he later realized the same three factors he experienced were very common in […]
Continue readingPastor Job Change in a Plummeting Market
Online data indicates that about 1500 pastors are leaving the ministry each month. When I first saw those statistics I was shocked at the number. However, once we look more deeply into the data it is not as shocking as it first seemed. The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches indicates that there are at […]
Continue readingMissionary Knowledge: What has our Missionary Culture Done to us?
Have missionaries allowed our theological education, training, and preparation to get in the way of the results we seek? Does our North American traditional worldview add so much baggage to our thinking that all our strategies are less effective? In his book, Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tripp’s second common factor that causes pastors to struggle […]
Continue readingBalance and Alignment: Pastors need this too!
Balance and Alignment are essential preventive maintenance for our cars. It is clear that potholes and bumps in the roads knock our cars out of alignment and wear out our tires quickly if we don’t correct the misalignment. Lesson: if you don’t do the maintenance, you find out the meaning of the famous FRAM oil […]
Continue readingMissionary Identity: What has our Missionary Culture Done to us?
How have our identities been shaped by the missionary culture? Is there balance between who we think we are and who God made us to be? In his book, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry, Paul David Tripp gives three common factors that cause pastors to struggle in their lives, ministries and […]
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