Where is Your Church?
Charleston SC is certainly a wake up call to the nation…
We see Neo-Nazis and member of the KKK and other white nationalist groups seeking to reclaim their supremacy from what they see as many minorities taking them away…
Many people are taking this time to condemn White supremacy and some even condemn the president for not being as quick to condemn by name these groups…
But there is something else that is important for us to deal with…
and that’s the church…
Prayer And Preaching
Preparation for preaching requires a number of steps. Have you completed all of them? I fear that some preachers come into the preaching moment having done their checklist…
- Pray for God’s help….check!
- Exegete the text…..Check!
- Generate helpful and powerful points….Check!
- Order the points for maximum impact….Check!
- Practiced the sermon a few times….Check!
- Plan to preach with power and rock the house….Check!
Three Steps to Effective Assistant Ministers
I have been an assistant for much of my time in ministry. Some pastors have treated me with the utmost respect. I have seen other pastors who treat their assistants almost as slaves, giving them the least desirable jobs and neglecting acknowledgment of the work that they do.
Senior pastors should note that they are not the only ones who are giving their time and energies to the church. Many of these assistants are in part time situations sometimes they are not even be paid at all. But these assistants finish their work in industry and then come to ministry to seek to give their talents to God.
There are, in my estimation, three steps that a senior minister must follow if that minister is to have effective assistant ministers.
How to Use Another Person’s Sermon
Ok. You have less than a day. You have waited until it is very late. At this point you have a few options and none of them are good.
Can The Internet Replace Church?
I was reading a discussion the other day on social media. The discussion was between a number of church members. One vocal member described that she gets much more out of “going to church” on the internet than when she actually enters the church building. “Going to church” on the internet affords the possibilities of always hearing the best preachers, she argued. These preachers are always relevant to the needs of their constituents and “feed” the flock better than the local pastor, according to the young woman.
