Have you ever experienced a church where the pastor is a bully? He’s like the overgrown kid at the playground, shoving around smaller kids. He’s the preacher, and he’s in control. He’s mean. He’s tough. I wish I were just painting a caricature, or indulging in a bit of overstatement, but I’m not. There are such pastors. This is the pastor who controls his church with an iron fist, and declares, “Well, if you don’t like my church, you can just leave!!!”

Continue reading “The Really Bad Pastor” »

bad pastors · controlling pastors · role of a pastor

If you’re a preacher, you’ve got this burden hanging over your head. Every week—and probably several times in the week—you’re expected to talk for a long time about something. It has to be really good, because people think that you only work on Sunday. It has to be entertaining, because people don’t like being bored. It has to be spiritual-sounding, because people want to feel warm-and-fuzzy. And it has to be profound, because people think that you know a lot about the Bible. But there are times when a pastor just can’t come up with sermon topics.

Continue reading “When you can’t come up with sermon topics.” »

coming up with sermon topics · good sermon topics · preaching · sermon ideas · sermon topics

iPad-toting pastors, take heed. Your iPad is a really good tool for ministry, but it’s only as good as the apps you install. Here are the top ten essential iPad apps for the pastor (in no particular order). It’s been hard to whittle the list down to a mere 10, so feel free to add your favorite iPad apps in the comments section below.

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bible ipad · christian ipad apps · ipad apps for the pastor · ipad for preaching · ipad in ministry

Please do not read any further if you are leery of new technology. We’re going to talk about new technology and how it may very well change the way you preach…for the better of course. It has to do with the iPad—using the iPad to preach.

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iPad apps for pastors · iPad preaching · preaching from iPad

Pastors, like anyone else, are susceptible to the sin of materialism. There’s nothing that makes pastors especially holy or inclined to do good. When pastors succumb to materialism, the results can be devastating—more harmful than the materialism of one who is not a pastor. What is pastoral materialism, and what makes it such a problem?

Continue reading “Pastoral Materialism: When the Pastor Wants More Stuff” »

church materialism · materialism · pastoral materialism · pastors and materialism · sin of materialism

Most pastors know the feeling of looking forward to next Sunday and thinking, “Ooh, I wonder what I’m going to talk about.” It’s a gut-wrenching sensation, usually resulting in some intense studying, a late Saturday night, and a few extra prayers on Sunday morning. We’ve come up with six popular methods of determining what to preach on, plus a powerful tool (the Bible software Logos), that will help you as you prepare sermons of any kind.
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bible software · logos bible software · preparing sermons · sermon powerpoints · sermon preparation · sermon preparation software · sermon topic ideas · sermon topics

Church leadership is important. Incredibly important. It only follows that church leadership meetings—whether it be the meetings of elders, church staff, deacons, or committees—are also highly important. There is no formula, code, or secret for holding amazing church leadership meetings. The success of a meeting, a leadership team, or a church is dependent upon God. There are, of course, common sense measures we can take as we conduct our church leadership meetings. So here, in no particular order are ten things you can do to have the best church leadership meeting.
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church leaders · church leadership · church meetings · deacon meetings · elder meetings · pastoral leadership

If you made any New Year’s resolutions, chances are (if you’re like most people) you’ve already broken them. Right at about the second or third week of January, resolution-makers start dropping like flies. Well, we’re going to give you a delayed-start resolution to make. It’s easy, attainable, and very rewarding.

Continue reading “Reading Books in 2011” »

book recommendations · books for pastors · reading

Note that the coupon code has been updated. To receive a 15% discount on all base package purchases, please use the code SHAREFAITH1. Visit Logos to shop for products.

Mechanics shell out tons of money for high-quality tools like Snap-On wrenches. Engineers use a really expensive computer program called AutoCAD. Graphic designers purchase pricey software like Adobe Creative Suite. What about pastors? What are the tools of the trade? Books. Pastors buy books. However, “books” no longer describes just the bound stacks of glue-and-paper that line our bookshelves. Books are now packaged in bits. They are viewed on Kindles, iPads, and computer screens. They hurtle through cyberspace. They are downloaded in seconds. They are backlit. They are copied/pasted with the click of a mouse. They are digitally highlighted. They are stored on hard drives. They are synced with mobile devices. In a word, books—the pastor’s foremost tools of the trade—are changing.

Continue reading “Review of Logos Bible Software” »

bible software · logos · logos bible software · review of logos

Today, we share the third and final article by Donald Whitney, “A Third Ten Ways to Improve Your Church’s Worship Service.” If you haven’t read them yet, be sure to look at the first two articles: 1) Ten Ways to Improve Your Church’s Worship Service, and 2) Ten More Ways to Improve Your Church’s Worship Service. Whitney’s recommendations may not work for every church in every context and every culture, but you would do well to take a careful look, comparing his words to God’s Word, and learning how God may have you improve your church’s worship service.

Continue reading “Guest Post from Don Whitney: A Third Ten Ways to Improve Your Church’s Worship Service” »

church service · church worship service · contemporary christian music · donald whitney · improving worship · new worship music · prayer · psalms and hymns · spiritual songs · worship god