Jesus cultivated and nurtured his intimacy with the Father, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35). He also had a vision, a mission, and a strategy for ministry. His vision was the Kingdom of God. His mission was to seek and […]
Jesus as a Model for Ministry – Coaching Read More »
Jesus’ practice of intimate communion with the Father was the life source of his ministry. He said, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). Later in the metaphor of
Jesus as a Model for Ministry – Spiritual Direction Read More »
I have been writing a lot lately about business matters on a rather practical side, but now I want to share a little about the philosophical side. I encourage all church leaders to read about business and leadership and not always from “Christian only” perspectives. The secular world is filled with excellent authors, scholars and
The Philosophical Side of Business Matters Read More »
In last week’s newsletter article I shard about forming a Technology Committee to keep up with those pesky contract dates and renewals. Today I would like to specifically talk about the church’s phone bill. I have found that many folks in the church office do not realize that you can “shop” your phone bill. After
Business Matters and Church Phone Bills Read More »
The Kentucky Derby is the first Saturday in May. One of my favorite times of the year is the Derby. It is hard to explain the beauty of running horses. You just need to experience it. While excitement builds, as the race progresses, it is not the same as running with the horses. Can you
Running with the Horses Read More »
“Honesty is the best policy”, we learned as a child. However, we have difficulty with honesty. Most of us have difficulty admitting that we are stuck. For the most part we are caught up in making the ministry function and cannot see that we are stuck. The hard question: Is the horizon I see really
In our recent newsletter, I shared a few ways to minimize the distractions that our smart phones bring when it comes to ministry. In this post for today, I want to address another distraction that, when left unchecked, can take us away from the important parts of our ministry… email. I sat in on a
Dealing with Distractions in Ministry – Part 2 Read More »
When the Israelite families would travel to other places, often times it would be with their extended families. Children would have the chance to mingle with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents – all ages together. These times offered informal opportunities for the children to learn from other adults besides their parents. Today with our mobile society,
Nurturing Connections and Faith – Part 3 Read More »
Mission projects and community service opportunities during the summer are great for intergenerational projects or for specific age groups. Find projects for your faith community: Check with local helping agencies to see what needs they typically have during summer months Do you have other mission trips planned that need items collected to take along? Check
Nurturing Connections and Faith – Part 2 Read More »
Editor’s Note: Part one of this series was the feature article in “The E-ncourager”, our periodic email newsletter. You can view Part 1 here. To subscribe to our newsletter, click here. In Part One we noted that every member of the church is responsible for the mission of the church, but the ministers are the
Job Performance Challenge for the Church – Part 2 Read More »
