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Greatest Easter ImpactLeadership

How to Make the Greatest Impact During Easter

One of the most powerful, somber, and life-giving seasons is upon us. And even though you may already be thinking all things egg-dying and Easter bunny visiting, the resurrection season is so much more meaningful than Little Bunny Foo Foo sing-a-longs and Cadbury chocolate egg feasting. The heart of the…
August 20, 2018
Art of ListeningLeadership

The Difficult Art of Listening

“I’m not satisfied with how well I help when someone comes to me for counsel.” “When the other person is sharing their trouble, are you thinking of how to answer?” “Yes.” “That’s your problem.” I went on to explain to the young intern who had come to me that his…
July 6, 2018
Stopped Outlining SermonsPreaching Tips

Why I Stopped Outlining Sermons

If there is anything that is drilled into all budding preachers, it is the importance of developing the sermon outline. The outline must preferably have three major points with one overriding theme. There ought to be an illustration and application for each point. There are, of course, the introduction with…
June 21, 2018
Better ListenerLeadership

4 Simple Tips on How to Be a Better Listener

In my previous article, “The Art of Listening,” I noted that while listening well can be difficult, it is not complex. The difficulty lies more in our motivation and assumptions. The nuts and bolts are few, and assembly is much simpler than putting together an IKEA bookshelf. 1. Give signals…
May 31, 2018
Common GraceTheology

Common Grace: A Most Practical Doctrine

Common grace is a doctrine that preachers might make an offhand remark about. They might toss out the phrase in a sermon, leaving it to the congregants to already understand. And for good reason: they received little teaching about it in seminary. They've also had little opportunity to read about…
March 9, 2018
Why Observe Lent?Theology

Why Observe Lent?

If you told me ten years ago that I’d be leading my church in the observance of Lent, I would have laughed. We come from a church tradition that associates Lent with stuffy, liturgical churches. Since many of the people in our church came here to escape that kind of…
January 28, 2018
LentEncouragement

5 Reasons to Give up Something for Lent

Still on the fence about whether to give something up? Here are 5 quick reasons you should go for it: 1. Discipleship   At its core, discipleship means following and becoming more like Jesus. Early in his ministry, Jesus fasted for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11). He also assumed that his followers…
January 25, 2018