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2010, Afghanistan. Aid workers were in the midst of helping a group of remote Afghan villagers, especially mothers and their children who needed it most, with eye care and other medical needs. Suddenly gunmen appeared and lined the workers up. They shot each worker one by one, including Cheryl Beckett, age thirty-two. The only survivor…
The post No Longer My Own appeared first on Church Answers.
It happens. Even those who deeply love their local congregation sometimes go through situations and circumstances that test that love. In some cases, that love slowly erodes—almost imperceptibly. Here are some signs you might be losing your love: 1. Your enthusiasm for gathering with the congregation is waning. There was a time when you excitedly…
The post 7 Signs You May be Losing Your Love for Your Church . . . and What to Do about It appeared first on Church Answers.
You’ve been with your church for a while now. Something is now urging you to leave the church. We will not get into evaluating your reasons. Let’s just say you have made the decision, or you are close to making that decision. Let’s assume you are not moving to another location. You are leaving your…
The post Seven Considerations If You Are a Church Member Planning on Leaving Your Church appeared first on Church Answers.
The turning point for me occurred at a funeral. I was holding a four-year-old child I did not know. His mother had passed away after overdosing on a dangerous mix of fentanyl and cocaine. The family contacted our church and asked for a pastor to officiate the funeral. I’ll never forget the young boy’s words….
The post How Your Church Can Help the Overlooked Children Affected by Abuse and Neglect appeared first on Church Answers.
After almost 32 years of marriage, my wife and I adopted a rescue dog a couple weeks ago. I grew up with dogs, but Pam has never been around a dog for any length of time. Still, though, we took the plunge after hosting/fostering this dog for three weekends so he could get acclimated to…
The post A Dog, a Confession, and a Prayer Request appeared first on Church Answers.
“. . . because you’re the pastor.” Most pastors have heard the end of this sentence at some point. Perhaps you bristled at hearing it. Maybe your feelings were justified, depending on what preceded the phrase. But there’s truth in “because you’re the pastor.” The call to shepherd a church is a call to shepherd…
The post The Public Nature of Pastoring and the Inescapable Reality You Always Represent Your Church appeared first on Church Answers.
It will happen to most pastors. They will wake up one morning to texts or emails. The wording will say something like, “Pastor, you need to see what Mike Smith wrote about you on Facebook.” The pastor’s day is already messed up. Most pastors will feel the need to read the post. Many will feel…
The post Ten Suggestions for Church Members When They Read Negative Things about Their Pastors on Social Media appeared first on Church Answers.
Who or what do you lead? There are books, conferences, blogs, podcasts, and masterclasses on how to be a better leader, but we often forget that the person we lead first and most is the one in the mirror. It is easy to spend all of our time trying to figure out the next strategy…
The post The Most Important Leadership Tool appeared first on Church Answers.
I once caught a deacon throwing choir robes out of the second-story window into a giant fire on the ground below. “What’s going on?” “Fire hazard.” By the look and smell of the robes, I agreed and went about my business. There were probably one hundred burning robes in the fire—enough for every person in…
The post Five Ways to Honor the Past While Not Losing the Future appeared first on Church Answers.
The question was straightforward: What are some of the most difficult things you have done in ministry? I asked this question on some of my social media channels, so it was an informal survey. The responses were high, over 600 in the first eight hours. While the quantity of the responses was indicative of the…
The post 20 of the Most Difficult Things Pastors Have Done in Ministry appeared first on Church Answers.