Tag «family»

How Your Church Can Help the Overlooked Children Affected by Abuse and Neglect

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….

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One of the Most Powerful Ways to Revitalize Your Church that Almost No One Does

Prayer walking can revitalize a church. At Church Answers, we’ve heard some incredible stories of how a church started a prayer walking ministry and experienced revitalization. The problem is not enough churches are emphasizing this spiritual discipline. Those that do are seeing powerful results. What is prayer walking? The concept is simple and can be…

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A Dog, a Confession, and a Prayer Request

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…

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How to Evaluate Your Church’s Discipleship Program

*This article is an excerpt from Disciple: How to Create a Community That Develops Passionate and Healthy Followers of Jesus. Some months ago, I published the book Disciple: How to Create a Community that Develops Passionate and Healthy Followers of Jesus. In that book, I point out that many churches that think they’re disciplemaking churches…

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Why 2022 Was the Year of My UNdoing (and Why I Want More Of It in 2023)

In our western, modern culture, we’re productivity-oriented. We add. We rarely subtract. Subtraction isn’t normally used as a measurement of growth for us. For many of us, the most important question we can answer isn’t ‘what should I be doing?’ It’s w…

13 Ways Church Leaders Can Serve Those Struggling with Mental Health Issues

The church has come a long way in handling mental health issues, but we still have a lot to learn. Here are some tips for church leaders.
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20 of the Most Difficult Things Pastors Have Done in Ministry

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…

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Leading a Church When the Wrong People Hold Power

Can you lead a church without proper authority? Yes, but it is more challenging and complex. I’m assuming most church leaders would rather not step into a situation where they have the responsibility to shepherd without the corresponding authority. But there are churches with misaligned power structures in desperate need of good pastors. What if…

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Nine Pointers for Serving Alongside Your Spouse in Full-Time Ministry

When a married individual works in full-time ministry, there can be the temptation to think the spouse should volunteer in the same area in order to help. Sometimes this temptation comes from the full-time minister pressuring the spouse to “support” his or her ministry via volunteering or sacrificing. Other times it’s the spouse that pressures…

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10 Ways the Enemy Attacks Church Leaders

For more than 25 years, I have studied the biblical reality of spiritual warfare. In no particular order, here are ten common strategies I’ve seen when the enemy attacks church leaders: 1. Encouraging leaders to live in self-reliance. Because most leaders can lead, they are always susceptible to leading in their own ingenuity and strength….

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