10 Realities Every Young Leader Needs to Hear
I work with young leaders everyday. I have two incredible young leaders as sons. (Here’s my picture with them a few years ago — taken the day we moved to Kentucky.)
Occasionally, when I am talking to a young leader something becomes apparent. They often think what they are experiencing is unique. And, more surprising than that, they think perhaps their struggle is no longer mine — like somehow I’ve outgrown them.
That’s what prompted this post. I’ve included a few tips for young leaders I’ve learned along the way. Read more
How Leaders Can Cultivate Godliness
For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10, HCSB)
The goal of the Christian life on this side of eternity is ongoing growth in godliness. Simply put, we have been saved in part so that we can become increasingly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ as we proclaim his gospel in word and model it for the watching world in deed. We call this sanctification. Our strategies for sanctification are called spiritual formation. And the goal of spiritual formation is to cultivate godliness. Read more
5 Common Struggles Among Young Pastors
I recently spent several hours with a group of young pastors. It was a cross representation of church planters and pastors of established churches. Healthy churches and unhealthy. Growing, plateauing and declining. Most were new in their positions and I expect all these churches will be growing soon. Sharp group.
We talked about a lot of issues, but one of our longer discussions was when I asked them what their greatest struggle in ministry was at the current time. There were some incredible consistencies — actually more than I anticipated. Very different churches and very different pastors. Similar struggles. Read more
Prepare Today for Tomorrow’s Conflicts
Jon was elated when New Hope Church called him to serve as pastor. The congregation seemed poised to make a significant impact for Christ in its community. Church members welcomed Jon and his family enthusiastically and appeared to be unified and mobilized for ministry. There was an air of excitement at the church as the congregation began to grow dramatically under Jon’s leadership.
Initially all of the deacons supported Jon and his vision for the future of the congregation. Then two men began to complain about the new worship music. Another deacon grumbled about the changes brought by the new people who were joining the church. A fourth deacon questioned Jon’s time management and priorities, claiming that the pastor was neglecting his responsibilities to longtime members.
Jon began to dread deacons meetings. Once the meetings had been occasions for encouraging updates and ministry planning; now they had disintegrated into pastoral interrogation sessions and a contest of wills. As the deacons’ discord began to spread into the congregation, one deacon spoke openly about Jon’s need to resign. His words broke Jon’s heart and further divided the congregation.
Jon resigned a month later. The church struggled to continue many of its ministries, having lost a third of its members, nearly half of its leadership, and six of the original ten deacons. Hope for the future was in short supply at New Hope Church. Read more
3 Disciplines to Develop Wise Speech
You’ve tasted and seen the effects of a wise leader’s words, and you want to be that kind of leader. You want to speak words that deliver, delight, gladden, and heal. You’d like to be able to defuse, persuade, inspire, and influence. You can picture leading such Bible studies, but you don’t know how to move in that direction. You see the potential, but you don’t know how to realize it.
You’re not alone, and you don’t have to feel stuck. Proverbs describes not only the product but also which best practices will help you get there. The following 3 tips don’t include everything that could be said about how to become a wise leader. But if you give yourself to these 3 disciplines, you’ll quickly find, by God’s grace, you have something to offer. “The lips of the righteous feed many” (Prov 10:21). Read more
See also
8 Effects of a Wise Leader's Words
Delegating upward: Why we should not let it happen
Early in my seminary pastorate, I looked around for quick ways to make a difference in our little bayou church. Since I had been a secretary for several years and typing and running printing machines were second nature to me, I decided the church bulletin would receive my attention.
I asked Mrs. Porter, the lovely senior lady who had the weekly responsibility of gathering the information, typing it into the form, and printing it as a handout bulletin for Sunday services, if I could take it over. To her credit, she was not offended, but delighted to get rid of that task. (She had plenty of other responsibilities. As I say, it was a small church.)
The bulletin I produced was sharper than hers. The typing was clearer, the English was classier, and the overall appearance was better.
I had made a serious mistake. Read more
How Pastors Are Passing the Leadership Baton
Succession plans can destroy a church. Or help it thrive for years to come. What are the keys to success? Read more
This article is classified as "registered/limited access" and may require registration to access.Disaster in the making: The worst advice ever for young ministers
I was a senior in college when the Lord fingered me for the ministry. When my coal miner Dad got the news, even though his experience with church leadership was minimal, he had advice for his number three son. “Start off pastoring small churches. That way you learn how to do it before moving on to the bigger places.”
Not all advice young ministers get is as basic and solid as what my dad offered. Some of what follows I heard personally, and some was volunteered by friends. Read more
Financial Mistakes We Made and Avoided
Like so many other people, I have a love-hate relationship with money. I love what money can do and accomplish, and I hate how money is so fleeting. It seems like every dollar is hard-earned and easily-spent. Every dollar can be used in a million different ways and so much of life’s anxiety comes from determining how to use too little money to address too many possibilities.
When Aileen and I got married we were just twenty-one (me) and twenty-two (she) years old and earning less than $30,000 between the two of us—and this in one of the most expensive cities in North America. Since then, like most families, we have seen slow but steady increases to our income. Of course, our expenses have increased at just about the same pace as we have gone from renting a home to buying, from driving compact sedans to minivans, and from having no kids to three kids. As I look back on my life and financial history, I see a long list of mistakes Aileen and I made and a list of mistakes we managed to avoid. Here are a few of each. Read more
How To Get Things Done: Maintaining the System
This series on productivity is beginning to reach its end. But before it winds down, I have just a couple more topics to cover, and one of them is the all-important weekly review. I have written at length about the value of a system. Systems are wonderful and powerful, but require some maintenance in order to continue functioning smoothly. The weekly review is one of the primarily means through which you can maintain your system. Today I will tell you about my weekly review, and also tell you about some of the unique features of my system. Read more
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