Weekend Roundup: Eight Articles

5 Reasons Annual Planning Is Harder In a Small Church

Most small church pastors want to be better planners. But where are the resources for how to plan better in a small church context? Read More

5 Criteria for Making New Year’s Resolutions We Actually Keep

How do we make resolutions we will actually keep? Because they aren’t going to improve anything if you don’t follow through and they probably just make you more frustrated than before you made them. Well, first, write them down. This is huge. I’ve heard people say you are twice as likely to keep a written resolution than one you simply state in your mind. And, then, here are some suggestions for the type of resolutions which seem to work. Read More

9 Ways to Shepherd Church Staff

How to encourage and help your co-laborers in ministry. Read More

Martin Luther and the Power of Preaching

From childhood upward, we are told that we are special. Sometimes this is even done in God’s name. The televangelists and megachurch pastors who talk about having “your best life now” are essentially presenting a picture of God as one who panders to the particular needs and concerns of the individual. The danger is that preaching can start to do the same—even worse, that preaching becomes sidelined because each person has to have his or her particular needs and problems addressed in a specific fashion. Luther’s approach to preaching is a refreshing riposte to this kind of narcissistic nonsense in at least two ways. Read More

Advice for Another Year of Bible Reading

But just how should our daily Bible reading be done? Are there any guidelines for making the best used of our time and gaining the most from our reading of God’s word? Here, then, are five guidelines that have helped me much over many years of reading Scripture. May God grant you wisdom as you approach a new year, and may your time in God’s word bear much fruit. Read More

7 Ways to Approach Your Bible in 2016

If you’re a Christian, you believe reading the Bible is important. But have you considered how to approach it in the first place? What kind of “heart posture” is necessary? God cares deeply about these questions. Here are seven ways we should approach his Word in 2016. Read More

5 Ways to Go From Head Knowledge to Heart Application

How do we go from the instruction of Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding,” to the personal affirmation of the writer of Psalms 56:3–4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid”? In other words, how do we go from head knowledge to heart application? Here are five ways.... Read More

7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America

Are people really attending church? What do the facts say? Read More