Church Leadership

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

Haddon Robinson: A Legacy of Biblical Preaching

By Damien Spikereit When my wife and I learned she was pregnant with our second child, we decided to name him after one of my favorite preachers. Several options came to mind, but in the end, we decided on Haddon, after Haddon W. Robinsonâwho was named for Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Why Haddon Robinson? Many articles and biographies tell of Robinsonâ™s humble Harlem upbringing and his distinguished career as a pastor, seminary president, and preaching professor. My purpose here, however, is more personal: to honor a man who taught us to be servants of the Word. Of the many prominent

April 19, 2019

Jerry Harris

How the Mighty Pastors and Preachers Fall

By Jerry Harris The announcement came in mid-January. James MacDonald, founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, based in the Chicago area, was taking an immediate and indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership in his ministry. The elders took this action in response to mounting criticism concerning leadership overreach, financial questions, and alleged abuse of staff and members over a 12-year period. Stories of this sort are becoming all-too-common among megachurch pastors . . . and they show no sign of slowing. The churches that provide platforms for these leaders represent tens of thousands of people. High-visibility, powerful-personality pastors and

April 4, 2019

Effective Preaching

Cecil J. “C. J.” Sharp wrote hundreds of articles that appeared in Christian Standard through the years. The first appeared in 1912, while he was still minister with First Christian Church in Hammond, Ind., which he served from about 1903 through 1929. Prior to that, he was a high school principal. He joined Standard Publishingâformer parent company of Christian Standardâin January 1930 as head of the Teacher Training Department. He retired in 1951. At the time of his death in 1953, his New Training for Service had sold more than 250,000 copies. Sharpâ™s version of that book dates to 1934,

March 25, 2019

Mark A. Taylor

Times of Refreshing

By Mark A. Taylor Bob Russell told his blog readers last year that his 12 years of ministry in retirement has been “much more than I could have imagined.” Soon after he retired, Bob began hosting retreats for preaching pastors “to provide encouragement, instruction, and reinforcement.” He had seen so many local church ministers “mistreated by their church leaders and beaten down by their circumstances . . . really discouraged by the constant criticism and overwhelming responsibilities they faced every day.” The response to his concern shows that the need is real. Since the spring of 2006, he has conducted

March 25, 2019

Leading with Boldness and Confidence

By Jeff Faull Scripture urges church leaders to lead with humility and confidence. These two qualities are not mutually exclusive. Timidity is not humility, and confidence is not pride. The boldness of the apostles was often displayed and noted. Young Timothy was encouraged by Paul to abandon timidity and to lead with power. Yet, so often as leaders we fail to exhibit the spirit of power and discipline God has given us, and we exchange it for a posture of fear and hesitancy. Consequently, we cripple the opportunity to lead well. Why do we sometimes lack confidence in ministry? Why

March 25, 2019

Michael C. Mack

Decision Points, Pain, and Church Growth

By Michael C. Mack Why do some churches grow and multiply, some plateau, and others decline? It™s a question I™ve considered for a long time. As I studied the article and charts Kent Fillinger prepared for this month, it reinforced my theory that growing churches do certain things and have a particular mind-set largely absent in stagnant and declining churches. I™ll try to explain. In my personal life, I™ve seen a direct correlation between my physical health and my tolerance for pain. For years I lived with carpal tunnel syndrome and eventually lost quite a bit of functionality in both

March 20, 2019

Did You Hear What They’re Preaching About?

Preachers can sometimes experience creative lulls, so in the interest of providing inspiration, but not duplication (we hope), here are what some of our churches have been preaching about in recent weeks. By the way, most sermons from these series are available at the respective churches’ websites (and we’ve provided links). ________________________ Christ’s Church of the Valley (Phoenix, Ariz.) aTypical “Society has taken an interesting turn on what’s considered typical; activity-packed schedules, strained relationships, overextended budgets, and piles of debt. If this is what typical looks like, then now is the time to break the mold! Join us for our

March 20, 2019

Michael C. Mack

Two Vital Preaching Principles

By Michael C. Mack We decided to focus on “biblical preaching” for this year™s annual Easter issue. The need is as great as ever to “preach the Word.” I hope this issue serves as a sort of “preaching guide” for our readers. Four of our feature articles provide powerful, practical, thought-provoking principles for preaching. (Amazingly, alliteration is not one of them.) Our e2 and Metrics columns also focus on preaching this month. We seek to restore, among several things, biblical preaching. To that end, I™d like to consider two vital preaching principles I don™t hear discussed much. Perhaps we take these

March 1, 2019

The Most Comprehensive and Accurate List of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ Available Anywhere

UPDATE/MAY 18: The ChurchLink database is in the final testing phase. We hope to have it up and running—and ready for you to use—within the next few days. Thank you for your patience and understanding. ____________ (Christian Standard’s article from the April issue) The Center for Church Leadership and Christian Standard Media Partner to Produce an Updated—and Updatable—Digital Database By Jim Nieman It’s taken longer than either the Center for Church Leadership or Christian Standard Media had hoped or previously promised, but a partnership to provide an updated—and updatable—online database of Christian churches and churches of Christ called ChurchLink should

February 27, 2019

Four Ideas for Illustrating Truth

By Jeff Faull âThe elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teachingâ (1 Timothy 5:17, New American Standard Bible). Church leaders are often called to work hard at preaching and teaching. One of the most challenging aspects of that responsibility is finding and developing sources of relevant, interesting, and compelling illustrations. Here are a few simple suggestions for finding fresh illustrations for sermons, meditations, or Bible studies. SCOUR THE NEWS, ESPECIALLY THE WEIRD NEWS The news provides illustrations from real life that are instantly documented, perennially

February 23, 2019

Greekaholics Anonymous

From After Class Podcast Sponsor: Welcome, everyone, to this week’s meeting of Greekaholics Anonymous. The purpose of this support group is to help those of us who are helplessly addicted to using biblical languages in our sermons—even though we really don’t know what we are saying and most listeners have no idea what we’re talking about. Let’s begin with our GA preamble. Everyone: Preachers who don’t know Greek shouldn’t use Greek in their sermons. Sponsor: Would someone like to be the first to share with the group? Pastor Strong: Hello, my name is Jim and I’m a Greekaholic. Everyone: Hello,

February 2, 2019

Can Creatives Be Effective Lead Pastors?

By Ryan Rasmussen When I was a kid, I had a notepad that traveled most places with me. Hidden inside were doodles of, well, a little bit of everything. Floor plans of my dream house were wedged between drawings of my favorite comic book characters and sketches of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I know it seems odd to think of a 13-year-old boy drawing princesses, but my dream at the time was to become an artist for Disney and I was trying to sharpen my craft. Don’t judge me. Eventually my notepad and I grew apart and I found

January 29, 2019

Q. Should Women Be Involved in Church Leadership and Preaching Roles? (A. YES)

By Lorelei Pinney Nij It is incredible the modern church remains mired in the centuries-old debate of the role of women in ministry. In the late 1970s, when I was a senior at Dallas Christian College, one of my professors challenged me to examine this topic using only Scripture as my prooftext. It was enlightening and empowering to discover the principle limitations on women were not divinely inspired but were placed on them by men. Jesus’ View of Women I explored this question first: “How did Jesus treat women and what did he teach about women?” It is

January 29, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

The ‘Package Deal’: How to Choose a New Church Leader and His Wife

By Melissa Brandes After many months, the search committee finally zeroes in on their top choice for pastor. The formal interview goes very well. He seems a perfect fit. “Trial sermon” Sunday arrives. He preaches a solid biblical message with a great application. Later that afternoon, church leaders’ spouses take the potential pastor’s wife out for coffee while the men go boating on a lake. That evening, an elder asks his wife about the candidate’s spouse, but she hesitates. “She’s interesting,” the elder’s wife finally says, but not enthusiastically. “I guess she’s pleasant enough. Honestly I just don’t know her

January 29, 2019

Q. Should Women Be Involved in Church Leadership and Preaching Roles? (A. NO)

By Dale Cornett No, I’m neither a chauvinist nor a misogynist. Yes, I realize how unpopular the “traditional” position I’m about to defend has become. I admit that my wife and two daughters are smarter than me. I recognize women’s capabilities. I want them to become all they can be. But I also want to be true to the Word of God. What I am about to say about women leaders in the church is simply my best effort to be faithful to God and his design for men, women, family, and the church. I must admit, here at the

January 29, 2019

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

A Call to Church Leaders: How to Overcome Pharisaism in the 21st-Century Church

By Jeffrey Derico Two critical challenges facing churches and their leaders today are to identify hurdles that undermine relevant ministry and then to eliminate them. The stakes are high because failure to overcome either hurdle will result in countless people never hearing the gospel, and eventually that church will permanently close its doors—and neither of these are acceptable outcomes. Yet both are becoming more common as churches across America struggle to effectively live out the Great Commission and then decline to the point they can no longer afford to pay the bills. During nearly two decades of teaching and consulting

January 1, 2019

Mark A. Taylor

Good Strategies for a New Year

Former editor Mark A. Taylor offered these thoughts two years ago under the headline, “Strategies for a New Year.” At the time, Taylor confessed to sharing similar thoughts a few years earlier. He wrote on Jan. 1, 2017: “. . . I still need to follow my own advice here! So let’s read it together as, once again, we recommit ourselves to faith and ministry at the beginning of a new year.” _ _ _ By Mark A. Taylor Anytime can be the right time for new beginnings, but the transition to a new year seems like a natural. If you’re

December 31, 2018

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Make Next Year a Great One for Your Staff, Elders, Group, or Family

(Start your year off right by considering our editor’s suggestions in this brief item we first published two years ago. This approach can be used successfully among a wide variety of people who meet regularly and seek to love and honor God.) _ _ _ By Michael C. Mack When we make resolutions, we usually emphasize what we will do under our own power and will. When we run out of willpower, we begin to fail at keeping those resolutions. For Christians, there’s a far better way. Move from New Year’s resolutions to spiritual reconstitutions! Here’s how. At your first

December 19, 2018

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

Johnson, e2 Headed to India to Lead Elder Training

By Jim Nieman Gary Johnson of e2: effective elders is excited to offer a three-day Elders’ Conference early next year in India, at Ajai Lall’s suggestion, for church leaders from six Asian countries. “This is e2’s first venture into a cross-cultural elder setting,” Johnson said. “The men will leave with both biblical and practical ways to recruit, train, and release elders to lead courageously for God’s glory.” The groundwork for this training venture was laid earlier this year when Lall, founder and director of Central India Christian Mission, suggested it during Johnson’s visit there. “There has never been a meeting like this,” Lall told

December 4, 2018