Succession: When It Works, When It Doesn’t
Perhaps the greatest single benefit of succession success is that when it works, succession success honors God and results in positive momentum in the church as well as in the larger community.
Articles for tag: Ken Idleman
March 24, 2025
Navigating Tough Conversations (Part 2)
Christian leaders are required to have tough conversations. This is part 2 of Ken Idleman's insights on how best to handle difficult conversations.
March 17, 2025
Navigating Tough Conversations (Part 1)
Hard conversations tend to be agony if they are handled poorly and ecstasy if they are handled skillfully. Ken Idleman offers tips on navigating tough conversations.
March 2, 2025
Staying Strong in Ministry Leadership
Who are those currently surrounding you and infusing you with strength? Such strengthening angels will be able to assure you that you have been called, that you are loved and that you are kept by the grace of God.
October 31, 2024
A Trustworthy Ministry
It’s hard to know which organizations to trust today, but you can tell much about an organization that pours into you when it has nothing to gain. The Solomon Foundation was encouraging me and mentoring me long before I worked for a church associated with their network of churches.
July 1, 2023
The Power of Faith and Forgiveness
How a Senseless Tragedy Became a Witness to the Grace of Jesus
January 1, 2023
Speaking the Truth in Love
By Ken Idleman The title of this article is one of the most difficult implicit commands in Scripture: “[S]peaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). It is difficult to obey because it links in a single imperative the three most difficult aspects of life for human beings to consistently control: speech, truth, and love. Our speech often betrays our secret thoughts and our untamable tongues. Jesus said, “The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them” (Matthew
December 24, 2022
A ‘Frozen in Time’ Moment
"It was the winter of 1968, the break between semesters of my senior year in Bible college," Ken Idleman writes. "Kaylene and I had been married the previous August and had determined that we would spend our first Christmas together in the Holy Land . . ."
December 5, 2022
The Preaching Elder
e2:effective elders has created a four-part resource designed to empower elders to preach. "The Preaching Elder: Refilling the Preaching Pipeline" was created especially with elders in mind—to offer training through a book and other resources to help with a need that has developed because of a diminishing preaching pipeline.
September 12, 2022
Ministry to Combat Vets in Indiana Plans Major Retreat Center
Point Man of Newburgh—an Indiana ministry that helps combat veterans returning from war—is moving toward purchasing and developing a $4.5 million retreat center. The project is a monumental one for the 13-year-old nonprofit organization that got its start with the help of Crossroads Christian Church in Newburgh, Ind.
Take Our Communion Survey (Plus News Briefs)
The Communion survey has closed; look for results Aug. 10. (Thank you to all who participated.) This file also contains briefs about e2 partnering with Crossroads Church Partners, and Kentucky Christian University planning a Minister Appreciation Luncheon.
July 1, 2022
Healthy Churches Are Built on Trustworthy Leaders
By Ken Idleman In 2011, New York Times best-selling author Tina Rosenberg published Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World. The question she addressed in her secular book was, How do you get people to change for the better? How do you get them to live healthier lives . . . to diet, exercise, and not drink excessively? In short, how do you get individuals to grow in a positive direction? She concluded that the masses don’t change simply because they desire to change or by getting more information. Virtually everyone who smokes knows smoking is bad
What They Didn’t Teach Me in Bible College
I am thankful for my time in Bible college. I enrolled at Ozark Christian College in the fall of 1976 and while there I developed lifelong friendships, a greater understanding of the Scriptures, and a deep love for preaching. Don DeWelt was my homiletics professor, and every class was memorable. That course provided me with a better understanding of how to preach, and it awakened my love for preaching. But it wasn’t just my homiletics class, it was also the opportunity to hear great preachers in chapel services and at special events. I learned about preaching with passion by listening
February 8, 2021
Haitian Christian Mission Co-founder Etienne Prophete Dies
Etienne Prophete, 81, who co-founded Haitian Christian Mission in 1974 with his wife, Betty, died Friday, Feb. 5. Over the years, the mission has started nearly 60 churches totaling more than 10,000 members. Many of the churches also have schools that serve a total of more than 13,000 children daily. Prophete was a 1974 graduate of Ozark Christian College, which awarded him with the Seth Wilson Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2006. “Since he came to Ozark and returned to his native land, no missionary leader has cast a longer shadow of Christ-honoring influence in Haiti,” said former OCC president Ken
August 18, 2020
My Counsel for Young Preachers
If I were counseling an aspiring young preacher fresh out of Bible college or seminary, champing at the bit to lead in the church, I would offer these three bits of advice.
July 15, 2020
To Mask or Not to Mask?
Two Biblical Principles We Must Make Every Effort to Follow During This Season of Regathering By Ken Idleman “To be or not to be? That is the question.” Most of us will recognize this quotation from Hamlet, one of William Shakespeare’s famous plays. Hamlet, who spoke these words, was contemplating suicide . . . trying to decide whether it was better for him to live or to die. It’s pretty heavy stuff. (Shakespeare sometimes managed to encapsulate in a very few words ideas that take the rest of us many paragraphs to articulate.) We are currently living through a
TSF Helping Ministers, Churches During Uncertain Times
By Jim Nieman The Solomon Foundation has begun hosting weekly Zoom meetings to help connect, encourage, and resource ministers across the country during these uncertain times. Doug Crozier, CEO of the church extension fund that works with Christian churches and churches of Christ, said TSF is seeking to be proactive during the COVID-19 outbreak and related financial unease by reminding ministry leaders that God remains in control. To that end, TSF connected with almost 120 ministers and/or ministry team callers during the first weekly Zoom meeting it hosted this past Tuesday morning. Among the speakers were former Christian college president
December 31, 2019
Senior Pastor . . . Senior ‘Fundraiser’: A Biblical Approach
By Ken Idleman In 1977 I was a 29-year-old, green-as-grass Christian leader when I was body-slammed with a vocational reality: I had been called by the trustees of Ozark Bible College to be, among other things, a “fundraiser.” I was vaguely aware of that item on my list of job responsibilities as executive vice president/president-elect, but I did not understand its impact on my future leadership priorities. I learned the importance of that responsibility early on because one of my first assignments was working to eliminate a $300,000 cash-flow deficit. That doesn’t sound like much money now, but the equivalent
May 19, 2019
What Are You Doing Now?
Compiled by Mark A. Taylor _ _ _ Alan Ahlgrim Retired: Founding pastor with Rocky Mountain Christian Church, Niwot, Colorado, March 2013 What are you doing now? Continues to encourage and mentor church leaders. Director of Covenant Groups with the Center for Church Leadership. Thoughts on retirement: âThe best is yet to be for every kingdom leader. I jokingly say if I had known this season would be so fulfilling, I would have started with this first and stuck with it! Iâ™ve traded unrelenting responsibility for a soul-enriching opportunity.â _ _ _ Dick Alexander Retired: Senior minister, LifeSpring Christian Church,
Four Christian Universities Celebrating Milestone Anniversaries
By Jim Nieman At least four Christian colleges are celebrating significant anniversaries in 2019: Mid-South Christian College is turning 60, Great Lakes Christian College is marking 70 years, Lincoln Christian University turns 75, and Kentucky Christian University will mark its 100th anniversary. KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Kentucky Christian University in Grayson will celebrate its 100th birthday during Fall Homecoming Sept. 27-29, and again on Dec. 1, the actual anniversary of its founding. The Homecoming plans are still being finalized but will include a performance by 64 to Grayson, a Christian music group that formed at KCU; live performing artist (speed painter),
