I have the great privilege of serving a church that recognizes the benefits of providing their Senior Pastor with an annual sabbatical leave. Though I have not always been able to take the time away that has been offered, it has been a tremendous encouragement knowing that the…
For over 25 years our family has made it a practice to pray for pastors, missionaries and other gospel workers on Saturday night. We stop and think about the fact that on Sundays, more than any other day of the week, the Word of God is being preached. Those…
This morning I received a moving letter from a young pastor in Haiti who has recently become involved in our church’s theological training efforts down there. Since the 2010 earthquake God has opened a wide door for us to minister to Haitian pastors, churches and orphans in an increasingly…
Thirty-five years ago this month I began serving my first church as pastor. The Rock Prairie Baptist Church in College Station, Texas took a major risk on a senior Texas A&M student by issuing me a call to be their pastor. It was my happy privilege to serve them…
My mother taught me the old adage, “I can’t hear what you say because I see what you do.” In other words, when our lives do not align with our speech, then our message is unbelievable. This is a sobering reality for pastors. How many times have we unwittingly…
There is another source of power which I can hardly think of as a separate quality, but rather as the sum and result of all the qualities which I have been naming. I mean Courage. It is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry. The timid minister is as…
Collin Hansen, the new Editorial Director for the Gospel Coalition, has written a thoughtful post about the interaction of new media and local church ministry. It is easy either to dismiss the new forms of internet media or to overestimate their significance instead of doing the hard work of…
Our Christmas staff party got a little out of hand this week. Here is the result, featuring my fellow pastors, Asael Gonzalez, Ken Puls and Tim Brister along with our chairman of deacons, John Swaska. The credit goes to two of my children whose time for leisure is exceeded…
Octavius Winslow’s Morning Thoughts and Evening Thoughts are two of my favorite devotional books. His August 1 and August 2 morning readings are good reminders of how much pastors need the prayers of their people. I have often thought that if my people really knew how weak I am…