Healthy Pastors Leading Health Churches
Ministry is a marathon – not a 50-yard dash. It’s tough. You’re in an invisible war where all kinds of forces are conspiring to keep you from doing what God wants you to do. A few years back I made a list of young pastors in America that I needed to be praying for – like others had prayed for me when I was young. Today, more … [Read more...]
You were an orphan once. You may have grown up with a father and a mother. Physically, you may not be an orphan. But you were a spiritual orphan. You were a spiritual orphan until you were adopted by God. The Bible says in Ephesians 1:5, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus … [Read more...]
Jesus consistently challenges his followers. And, because we’re each unique, Jesus knows each of us need a different type of challenge -- Jesus will challenge your priorities. Jesus demands to set the agenda in our lives and ministries. He will ask us to give up many things so that we will match our priorities with his. For … [Read more...]
If you want a quick way to derail your ministry, envy someone else’s ministry. It’s the top barrier to fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. And it’s one of the quickest ways to have God’s anointing on your life removed. You must eradicate it from your life. Envy is insidiously destructive. Anger, addictions, and adultery … [Read more...]
Many people came through the front doors of our churches during Easter – and many people were saved. I had reports of at least 500,000 people coming to Christ throughout the United States over Easter weekend – and that’s just among the people who tweeted me their numbers! That’s terrific! But, as you already know, not all of those … [Read more...]
Many churches have set the bar so high striving for ministry excellence that they can’t find volunteers to step up. Some churches have fostered this myth by making “excellence” an idol, which makes people of average talent hesitant to get involved. Many Christians never serve because they fear they aren’t good enough to do so. … [Read more...]
The Bible teaches that when someone becomes a believer, he or she also becomes God’s messenger (2 Corinthians 2:17). One of the ways we help our members at Saddleback to understand this is we teach them how to prepare a testimony. I tell people, “You may feel you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep … [Read more...]
About 40 years ago, I was at a camp in the mountains. Alone in a room, I prayed, “God, if there is a God, I’m open. If you’re real, I want to know you’re real. And, Jesus Christ, if you can change my life, if there is a purpose for my life, I want to know it.” You know what happened? Nothing. I didn’t get goose bumps. I … [Read more...]
Structure doesn’t cause growth; the structure of your church determines how fast you’ll grow and the size to which you’ll grow. There is no clear organizational structure in the New Testament, and I think God did that intentionally so the Church can adapt to different stages, ages, and cultures. God gives us broad principles and not … [Read more...]
Here are three essentials for breaking through the barriers to church growth. You must develop an unshakable conviction about growth (Colossians 2:19). An opinion is something you’ll argue about; a conviction is something you’ll die for. You need to settle the issue that God wants his church to grow. All living things grow. If a … [Read more...]
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