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4 Ways to Make Your Sermon Resonate All Week

Will Basham

The prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, knew well the importance of biblical preaching in the ministry and liturgy of the local church. He famously said, “Do not go where it is all fine music, grand talk, and beautiful architecture....
Article

Be Known, Not Impressive

Barnabas Piper

“You can be impressive, or you can be known, but not both.” — Ray Ortlund Jr. The first time I heard these words, I had an epiphany. The dichotomy presented was the very tension I had so long lived in...
Article

How to Make a Preaching Calendar

Dayton Hartman

Central to the gathering of God’s people is the preaching of God’s Word. Every pastor I know would heartily affirm that statement. However, belief drives action. What you believe will be revealed by what you do. So, my question is...
Article

4 Naïve Mistakes in Church Planting

Dan Steel

One problem in the church-planting world is that the stories we hear, the books we read, and the people we admire are often anomalies. They are the outliers. The rare success stories capture our hearts, help us dream, and inspire...
Article

9 Essentials for Church Planters

J.A. Medders

The “9 Essentials of a Faithful and Effective Church Planter” is a framework for assessment, training, coaching, and resourcing church planters. Here is a quick overview. Every sport has metrics for what makes an ideal athlete. Speed, wingspan, IQ, mechanics,...
Article

Disciple-Making Needs a Destination and Direction

Gus Hernandez Jr.

Have you ever ended up in the wrong location? Navigation woes can be quite frustrating! Several years ago, my wife and I were driving up to visit her family in Delaware for Christmas. After driving all day, we decided to...
Article

Church Planting Liturgy

Noah Oldham

In seminary, I took a class called “Baptist History.” It was touted as the hardest class in the MDiv program because it covered such a breadth of details that make up the history of Baptistic faith and practice. I took...
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3 Lenses for Preaching Well

Mark Lee

My parents were born in Seoul, Korea. I was born in Portland, Oregon.  My parents lived through a war when they were children. My most traumatic childhood experience was when the guacamole gun at the Taco Bell went dry. In...
Article

3 Connections for First-Time Visitors

Dayton Hartman

Hospitality is a defining feature of the Christian life, individually and of the church corporately. The Apostle Paul calls us to be a welcoming people because we have experienced the gracious welcome of Christ (Rom. 15:7). To put it another...
Article

Tempted to Be Exceptional

Barnabas Piper

Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods stood alone in their fields as cutthroat geniuses. General Stanley McChrystal, Jocko Willink, James Stockdale and other fine military men offer lessons on leadership in extreme circumstances. Winston Churchill was the Last Lion....
Article

Overcoming Isolation and Burnout in Church Planting: Building for the Long Haul

Dan Steel

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
 — African Proverb Starting a church often feels like something of an adventure. There’s early energy, vision, anticipation, and a belief that God will...
Article

3 Categories to Consider Before Appointing a Leader

Jon Kelly

The appointment of leaders is all throughout the Scriptures. Whether it is Moses delegating responsibilities to other leaders at the recommendation of Jethro, Jesus entrusting authority to the Twelve, or Paul giving Timothy counsel on appointing leaders within the church,...
Article

Spurgeon’s Concern for Pastors

J.A. Medders

John Piper warned us years ago, “Brothers, we are not professionals.” The leadership-guru-ization of pastoral ministry is a corrosive danger. Piper’s warning isn’t a call to abandon excellence and diligence. It’s a siren, a lighthouse, a bulletin to not approach...
Article

Reimagining Prayer for the New Year

Ronnie Martin

As hard as it is to believe, New Year’s resolutions are about to ramp up again, and to be honest, I’m here for it. The reason why I happen to be pro-New Year’s resolutions is because I like a blank...
Article

Church Planters Must Fight for Friendship

Noah Oldham

There’s an infamous rumor that church planting is a lonely journey. Since 2020, one of my responsibilities has been to oversee Church Planter and Spouse Care for the largest church planting network in North America. For the previous nine years,...
Article

When I Don’t Feel Like a Pastor

Barnabas Piper

Recently one of our elders, as we were milling about waiting for our monthly meeting to start, looked me in the eye and said, “You know you’re our pastor, right? Like, a real pastor.” Some discernment in him recognized in...
Article

5 Reasons Disunity Happens in Church Plants

Dan Steel

One of the questions I’m often asked about, when discussing why church plants struggle, is whether any of the results were particularly surprising. In one sense, the answer is no. Having served as a pastor and planter for over 20...
Article

How to Lighten the Leadership Load

Mark Lee

In 1991, doctors at Stanford University Medical Center removed a 300-pound tumor from the stomach of a 34-year-old woman. The tumor was twice the size of her natural body weight! Reporters asked her the obvious question, “Why did you wait...