What Does the Bible Say about Mediums?
When I was younger, I didn’t believe in things like ghosts, psychics, and witchcraft. I believed ghosts and monsters were in the same category: figments of imagination and folklore meant to whip listeners into shape. Psychics and witches were more like charlatans—good fact-gatherers with a knack for turning a dollar. But that automatic assumption changed […]
My Cup Overflows
“My cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5c, NIV). These three simple words come from one of the most popular psalms in the Bible, Psalm 23. These words have given me so much life and encouragement during my first full-time ministry experience this past summer. On the days when I was exhausted, these were the words I came […]
Pastoral Burnout: Getting Below the Surface
Author’s note: This is my second article dealing with pastoral burnout. Recent Barna research revealed that 33% of ministers had given serious thought to quitting. My own research for a graduate studies project showed 63% of those surveyed had given or were giving serious thought to quitting the ministry. In the first article, I wrote […]
4 Reasons to Pray that Go Beyond My Physical Needs
We usually think of prayer as asking things of God or at least talking to Him, thanking Him and praising Him. However, let me suggest that prayer is first of all listening to God. 1. We pray to listen to God. In prayer, God has our attention. We don’t have to ask for His attention; […]
Practicing the Presence: Being Present with God and People in a Busy World
“I’m busy!” Those words are uttered so frequently that we do not even notice them anymore. Our culture wears those words like a badge of honor. “I’m busy” unfortunately doesn’t just describe our calendars. It can also describe our hearts. This is as true for ministers as it is for anyone. As I mentioned in […]
Church Is Boring? 3 Times It Actually Is
When someone says or thinks that church is boring, what is it exactly that they are bored by? Here are three times a church gathering actually is boring—to us and, I want to suggest, to God as well. Smiling through small talk can be boring. In a commercial, a young woman walks up to the […]
Pastoral Burnout: Beating Burnout Before it Begins
Being a minister is hard. Being a lead minister in 2024, post-COVID in the United States, is harder than ever. Barna Research Group’s 2022 research revealed that 41% of lead ministers have thought about quitting.[1] When they did a follow-up survey in 2023, they saw an encouraging trend with only 33% giving serious consideration to quitting.[2] […]
Do You Have Spiritual Heartburn?
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32, ESV) These are the words of the two disciples who walked with the resurrected Lord that fateful day on the road to Emmaus. They were kept […]
