Help! I’m Lonely: Good News for Lonely Leaders
I once heard Tim Keller say, “Wise leaders know that leaders are lonely, and they escape the trap of self-pity about it.” True, but Keller’s talk provided no answer to my immediate question, which was, “Yes. But how?!” I dare not trust myself to attempt to round off a Tim Keller sermon. But I will […]
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] […]
Beyond the Headlines: Recognizing the Faithful Shepherds
The recent news that Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, was involved in a serious offense against a twelve-year-old girl over thirty years ago is exceptionally troubling. I grieve for the victim of his abuse. Jesus taught there are few sins more egregious than harming a child. Although all sinners can accept […]
Revitalized Churches Start Listening
*Editor’s Note: In this series on church revitalization, Adam Jones, senior minister of Connect Christian Church in Carl Junction, MO, walks through important steps a declining church can take. Revitalization requires renewed leaders and a rediscovery of family. In this article, Jones explores the need to calm down and listen. When my son was four […]
Perspectives in Leadership: Leadership Is Stewardship
I prayed that God would give me wisdom to lead. In return, I was led down a path toward a special kind of slavery. I was initially intrigued when I discovered God’s habit of calling leaders his slaves. Moses (Joshua 1:1), David (2 Samuel 7:8), Paul (Titus 1:1), and Jesus (Philippians 2:7) are called slaves. […]
Perspectives on Leadership: Leadership is Participation
The best things in life are often those we didn’t know we needed. The same is true in leadership. I have heard it said that vision is the leader’s greatest commodity. Vision is our most potent weapon; it’s the indispensable quality of leadership, they say. I’ve been asked countless times what’s my vision for our […]
Revitalized Churches Require Renewed Leaders
In July 2004, I simultaneously learned that my wife was pregnant with our first child and chose to move us 12 hours away to pursue a student ministry position. I was confident God had called us to bigger and better things and naively walked into the worst church experience I’ve ever endured. We joined a […]
Don’t Be a Preacher Running a 1994 Play in a 2024 World…
January 22, 2024 Dear Renew.org Network, The subtitle of this post could be: Don’t require teenagers in your church to have more courage than their preacher . . . . Josh Howerton is the young lead pastor of Lakepointe Church, a multisite (and multilingual) church with 6 campuses in Dallas, TX. He published a post […]
