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 […]

Inviting Church Leaders into a Transformative Vision

December 11, 2023 This past summer, after a time of prayer, a meeting was initiated by the leadership of RENEW.org. The vision was to bring together 40 senior ministers/pastors who were around 40 years of age based upon a renewed vision of the Restoration Movement. RENEW.org is broader than the Restoration Movement, including Baptists, Community […]

Youth Leader, You Don’t Have to Work Alone. Join a Learning Community.

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” —H.E. Luccock Each of us in our own way is on God’s stage and playing our part in His orchestra. We may even be playing well and not missing a note—which is important. But perhaps the saddest thing as a musician […]

3 Ways to Shepherd Well

One of the foremost elders of the church, the Apostle Peter, gives us a clear picture of our role as elders. In 1 Peter 5:1-4, he states: Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to […]

3 Healthy Ways to Handle Ministry Pressure

Serving in ministry full-time, part-time, or even as a volunteer can be a daunting task. Constantly developing sermon series, teaching materials, leading or participating in staff meetings, board meetings, small group meetings (well, you get the idea). Not to mention dealing with numerous issues within the church. The litany of problems laid at your feet […]

Does Your Church Have the Right Endgame?

Right before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus shared His vision for His Church—His heart for Gospel impact and saturation: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  The endgame […]