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Leadership, Church, and Ministry

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Encourage, inspire, lead! “He shepherded them with a pure heart
and guided them with his skillful hands” (Ps. 78:72).

In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Elevation Church and its Easter ad: Sure, invitations are important. But what matters more is what comes next

3 Comments 6 Mins Read

Elevation Church is no stranger to controversy. The North Carolina megachurch and its founding Pastor, Steven Furtick, frequently provide plenty of reasons to critique and criticize their methods or their message. And most of that criticism is justifiable. Furtick is a prosperity preacher whose messages display faulty (if any) exegesis and which seek to foster a feel-good version of Christianity that barely resembles biblical, historical, or orthodox Christianity. But, that said, this week the critics…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Should Christians attend a same-sex wedding?— Alistair Begg’s answer and why it matters to us all

5 Comments 6 Mins Read

Should Christians attend a same-sex wedding ceremony? Postmodern culture says that love and approval are the same thing. (They are not). So, the culture says that we cannot criticize someone’s lifestyle choices and love them at the same time. Therefore, the culture says, to decline attending a same sex marriage ceremony would be unloving. Homophobic. Hateful. That is not only a cultural conclusion. Progressive Christianity buys into that answer, too. But to the Christian parent…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Why this? Why now? The Asbury awakening comes at a crucial time. And we need to pay attention

6 Comments 7 Mins Read

At the close of the chapel service February 8 at Asbury University, students stayed. And a spiritual awakening started. Since then, daily reports across social media are documenting this revival. So I won’t rehash the details here. If you need to catch up, start here and here for solid and reliable perspectives. This revival is growing, thriving, and spreading. Hundreds of people are lining up at Asbury to participate. Cedarville University, Lee University, and others…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

63% of Pastors lack a biblical worldview. What does that mean, and why does it matters to you?

4 Comments 6 Mins Read

The 2022 American Worldview Inventory of Arizona Christian University revealed some unsettling facts. We’ve already explored what the study reported regarding Christian parents. That is, that only 4% of parents who profess to be Christians adhere to a biblical worldview. That’s bad. But it gets worse. Turns out that the confusion of our parents mirrors a crisis in the pulpit. ACU surveyed pastors in a variety of roles, from Senior Pastors to Youth and Children’s…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Global crises, poor leadership, and four biblical lessons all leaders need to remember

No Comments 7 Mins Read

Global crises abound. Russia is invading Ukraine, China is pressuring Taiwan, Canada is restricting freedoms in favor of government coercion, and America—well, you get the idea. The increase in global calamities is predictable and biblical (Matt 24), but so is the need for leaders who are capable of handling the turbulence that consumes us. For that reason, it is a good idea to always remember that God created people, so wise leadership reflects and applies…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Jen Psaki, the problem with identity politics, and the two things all leaders must do

2 Comments 6 Mins Read

Should we critique VP Kamala Harris’ leadership the way we would critique other leaders? Jen Psaki doesn’t think so. In a podcast on November 17, Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, defended her recently tweeted position that Harris is a great leader by claiming that Harris’ critics are largely racists and misogynists. “I do think that it has been easier and harsher from some in the right wing who have gone after her because she…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Ed Litton, the plagiarism problem, and three ways you can help your Pastor be the preacher God called him to be

4 Comments 6 Mins Read

Immediately following the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2021, incoming president Ed Litton and outgoing president JD Greear found themselves at the center of an uncomfortable conversation that was quickly fanned into a full-blown social media firestorm. The controversy centers on a YouTube video that was edited to toggle between a 2019 sermon by Greear and a sermon Litton preached in January, 2020, both on Romans 1. Anyone watching the video…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Pastors, the Covid-19 vaccine, and three reasons we can support taking it

No Comments 6 Mins Read

Should pastors support the Covid-19 vaccine? Soon we will show it by our choice to take it or decline. In my state, North Carolina, pastors and clergy will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when state officials expand to the next phase of vaccinations, regardless of our age. Following federal guidelines, NC officials are making vaccines available by groups. According to Baptist Press, “North Carolina is currently vaccinating groups 1 and 2, which include…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

“Preacher Don,” the mentor God knew I needed, and embracing the inevitable unpredictability of pastoral ministry

No Comments 7 Mins Read

I was gripping the handle of a hand truck, balancing a washing machine, when my mother-in-law called out from the house, “Bob, you have a phone call. It’s Don Ingle.” My wife and I had just departed Texas and returned to North Carolina. Except for some remote work, seminary was finished, so we were seeking God’s open door for ministry, hoping to serve a church as its Pastor. In the thick humidity of August 1992,…

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In Leadership, Church, and Ministry

Our church staff’s case of Covid, my 14 days in quarantine, and what I learned along the way

No Comments 7 Mins Read

On Monday, November 2, a member of our church staff began having allergy-like symptoms. No worries. She had simple seasonal respiratory issues in the past. But on Tuesday, she was worse. On Wednesday, she was suffering. And on Thursday, she tested positive for Covid-19. Her end of this story is one of isolation, frustration, and sickness. After fever, aches, nausea, alarming respiratory distress, and two trips to the ER, she is on the mend. But…

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