Pastors

Standing in the Crossfire

While agreement is wonderful, sometimes conflict is better than consensus.

Marshall Shelley

An interview with Bill Hybels

Interview with Bill Hybels

WHEN'S IT'S A SIN TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS

Sometimes it's wrong to take the blame.

Name withheld

A WOUNDED PASTOR'S RESCUE

How one near-casualty was saved and returned to ministry.

Jim Amandus with Bobl Moeller

THE LANDMARK SERMON

A clear word at the right time can keep the church from getting separated.

Jack Hayford

ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Five ways church members will react in a fight.

Norman Shawchuck and Robert Moeller

WARS YOU CAN'T WIN

Facing determined guerilla forces may be a no-win situation.

Andre Bustanoby

WAYS TO SHAKE OFF THE DUST

Steps to putting a forced farewell behind you.

Louis McBurney

THE CONCILIATION CAVALRY

When things look hopeless, you can call in outside help.

Eddy Hall

WHEN NOT TO CONFRONT

Sometimes conflict is better left alone.

Leroy R. Armstrong, Jr.

ARE PASTORS ABUSED?

Criticism comes with the territory, but sometimes it crosses the line.

Arlo Walker

CAN SERVANTS SAY NO?

Rick Stedman

A POWERFUL PRESENCE

How to provide what the sick and dying need most.

Richard Exley

CARING FOR THE CONFUSED

The oft-forgotten ministry to those with Alzheimer's.

Kevin Ruffcorn

SAINTWATCHING

With patience and a sharp eye, you can spot them in the wild.

Charles Denison

COMEBACK

A sense of calling returns from the disabled list.

Jim Kallam, Jr

CONTENDING FOR THE TRUTH...IN CHURCH PUBLICITY

When you tell others about your church, is honesty the best policy?

Wayne Kiser

SUCCEEDING A PATRIARCH

How to perform when you have a tough act to follow.

Michael Blaine

WRAPPING UP A LONG PASTORATE

Announcing your retirement early has its advantages.

Malcom Nygren

A Pastor's Quarrel with God

In ministry, you sometimes find yourself questioning God's grand scheme.

Eugene H. Peterson

Preachers and listeners perform a dance of the spirit, and sometimes Someone Else cuts in.

Joseph Phelps

DIAGNOSING YOUR HEART CONDITION

Developing spiritual fruit requires being around people--ordinary, ornery people.

Marshall Shelley

A Leadership Forum probes the vital signs of spiritual fitness.

THE QUEST FOR CONTENTMENT

How come restlessness pursues us even to paradise?

Martin Thielen

HOW PASTORS PRACTICE THE PRESENCE

A Leadership Survey sizes up church leaders spiritual growth.

David L. Goetz

TESTS OF A LEADER’S CHARACTER

Spiritual Direction for today from a thirteenth-century saint.

Bonaventure

THE DANGER OF DETAILS

Bonaventure

PRACTICING THE ORIGINAL PASSION

Different ways to observe the Christian discipline of prayer.

John R. Throop

THE JOY OF INEFFICIENT PRAYER

Conversations with God can wander into wonder.

Donald Gerig

HIDDEN EFFICIENCIES OF PRAYER

Four ways that prayer is productive.

Joseph Winger

Spiritual Disciplines for the Undisciplined

Seeking God with our own temperamental prayers—an interview with Charles Killian.

Bob Moeller

TO ILLUSTRATE

KEEPING CONNECTED TO SPIRITUAL POWER

CULTIVATING CLOSENESS

Above all else, pastors need fresh and frequent experiences of God's presence.

Maxie Dunnam

An interview with Jim Cymbala.

THE POWER OF COMMUNION

Barb Shackelford

BUSTING OUT OF SERMON BLOCK

Having to speak doesn't always mean you have something to say.

Haddon Robinson

DANCING WITH DEFEAT

Everyone stumbles. The graceful regain their balance.

Knute Larson

THE PREVENT DEFENSE

Knute Larson

ICONS EVERY PASTOR NEEDS

Six ways to remember your value.

Greg Asimakoupoulos

WHY WON’T I PRAY WITH MY WIFE?

Breaking the barriers to spiritual intimacy.

Louis McBurney

BENEFITS OF AN INTENTIONAL INTERIM

An interim pastor can turn a church with problems into a church ready for progress

Nola Deffenbaugh

PASTORING STRONG-WILLED PEOPLE

How do you follow the Lamb when you're shepherding lions?

S. Robert Maddox

TO VERIFY

MINISTERIAL BUNIONS

What do you become when ministry rubs the wrong way? Toug? Or tender?

Philip Yancey

I continually have to monitor my spiritual life. How much of it is form without substance?

Gladys Hunt

THE CUTTING-EDGE TRADITIONAL CHURCH

You rarely hit creativity by aiming at it directly. You have to point at a larger, more substantial target.

Marshall Shelley

CLASSIC CREATIVITY

Bringing color and fragrance to historic church is what you'd expect from a pastor named Rose.

Marshall Shelley and Brian Larson

Some forms of next century's church may be remarkably familiar.

Leith Anderson

CAN YOU TEACH AN OLD CHURCH NEW TRICKS?

Even traditional churches can gain a healthy flexibility.

Michael Lewis

WEIGHING THOSE WEDDING INNOVATIONS

What some couples want in a ceremony borders on bizarre.

Edd Breeden

THE WELL-FED IMAGINATION

How to be your own best think tank.

Robert J. Morgan

RAISING YOUR CREATIVITY QUOTIENT

A few good habits can improve the quality of your ideas

Gary Gonzales

LET THERE BE WIT & WISDOM, WEEKLY

After six days, God's creation was done. But for pastors…

John Ortberg

ADDING BREADTH AND DEPTH

Sermons grow stronger by wrapping your mind around big ideas

Joel C. Hunter

Handing Your Baby to Barbarians

Why your brightest ideas aren't always warmly embraced.

Craig Brian Larson

Leadership

WHAT’S DRAMA DOING IN CHURCH?

Willow Creek's Steve Pederson describes how Broadway fits the Narrow Way.

Steve Pederson

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Sharon Sherbondy

Case Study: The Entrenched and Ineffective Worker

Six creative approaches to an awkward pastoral dilemma.

Norman Shawchuck, David Chadwick, Alvin Jackson, LeRoy Lawson

WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE A FOREIGNER

TO VERIFY…

Trying to fit into a new church can give you culture shock.

Kenneth Quick

Leadership

The Unique Network of a Small Church

Learning to communicate in ways a congregation expects.

John Koessler

REKINDLING VISION IN AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH

The Prophet Joel said old men would dream dreams. What about old congregations?

Dennis Sawyer

A STRUCTURE RUNS THROUGH IT

CLOSE UP

Grant Lovejoy

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

Grant Lovejoy

Contemporary worship that flows is flexible, but it isn't random.

Barry Liesch

SONGS THAT FIT THE FLOW

Barry Liesch

A MODEL WORSHIP SET

Barry Liesch

Leadership|Outreach

REVERSING CHURCH DECLINE

How to regain morale and momentum, if you're so inclined.

Ron Klassen

A GREAT PLAINS MINISTRY

Doing God's work in windswept places.

Dan Edmondson

GOING TO YOUR LEFT

Pastoral ministry demands more than playing to your strengths.

Kent Hughes

SQUEEZE PLAY AT HOME

One pastor's toughest call.

Art Greco

BUILDING YOUR ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY

When church workers resist the draft, start enlisting them.

Ken Horton with Al Sibello

A CLEARER CALL FOR COMMITMENT

To win support for ministry requires the right attitude

Jim Kallam, Jr

REGARDING RESULTS

In the ministerial box score, which stats really matter?

Stuart Briscoe

It's a mistake to preach out of dogma or doctrine without freshly seeing where the gospel is occurring.

John Killinger

Discipleship |Leadership|Outreach

While some may thrive on heated confrontation, most of us long for a calmer, more compassionate means of resolving differences.

Marshall Shelley

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW

Seven leaders identify ministry's most strategic points.

Leonard Sweet, Eugen Peterson, Rick Warren, D. James Kennedy, Jack Hayford, James Montgomery Boice, and Don Argue

THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

Some of the new lasws that impact ministry.

Richard R. Hammar

How to Spend the Day in Prayer

UNLIKELY ALLIES

If you can't fight city hall, join forces.

Ron Fowler

WHEN TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC

Five questions to ask before speaking in a secular situation.

Edward G. Dobson

TO ILLUSTRATE…

THE SLY SABOTEUR

How to arrest ministry's nemesis, Procrastination.

John Maxwell

TIME TRACKING

A workable way to answer the question What did you do this week?

Ross Bartlett

HEART TO HEART PREACHING

How to tap authentic emotions, both yours and the listeners'.

Dan S. Baty

A day alone with God may be your most important appointment.

Lorne C. Sanny

STORIES FOR THOSE WHO MOURN

Personal memories can salve death's sting.

Kevin Filkins

WIRING YOURSELF FOR LIGHTNING

When you're the church lightning rod, you have to be well grounded.

Ben Patterson

GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD PASTORS

Boundaries can lengthen and strengthen your ministry.

Richard Blackmon

THE TOP-10 “LAST WORDS IN YOUR CHURCH”

Pastoral lines you may not be around long enough to regret.

WHEN YOUR CHILDREN PAY THE PRICE

How one pastor's family withstood the trauma of sexual abuse in the church.

Bob Moeller

MAKING SENSE OF THE TRAUMA

Janet Omaits

BAPTISM IN A COFFIN

Can pardon be freely given for the worst offense?

Ralph C. Wood

BREAKING THE GRUMBLERS’ GRIP

How to respond (and not respond) to chronic complainers.

John White

IF YOU HAVE A GRIPE, PRESS 2

Louis McBurney

Leadership|Outreach

THE HIGH-TURNOVER SMALL CHURCH

Sometimes it feels like this isn't a congregation but a bus depot.

Earl Creps

WHEN YOU TAKE A PUBLIC STAND

How one pastor calculated the costs of addressing abortion.

Richard Exley

THE TIGHTER ZONING DEFENSES

A new legal landscape faces churches that want to build.

Lyle E. Schaller

ZONED OUT

These days it takes something extra to get a building permit.

Craig Brian Larson

MAKING PEACE IN A WAR ZONE

The persistent creativity required to find a place to worship.

Michelle and Warren Bird

TO VERIFY …