Leadership
Church Planters, Don’t Wait To Put Your Documents in Place!
By Joel Kurz | 9Marks Journal: Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church | 03.01.2016Our church waited three years to put our church documents in order, and we suffered for it.
Mailbag #31: Healthy Membership before Healthy Eldership; Difficult Shepherding Situation; Ordination; Tithing
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.25.2016— Do we first educate our people about elders and deacons and then install them—or do we educate them about meaningful membership and then make meaningful membership part of how we operate? — One of our members refused to come to church because our building and people remind her of past pain. How can we shepherd her well? — What is the biblical view of ordination to the pastorate? — What is your view on tithing concerning New Testament believers?
Book Review: The Original Bishops, by Alistair Stewart
Review by Benjamin Merkle | 02.23.2016Any serious treatment of church offices must interact with this work. And yet, in the end, this book’s flaws render it another theory that has been tested and found wanting.
Mailbag #30: Non-Members Serving in Church; A Prospective Elder Who Doesn’t Regularly Attend; The Problem with Contemporary Christian Music; How Younger Members Can Serve Older Ones
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.18.2016— Is it wise to let non-members serve in behind-the-scenes ministries? What about children and teens who aren’t members but profess to be believers? — Should regular attendance be an implicit qualification for elders? — It appears my church enjoys shallow and theologically suspect songs. What should I do? — What are some ways that a younger church member can positively influence older members with regards to sound doctrine?
How Your Understanding of Conversion Impacts Your Ministry
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.17.2016Your doctrine of conversion will push or drive—like an engine—your ministerial practices in this direction or that.
The Worth of Waiting: A Word to Aspiring Elders
By Johnny Antle | 02.08.2016Don’t set your hope fully on being an elder. Set your hope fully on Jesus—he’s definitely coming back, and he’s definitely better.
Transition and the Pastor’s Wife
By Erin Wheeler | 01.29.2016How do two people from coastal northern California and the nation’s capitol end up in Arkansas? God does it. That’s how.
Mailbag #28: Are “Unequally Yoked” Marriages Always Sin?; Can You Discipline over Sins of Omission?; Is Dancing Acceptable in Corporate Gatherings?
By Jonathan Leeman | 01.26.2016— Are marriages between Christians and non-Christians always sin? What if they have children together? — Is it wise to discipline over sins of omissions, like husbands who don’t love their wives well? — Is dancing acceptable in corporate gatherings?
Three Pastoral Reminders From Three Dead Guys
Review by Nick Roark | 01.25.2016Sometimes the lessons we need the most are the reminders of glorious truths that you already know (2 Peter 3:1). I am grateful to the Lord for his grace in the lives of men like Edwards, Newton, and Bavinck.
Pastoring Dementia Patients
By Lewis Allen | 01.21.2016Here are 15 things to remember when pastoring folks through the difficulties of dementia.
Book Review: Spurgeon’s Sorrows, by Zack Eswine
Review by Bob Johnson | 01.20.2016Zack Eswine is not a stranger to sorrow and it shows. The tenderness in his heart has spotted and exposed the tenderness in Spurgeon. May God use this book to help all of us pastor more like Jesus.
Jesus’ Discipleship Program for Your Church
By Jonathan Leeman | 01.15.2016When Jesus and the apostles talked about church government, it wasn’t just a discussion of bureaucratic decision-making. It was most fundamentally and importantly a matter of discipleship!
Mailbag #26: Discipling the Arrogant; Hiring a Pastor Who Isn’t Convinced on His View of Baptism; Must Only Elders Baptize?
By Jonathan Leeman | 01.11.2016— How should you disciple someone who seems puffed up and arrogant in their perception of the Scriptures and their interpretations? — Must a pastoral candidate be fully convinced on their view of baptism, even if they are willing to submit to the prospective church’s teaching? — What restrictions, if any, should be placed on who can administer the ordinance of baptism, provided the baptism is under the authority of a local church?
Mailbag #25: Thinking through Church Budgets; My Congregation Demands an “Altar Call”; Tricky Membership Situation
By Jonathan Leeman | 12.22.2015— How do you lead a church through thinking through the budget in a way that obeys God? Further, how do you do this in a way that is “above-reproach” when leading the overall church through polity change? — My congregation begs for me to do a weekly “altar call,” but I am opposed to them. What should I do? — An elderly couple with health problems wants to join our church—but they won’t ever be able to attend. What do you think?
5 Ways Your Church Can Get Involved in Global Missions Starting Tomorrow
By D. Platt, P. Akin | 9Marks Journal: Missions: Adding Wisdom to Zeal | 12.21.20152.8 billion people have little to no access to the gospel. What can we do about it, starting tomorrow?
