Recently a group of pastors and former youth ministers issued a statement that aged-graded ministries are unbiblical, that youth groups in church should be dissolved, that having special instructional times for children is damaging, and that the existence of children and youth ministries in churches is the cause of Christianity’s decline in the western world. […]
Preaching Tips and Ministry Issues
Two Faced: A Philosophy & Plan for Daily Tasks
I use an old Timex watch with two dials to track the time zones when traveling. It’s also emblematic of the problem many of us are facing nowadays—of having twice as much work as we should do. But I found encouragement today in Acts 1:7, when Jesus said the times and seasons are set by […]
Don’t Kill the Horse
This week, I’ve had the opportunity of teaching at Liberty University, and in one of my talks I’ve warned the group (ministerial and music grad students) about getting exhausted in church work — a lesson I’ve learned the hard way. In her devotional classic, Springs in the Valley, Mrs. Charles M. Cowman wrote: Many are […]
Erasmus’ Advice to Those Who Study
I mentioned in a previous post that I had packed a biography of the Reformation hero, Desiderius Erasmus, in my backpack to read on the return home from Europe. I couldn’t have made a better choice. Erasmus kept my interest from the time we took off in Budapest to the time we landed in Nashville. […]