Category: Church Leadership
Dull Preaching
“Dull preachers make the best martyrs,” said Spurgeon. “They are so dry they burn well.” Well said. My contention is that dullness in preaching is not so much in the scant ability of the preacher as it is in the dry-as-dust heart of the same. Ross...
Does Your Teaching Make People Sleepy?
Glazed over eyes. Wide, tear-producing yawns. Bobbing heads. If you are a pastor, Sunday school teacher, or Bible study leader, you’ve seen them all while you were speaking, and you may be to blame. Is there anything we can do to help people stay connected while...
Better Prayer Meetings and Prayer Groups: Less Confusion, More Communion
Most of us have experienced both “good” and “bad” prayer meetings. Eventually we may find out that the “good prayer meeting” which seemed to go very well was actually tainted. Those who prayed sounded spiritual, but they were full of pride. And Peter tells us, “God...
Better Teaching By This Sunday
Every Sunday school teacher, Bible study leader, and preacher should aim to teach Scripture with accuracy, clarity, and in a way that helps the listener stay interested. We are always dependent on the Spirit to illuminate, but that’s not an excuse to instruct poorly. Here are...
What Pastors Must Do, and How to Help Them
I once heard a pastor who preaches weekly to thousands confess that he and his fellow pastors were failing the members of their church. Yes, he teaches the Bible faithfully every week. Yes, a large number of people in the church are regularly sent out for...
Robert Chapman: Famous for Love
Early in Robert Chapman’s ministry, his friends were not impressed with his preaching. They told him to give it up. Chapman replied: “There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim will be to live Christ.”1 Chapman did become...
Methodical Love
They loved her. The rest of the world remembers Frances Ridley Havergal for writing such great hymns as “Take my Life and Let it Be,” “Like a River Glorious” and “Count Your Many Blessings,” but to her fourteen students, she was just Miss Havergal, the dear...
Hard Work: The Spurgeon Way
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the renowned preacher of London in the 1800s, was not only a gifted leader, but was a hard worker. By the time most pastors write a few emails, wrestle with the dates for VBS and read the junk mail, Spurgeon would have completed...
The Whisperer, The KJVer, and Other Types of Group Prayer Participants You Don’t Want to Be
My first opportunity to pray in a group came when some of my fellow students and I were standing in a circle, holding hands. The leader told us we could either pray or squeeze the hand of the person next to us. I was a squeezer...
Herbert Brown: The Anointed Stutterer
James Alexander Stewart was experiencing enormous success as an evangelist. By the age of 20, he was so sought after that he was preaching four or five times a day. He also filled his hours with evangelism in the streets and in homes. This was too...
