Discipleship requires management as much as leadership
Pastors manage churches as much, if not more, than leading them. Making disciples requires pastors to be involved in the day-to-day operations of a church.
Pastors manage churches as much, if not more, than leading them. Making disciples requires pastors to be involved in the day-to-day operations of a church.
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It’s tempting to imagine that legendary ministers like E. M. Bounds or Andrew Murray or someone known as “Praying Hyde” were simply born to pray. Along with the likes of David Brainerd, Leonard Ravenhill, Armin Gesswein, Bertha Smith, George Müller and so many others, there is a group of Christians who are primarily remembered for their prayer lives or their teaching on prayer. But no one was ever born praying. The men and women most known for prayer were not members of a spiritually elite corps the rest of us weren’t invited to join. They learned to pray.
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One statement from the introduction of Katie McCoy’s book To Be a Woman sets the stage for the conversation our culture is afraid to have but can’t afford to avoid.
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About four years ago, I was a student heavily involved in collegiate ministry, growing in my understanding of Scripture, and being discipled by a woman in our church. However, even as I grew and learned more about the church, I remember asking myself, “Where do I fit in to all this?”
As a pastor, I always looked forward to Vacation Bible School. It was a great opportunity to interact with the children and adults in our church, reach families in our community, and share the Gospel. It was one of my favorite weeks of the year! That being said, there are some good reasons not to do Vacation Bible School. Here are just a few:
We have been through a time when everything has been stripped away, David Johnson says. When that happens, it usually reveals something about our hearts.
The Bible speaks clearly against racism, David Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, writes, listing seven key principles. "We just need to believe it," he adds, "and live it."