Or What Should He Be Doing? To start answering that question, I’d like to share a story that a pastor told me lately. I was having breakfast with one of these friends, who holds a couple of decades of pastoral experience. After giving our order to the waitress, we started chatting about my upcoming candidation…
Phoebe’s story shows that women can serve as deacons under biblical authority, using their gifts to strengthen the church.
It’s Christian Character. A couple of days ago, we started a post-series on deaconship, answering the question, “What is a deacon?” We discovered that a deacon is a servant. Now let’s unpack the passage. “8 In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain….
Church Boss or Servant Leader? According to Paul‘s first letter to Timothy, a Deacon should be dignified and worthy of respect. A Deacon should be sincere and not double-tongued. A Deacon should not be addicted to substances such as alcohol. And they shouldn’t be greedy, or pursue dishonest gain. A Deacon should be tested, to make…
Is there a difference between men and women? Can women lead men in the church? Can women teach men in the church? If so, does the topic or content make a difference? Should there be guidelines or boundaries? If so, what are they and when or how should they be established? This week, we’ve been…
A balanced look at women in ministry, exploring three major views and why Scripture supports the complementarian perspective.
The Proof Is In the Pew. We’ve been working our way through the first half of 1 Timothy 1 this week. So far, we’ve talked about Authority and Accountability. Today we’ll be discussing the Assessment. (Click HERE to open verses 8-11 of 1 Timothy 1 in your browser.) Within these verses, we find an ugly list: “…lawbreakers and rebels, the…
The Power of Mentorship and Accountability. Too many pastors come out of Bible college with unrealistic expectations of what church-life is really going to be like. Many of them are left to do it on their own. It’s at that point, young pastors need to get serious about bringing in some outside guidance and wisdom. We’ve been looking…
Why We Should Check a Pastor’s Authority. What kind of authority does pastoral leadership really have? I know that word “authority” can sound like a four letter word in church circles. But when used properly, it can prevent us from slipping away from sound doctrine. Today, we’re going to discuss the topic of authority. Who has it and…
And Preventing the Slippery Slope of False Doctrine. Is the experience of Christianity becoming more important than the foundations of Christianity? The more I watch and read about Christianity and the global church, the more I struggle to see Christians holding fast to Biblical truth and standing firm on doctrinal integrity. More and more, spiritual discussions…
You can’t make people stay. These days, Christians tend to church-shop more than previous decades. Sometimes it’s because they’ve moved to another part of town or a different town altogether. Moves and career changes are far more frequent these days, and therefore, a person’s local church may change more frequently. Sometimes it’s a more personal reason,…
Keep an Open Mind In 2016 In 1975 a young engineer named Steve Sasson, working for the Kodak company invented the first digital camera. When he pitched his invention to Kodak upper management they replied with, “…that’s cute—but don’t tell anyone about it.” The New York Times (5/2/2008) For the next few decades, Kodak continued…