Article by Rick Warren. Every pastor needs a mentor. No matter what stage you are in your ministry, you need someone to coach you. All sorts of organizations use the mentoring process to make people better at what they do. In medicine, doctors mentor younger doctors. In music, musicians mentor other musicians. Why? It works. […]
Other Ministries
Danger of the Celebrity Preacher and Decentralized Preaching
Article by Al Barth. In North America, we have an unhealthy fascination with celebrity preachers. Building a church (or a movement) around a celebrity pastor/preacher has inherent dangers and gives rise to certain problems. Let me list a few: 1. Celebrity pastors/preachers de facto become unaccountable even if they voluntarily submit themselves to a group […]
Mark Dever on Church Growth and Numbers
Rick Warren: Break Through These 3 Barriers to Growth
Here are three essentials for breaking through the barriers to church growth. You must develop an unshakable conviction about growth (Colossians 2:19). An opinion is something you’ll argue about; a conviction is something you’ll die for. You need to settle the issue that God wants his church to grow. All living things grow. If a […]
John Piper: Post-Resurrection Sin of Envy
After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. He answered yes three times. Then Jesus told Peter how he would die—apparently by crucifixion. Peter wondered about how it would go with John. So he asked Jesus, “What about this man?” Jesus brushed off the question and said, “What […]
Desiring God: Spiritual Leadership May Be Heartbreaking, but It Is Always Hopeful
Written by Jon Bloom. Any time a selfish sinner is tasked with leading other selfish sinners in a Godward direction — whether in families, friendships, small groups, churches, or broader movements — there’s going to be trouble. Take Moses, for example. No Old Covenant leader was as meek as Moses (Numbers 12:3), had more intimate […]