Category: Pastor
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Pastoral Mentors: My Thank You to Joel and Donna Stocker
One of the greatest lessons I’ve ever been taught as a believer and minister is summed up in one line: “The enemy works in isolation; God works in community.” …and that lesson came from Joel and Donna Stocker. This past Sunday, two of the greatest mentors in my life announced their 2017 retirement to the congregation of…
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Anniversary Blog for My Parents: 43 Lessons They Taught Me About Ministry
There’s a lot of who I am that is certainly what God has shaped through His presence while using my own personality. And there’s also a tremendous amount of ministry philosophy and practics that were modeled by (IMO) the greatest ministry mentors a pastor could have: my parents. Don’t get me wrong, as they’ll tell…
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Pastor to Pastor: 3 Key Connections and 3 Key Questions
I sincerely love my neighbors, the Chandlers. They are a retired ministry couple that have the sweetest demeanor about them. Whenever I can, I love to look for opportunities to help them. In the winter “try” to assist them with the snow removal on their sidewalk and driveway. I will say last winter, to God be the glory, I NOT ONCE sucked up…
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Pastor to Pastor: Getting and Gathering Sermon Ideas
Prepping for sermons…well, I love prepping (said in the voice of Stanley from “The Office” from the pretzel day episode). I love preaching. Declaring the love of Christ to people is such an amazing privilege that I do not take lightly. It’s why I go full-tilt on my preaching preparation. My wife will tell you, my…
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Pastor to Pastor: 4 Next steps to follow when a fellow pastor has failed.
My heart is broken this morning. Sitting in a pool of tears in a coffee-house this morning, I’m sure I must be concerning the baristas and customers looking my way. All morning, I’ve been fine, but sitting down and reading articles about the resignation of a favorite pastor of mine has brought be to a…
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Pastor to Pastor: 4 Thoughts About Wearing Your Own Shoes
Pastoring is pressure. In other news, water is wet and the Detroit Lions are disappointing. There are a number of “pressure” statements that we as pastors hear. There are very few bigger pressure statements than this one: “You have big shoes to fill.” In almost 20 years of ministry, I’ve held 3 positions and I…
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Pastor to Pastor: Master the Mundane
Every day I get to wake up and do my dream job. It’s not necessarily how I envisioned my life as a child (or a teenager for that matter), but it has become what feeds the passion of my soul. I think that’s really what the “dream job” looks like. It’s that fit, that situation,…
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Pastor to Pastor: 5 Questions About Pastoral Transitions
Yesterday was the anniversary of my resignation of my last pastoral position. The transition was fantastic as was my tenure there. Serving at Christian Celebration Center were 7 of the greatest years of my life (thank you to Facebook and their “memories” feature for the reminder). These past 24 hours, combined with the past few pastor-to-pastor…
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Pastor to Pastor: Stop Quitting On Monday
For years, I’ve heard the old adage from Pastors: I quit my job almost every Monday Honestly, I get it….but please stop. (From the get-go of this blog for pastors, I want to speak into this thing of “The Calling” upon your life. The greatest calling you can have upon your life has nothing…
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Pastor to Pastor: How Do You Deal With People Leaving the Church?
I’ve never hidden my heart for pastors. I think part of it is the fact that I am currently in pastoral ministry. But what drives the other side is, when I was a broken and frustrated pastor, others lent their ear and freely gave their insight and wisdom. So, in essence, how in the world…
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