The apostle Paul’s solemn charge to Timothy was to “preach the Word.” Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:2) Biblical preaching and teaching is the expounding of the Word of God to a world that needs to hear it. Of course, the gospel is our central message in preaching. But pastors are also to declare “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) as the expound Scripture to their church family. I have been preaching now for just over forty years. This is God’s calling on my life and is one of the great privileg ..read more

Pastors are surrounded by stress-inducing circumstances. Whether it be the uncivil culture in which we minister, family burdens, financial pressure, dealing with problems in the church, or any number of other factors, stress is a daily reality for pastors. But if stress is a daily realty for pastors, the availability of God’s grace is too. Jesus told us, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) In this new episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share eight ..read more

A few days ago, our church hosted our annual World Impact Missions Conference. One of our guests here for the conference was Dr. Kevin Folger, who is the North American Director for Spiritual Leadership Asia. The Spiritual Leadership Asia initiative has grown as God has continued to open amazing doors of opportunity for ministry in some of the most spiritually-needy places of the world. In this short bonus episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, Dr. Folger and I discuss the three aspect of Spiritual Leadership Asia and share how you can pray for billions of souls in the 10/40 window who n ..read more

Every church has core values, but not every church has written them down. And actually, it wasn’t until several years ago that I and some of the other leaders in our church worked on writing our core values. Both the process and the product proved to be a helpful exercise and tool. Today, we have our core values visibly displayed and give them to each new member. They are a key way that we communicate the philosophy of ministry and goal for the body life of our church family. Whether you are a church planter or have been pastoring for many decades, clarifying the core values of a church is ben ..read more

In the process of leading a church family and building a congregation, there are times when you need a restart. Sometimes this needed reset is because the church has gone through a specific trial or need. Other times, it’s simply the process of a spiritual leader stepping back, renewing his own heart and focus, and then helping the church family reengage in the work of the Lord. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share seven steps that have been helpful to me in this process ..read more

At a recent California for Christ meeting, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Alan Fong, Robbie Yapp, and James Kim to discuss the need for and challenges of church planting. It was our joy nearly twenty-five years ago to help Pastor Fong in planting Heritage Baptist Church in San Leandro, CA. It was a blessing to me then in this discussion to join with Pastor Fong to encourage a new generation of church planters on their journey. Robbie Yapp and James Kim are preparing to plant new churches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties here in Southern California next year. In this episode of th ..read more

On this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I sat down with one of my closest friends and mentors in the ministry, Dr. Don Sisk. We discussed an article he recently wrote for the Baptist Voice magazine and ministry127.com on the topic of disagreement without disunity. His thoughts on ministry relationships was a blessing to me, and I trust it will be an encouragement to you as well ..read more

The Lord has allowed me to serve him in ministry here at Lancaster Baptist Church for more than 35 years. It has not always been easy. There have been many difficult seasons, and numerous challenges, but as I look back over thirty-six years of ministry, these are some principles that have helped me to keep moving forward, and not to quit. This is part two of this lesson. In this podcast I will talk through the biblical principles of separation, balance, commitment, unity, and joy ..read more

In this episode, I have the opportunity to sit down with Coach Joe Kennedy, who recently won a cast at the United States Supreme Court. He had made a decision to pray on the field after each football game, and that decision cost him his job and ultimately led to his cast coming before the high court. Also joining us is Jeremy Dys, his attorney from First Liberty ..read more

The Lord has allowed me to serve him in ministry here at Lancaster Baptist Church for more than 35 years. It has not always been easy. There have been many difficult seasons, and numerous challenges, but as I look back over thirty-six years of ministry, these are some principles that have helped me to keep moving forward, and not to quit. This is part two of this lesson. In this podcast I will talk through the biblical principles of separation, balance, commitment, unity, and joy ..read more