Jesus is with you in your storm. If you really see this you’ll experience the deep peace that guards your heart (Philippians 4:7). Here’s a Scripture meditation to help you experience Christ’s loving presence with you: Dark storm clouds pelted torrents of freezing rain on Jesus and the disciples, gale winds whipped their boat in…
Paul says of his pastoral ministry, “I magnify my office” (Romans 11:13, KJV). Pastor, do you magnify your office? Paul’s example and instruction is not just for professional church pastors—though it’s especially for them!—it’s for all of Christ’s ambassadors. So let me re-ask the question. Bible teacher, small group leader, marketplace worker, elder, counselor, leader,…
If you speak from a pulpit, classroom, blog, podcast, or small group you have a great opportunity to bless people. In my early 30’s I spoke to two thousand people in a church meeting and I was so panicky that I was sweating and tongue-tied. I vowed to never do that again! Like 75% of…
Many years ago I was at a pastors’ retreat and a friend excitedly handed me his newly published book. I complimented him, but inside I flamed with jealousy. I was in the midst of an extended fast from writing books. It ended up being fourteen years! When Richard Foster relinquished “The Celebration of Discipline” his…
We were sitting in a chair on a Montana ranch at the edge of a forest surrounded by mountains. Kristi and I had just finished leading three days of Soul Shepherding training for a community of pastor couples. Now we were enjoying our own retreat time in a 100-year old cabin. Have you ever enjoyed…
Sadly, we’ve all seen Christian leaders fail because they lacked emotional wholeness. Our godly intentions can be overrun by our personal shortcomings. Angry reactions, lustful impulses, conflict avoidance, emotional distance, prideful self-reliance, power plays, or the inability to work well with other people sabotage godly purposes and lead to failure. Usually when leaders fail or…
We’ve been providing care, counsel, and prayer to pastors and other servants of Christ for a number of years. One of the most important things we do is help them to rest in God. Every pastor and ministry leader I (Bill) know — starting with the one that looks back at me in the mirror! —…
Every Christian leader needs to overcome three temptations in order to be truly successful. These relate to you if you are a pastor or a parent, a small group leader or an executive, or whatever your area of responsibility over people is. If you minister to other people you will be tempted to follow the way of…
We all want to discern what God may be saying to us. Here are some uncommon, but proven methods for hearing God. To be sure, these methods for hearing God are not a mechanical sort of process in which we put our prayers into the vending machine and out comes the answer we want! But…
A few years ago I (Bill) read a leadership book by a Christian author and publisher that made no mention of Jesus. Not one. Yet most people in the world respect Jesus and are open to learning from him. In our Soul Shepherding Institute in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, we teach that the Lord…