As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Memorial Day is always a wonderful time to reflect on the “good inheritance”1 (Ps. 16:6) that we enjoy as Americans, as Christians, and within our individual families. We honor those who have given of themselves—especially those who have given their very lives—for our country, and we also remember all of those who have preceded us in our family histories.
“…things that are cool are ephemeral. What’s fashionable is, by the necessity of the rules of fashion, quickly obsolete. This is one of many reasons why chasing cool is a fool’s errand for churches and pastors, as I argue in my book Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide.” - TGC
“Even if we haven’t seen a dramatic increase in pastoral attrition, many people believe it’s still coming…. If the bubble does burst later this year or next, all eyes are on three demographics: pastors early in their careers, those nearing retirement, and bivocational ministers.” - C.Today
“I am a pastor—no one you’ve ever heard of and, by every statistic I have read, that’s most pastors.” - Denison Forum
“The following 12 practices were identified by comparing current pastors with former pastors who had left the pastorate before retirement age. We analyzed which questions most strongly predict whether a pastor continues to serve as a senior pastor.” - Lifeway
“It’s those with long experience who are in a position to “keep calm and carry on”—to focus on executing the fundamentals when it looks like the other team is just going to run up the score. To be the tortoise rather than the hare.” - Olinger
Jay Lickey
Of all my days of being in and around churches, I have heard some church names that caught my attention. The Halfway Baptist church always made me chuckle when I drove past it in college. I have heard of a few Corinthian Baptist churches which made me wonder what kind of problems they were dealing with. I have even heard of a Laodicea Baptist church. But in all my days I have never heard of a Sodom church. No one is surprised by this. But it does get you thinking, doesn’t it? What would a church do in a modern-day Sodom?
“…these recent crises have had a spiritually clarifying effect on them. This generation has a spiritual hunger and a desire to grow into disciples prepared to engage a turbulent world.” - C.Today
“If today’s followers of Christ fall on hard times, if we lose favor and become a persecuted or marginalized minority, it might actually mark the beginning of our truest impact. … it is not from a place of worldly or political power and privilege that God’s people have through the centuries found their firmest footing.” - Scott Sauls
“Whether short-term or long-term in nature, most of those serving in the church have seen their church’s numbers decline. What, then, creates a healthy ministry mindset during a downturn?” - Lifeway
Discussion