As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“As my offenses were enumerated, I felt my blood pressure skyrocket. My reflex was absolute defensiveness. But then I looked into the faces of these four or five men. I knew them. I knew their track records of humble, faithful, loving service in our church.” - 9 Marks
“Doctrines” is an old word for “teachings” or “instructions.” We tend to use the word “doctrine” when we list our beliefs, usually derived from someone’s attempt to summarize important teachings from Scripture.
We tend to distinguish between the “essential” (fundamental) doctrines of the evangelical faith and what we call “secondary” matters. I have heard many Christians dismiss important secondary doctrines as trivial because they are not among the fundamentals.
Podcast with transcript: “John Yates leads a pastoral panel with Matt Carter, Vermon Pierre, and Afshin Ziafat in a discussion on how hard ministry can be and what it takes to not lose heart. They discuss their personal experience of carrying the weight of the church and encountering criticism and fatigue.” - TGC
“I remember reading books and articles on pastoral ministry and leadership that emphasized the importance of vision and mission and 1-year goals and 5-year goals…. What if the real harvest is tested in generational faithfulness? What about 30-year goals for a church?” - Ref21
“When I review what I preached ten years ago, I find I would change a lot of what I said. When I think about how I led ten years ago, if I could, I would tell my twenty-six-year-old self to change approaches. How can I get angry about dissenting views now when I don’t even agree with myself in the past?” - Rainer
“I’ve taught seminary students now for 26 years, and I’ve worked with hundreds of graduates in doctoral programs or local church events. I always want to know what leadership issues pastors wish someone had taught them. Here are twelve I hear often” - Chuck Lawless
“44% of pastors say they need to invest in learning better communication skills. Michael Nave, pastor of Cornerstone Church, joins Ben Mandrell… to discuss the Greatest Needs of Pastors study and what pastors can do to become better communicators.” - Lifeway
“I am leading a massive, multi-year study of how churches have fared during the pandemic. Nearly every conversation I have gets around to just how exhausted clergy are and how many of their colleagues are thinking about quitting the ministry.” - RNS
“Tensions are surfacing among Slavic communities in the US, which have ties to both sides of the war in Ukraine.” - 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
Discussion