The Value of a Penny

Steve Sjogren is the pastor of a Vineyard in Cincinnati, Ohio. One Monday morning he was feeling particularly discouraged and announced to his wife Janie, ...

Study Overdose

You know you're spending too much time in the study

• When thou speaketh to thy children and helpmate thusly.
• When you start seeing the evening paper laid out in chapters and verses.

Work Is Never Done

Despite his popularity, John Chrysostom sometimes became discouraged with the seeming deafness of his listeners as they failed to apply the truths he ...

Losing God

Even sermon making, incessant and taxing as an art, as a duty, as a work, or as a pleasure, will harden and estrange the heart by neglect of prayer from ...

Strengthening of John Wesley

A young John Wesley, "clearly convinced of (his) unbelief," asked Peter Boehler whether he ought to quit preaching until he had faith. Boehler's ...

The Dangers of Stress

The pressures of the ministry eat at the heart muscle of any man, or the stomach lining, or the arteries, all of which compose the miracle that is the ...

The Top 10 "Last Words in Your Church"

Pastoral lines you may not be around long enough to regret

Sometimes words have to be eaten. Other times, they turn out to have teeth that bite. From an ...

Not Enough Study

In an interview, Billy Graham was asked this question: "If you had to live your life over again, what would you do differently?" His answer: ...

Whose Problem?

A minister took a guilt trip in a sermon: "I let the congregation really have it. Their stewardship was dismal, their participation was weak; and ...

Praying for the Pastor

If a church wants a better pastor, it can get one by praying for the one it has.