A Moment of Pulpit Panic

Pastor Jameson knows he used this illustration earlier but can't remember if it was at the first service or just five minutes ago.

The Memory of Jim Bakker

Think of Jim Bakker at PTL. Whether you liked him or not, tens of thousands of people would tell you that they were tremendously blessed and encouraged ...

Sounding the Magical Note

All preachers must struggle for that magical note somewhere between a trumpet of uncertain sound that brings no one to battle and the tin horn that thinks ...

Congregational Vacation

As he bids their train good-bye: Sure it cost more, but Pastor Mel enjoyed staying home while sending the CONGREGATION on vacation.

Warm = Not So Hot

In my senior year of ministerial studies, I preached part-time in a small local church. Six months passed and none of my professors had come to hear me. ...

Reading Between the Lines

Reading Between the Lines,

or What the Pulpit Committee Really Means:

"We have 246 members on the roll!" means Sunday morning worship attendance ...

First-Time Preaching

As a first-year seminarian, I was invited to preach at a local church--only my second time in the pulpit. I was extremely nervous when the big day arrived. ...

The Purpose of the Clergy

It is the laity who are baptized primarily to share Christ's ministry in the world, not the clergy, who in an unjust, violent world have their hands full ...

Not My Job

On my first pastorate, I had requested $20 per month from the board to pay someone to mow the lawn and care for the flowers on the church's property.

"The ...

We Aren't God

There is a sense of relief in remembering that I'm not God and am therefore not responsible for being God. ...

Sometimes, as a Bible teacher I feel ...