Pastoring & Leadership Related Links

Here are the best pastoring and leadership related blog posts I came across lately. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought".

1. The Recipe for a Successful Pastor
2. Questions are the Answer
3. 10 Wise Leadership Lessons I’ll Never Forget
4. What Happens When We Go to Scripture Looking for an Outline, Not for Life
5. Why Trust Matters More Than You Realize (And 3 Ways To Create It)
6. Twenty-One Words That Describe Christian Leadership
7. You Need Others’ Voices

Pastoring Related Posts Links

Here are the seven best pastoring related blog posts I came across this past week. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Five Simple Practices for Putting Your Church on Mission
2. Measuring Ministry Progress: Gospel Articulation
3. The Most Scriptural System of Church Government
4. What Your People Need Most from You (and probably don't know it)
5. 6 Tips for Your First Year In a New Ministry Position
6. Ten Things Pastors Wish They Knew Before They Became Pastors
7. Spurgeon: Prayer is Vital for the Success of Ministry

Pastoring Related Posts - February 4

Here are the best ten pastoring related blog posts I came across this past week. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Where Is Your Identity? (4:13) - Paul Tripp
2. Every Member a Disciple Maker (54:10) - David Platt (need to register)
3. Leader or Pastor? - Keith Giles
4. Raising Up New Leaders - Eric Davis
5. 3 Reasons Why Some Churches Don't Grow - Aaron Armstrong
6. 5 Reasons Some Leaders Finish Poorly - Ed Stetzer
7. We've Confused Leadership with Discipleship - Larry Osborne
8. Cultivating a Passion for Evangelism in Your Church - Mike Riccardi
9. 5 Things to Consider about Your Calling - Casey Cease
10. 5 Things to Learn from International Church Planting - Ed Stetzer

Pastoring Quote - Barry Parker

Pastoral ministry involves three basic priorities as well: knowing God, knowing self and knowing ministry, in that order. All of ministry is about focusing on these three basics and working them out in the context of ministry.

Related Links
Pastoring Related Posts - January 8

Pastoring Related Posts - January 14

Pastoring Related Posts - January 23

Pastoring Related Posts - January 28

Pastoring Related Posts - January 28

Here are the best pastoring related blog posts I came across this past week. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Whose Kingdom? - Paul Tripp
2. Zack Eswine on Significance in the Ordinary (4:27)
3. Developing Authentic Relationships - Bruce Zachary
4. Building Unity and Friendship Among Elders - Bob Johnson
5. Are You Addicted to Ministry? - Rick Warren
6. 8 Obstacles to Making Disciples  - J. R. Miller
7. One Sanctifying Trail After Another: A Wise Leader, Part 1 - Jamie Munson
8. Why Pastors and Elders Need Your Prayers - Kevin DeYoung

Here are some wise words by Paul Tripp that all who serve Jesus should take to heart:

I am more and more convinced that what gives a ministry its motivations, perseverance, humility, joy, tenderness, passion, and grace is the devotional life of the one doing ministry. When I daily admit how needy I am, daily meditate on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and daily feed on the restorative wisdom of his Word, I am propelled to share with others the grace that I am daily receiving at the hands of my Savior. There simply is no set of exegetical, homiletical, or leadership skills that can compensate for the absence of this in the life of a pastor. It is my worship that enables me to lead others to worship. It is my sense of need that leads me to tenderly pastor those in need of grace. It is my joy in my identity in Christ that leads me to want to help others live in the middle of what it means to be “in Christ.” In fact, one of the things that makes a sermon compelling is that the preacher is worshiping his way through his own sermon. (Dangerous Calling, 35)

HT - Kevin DeYoung

Related Links
Pastoring Related Posts - January 8

Pastoring Related Posts - January 14

Pastoring Related Posts - January 23

Pastoring Related Posts - January 23

Here are the top ten pastoring related blog posts I came across this past week. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Pastoral Ministry is War - Paul Tripp (highly recommend this article)
2. 8 Reasons Why Some Churches Don’t Grow - Perry Noble
3. Elders: The Church’s Lead Disciple-Makers - Jeramie Rinne
4. From the Shepherd’s Nook: The Pastor’s Mt Everest - Scot McKnight
5. The Best Leadership Development in the World - Chuck Musslewhite
6. How Andy Stanley and Tim Keller Preach with Non-Believers in Mind - Trevin Wax
7. 10 Mistakes Teaching Pastors Need to Avoid - Tony Morgan
8. The Emotionally Intelligent Leader - Jason Young
9. One Pastor Shares His Leadership Mistakes - Carey Nieuwhof
10. 10 Characteristics of a Church on Mission - Scott Thomas

Pastoring Related Posts - January 14

Here are some more blog posts related to pastoring that I have come across recently. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. 16 Thing I Look For In a Preacher - Mark Driscoll
2. The Best Way to Welcome People to Church - Steve Kryger
3. Why Spurgeon Thought the Plain Preaching of the Gospel Was Sufficient to Grow a Church - Justin Taylor
4. Top Leadership Coaching Videos of 2012 - Mark Driscoll
5. My Top 12 Quotes from Tim Keller’s “Center Church” - Eric McKiddie
6. Avoiding Mistakes in Ministry - John Johnson
7. From the Shepherd's Nook - John Frye

New Graphics - Psalm 113:3 - English and Romanian

Here are the newest graphics I made based on Psalm 113:3. They are 1500 x 1000. You can download them here: English  Romanian. If you click directly on the photo Blogger will open it and you can right click and download it that way as well.

Related Links

Graphics on God's Will

Pastoring Related Posts - January 8

Here are some blog posts and one video related to pastoring I have come across recently. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Sensing Jesus - Zack Eswine (21:13)
2. How to Start a Pastoral Training Program in Your Church - Mark Rogers
3. 3 Signs You Are Not a Kingdom Leader - David Finch
4. From the Shepherd’s Nook: Facing a New Year - John Frye
5. 3 Resolutions for Preachers - David Helm
6. Five Temptations Leaders Face - TJ Addington
7. When the Cause Replaces the Cross - Trevin Wax

What is Christianity About? Michael Bird

"According to the Gospels, Christianity is not a system of neo-platonic philosophy lodged inside a Jewish casing; Christianity is not German existentialism waiting to be set free from its religious mythology; Christianity is not a conservative or liberal political program looking for legitimation in religious tracts; rather, the Gospels show that Christianity is about following Jesus the Christ. Finally, the Gospels are reminders that the words and deeds of Jesus must be uppermost in the minds, hearts, prayers, thoughts, and devotion of the church. The Gospels urge that those who bear Christ’s name must be willing to believe in him and to follow him, through Galilee and Judea, through Gethsemane and Golgotha, through to the empty tomb and one day into the kingdom of heaven." -- Michael Bird

Related Links

The Fourfold Gospel: A Rationale - Michael Bird
What is Christianity? Christianity Explored  (3:12)
What is Christianity? Christianity Explored (6:09)
What is Christianity? Max Lucado

The Babyhood of God - Oswald Chambers 

The Heart of Christianity - Mark Driscoll

Three Ways to Live

Christless Christianity - Dr. Michael Horton (5:03)

Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace | Paul Ellis

Paul Ellis, whose blog is Escape to Reality, wrote a post last February titled Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace in which he shared some of the ways Jesus showed us what grace is through His words and actions. Here is a summary of those five ways. To see what said about these five things go check out his blog.

How did Jesus reveal grace?

1. By showing up!  
2. By proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord
3. By telling stories about grace
4. By showing (and preaching!) unconditional forgiveness
5. By preaching faith over flesh

Here are two quotes from his post as well. One from the beginning and one from the end:

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never said the word “grace”? Doesn’t this strike you as odd? After all, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is supposed to be Grace personified. So why didn’t He talk about it? The word “grace” appears just four times in the four gospels and not once does Jesus say it. In contrast, the word “law” appears hundreds of times, often in connection with Jesus’ preaching. Paul dedicated his life to preaching the gospel of grace, but Jesus was the greatest  law preacher of all time.

To know His love is to know His grace. They are inseparable. God is gracious because He is love. Why did Jesus come? Jesus came to reveal the grace of a good God who loves us like a Father. He came to bring us good news of great joy that is for all people.

Jesus = Grace

Related Links
Escape to Reality Top 12 Posts of 2012 
What is Grace? Joseph R. Cook
Bono Interview: Grace Over Karma
Grace - More Than We Deserve (Video)
An Interview with Max Lucado About Grace



Photo - CC - Katie Landry, title “Merry Christmas”, flickr

The Christmas Gospel | Scot McKnight

Awhile ago I shared a post written last year by Scot McKnight on "The Christmas Gospel". This year he has written a four part series with the same title. In it he explains how what is written in the gospels about the birth of Jesus reveal to us the gospel message.

1. The Christmas Gospel 1 
2. The Christmas Gospel 2 
3. The Christmas Gospel 3 
4. The Christmas Gospel 4

Related Links

• The Christmas Mission (2:32)
• The Story of Christmas - An Animation (12:57)
• O Come All Ye Faithless (1:28)
• New Graphic Quoting C. S. Lewis - English and Romanian
• Christmas Graphic - Luke 2:11 - English & Romanian
• It's About the Cross - E Vorba Despre Cruce (4:07)
• Christmas Creed
• Christmas and the Gospel - Scot McKnight
• The Unique Gift of Christmas | Tim Keller
• Christmas Spirit (The Right Way) 2:07
• The Christmas Story (3:53)
• Christmas in a Nutshell (2:00)
• Presence (2:16)
• 'Tis the Season (2:07)
• Christmas is About a Tree (4:10)
• A True Christmas Story (5:13)
• Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (3:07)
• The Christmas Scale (2:41)
• The Paradox of Christmas (2:28)
• The Innkeeper - John Piper (11:58)
• Rejoice! It's Christmas Time! (3:25)

Top Posts This Week

Here are the top posts from this past week:

1. The Secret to a Rick and Satisfying Life
2.  It's About the Cross - E Vorba Despre Cruce
3.  Christmas Graphic - Luke 2:11 - English & Romanian
4. Three Ways to Live
5. The Story of God
   

November's Three Most Popular Posts

The three most popular posts that were posted in November were:

1. What is Grace? Joseph R. Cooke
2. The Secret to a Rich and Satisfying Life
3. It's About Jesus!

To see the three most popular posts of all time look in the sidebar to the right.

It's About Jesus! (links) - November 29

Here are more links to blog posts that focus on Jesus:

1. Replacing the Center of Youth Ministry
2. 3 Questions to Ask of Your Sermon
3. The Key to a Purposeful Life
4. Jesus is Not Safe
5. As the God-Man, Jesus Understands Human Frailty
6. Madly in Love

Pastoring Related Posts - November 28

Here are the latest blog posts related to pastoring I have come across. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Extend the Same Grace You Preach
2. What are 3 Common Areas of Neglect in a Pastor's Life?
3. The New Covenant (The Secret to Life and Ministry)
4. Pastor to Pastor: Lessons from Bonhoeffer
5. From the Shepherd's Nook: Prayer
6. Confession Time for Pastors
7. Dangerous Calling: An Interview with Paul Tripp
8. Proclaiming Gospel: Preaching on Sunday as Practice for the Rest of the Week
9. 5 Way to Fight Insecurity as a Pastor or Leader

Pastoring Related Posts - November 20

Here are the latest blog posts related to pastoring I have come across. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. Attitude is Worth More than Aptitude
2. The Conviction to Lead
3. What are 10 Practical Tools to Hospital Visitation?
4. 5 Ways to Fight Insecurity as a Pastor or Leader
5. Are You Building Healthy Systems
6. Pastors Who Over Function
7. Three Leadership Truths: Essential, Functional, Developmental

"Someone Will Pay" Graphics - English & Romanian

Here are recents graphics I made that are HD sized (1920 x 1080). You can download them here: English  Romanian If you click on the photo Blogger will open it and you can right click and download it but the size will be 1600 x 900.

Why Believe? Why Unbelief?

Why should I believe in God?...the Bible?...Jesus? What are the reasons why people don't believe?

1. Why Should Seekers Consider the Gospel?
2. Sexual Immorality and Five Other Reasons People Reject Christianity
3. Why Do Famous Atheist Believe that God Does Not Exist?
4. All Truth is God's Truth
5. Why Do People Refuse to Believe in God?
6. YouTube Playlist of Debates and Documentaries

Discipleship Links

Here are some more discipleship links:

1. Community Shaped Discipleship: A Plea to Youth Workers
2. The Challenge of Making Disciples on Campus
3. Imitation: Getting Beyond Information-Based Discipleship
4. How to Create a Discipling-Making Culture in Your Church
5. From Moralism to Evangelism

Pastoring Related Posts - November 13

Here are the latest blog posts related to pastoring I have come across. If you are serving others or discipling someone you may find some good "food for thought" as well.

1. From the Shepherd’s Nook: Pain
2. When Tragedy Strikes Your Church
3. Vision - Part 2: Developing Vision
4. A New Format for Church Staff Meetings
5. 3 Questions to Ask of Your Sermon

Here's a quote from a Christianity Today article on the importance of the gospel for pastors that I read a long time ago but did not keep the link:

There's been a lot of talk about how the gospel is for Christians. Have we forgotten that the gospel is for pastors too?

Yes! I mean it has to be for pastors first. There's absolutely no way that our people will experience the liberating now-power of the gospel if the pastor doesn't even know what the liberating now-power of the gospel looks like. When I speak to pastors I say, "There is only one thing that will enable you to survive, and that's the gospel. It's not whether your church grows or not. It's not having the right leadership principle. All of those things might be helpful, but the gospel is the only thing that will save you in ministry." You inevitably face crises, slander, unfair criticism, pressure to perform in your professional and personal life. You have to have a model marriage. You've got to have the model children. You've got to be the one logging hours of private prayer every day. I mean there is heavy-duty pressure on pastors to be spiritual giants. What I love about the freeing, liberating power of the gospel is I can stand up on a Sunday morning without fear or reservation and be able to identify my own idols in front of my people. I'll say things like, "I hate to admit this, but part of my motivation for preparing the sermon that I am preaching today is because I want you to think I'm a good preacher. It accentuates my sense of worth." Is that embarrassing to admit? Absolutely! But it's incredibly liberating. I don't have to feel like I have to always be on, that I always have to be performing well, that every sermon's got to be a homerun, that I've got to be modeling perfect piety before all of our people. The pressure's off. Jesus measured up so I wouldn't have to live under the enslaving pressure of measuring up for others. And that's good news.