Two months ago, we launched a new website—Ministry127.com. It has had a wonderful start. Friends and co-laborers from all over the world have written and expressed appreciation for the site and the resources it contains. Contributors have continually sent in submissions that are practical and helpful. The site has been overwhelmingly received and used in [...]
The May edition of the Spiritual Leadership podcast has posted from Dr. Paul Chappell. This lesson is entitled “The Partnerships of Ministry,” and it focuses on developing and maintaining the right kind of strong relationships while serving in the ministry. Key statement from the lesson—the Devil tries to ruin all spiritual relationships! Great lesson! The [...]
USAToday featured an article today that stated 72% of 18-29 year olds say they are more “spiritual” than religious. You can read the original article here, and it’s filled with plenty of discouraging data. But I wanted to draw out two positives that jumped off the page at me. These two things greatly encouraged my [...]
Have you ever conducted an event that was ill-prepared? Have you ever been disorganized or caught off guard in some ministry environment? There’s nothing worse than being thrown off balance by a lack of preparation. I could fill the pages of a book with tough lessons learned through a lack of preparation. Even after years [...]
Recently, a youth pastor asked about some thoughts on how to respond if the youth group is apathetic. My first thought was, we live in a spiritually apathetic world—apathy toward spiritual things is rampant, even among Christians. It’s nothing new, and as long as we serve in ministry, we will be fighting apathy. It’s what [...]
For many years, God has placed a passion on Dr. Paul Chappell’s heart for independent Baptist leaders to strive together for the faith of the Gospel (Philippians 1:27.) In that spirit, our team has been working for months on a new resource website called Ministry127.com (based upon Philippians 1:27.) Just as the annual Spiritual Leadership Conference [...]
Ever noticed that some people relish the criticism of pastors? Like kids and candy—they addict themselves even though it’s rotting something in them. While choosing voluntarily to stay under his leadership, they commit themselves to finding and exploiting every possible imperfection. I’ve never understood this thinking. Selecting a pastor, only to proceed to condemn the [...]
Is your youth ministry Bible-focused or fun-focused? It’s easy to focus more on making the youth group fun than on making it biblical. I’m all for having a good time with students in the right context, but we have a much higher calling. How easy it is to fall into the trap of spending more [...]
The February edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast has just posted! And Pastor Paul Chappell shares an insightful “in-studio” interview regarding the lesson. Originally taught at the Spiritual Leadership Conference 2009, it is entitled “Striving Together.” This lesson focuses on how we should encourage one another in ministry. The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free [...]
Everybody, in some respect is a leader, and everybody is a follower. Few are called to be the key leader. Many more are called to follow and support a key leader. For instance, a family may have many members but should have one father. A team can have many players (and leaders) but only one [...]
The January edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast has just posted! Originally taught this past fall at our staff orientation, this lesson is entitled “By His Spirit.” In it, Pastor Chappell challenges you with what can be done if we will submit to the power of God. The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free resource [...]
This past Sunday, my path intersected with a gracious man who has served the Lord in our church for many years. He’s been steadfast—even through much personal pain and many trials. When asked “How are you doing today?” He promptly replied: “I’d better be doing great! I’m at church! And this is my only sanctuary [...]
This fourth and final post on an annual planner is just for ideas. Please contexualize this series properly—I’m certainly not the expert on this stuff. Like you, I just enjoy comparing notes with others and gleaning helpful ideas. Thank you for the positive feedback. If you’re coming in late to the series, previous articles are [...]
The “final article” on the new year planner has become two. First—let’s discuss putting it into practice. In the next article—thoughts on developing an organizational system that works. (Click to read the first and second articles in this series.) So you’ve spent several hours or days mapping out vision, goals, projects, events, calendar, details, and [...]
Thank you for responding to the article on the contents of a new year planner! Many of you have emailed and asked for the sample planner mentioned at the end of the article. In finalizing my planner the past couple days, I’ve decided to do two more articles related to planning the new year. This [...]
