Unfortunately, I view myself as pretty naive. Maybe it was the small-town Iowa upbringing in me. When I graduated from college with a double major undergrad degree in Biblical Studies and Pastoral Ministries and was ready to embark on a lifetime of ministry adventures, I never anticipated what would become the number one flashpoint of stress and tension … what is it?
Read MoreMinistry, like any other job or career, is subject to the same market fluctuations and economic opportunities that impact everyone else. The primary reason ministry leaders stay or bounce around is to search for better-paying jobs. With the rising cost of living and wanting to take care of their families, most feel or assume this is the only way to go. But is it?
Over the past several years, I’ve met with innumerable ministry leaders, and I could summarize what they truly want in two statements …
Read MoreSince stepping out of paid full-time ministry, my ministry has exponentially exploded. It wasn’t until I was no longer on staff at a church, a denomination, or a ministry that, for me, real ministry started. Why? Most often, those in full-time occupational ministry spend significantly little time with those disinterred in the church, God, etc. What’s at least one solution to remedy this?
Read MoreRecently, I was talking with a university student. He was sharing how he turned down academic opportunities at a prestigious university so he could instead “pursue ministry.” Since the decision was already made and he was currently enrolled at a different school to get a degree in … wait for it … ministry, I didn’t want to squelch his zeal. Besides, who am I? However, we did talk about the difference between vocation and occupation and why it is easy to confuse those terms, especially in the ministry world.
So what is the difference?
Read MoreOver the past several months, when traveling, I’ve stumbled into coffee shops and coffee roasters that are actually part of a church. I never set out to find a coffee shop connected to a church, but when I do, my mind is filled with endless questions. Here’s the first question that comes to mind …
Read MoreI regularly meet with pastors, church planters, and missionaries wrestling with whether to start a business. For most, it seems that the tensions revolve around calling. They went “all-in” on ministry as a career and had no “backup plan.” That is already setting up an internal conflict. Why? Because all of a sudden, the thought of launching a startup or working “outside of ministry” is a direct assault on their calling. Now what?
Read MoreFirst of all, thank you for your outpouring of support after my post last week. I appreciate your encouragement and kind words. It was good to let things cook on low heat on the back burner for the past six months. During that time, one of the topics or ideas I kept wrestling with (and continue to do so) was what help or value I could add to someone interested in such things as startups in the context of ministry. I am even more resolute on the power and impact that startups can have. In fact, their ability to expand ministry is beyond what one thought was possible.
Read MoreLanguage is constantly evolving. New terms are continuously being introduced while older ones are repurposed. Since I spend time daily in the classroom with university students, I get introduced to many of these new terms … like “mid.” I noticed last fall that more and more students were using “mid” in class at the same time my sons (also college students) started using it.
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