Between Monday and Sunday

We published a series on How to Avoid the Top 5 Reasons for Pastoral Terminations. This series by Conflict Management specialist Bob Sheffield springs from the 2006 Forced Termination survey conducted by the Church Minister Relation's Directors network in cooperation with LifeWay Christian Resources Part 5, Who Runs the Church? Part 4, The Church is Resistant to Change Part 3, Poor People Skills Part 2, Leadership Style Part 1, Church Already in Conflict

I've just published a new article in the Pastor's Area of LifeWay.com by Keith Hamilton. He offers 9 Ways to Lessen the Chances of an IRS Church Audit . This is from the introduction to the article ... One of the greatest fears of a church treasurer is that of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. Understandably, an IRS audit would scare every church treasurer. At least one sales organization plays on this fear in their advertisements by depicting a church financial leader going to jail over these issues. In spite of this misconception, the exact opposite is true. A church treasurer rarely faces jail time or harsh penalties over an IRS audit. However, an IRS audit can be challenging and stressful. Keith offers several things a church can do reduce its chances of an IRS audit .

Do you ever get sick of your phone ringing? What about Facebook fatigue? Does Twitter sometimes give you stress headaches, making you occasionally wish you could just yank the plug on your online life? There's a good article on CNN.com here that offers a summary of some of the findings of new research from The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. You can also take a quiz to learn what type of internet user you are. I found out that I am a "Digital Collaborator." This is what they say that means: If you are a Digital Collaborator, you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in your ability to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new.

For those of you who follow this blog, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss my lead in the Pastors Today e-newsletter. This new article by Keith Hamilton is designed to help you as a pastor or church leader minister to your church family. I've posted Keith's 10 Tips for What to Do When You Get Laid Off Keith adds this in the copy so you may provide these as a ministry from your church ... As part of our church’s ministry, we want to help you through the coming days by offering some practical financial helps for you to follow. These are just some tips that have made a difference in other lives facing the same thing you are facing. Be sure to grab the free PDF download that is formatted to fit on one page!

Pastor Craig Groeschel posted an excellent question for pastors and church staff on swerve.lifechurch.tv today you can read his post here ... Should I Stay Or Should I Go? I wanted to respond to his post by sharing two articles in the pastors area of LifeWay.com on this subject. These have been some of the most popular articles on lifeway.com in the past couple of years. The first article is 10 Factors to Consider Before Leaving Your Church by Conflict Management specialist Norris Smith . In this article, Norris says you should consider the following factors: Calling Circumstances Competencies Depletion Conflict Conduct Tenure Doctrine Environment Livelihood View the full article here 10 Factors to Consider Before Leaving Your Church The second article is How to Know When It's Time to Go by Calvin Wittman (Sr. Pastor of Applewood Baptist in Colorado). In this article, Calvin says we should look for "a compelling sense of call, an overwhelming certainty that God is call...

While almost two-thirds of Southern Baptist pastors have preached on stewardship in the past year, a new study shows that few of those pastors believe members of their congregation have a significant amount of debt – revealing a serious disconnect with the realities of American family life. The survey of 3,500 Southern Baptist senior pastors was conducted by LifeWay Research on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention between November 2007 and February 2008. The study revealed that 65 percent of pastors had preached on financial stewardship during the previous year but only 25 percent said their church members have "a significant amount of personal debt." That stands in stark contrast to national statistics about the debt load American families are carrying, said Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. Highlights from the findings: Pastors disconnected from reality of congregational debt load Church members often look to pastors...

Today in staff meeting at Gladeville Baptist Church I began the meeting by sharing some insights from Dave Ramsey (he shared these at Catalyst '08 ). He discussed the unbelievable power of unity for a church staff team or any type of staff team. He stated that few churches or organizations experience real unity and shared five enemies to unity on a church staff team ... Poor Communication Dave stated " when the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, strife sets in " Gossip Ramsey said gossip is when a negative comment is discussed with anyone who can't help solve the problem Unresolved disagreements He said "this happens when a leader doesn't know they exist or avoids confrontation" Lack of shared purpose Dave said "this happens when the leader doesn't restate the goal, the vision, and the mission early and often" Sanctioned incompetence Ramsey defined this as "keeping an inefficient team member because we feel sor...

I found this article in a past edition of Let's Worship Magazine and thought it would be very helpful for pastors or teachers as they are dealing with Christmas and the traditions around Christmas. It's a transcript of an address to a group of ministry leaders. Here's a quote ... Sometimes it seems that Christmas is overlooked as an opportunity to share the good news in a way that they may be saved. Much of what we have around us and the trappings of Christmas came because those who preceded us understood that there was an opportunity in the birth of our Lord to communicate even as the shepherds communicated, that we might do what we do not giving offense to anyone, but that people might be saved. But it’s not easy. Read Christmas Traditions as Worship and Evangelism Tools And don't miss our Christmas and Thanksgiving Resource Index for links to other articles as well as model sermons and worship helps.

Howard Dayton of crown.org has a simple and practical article on LifeWay.com called  Help in a Financial Crisis . Here is an excerpt ... What we do and allow in moderation, our children will allow and do in excess. - Benjamin Disraeli in an 1865 address before the British House of Commons Financial problems can be devastating, so it makes good sense for families to practice prevention rather than recuperation. You may feel it's too late to practice prevention, but it's not. In fact, the only way to correct a downward financial spiral is to institute basic, simple, preventive measures in order to counterbalance unbiblical financial practices and to prevent further financial problems.  Here are four steps The first is obvious – stop borrowing "The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous is gracious and giving" (Psalm 37:21). Scripture clearly indicates that borrowing isn't God's best for His people and should never be used as a routine part of f...

I really enjoyed this interview. I got to be on the set in Georgia when they were filming part of the movie and was so impressed with everyone on the cast. Kirk Cameron was just as you see him in this interview: humble and passionate about God and family. Remember that you can download a free sample of The Love Dare here If you are looking for sermon or teaching ideas to follow up viewings of The Fireproof Movie you can access a free sermon by Michael Catt in LifeWay's Proclaim Online ... Access the free sermon and free PowerPoint now called Fireproof Your Marriage by Michael Catt (Michael is Executive Producer of Fireproof and the Sr. Pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church ) The sermon is adapted from Michael's book Fireproof Your Life . For more information regarding Fireproof Your Life by Michael Catt, visit www.fireproofyourlife.com

Pastor, in the new book, Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts , Thom and Sam Rainer ask and answer the following question, Is Preaching Still Important? Their answer is "Yes!" Even in today's hyper-techno-driven conversational-wiki-culture, preaching is of the utmost importance. Of the several church-related or pastor-related issues noted by dropouts, preaching came up several times as a critical issue in retaining college students and young adults. Dan Garland, our Director of Pastoral Ministry and Church Consulting pulled together some quotes and research results from "Essential Church?" related to preaching. View the article Is Preaching Still Important Today?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--New research into several questions that often dominate Southern Baptist debates -- from the rise of Calvinism and prevalence of elders in congregations to speaking in tongues and baptism practices -- offers some hard numbers to inform those discussions. The issues in question, and the results uncovered by the survey, show that Southern Baptists have strong opinions in several areas. LifeWay Research , a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, conducted the study during the spring among a sample of 778 Southern Baptist pastors. CALVINISM LifeWay Research previously reported a rise in the number of self-identified five-point Calvinists among recent seminary graduates. In the new survey, LifeWay Research asked Southern Baptist pastors if they were "concerned" about this increase, asking them to agree or disagree with the statement, "The rise of Calvinism among recent seminary graduates concerns me." Among So...

Pastor, I read an article by Pastor Gene Wilkes in the Spring 2008 edition of LifeWay's Let's Worship Magazine that challenged me in several ways. I've posted an excerpt here along with a link to download the full 5-page article . This is part of his explanation A coach approach to preaching invites the preacher to ask rather than tell and listeners to participate rather than force them to absorb facts or daydream during a speech prepared by a preacher A coach approach to preaching engages the participant at the level of his or her own issues and resources with the clear message of the biblical passage Rather than the preacher making one-size-fits-all applications, he invites the listeners to customize what they have heard to their particular needs or goals It's a big step for me to think about preaching this way, how about you? Read the excerpt and the full article then share your comments ...

I found this video to be very helpful. In this video, Brad Waggoner discusses ' The Shape of Faith to Come ' his soon to be released book (October 2008). In The Shape of Faith to Come , research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of 2,500 active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of biblical spiritual formation. You may purchase The Shape of Faith to Come here

In The Shape of Faith to Come , research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of twentyfive hundred active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of biblical spiritual formation: Learning the Truth Obeying God and Denying Self Sharing Faith Serving God and Others Exercising Biblical Faith Building Solid Relationships Seeking God The far-from-predictable findings reveal the current state and potential forecast of spiritual formation in the United States. This book will release in mid-October but I wanted you to have a change glance at the table of contents, and read the introduction and part of the first chapter. Download sample pages here ...

Saw this new article by Mark Kelly on LifeWay.com ... Inflation didn’t eat away all of the average Southern Baptist pastor’s pay increase over the past two years, but it came close – and churches may have a more difficult time keeping staff members ahead of inflation in 2008. That’s one finding of the SBC Church Compensation Study, a survey of 12,854 staff positions in Southern Baptist churches. The survey was conducted by LifeWay Research , in cooperation with GuideStone Financial Resources and Baptist state conventions through July 1, 2008. The study also found that almost two-thirds of churches are partially or fully paying for their full-time senior pastor to have medical insurance and that compensation can vary significantly depending on geography, worship attendance and the pastor’s experience and education. All the data acquired by the study has been compiled into a Web-based tool that will help churches as they begin planning staff compensation packages for their 2009 budgets...

I just read a news text update on my phone: "Russians withdraw from Georgia, leave as much destruction as possible as they go." How I hurt for the innocent people hurt by this conflict. I thought about how we are tempted to do the same thing when we are backing out of a conflict, leaving a job after quitting or being fired, or leaving a place of ministry. I was reminded of an article I posted by Pastor Calvin Wittman titled, " How to Leave Your Church With Grace ." If you find yourself in the position of having to leave or wanting to leave very badly and finally getting the opportunity here are a few things to consider. Recognize that the church still belongs to God and only He can make it what it should be. Forgive those who have wronged you. Let your parting words reflect the grace of God not a grudge of the flesh. Who you really are is best seen in the midst of difficulty. As you leave, even if you are leaving under fire, make a conscious choice to leave under gr...

I posted an article yesterday by Dan Garland (Director of Pastoral Ministry and Church Consulting ) as part of his Today's Bivocational Pastor e-newsletter. This excellent article deals with the results from two new studies show that church growth has more to do with internal rather than external factors. He first reviews some of the findings in The American Church Research Project then compares them to the findings in Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom Rainer and Sam Rainer . Look at these findings and read an overview of how Thom and Sam Rainer evaluate some of these key internal factors in Essential Church. Read What Causes Churches to Grow or Decline?

Bret Robbe, Director of Leadership and Adult Publishing at LifeWay just published a new knol with great information about Connect, Grow, Serve, Go . The Connect, Grow, Serve, Go knol also includes links to two free webcourses ... LifeSpan Spiritual Development Webcourse Connect-Grow-Serve-Go Webcourse

I have this in tomorrow's edition of Pastors Today but wanted to go ahead and put it in the blog tonight. I'm really glad LifeWay Research is offering a service like this for those pastors or other church leaders that make good use of solid, current, and helpful research results. E-LifeWay Research Insights is a twice-monthly email briefing that provides you with the facts you need to make informed ministry decisions. Stay informed, but let us do the work. Each briefing provides exclusive new research, at-a-glance summaries of research from a variety of sources, a deeper look at LifeWay Research studies, and examples of research in use. You may download a sample here ... The $48.00 annual subscription includes 24 issues keeping you informed throughout the year. Each issue is sent straight to your email inbox on the 1st and 15th of the month. For new subscribers, we will send a free pre-release copy of Essential Church by Thom and Sam Rainer (limited quantities).