Get Connected!

2014 Is Going To Be An Incredible Year! Everything we do as a church is centered on connecting with God in worship, growing in Christ-likeness, and serving in ministry and mission. It’s a simple process with profound implications. A fully-devoted follower of Christ will faithfully connect, grow, and serve. Building on this foundation, 2014 is going to be our Year of Connect at Second Baptist Church. Here’s what the Year of Connect will look like:get_connected_logo Continue reading

Do What You Can, When You Can

When I was in college at the University of Georgia I had a big project in one of my major classes. It was a project that would take hundreds of hours to complete. My professor assigned the project at the beginning of the semester and almost every time class was in session she would remind us of the project and ask a weird question – “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer she was looking for was, “One bite at a time.”

elephant_one_bite

Of course, she was teaching us how to handle a big task or project – one step at a time. When it comes to ministry, we would do well to remember this. You can’t do everything all at once. You need to take it one step at a time.

When you’re leading a church, you will have a big task on your hands. There will be much to do. But you will get overwhelmed if you try to change everything overnight. You can’t transform the culture, redesign the strategy, or realign the structure overnight.

Don’t try to do it all at once. Do what you can, when you can. 

Here are three things I regularly pray for as I’m approaching a big project or task. In fact, these are three things I regularly pray for even if I don’t have a big project or task on the agenda. Continue reading

The Power of a Personal Invitation

I’m sure you know this by now but I have to remind you anyway. Easter is coming. In fact, it’s just a few days away – Sunday to be exact. Easter is a pretty big day. There will be a lot of folks at your church who aren’t usually there. So, you better be ready.

youre invited this easter_wide_t

You must be ready to preach the gospel. Clearly. Simply. Powerfully. Faithfully. You must do that always. The people at church on Easter Sunday need to hear a clear and compelling presentation of the gospel. The people faithfully at church throughout the year need to hear it too.

Beyond that, use Easter as a way to train your people to invite their friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and relatives. In another post, I wrote about Motivating Members to Reach Out To Others. This helps describe a strategy we’ve employed at our church to encourage our people to invite others. If you can teach God’s people the power of a personal invitation it could revolutionize your church and ministry.

The statistics are astounding. Most people say that they would come to church if someone they knew invited them. But sadly, most church people don’t invite others. Dr. Thom Rainer makes some important points for consideration:  Continue reading

What it Means to Lead a Church

Part of being a pastor is learning how to lead. Don’t get me wrong. Theology is important. Doctrine is essential. But if you don’t know how to lead you will be preaching the right stuff to an empty church. Maybe that’s an exaggeration. But I’ve seen far too many pastors who know the truth but don’t know how to communicate it properly.

Leadership. It’s an area where I’m constantly learning and always trying to grow. Leaders are learners. And here are a few lessons I have learned about what it means to lead a church. Continue reading

Advice from My Preacher

Yesterday at my church we honored my former pastor, Rastus Salter. He served as pastor of Second Baptist Church in Warner Robins, GA for almost 50 years. Did you hear that? Almost 50 years pastoring the same church. And now, I have the privilege of occupying that same pulpit.

What an encouragement! What a blessing! What an example! What a legacy!

I remember walking into my pastor’s office as a 17-year-old preacher boy asking for a bit of advice. The question went something like this – “If you could tell me anything about ministry, what would that be?” I wrote his answer in the front of my Bible. And yes, I still have the Bible. More importantly, his advice is etched upon my mind and heart. Here it is.

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