Minister's Toolbox

Blogging is a free opportunity available to anyone to communicate the gospel. We take a tongue-in-cheek look at why pastors should avoid starting a blog and then offer practical reasons why they should.

To get started, you need your own website. I mentioned our affiliate link Bluehost, but there are others like godaddy.com and hostgator.com to name a few.

Once you have your own web address, this is the free download I offered: Step By Step Process For Starting Your Own Blog.

If you need some basic information about social media, here is my free eBook. 

Transcript of Today's Podcast

Welcome to ministers toolbox. Specifically there are 7 reasons pastors should never even think about starting a blog. (Sarcasm included)

#1 - It is too difficult. I mean, you have to turn the computer on, open up your WordPress site and push the new post button. If that isn’t bad enough, then you actually have to write something. That is not easy for a pastor. I mean, in your line of work, when do you ever write?

Yeah, there are your sermons, but those are for Sunday mornings. Yeah, sermons are constructed like a blog, but it’s not like you could just take former sermons and turn them into blogs. That would take too much time. Besides, a lot of pastors are not comfortable pushing the submit button when they’re finished.

#2 - There are too many blogs already. Most don’t even know what the word blog means. It kind of sounds like someone dumped a mixture of mashed potatoes and pea soup on your plate right on top of your salad.  blog! Who reads them anyway? You have better things to with your time, like visiting with Mrs. Smith who wants you to walk her cat when she goes on vacation.

#3 - People outside your church might read something you’ve read and decide to come Sunday morning. I mean, at your church you say you want new people, but truthfully, you really don’t.

Every time a new person comes to your church you have to learn their name and spend time trying to find out what they need and how you can help. It is much easier to have the same people come to church each week. They come; they tithe; they have coffee and then they leave. What could be better than that? No muss, no fuss.

Blogging could mess up your church big time. Before you know it, new people might start sharing new ideas and that can be just annoying. You already know who you are and how you like the church to operate, thank you very much.

#4 - You’re not very techy. Yeah, you understand that everyone under thirty has never lived in a world without the Inter web, but technology is not your thing. You’d much rather read a book about Spurgeon than learn about Tweeter or Facebook anyway. Besides, you got an email account a couple of years ago. If anyone wants to get ahold of you, you check it once a week.

#5 - Privacy. Blogging means that people might start coming up to you and talking to you about what you wrote. That can be very awkward, especially if you’ve never met them before. One reason you like pastoring is that other than Sunday, people pretty much leave you alone. Blogging might change all that.

#6 - Cost. Blogging is expensive. I mean getting a domain name and website has got to cost a fortune. The church budget is tight and wasting money on the Interweb is just foolish.

#7 - It could lead to other things. You start blogging and before you know it, you’re writing books.

Funerals are one of the difficult responsibilities assigned to ministers that no one truthfully wants.

Unfortunately, funerals can be made worse when a church leader uses the occasion to showcase their preaching instead of honoring the person who has passed.

Today, we share some tips on doing wakes and funerals in ways that can help lead people to Christ. Here are my tips for conducting an excellent funeral

I also mentioned getting a free book from Audible.com

If you need a basic minister's manual, here is one that has a lot of wisdom and insights.

Transcript of Today's Podcast

One thing ministers are asked to perform that no one actually wants to do is funerals. Like weddings, funerals are one of those rare times in a person’s life when they most open to contact either a church or a minister.

Nowadays some people eliminate the church and ministers completely, especially if they are totally unreligious; but for the most part, pastors are usually called in to provide some sort of service at a funeral.

I grew up in family where everyone lived long. As a result, no one close to me actually died until I was in my mid 20’s. As a result, I never attended or was asked to officiate a funeral.

Since that time, I’ve been to dozens of funerals of all shapes and sizes. They are never fun, but they can be anointed by God to advance the Kingdom of God when a minister understands his or her function in the process.

Like many of you, I’ve been to the funerals of close friends and family members so I know first-hand know how it feels to lose someone you really care about. It feels like someone punched you in the stomach and you can’t get rid of the pain.

As a matter of fact, earlier this year, a fellow minister died and I felt that way for weeks. He was brilliant, funny, and talented servants of God I’ve ever known. Bob left an enormous hole in the community where he served. Many miss his absence greatly.

It is vitally important for you as a pastor or church leader to genuinely identify with the family that is grieving, even if you don’t know them very well. You may or may not know the deceased, but in all likelihood you remember how it feels. Always keep that in the forefront of your thoughts.

At the other end of the spectrum, my wife and I recently attended a funeral that was just terrible. It was already bad because we both missed the person who died, but what made it much worse was the way that minister conducted the ceremony!

In this particular case, he was an evangelical who was keen to preach a doctrinally sound sermon. He did this for nearly an hour. If you’re thinking to yourself, what’s wrong with that? I am about to tell you.

During the sermon, the name of the deceased was mentioned twice. We never heard much about her life, her family or key memories. Instead, we were treated to a seven point sermon that might have been preached on any Sunday.

The sermon did little to connect people with God. People sat bored and twitching in their seats. No doubt this young preacher thought he was having a tremendous impact, but I think the opposite was true.

If you have not done so already, I invite you to listen to an earlier podcast about weddings because weddings and funerals share some things in common for a minister. Both occasions bring new people into your church building, many of whom are atheist or agnostic. Both occasions present pastors and church leaders with a window of opportunity to share the gospel. How we do that is the focus of this podcast today.

Another time, Patti and I attended the funeral of a dear friend whose

One of the critical functions of a church leader is to teach "sound doctrine."

What is sound doctrine and is one view "sounder" than another? How does a leader discern what is true from what is error?

On today's show we talk about how a leader can discern true doctrine from false in a discussion that will definitely NOT be what you expect!

On Today's podcast, I mentioned our free eBook on Why Social Media is Vital To Sharing The Good News.

 Transcript of Today's Show

As church leaders, we have been commissioned by Christ to equip our congregations to do the work of ministry according to Ephesians 4: 11-16. This word equip incorporates teaching, mentoring, training, supplying – whatever it takes to bring those in our care to a place of spiritual maturity and effectiveness.

A big part of that is feeding them sound doctrine. Jesus charged Peter to feed the sheep of God. (John 21:15-17) Peter called upon all leaders to feed the flock and be examples to the congregation in I Peter 5:1,2. Paul charged his protégé Timothy to give his attention to doctrine and teaching in I Timothy 4:12-17. He warned leaders wolves that would come into congregations bringing false doctrine that would lead many astray.

So this is serious stuff. As ministers, one of our critical functions to make certain that our teaching squares with Christ’s mission and purpose. In essence, we need to know we are feeding people what is biblically sound from both the pulpit and through the example we demonstrate.

So, what does sound doctrine look like?

If you look at the general landscape of Christianity throughout the world, you have the catholic church, eastern orthodox, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Brethren, Congregational, Amish, Mennonite, Baptist, southern Baptist, church of God, assembly of God, Pentecostal, charismatic, independent, non-denominational…and the list goes on.

All of these denominations typically divide up as either Calvinistic or Arminian. Calvinists tend to be cessationist and Arminians tend to favor charismatic behaviors, generally speaking. Which is correct doctrine?

Here’s the thing: You can have perfect doctrine and yet be wrong before God.

Much of what the Pharisees and scribes taught was biblically sound, yet Jesus reserved his most stinging rebukes - for them. He even went so far as to say in Matthew 23:2,3: The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you.

So, is it possible to get your doctrine right, but miss God altogether? And what does false doctrine actually look like? Is it merely the lack of biblical orthodoxy?

I mean, the scribes and the Pharisees appear to have gotten the good housekeeping seal of approval from Jesus on what they taught, but in the next sentence he warned his disciples to stay clear of them.

In Luke 12:1, Jesus told his followers: Notice what he said: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In other words, in determining false doctrine, it is not merely dotting I’s and crossing t’s. You need to go deeper and look at the fruit of what is being taught.

The Pharisees and scribes produced disciples which is clear from Mark 2:18, but their disciples were legalistic and arrogant. Their doctrine produced followers who looked and acted like them. This legalistic arrogance would eventually crucify Christ. So, their doctrine wasn’t just wrong, it was straight-out evil.

I think we would all have to agree that any doctrine, any preaching, any expounding of scripture that leads to the denigration or devaluing of Jesus is false by its very nature. But there is more to identifying false doctrine than hunting d

Dennis Ritchie, pastor of Oasis Church in Cheshire, CT shares his journey from a life out of control to church volunteer to worship leader to pastor. 

Dennis' testimony is an encouragement to anyone who thinks that the events of their life are arbitrary. To contact Dennis or attend his church if you are in Connecticut, go to their website:celebratethejourney.org

Should church leaders align themselves with one political party over another? What happens to those who do?

When we put our trust in any candidate, party or ideology, we step away from God's calling and destiny upon our lives.

Ministers are called by God to be societal change agents. When peoples' hearts change, then their actions change.

Historically, revivals do not follow political actions. Good government follows revivals because the focus switches from self interest to honoring and serving God.

I mention receiving a free book from Audible.com. You can get that here.

I also invite you to give us an honest review at ITunes.

Transcript of Today's Show

Let’s do a little time travel. The year is 1984. Patti and I are at the beginning stages of planting a new church in a new city, holding services in the local elementary school.

Nationally, the hot-button issue is abortion. Randall Terry has catapulted into the news cycle on every TV screen as the head of Operation Rescue.

For those unfamiliar with this group, Terry enlisted thousands of volunteers to form human chains around abortion clinics. Their aim was to prevent pregnant women from entering by trying to convince them to keep the baby. In the process, they would hand out leaflets and argue with pro-choice demonstrators who also showed up.

Because this activity was against the law, those forming a human chain were arrested and typically spent a night in jail in city after city. Eventually, Randall Terry spent more time in court than praying around clinics.

So, why am I linking this event with today’s topic?

In the middle of a Sunday church service at the elementary school auditorium one morning, a woman in her mid-fifties interrupted my sermons with a question. Not being used to people asking questions in the middle of service, I reluctantly acknowledged her.

She stood up and said, “I just want to know one thing. Are you going to participate in Operation Rescue?”

As a young pastor, I was taken completely off guard. “Why do you ask?” I inquired.

“Well,” said she, “I am not going to attend any church that doesn’t get involved with Operation Rescue because those are the only Christians who really live their faith.”

After a brief pause I replied, “No.” She got up in a huff and left never to return.

Her message was clear. Unless I identified myself exclusively with a specific political organization, I was unfit for Christian ministry.

Here in the US at the time of this podcast, we are ramping up for elections. The media obsesses with one candidate or another. In various democratic countries, you face similar dynamics depending on their election process.

So, how does a pastor properly navigate political issues, candidates, or hot-button topics like abortion, gay marriage and social justice?

It is really critical how you settle this issue in your mind and heart because how you answer will absolutely determine the direction of your life and ministry.

I grew up in a large family with a father who loved to talk politics. Our dinner table nearly always involved some discussion about a candidate or controversial issue. It was not unlike my dad to see which way the wind was blowing among his kids so he could take the other viewpoint. I think he just liked the world of ideas in general.

As a young pastor, I became a political junkie. What do I mean by that? When we got within a year of any election, before the Internet btw, large chun