As I've worked with and coached preachers over the years, and in my own ministry, I've found that church leadership and preaching is tough work - it's not for the faint of heart.

New challenges are always surfacing; the joys are elating and the lows can be devastating.

At the same time, to remain sharp in my preaching and leadership, I need ongoing training.

I know I'm not the only one! We all need continual training, but many pastors only have their seminary training to fall back on (if they went).

Unfortunately, seminary often isn't adequate to deal with the rigors of day-to-day ministry. And while it's no doubt valuable, it's not designed to help pastors continue growing throughout their ministry careers.

All pastors need three vital things to continue growing throughout their ministries:

1. Ongoing, practical training

2. Personalized coaching

3. A community of like-minded pastors

But so few pastors actually have these three vital resources in an ongoing, intentional way.

In...

As I've worked with and coached preachers over the years, and in my own ministry, I've found that church leadership and preaching is tough work - it's not for the faint of heart.

New challenges are always surfacing; the joys are elating and the lows can be devastating.

At the same time, to remain sharp in my preaching and leadership, I need ongoing training.

I know I'm not the only one! We all need continual training, but many pastors only have their seminary training to fall back on (if they went).

Unfortunately, seminary often isn't adequate to deal with the rigors of day-to-day ministry. And while it's no doubt valuable, it's not designed to help pastors continue growing throughout their ministry careers.

All pastors need three vital things to continue growing throughout their ministries:

1. Ongoing, practical training

2. Personalized coaching

3. A community of like-minded pastors

But so few pastors actually have these three vital resources in an ongoing, intentional way.

In...

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, preaching is a waste of time, but if he did rise from the dead, it's among the most important things we could ever do.

Every preacher is susceptible to pitfalls. We have to intentionally navigate around them to ensure that we stay healthy.

In this bonus episode, I want to jump into the first of three pitfalls and then invite you to join in on The Preacher's Journey Workshop which is a FREE workshop this week at Preaching Donkey. 

In this video, we'll explore how to make sure that our communication is leading toward next steps. To do this we have to be careful that we are using the right language in our calls to action.

Equipping our people with the tools they need to understand and defend their faith is an ongoing task we have as pastors.

Many people in our churches do not know how to their faith stands up to skeptics. Sadly, this can result in Christians who do not know how to respond when their children reject the faith because they can't reconcile it with post-modern thought.

On this week's episode of the Preaching Donkey Podcast, apologist Lori Morrow joins me to discuss her ministry to women which seeks to help them live out and speak about their Christian convictions with confidence and courage, so they no longer have to feel frustrated or intimidated by the influence of our increasingly secular society.

There is so much packed into this interview, and I know you're going to benefit from it.

Pastor Steward-Allen Clark has made headlines the last few weeks following a sermon he gave in February which included a lot of offensive, inflammatory statements about women.

He has since stepped away on leave from his position at his church and is seeking counseling.

Much has already been said about this issue, but I want to focus on two fatal flaws within his preaching that we should learn from and avoid in our own preaching.

I'll show you what he said and focus on what I believe are the two most important things we can learn from it as pastors and preachers.

Rodney Arnold, Lead Pastor of OneLife Church, joins me for episode eighteen of the Preaching Donkey Podcast.

He shares his experience planting a church in Knoxville, TN in 2009. He has some incredible insights for aspiring church planters on how to cast a compelling vision to your launch team and keep that vision alive.

We also dive into sermon prep including the importance of using tension and asking questions to make the sermon more of a dialogue than a monologue.

Rodney also shares how he intentionally pours into the next generation of preachers and speakers by developing up and coming communicators.

There is a TON of insights and practical tactics in this episode. I think you're really going to love it!

Should we plant new churches or revitalize existing ones?

Spoiler alert: both have challenges and both have advantages. However, church planting is not for everyone just like revitalization is not for everyone.

I've been directly involved with church revitalization and have also been loosely involved with church planting. I know enough about both to know that either option requires a commitment to stick it out through set backs and wins alike.

In this episode, we'll explore this question by looking at the pros and cons of both church planting and revitalization because there are definitely challenges and advantages to both.

If you are exploring a calling to do either, this episode will give you some things to consider on both sides.

A great deal has been said the last couple weeks about Ravi Zacharias and his abuse allegations, subsequent investigation and fallout.

Much lies in the wake of his sin... countless abuse survivors, a tattered reputation of RZIM and the frustration and sadness many Christians feel about yet another fallen leader.

I released a video last week giving my thoughts on how we can respond to this situation and work to protect against abuse in our own churches and organizations.

Some responded to that video by saying I should not talk about Ravi Zacharias because:

1) He cannot defend himself.
2) It damages RZIM.
3) It damages the reputation of Christianity.

I feel it's important to respond to these critiques because I want to shed light on the importance of talking about these things in light of the potential dangers.

I think the results of NOT talking about it are far more damaging.

I'll explain everything in this video.