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Pastors today are faced with more work, more problems, and more stress than any other time in the history of the church. This is taking a frightening toll on the ministry, shown by the statistics below: Pastors: · Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout…

I will never forget Ted Stone

This poem was given to me, quoted to me actually while serving an interim at the Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This dear elderly lady was a resident of a local nursing home during that time (c. 1978-1979). The pastor of the church and I visited with her and when she learned that I was preparing for a career in ministry, but attended a Methodist College (Wofford, Spartanburg, SC) she was greatly concerned that I do not leave the Baptist denomination to become a Methodist

When I was a young Christian, during my teen years, I remember praying for the salvation of my parents. At the time I was also wrestling with the call to ministry, the call to preach. I tried in my prayers to bargain with God. I told him, “If you save my parents, then I will accept your call to preach.”…

Do not think of preaching until you have truth written on your very soul. You would as well think of steering a ship across the ocean without knowing the first principles of navigation. You would as well think of setting up as an ambassador without your country’s sanction as to dare to intrude yourself…

There are churches wherein the minister is nominally the leading officer, but he cannot lead, for the church does not follow. A young officer, sword in hand, leaps the rampart. He looks back, but his troop is yards behind him. He cries, “Come on! Come on!” But there is no answer; he might as well call…

Be Humble, Be Wise When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom. Proverbs 11:2 Recommend Reading Proverbs 11 On December 6, 2001, American evangelist Billy Graham received a singular honor from the British Empire. He was given an honorary knighthood in recognition of his Christian…

I have seen in the army a number of veterans marching in front, an ornament and an honor to the whole company. Your short-service men come and go, but these tried men stick to the colors and are the backbone of the regiment. If a tough bit of fighting has to be done, you must rely upon such as these.…

Along the coast, in certain places, there are no harbors. But in other spots, there are bays into which vessels run at once in the time of storm. Some men present an open natural harborage for people in distress. You love them instinctively, and trust them unreservedly. They, on their part, welcome your…

Why you should remain a virgin until you are married Teens having sex. It's in the movies, on TV, and splattered on the pages of magazines. It seems that having sex makes many teens feel that they are mature, popular, normal, or loved. Teens often mistake sex for love - and fondling for affection. But…

You have sometimes seen a widely spreading oak tree cut down, and you have missed its grateful shadow. Yet afterwards you have discovered that many little trees, which would have been dwarfed beneath its shade, have grown more rapidly in its absence. In like manner, the removal of some eminent servant…

Queen Elizabeth told a notable merchant in the City of London to go to the Continent on royal business. “Please your majesty,” said he, “who will attend to my business while I am away?” The queen replied, “If you will go abroad and see to my business, I will see to your business.” I will be bound to…

A famous preacher was to preach on a certain occasion, but he missed his way and was too late. The devil, knowing of it, put on the appearance of the minister, took his place, and preached a sermon to the people, who supposed they were listening to the famous preacher whom they had expected. The devil…

In the long line of portraits of the Doges in the palace at Venice one space is empty, and the semblance of a black curtain remains as a melancholy record of glory forfeited. Found guilty of treason against the state, Marino Falieri was beheaded and his image as far as possible blotted from remembrance.…

We are never so subject to impatience as when there is nothing we can do. While the farmer is occupied with ploughing, harrowing, tilling, drilling, hoeing, and the like, he is too busy to be fretful. It is when the work is done, and there is nothing more to occupy his hands, that the very leisure he…

THE STORY I was born in 1725, and I died 1807. The only godly influence in my life, as far back as I can remember, was my mother, whom I had for only seven years. When she left my life through death, I was virtually an orphan. My father remarried, sent me to a strict military school, where the severity…

A series exploring what the Bible teaches about marriage, singleness, motherhood, the workplace, church ministry, sexual purity, true beauty and relationships.

Hospice is a ministry of death. Hospice workers care for patients in their last days of life. They focus on symptom relief and giving quality to the patient’s last days. In her new book, With the End in Mind (Little, Brown, 2018) British physician Kathryn Mannix gently introduces readers to hospice.…

In his business book, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, Donald Miller says something from a business perspective that the church has known for years: “Those who realize the epic story of life is not about them but actually about the people around them somehow win in…

A Methodist church in Minnesota asked members over the age of 60 to worship elsewhere for 18 months while it tries to woo a younger congregation. After all, Rev. Dan Wetterstrom explained, “Jesus said we are called to reach new people.” The Week, February 7, 2020 p. 6 I understand the need and the desire…

Louie was born unable to walk in a country facing political turmoil and poverty. The boys had no feeling below the knees, so he could only move around by pushing himself with his hands and dragging his body through the dirt. People in his country often view disabilities as a curse, but Louie’s family…

Traveling with her son gave Kendra Robins an idea to minster to homeless children around the country. Robins noticed that her son slept better away from home when he had a familiar item to snuggle with. She realized children spending an evening in a homeless shelter might be afraid to sleep because they…