As I write these thoughts, I am flying home from Seattle where our youngest son, Matthew, was just married. My heart is thrilled to think of how God has blessed him with a new bride. I am excited to know that they are going to serve the Lord with their lives in the days ahead.

While I am glad that each of our four children is married to a godly spouse, I must admit I am a little sad at the passing of time. As I look back over the years of raising our children, I certainly can think of areas in which we could have done better. But I also thank the Lord that our four children went to the wedding altar in purity and with a dedication for the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I was thinking about why I should be glad, twenty-three reasons came to my mind: (more…)

Since our first days in Lancaster, it has been my passion to develop a cohesive team at Lancaster Baptist Church and ministries. I praise the Lord that on our staff and among our church family there is a unified team spirit—a shared heart to exalt Christ and win the lost. I attribute the great team spirit in our ministry to the work of the Holy Spirit and the yieldedness of individual team members.

There was never a more cohesive and victorious time in the early history of the church than at Jerusalem around the time of Pentecost. An obvious reason for this was the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Yet there was another factor—the common convictions these Christians shared about the truth.

In the August edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, we explore the convictions necessary to developing a cohesive team.

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Strong teams have an alignment of four leadership domains—the heart, head, hands, and habits. Each member must have a heart for God, the mind of Christ, a willingness to lend a helping hand, and a shared habit of soulwinning. These four areas are properly aligned when members of the team share the very convictions common to the early Christians in Jerusalem. (more…)

This past Sunday I was privileged to preach the 50^th anniversary services of the Grace Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. What an honor it was for me to stand in the pulpit of the great men of God who started and have pastored this church—Moody Roberts, Marshall Godfrey, Floyd Paschall, Dr. Clayton Shumpert, and, my good friend and mentor, Dr. Bob Kelley. Brother Bill Egerdahal currently serves this church as pastor. (more…)

What a joy it was during Spiritual Leadership Conference to be able to serve the many pastors, missionaries, and churches who attended. Many have expressed the services and workshops were a monumental help to them, and they are already letting us know how they are implementing the truths they learned this week in their home ministries. (more…)

Every person that will have a fruitful ministry for the cause of Christ will pay some price along the way. Many Christians want the blessings without being willing to bear the burdens; they want the crown without carrying the cross. Yet whenever there was a great work done for God in Scripture, someone was willing to pay a great price. Noah, Moses, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Paul all experienced the fruit of spiritual success—and the expense of personal sacrifice.

In the June Spiritual Leadership Podcast, we explore the unique costs involved in building a growing church.

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Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing. God used Paul to accomplish great things in ministry, but it wasn’t without cost. (more…)