Over the past several months, I’ve been writing a book for independent Baptist pastors and leaders—The Road Ahead.

This book shares personal midcourse adjustments the Lord has worked in my spirit and ministry philosophy. Particularly, it addresses the needs I see in independent Baptist leaders and churches to look to Jesus and serve with authenticity.

As I travel, I’ve met hundreds of Bible-believing pastors who love God, are faithful to their families, and have a pulpit ministry that is grace-based and Bible-centered. Some of these men have shared with me their concerns about the testimony of Christ and the future of biblical Baptist churches.

As with other institutions, and even other denominations, we serve in a day when the actions and reactions of a few have been broad-brushed over all of us. In these times, it is more vital than ever that we understand our biblical position and allow the Holy Spirit to thoroughly search our lives for imbalances in ministry.

Packaging these thoughts into book form with written steps of action has been a challenge. In fact, I haven’t written a book with more prayer…or a greater passion to clearly communicate. (more…)

Among the blessings of living in the twenty-first century is the ability to easily and quickly share ministry resources.

Over the past few years, our ministry has been able to develop a variety of web sites to provide such resources. But if you’re anything like me, you find a helpful site, download a few resources…and then forget to check back for more.

If you’ve used the sites below in the past but forget to refer to them later, you might consider bookmarking them in your browser. If you’ve never visited these sites, have a look. Everything below is free: (more…)

The story is told of a struggling community who called an open town meeting to discuss their financial straits. Included in the group of a couple dozen people at the meeting was a stranger. No one knew him, and no one paid him any attention. In fact, once when he tried to speak up, he was interrupted as the townspeople continued to hash out possible solutions. Soon the stranger left.

A few minutes after he left, a late-arriving town resident ran breathlessly into the meeting. “What was he doing here?” he asked excitedly. “Is he going to help us?”

“Who?” the others looked at the man with surprise. “You mean that stranger? Who was he anyway?”

“You mean you really don’t know?” The latecomer’s body sagged with disappointment. “That was John D. Rockefeller. His yacht is in our harbor. Didn’t you get his help?”

This town missed its golden opportunity because they didn’t know who Rockefeller was.

Does this story sound familiar? (more…)

If you’re anything like me—and most people I meet are in this regard—you’ve shouldered too many burdens that you wish you would have given to the Lord.

Sometimes we forget to give them to the Lord.

Sometimes we just don’t want to let them go.

Sometimes we struggle to know how to give a burden to the Lord.

This fall, I wrote The Burden Bearer: Who’s Carrying Your Load? to remind myself—and hopefully readers as well—that we really can and should cast all our cares upon Him.

This book is a unique project in that it has an allegorical story about Carrier—a Lifter very much like you and me—woven throughout the book.

You can read the first chapter for free, or you can purchase the book in print or as a kindle edition. I pray it is a help and encouragement to you. The chapter titles are as follows: (more…)

If you are in Christian ministry and are looking for a refreshing (yet convicting and challenging) book—and especially if you are a senior pastor—I suggest Replenish by Lance Witt.

When I read this book on my kindle recently, I had eighty-two highlights that filled over eight pages. There were so many truths the Lord used from it to speak to my soul.

We’re all prone to the myth that the best measure of a ministry is the size. But I think as Baptists we are better learning to measure a ministry by its healthinstead. A healthy church will grow, while a growing church may wither and die if it does not have healthy roots.

In a similar way, we need to measure our own lives, not by our productivity (even our spiritual productivity) but by the health of our souls—our walk with God, our relationships with others, our capacity to witness, serve, and love from the heart. Replenish is a book that encourages you to pay attention to the gauges of your soul so you have continued fuel for a lifetime of Christ-exalting ministry. (more…)