Priority Pastor

A Simple Way to Improve Your Speaking

February 21, 2019February 23, 2019 by Daren

Shorter, MOre Focused, Communication

I recently started a mentoring relationship with a young pastor.

We’ll call this fella Benji because that is in fact the name of his dog. So I’m sure he’ll be good with me referring to him as Benji. He must like the name.

Benji is a wonderful fella. He’s got solid character, a great Christian heritage with grandparents and parents in ministry. And he’s a natural, comfortable, up-front kind of speaker. He’s also a musician. He’s got lots of skills and abilities. Most importantly of course is the fact that he’s got character as well, that he’s a solid follower of Jesus Christ. That makes it easy and makes pouring into him worthwhile.

A few weeks ago he preached a sermon, and as I do whatever I’m working with someone, I evaluated his sermon. I took several pages of notes as he preached.

When I meet with someone to evaluate their sermon I don’t dump the whole load on them. I say “I’m just going to make a few observations but then I’m going to boil it down to one thing to work on for next time.”

Addressing Spiritual Challenges

February 21, 2019February 21, 2019 by Daren

Discerning and Addressing Spiritual Challenges Part 2

Once you become aware that there is a spiritual component to a challenge you are facing, how do you then address it?

The short answer is “Prayer.”

My wife is an intercessor and the foundation of her praying is scripture. She is constantly in the Word looking for ideas and direction on how to pray for me, our children and grandchildren, the church, friends who don’t know Jesus, and whatever else she is led to pray about.

If you are a pastor or praying for a pastor, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are like an extended prayer list.

Discerning Spiritual Challenges

February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by Daren

Discerning and Addressing Spiritual Challenges, Part 1

You can’t solve a leadership problem simply by praying more
You can’t solve a spiritual challenge with leadership savvy or charisma alone.

We know that every challenge is a “spiritual” issue in the sense that there is a spiritual interface or component to everything. For example, money is a spiritual issue.

But I find it helpful, in the intensity of life and ministry to identify if an issue or some component of the issue is primarily a technical issue or a spiritual issue.

If This Was Your Last Year

January 24, 2019January 24, 2019 by Daren

A few thoughts on what I would do if I knew this was my last year…and should maybe do anyway!

High Leverage Leadership Moments

January 17, 2019January 19, 2019 by Daren

High leverage leadership moments, events and decisions which will shape the life and ministry of a church for good or for ill, sometimes for years to come, occur frequently.

Pastors and other leaders need to take these moments seriously, prepare for them and “Be all there” in order to ensure that the the result is a more effective, focused ministry.

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