Tools of the Trade – Week of April 19, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

Here’s a mix of theology, practical theology, and help for hurting pastors. I hope you find something in here encouraging.

HB Charles, Jr. – When It’s Time to Leave A Church

Ronnie Martin – Another Easter

Jason K. Allen – Guarding Your Life and Doctrine While in Seminary

Rhyne Putnam – Addressing Fraternal Disagreements in the Body of Christ.

Peter Mead – Five Pointers for the Discouraged Pastor

Giovanni Colantonio – The Best Office Chairs Under $300. Yeah, I know. Weird. But how much time do you spend sitting in your office chair? Secular source may contain “secular” language.

Travis Hearne – Your Eschatology Has Consequences

Justin Poythress – 4 Predictions for the Post-Pandemic Church

Ed Welch – Ministry, Personal Limits, and Saying “No”

Trevin Wax – A Word to the Weary Pastor

John Folmar – 4 Principles for Raising Up Elders

Dan Doriani – Doriani on Romans (an excerpt from a coming commentary!

Tim Challies reviews a new book – Fierce Wolves Are Coming

Well, you might be interested in this. I got the first shot of the Moderna vaccine and a week and a half later broke out in a rather nasty rash. I scratched like a chimp until I went to the doctors. A week later it’s better but not gone.

Secular source, may contain secular language.

Have a great week!

Tools of the Trade – Week of April 12, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors – Part 1

Busy times, but I have a lot of good stuff to share. I’m going to break it up thematically a bit. This post will include articles that you can use in counseling and distribute to your congregation.

Why Should We Remember What God Forgets? – Tim Challies

Trevin Wax – 4 Ways to Prepare to Hear the Voice of God

Show Up! – Mike Gilbert-Smith

Stephen Witmer – Will I Ever Change?

Please Stay – The Palest Ink

Matthew Miller – Looking for Assurance in All the Right Places

God Has Not Forgotten You – Vaneetha Rendall Risner

Campbell Bortel – Pain Our Teacher

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I’ll be back Monday with some articles for pastors, including several for pastors going through hard times. Pastors go through hard times??

Have a blessed weekend.

Tools of the Trade – Week of April 5, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

I hope you had a wonderful Easter! Here is some great reading for this week.

A must read: Anxious People Need Shepherds Who Point Them to the Chief Shepherd.

Peter Mead takes a break from writing about preaching in this article on The Local Church and the Missionary.

I’ve recommended articles by Tim Reigle several times. Tim is our music leader and has a ministry helping men addicted to pornography. He asks, Do You Have Perseverance?

Eric Raymond – A Tool for Reading the Bible Devotionally – make copies and pass them out.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video by Bryan Chapell on The Place of Application in preaching.

This article was published originally in 2017 but was reprinted last year. Stephen Altrogge tells us 3 Things I Know About Ministry Now That I’m Not In Ministry.

Garrett Kell tells Pastors, Train Future Pastors. What better place to learn how to pastor than from other pastors?

This will help you deal with the cultural push to deny sexual identity. Solid stuff.

Do Not Nod Your Head to Lies.

This is just good reading for any pastor in any church in any location. Paul Levy urges us to Keep Your Head.

Trevin Wax, whose articles are included here on a regular basis, has a new book coming out this next week, I believe. It is not listed on Amazon yet, but the title is The Multi-Directional Leader. You can learn about it here.

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Have a great week of ministry!!

Tools of the Trade – Week of March 29, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

I’ve collected a rather large collection of articles – so many that I am going to simply list them and make a comment or two where appropriate. I’ll have another list out Monday. Have a blessed Easter with your church family.

Grief is an Exhausting Journey – a good article to share with parents who have lost children, as well as anyone dealing with grief.

A review of Joel Beeke’s and Nick Thompson’s book Pastors and Their Critics by the folks at 9 Marks. Pastors have critics??

A Second Adam to the Fight and to the Rescue by Eric Raymond.

Another by Eric Raymond called Rain or Shine, He Showed Up. Maybe the last sentence will catch your attention and you’ll want to read this: Love while you are still able, for, in due time, you will be at a funeral, either of someone dear to you or our own.

I’m teaching an online class on 1 & 2 Peter. They are great books for our time. Travis Montgomery provides some help if you plan to preach those letters.

Winston Smith gives us In Ministry, Joy and Sorrow Don’t Cancel Each Other Out.

11 Elder Chairman FAQ’s from 9 Marks.

Here’s a 20 minute lesson on how to conclude a sermon well.

Pastors Should Have Friends within Their Churches by Jeremy Todd.

Mark Dever on Leading Change in A Church.

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Enjoy. More coming Monday.

Tools of the Trade – Week of March 22, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

I hope you had a good weekend. In our church we are seeing more people coming back to in-person worship. I hope the same is true where you are ministering.

Here is some recommended reading:

Peter Mead writes about sermon preparation and how some sermons take longer to prepare.

This is another helpful article from Tim Reigle on dealing with sin in general and porn addiction in particular. He also writes this about restoring trust after porn addiction.

Peter Krol writes: One common challenge in Bible study is figuring out how much text to study. Whether it’s for personal study, small group discussion, or a sermon selection, students of the Bible have a number of things working against them in making this choice. Here’s some help.

This is a really good article by Kaden Classen on why our people need to be taught theology. Make sure you read this one.

The late R.C. Sproul briefly and clearly defines the Gospel. Anyone who preaches or teaches should be sure to review their understanding of the Gospel message from time to time.

Leaving a congregation is not easy for pastors. At least most of the time. Mike Ayers suggests 4 Things to Consider in a Transition From Your Church.

Probably the most needed article in this list is Jonathan Leeman’s discussion of helping our church do good on social media.

Trevin Wax writes a provocative and somewhat troubling article on the state of churches and denominations that identify themselves as Evangelical.

I’ve said before that I wish Kevin DeYoung blogged more often. Here’s a great reason why he should.

Timothy Paul Jones asks the question, “Should Pastors Preach for Conversions?”

Jeff Mingee writes to pastors about their online presence.

Here’s an article by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra suggesting permanent changes that will come to the church because of COVID.

What do you do when small group members are reluctant to participate? Ryan Higgenbottom has some guidance.

Peter Krol discusses training young people to feed themselves with God’s Word.

Not much shocks me anymore, but some things make me sad. The mess with Ravi Zacharias is one of them.

Ok. Here are a couple of productivity articles. Here’s one on organizing your desk.. Here’s one on making an effective to-do list. Here’s one on doing a brain dump. And no, that’s not what you do to your wife after you preach. And finally, here’s one on managing your tasks. Note: Several of these articles are on Medium, an article hosting website that costs $6 a month to use. They do allow you to read several articles before telling you that you need to pay up. I subscribed to it for about two months. I think it’s one of those services to maybe pop in and out of every 5-6 months. Also, because they are secular sources, they might contain the occasional naughty word that I missed. Use of inappropriate words is obviously not condoned on this blog.

Tools of the Trade – Week of March 15, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

Happy Ides of March. If I remember correctly, this is the day that Julius Caesar was killed. Which reminds me of a joke from a kids’ joke book that I had years ago:

What did Caesar say after Brutus stabbed him? “Ouch.”

Here we go with some articles for this week:

Pastors are Paid to Stare Out the Window Good stuff from Jared Wilson.

Nathaniel Williams urges pastors to Preach to the People in the Room.

Michael Krueger shares some timely counsel about dealing with people who object of our views on morality.

YOUNG PASTOR ALERT! “Your Ministry Heroes May Be Right There in Your Church.”

Another gem from Jared Wilson. How does a guy manage to consistently write such good stuff? “Pastor, do you know that Jesus does not need your help?”

Here are Three Maxims for planning worship services. Do we really do enough thinking about why we do what we do?

Quiet small group studies are pretty much one of the worst things in the world. This article can help prevent that.

Peter Mead writes about the “Sweetest Agony” of ministry.

Chris Thomas urges that we not preach “Pre-Fab Packages of Frustration.”

Trevin Wax, always worth reading, suggests caution in the way we view the post-pandemic church.

We’ll close out this week with Peter Mead’s thoughts on sermons and prep time and why some need more than others.

Have a great week!

Tools of the Trade – Week of March 8, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

My function at church involves two main components. One involves coordinating congregational (pastoral) care and the other involves teaching as the opportunity presents itself.

I’ve been working for the last few months in preparation of an online series that is called Roots. The point of the series is to help our people understand theology, but to go beyond just understanding a doctrine to learning why that doctrine is important. What is especially challenging in this is that each “episode” will be no longer than seven minutes.

We released the first video last week and will roll new ones out every week on Tuesdays. Between learning video technology and doing the actual scripting and recording, it has been a busy several weeks, hence I’ve been absent again. But I wanted to catch up because I have a backlog of great reading.

By the way, if you’re interested in the Roots series, you can text the word “roots” to 610-708-1100. That will enroll you in the distribution list and you’ll get a text message each week. If you are outside of the US, you can be added via email. I’m not suggesting you do this because of the theological acumen I possess, but in case you want to see something that might work in your church. Be warned, however, that we’re planning 80-100 of these videos. 😬

Here are some worthwhile articles:

Do you wonder what people get from your ministry? This article says “it ain’t what you preach.”

Paul Levy, author the article above, shares a letter he wrote to his church in July called “The Slowness of God.”

Ryan Higginbottom has some help for those who lead small groups. The kinds of questions we ask can make or break our studies.

The ever-present Peter Mead tells us 7 Ways to Not Really Preach a Passage. And then Wanted: Expository Preaching Advocates.

Simple title, deep subject: Redeeming Pastoral Ambition.

Tim Reigle shares some thoughts about the Lost Art of Deep Conversation.

Self-Talk and Sanctification

J.A. Medders writes Pastor, Your People Need the Hard Texts.

Darryl Dash encourages pastors to keep preaching.

Joe Carter answers questions about What You Should Know About the Pro-LGBTQ Equality Act. Pastors here in the US should keep an eye on this. This one, by Brandon Freeman, is related.

Here’s a good one. I’m going to write a bit on this soon. Here are 4 Ways Young Pastors Can Love Elderly Saints.

Trevin Wax shares some thoughts about The State of Church Attendance as Covid Turns One.

Ed Welch gives us Shaking Off Some Lifelessness with the Psalms.

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Enjoy!!

Tools of the Trade – Week of February 23, 2021

A Weekly List of Links and Resources Especially for Pastors

I actually published something last night but decided this morning that I didn’t like it. So . . .

Here are some helpful articles for your reading pleasure and edification:

Kregal Publishers has a series of books that ask/answer 40 questions, and a new one is 40 Questions About Pastoral Ministry by Phil Newton. Here is a review.

Peter Mead has a helpful article on what to be aware of between the beginning of the service and the sermon.

David Prince writes “Sermon Delivery Matters.” A quote: “I once heard a group of self-styled sophisticated evangelical types almost mocking John Piper because of his passionate and energetic delivery. I asked, “Do you think it is fake passion? An over-dramatized act or genuine?” Their answer was that it is genuine but still dangerous. I told them to sign me up for that kind of dangerous passion.”

I believe that all of us need to be ready to explain why we have trusted Jesus, but I also believe that there are some people more gifted in transitioning conversations to the Gospel. Regardless of your situation, this is a helpful article.

I found this article by Paul Tripp from back in 2019 on leading with humility and accountability. It’s titled, “How to Lead With Humility and Accountability.” And it’s a good read.

So, so, good, and so important. “We Must Reclaim Friendship From the Bonds of Social Media.”

I’ll be back with more in a couple of days. There’s some meat up above to digest.

Tools of the Trade for the Week of February 15, 2021

Here’s some must-reading that I’ve culled from various blogs over the last week or so:

Peter Mead, a regular each week, writes about 5 Aspects of Natural Delivery. Worthwhile for all of us who preach, but especially for younger guys trying to “find their voice.”

Here’s 2 minutes and 21 seconds of counsel by Adam McClendon called advice for a new pastor.

Trevin Wax, who also appears regularly on this blog, writes about ministry trends in this new year (2021).

Here’s one pastor’s reflections on why it is a privilege to be a pastor.

Peter Mead contributes more to those who preach by making five suggestions to make our preaching more fluid.

Stephen Wellum wrote a couple of articles on the need for a proper Christology. There’s one here, and another here.

Pastoral work is more than teaching and preaching. Pastors are shepherds, and Dave Harvey asks how we can know whether that’s a job we can do.

Michael Krueger has an interesting and helpful article on spiritual abuse.

How much time does it take for you to prepare a sermon? How long should it take? Peter Mead weighs in.

Tim Challies speaks to younger pastors and their preferences when it comes to church size.

David Mathis, with Desiring God, writes about he way Providence surprises us.

Finally, Matt Adams writes about the “Christian Life and Preaching.”

Tools of the Trade for the Week of February 1, 2021, Part 2

I continue to collect some really useful articles, and will share some with you now and then the rest next week. This set deals with topics that you might find helpful to share with your people – as well as yourself!

Mike Emlet, Dean of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) provides “An Open Letter to a Sinner.” This is directed at someone who is struggling and on the verge of turning away. Make sure you save this one.

Peter Mead shares some helpful reminders on the need for endurance.

We’ve all been in small groups where the questions just seem to get no response. Leading a group like that is tough, but the problem may often be with the questions. Here’s a helpful article on what makes a good small group study question.

Hey Pastor! Take a look around. Do you see order in your workspace/office or does it look like you’re collecting piles? This article, from a secular source, may be of help. (Tip – Don’t hand it to your wife and say, “Here Honey, I thought you should read this!”)

Tim Challies, who along with his wife has borne up with such dignity and grace after the sudden loss of their college-age son a few months ago, talks about tears in Heaven.

Here in the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, children as young as first grade are being taught that deviant sexual choices and behavior are to be accepted – no more than that – they are to be embraced. Who is teaching the kids of your church about sex?

Pastors of all ages, but especially you younger guys, PLEASE read this! Please!

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I have some great articles on pastoral work, leadership, and preaching to share at the beginning of the week. I’m aiming for Monday, but it may be Tuesday. Have a great weekend!