Journey’s Best Reads of 2023
As we turn the final pages of 2023, I again offer my list of favorite reads for the year. As always, this is not a list of my favorite books published in 2023, but books read in 2023. If a book is on my “Best Of” list, I recommend you give it a read in 2024. Of interest, the publishing date range on this year’s reads is quite large: from 1896 (The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon) to 2024 – yes,...
Gratitude: The Heart’s First Response to God
Many of us – children and children at heart - write Christmas Wish Lists. And why not! People are giving gifts, so why not "wish" for the gift or gifts we’d like to see under our tree. Or the gift we’d like to see under the tree for our spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, or friends. Even more, why not also write Thanksgiving Blessing Lists? God and others continually bless us, so why not say "thank you"...
The 2023 Journey Survey on Preaching
In September, we invited Journey members and non-Journey members, vocational ministers (credential holders) and all Christians (non-credential holders) to participate in a survey on preaching in the Evangelical church in America today. The survey focused on two general areas: 1. FOCUS ONE: Sermon subjects – the emphasized and the overlooked; 2. FOCUS TWO: How frequently senior pastors address 40 central doctrines. In this article, we present the results of the second focus: frequency. Sermons emphasized and overlooked...
Block The Exits! Pastors Heading for the Doors!
In March 2023, The Barna Group reported the following: “New Barna data shows that pastors’ confidence and satisfaction in their vocation has decreased significantly in the past few years, and two in five (41%) say they’ve considered quitting ministry in the last 12 months.” (Source: Excerpt: A Rapid Decline in Pastoral Security) It is a sobering, even shocking revelation. One that must be addressed immediately. Picture it this way. Imagine a gathering of 100 pastors, all...
A Pastor of Pastors Remembers His Pastors
October is Pastor appreciation month, a month when we make a special effort as churches and individuals to thank our pastors for their ministry to us as undershepherds of Jesus Christ. "Every Christian's life is meant to be a parable of Jesus. But pastors are particularly suited to this because so much of our lives are spent doing what Jesus did in His life. An adequate definition of pastoral ministry emphasizes following Jesus as the...
Fade to Gray: Young Ministers Going Away
I have a friend who started a retirement account many years ago, one of those something-something-Bs. He thought it best to prepare for the future, not only his but that of his children and their children. He wanted to do all he could to set in place a healthy scenario for himself and his family – he wanted to stage them for ongoing success. His investments did very well for a long time, showing a...
The Audience of One
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 FOCUS Have you ever noted how divided our pastoral focus can become? We pay attention to so many things but firmly fix our gaze on only a few, maybe none at all. As a result, it’s off to races, running here and there, taking...
He Trains My Hands for War
It was a Sunday I’ll never forget. As a staff pastor, I had just finished leading worship in our morning service. As I did every Sunday, I exited the platform through a door to the right, descending the steps into our office suite. Closing the door behind me, I turned to my right, entering a narrow hallway that circled behind the platform and led to the prayer room. The hallway was dark. I walked the...
Charnock’s Easter Egg – The Glory of God & Life in the Plural
When God and His glory are made our end, we shall find a silent likeness pass in upon us; the beauty of God will, by degrees, enter upon our soul. Stephen Charnock Stephen Charnock was a 17th-century Puritan pastor and preacher in Ireland and later in London. Many students of God’s Word know Charnock through his influential work, The Existence and Attributes of God. Secular historians have worked hard to defame the Puritans’ doctrine and...© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching