Articles page 7
On accountability, serving, church life, and following Jesus in the real world. Got a question you'd like me to write about? Ask it anonymously.
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September 25, 2025 · Living the Lord's Prayer
From Glory to Groceries: What "Daily Bread" Really Means
What's the daily bread meaning in the Lord's Prayer? It's a prayer about groceries, dependence, and your neighbor's empty table.
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September 18, 2025 · Giving Account
How to Run a 30-Minute Accountability Call
A simple accountability group format for busy men: five men, thirty minutes, one honest account each, and a brother who answers every one.
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September 10, 2025 · Second Fiddle
Making Peace with the Career You Won't Have
Every bi-vocational pastor pays a career sacrifice. Here's how to name it, grieve it honestly, and trade the ladder for something that lasts.
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September 3, 2025 · Turn the Key
The Hidden Costs of Ministry Success
Ministry burnout often shows up after an outreach succeeds, not when it fails. Five hidden costs to name early, and the question that sustains leaders.
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August 27, 2025 · Full Service
Showing Up Is a Spiritual Discipline
What does "let your yes be yes" mean for someone who serves? Why reliability is a spiritual discipline, and how to build a yes people can count on.
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August 21, 2025 · Under the Hood
When the Car Came Off the Lift and Ran: Why the Resurrection Matters
Why the resurrection matters, explained plainly: it's how we know the repair Jesus made on the cross actually worked.
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August 13, 2025 · Living the Lord's Prayer
Nervous About Your First Small Group? Here's What Actually Happens
Wondering what happens at a church small group? A plain walk-through of a normal night, what you will and won't be asked to do, and how to get started.
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August 8, 2025 · Second Fiddle
Two Full-Time Callings, One Life: Living with the Permanent Tension
Balancing ministry and work as a bi-vocational pastor isn't a problem you solve once. It's a tension you learn to carry. Three postures that help.
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August 1, 2025 · Turn the Key
White Hats, Blue Hats, Red Hats: A Simple Volunteer Leadership Structure
A volunteer leadership structure you can explain in two minutes: one person owns the session, one owns each job, and everyone else serves.
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July 24, 2025 · Full Service
Are You a F.A.T. Volunteer? Three Qualities of a Good Volunteer
The qualities of a good volunteer aren't talent or experience. The ones who last are Flexible, Available, and Teachable. Here's what each looks like.
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July 18, 2025 · Under the Hood
Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross? Free Repairs Still Have a Bill
Why did Jesus die on the cross? A plain answer from a church that fixes cars for free: every repair has a bill, and someone has to pay it.
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July 11, 2025 · Living the Lord's Prayer
Why Join a Small Group? Because Circles Beat Rows
Why join a small group when you already go to church on Sunday? Because rows can form an audience, but only circles form a family.
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July 3, 2025 · Giving Account
Giving Account in Marriage
Accountability in marriage doesn't mean making your wife your monitor. It means owning your own load and telling her the truth before she has to find it.
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June 26, 2025 · Second Fiddle
25 Years of Bi-Vocational Ministry: What Got Harder, What Got Easier
What long-term pastoral ministry actually feels like after twenty-five years with a day job: what got harder, what got easier, and what never changed.
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June 19, 2025 · Turn the Key
Founders and Organizers: Why Your Ministry Needs Both
Two ministry leadership roles matter more than any title: the founder who starts it and the organizer who makes it last. Here's how to tell them apart.
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June 10, 2025 · Full Service
Contribution vs. Sacrifice
What does "a ransom for many" mean in Mark 10:45? Jesus redefines greatness, and asks every volunteer a harder question than what you're willing to contribute.
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June 5, 2025 · Under the Hood
God Didn't Send a Pamphlet
What is the Incarnation? It's the Christian claim that God became a human being in Jesus. Here's what that means in plain words, and why it's about love.
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May 29, 2025 · Living the Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer Is a Path, Not a Staircase
The Lord's Prayer meaning, line by line: five requests, five places people meet God, and why growth looks more like a tree than a staircase.
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May 20, 2025 · Second Fiddle
What Happens When a Church Doesn't Pay Its Pastor
An unpaid pastor can free a church to give its money away. What twenty-five years without a salary taught one church about generosity, preaching, and trust.
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May 14, 2025 · Turn the Key
Let the Work Be the Curriculum
Discipleship through serving isn't a side benefit of outreach. It's how Jesus formed his disciples. Here's how to build formation into the work itself.