Meet Paul, the first bi-vocational pastor The first bi-vocational pastor in the history of the church was the Apostle Paul. Famous for his “tent trade,” Paul supported himself with his skill at making tents while doing missionary work throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece. Paul did this even though it […]
Herb Reese
668 posts
Watching the news on Hurricane Harvey this week brings back some bad memories. As a pastor, I’ve been through a hurricane in the Houston area: Hurricane Alecia in 1983, a category 3 storm that caused almost 2 billion in damage. And while it didn’t come close to Hurricane Harvey in […]
The congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hitchcock, Texas, built their Kingdom Hall down the street from my first pastorate in one day. Pretty impressive. But since our family lived in the parsonage next to the church, we subsequently became the target of numerous visits from fervent JWs. That experience gave […]
Recently, I received the following email from someone I’ve known for several years. It’s a cry of desperation because her church is not responding to her family”s deep need. I’ve contacted the church on their behalf, but to no avail. Here’s the email: My husband has been hospitalized for several […]
Pastors have many irons in the fire. A pastor is often on call 24/7. His typical workweek is at least 55 hours long and involves the following: Church meetings Staff meetings Board meetings Counseling sessions Long term planning Lunch meetings Sermon preparation Conflict resolution Crisis intervention Weddings and funerals Hospital […]
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 I memorized this wonderful and amazing verse as a child. At the time, I […]
Meet Bored Ward Bored Ward is fifty-five years old and has been married thirty years to his wonderful wife, Karen, with whom he has raised two children. With both of those children grown and gone, Bored Ward senses a void in his life. So he decides to join the men’s […]
Tomorrow (August 15, 2017) marks the first anniversary of my live, full-time, online ministry. Doing ministry on the Internet was a radical change for me. I had many questions floating around in my brain when I started. Could I get my message across? Would anyone listen? Would anyone do anything […]
The goal of a men’s team ministry orientation is to recruit teams of men. So the process of forming teams at the end of your orientation is critical. Don’t obsess over forming your teams But while forming teams is the goal of your orientation, you don’t have to get obsessive […]
The problem with Protestant, non-liturgical churches is they tend to be personality driven. The reason is because Protestant churches elevate the sermon to a central focus of worship. And if the sermon is critical to the worship service, then the ability of the pastor to preach the sermon well becomes […]