New Lifeway research shows that Pastors are severely overworked.
It is to the point that many Pastors spend little to no time in prayer or personal spiritual disciplines.
How can we lead the flock God has given us if we are running on EMPTY??
I don’t know if you make New Year’s Resolutions or not, but if you [...]

posted by Scott Newton Smith
You’ll rarely hear me preach a sermon aimed at the entire congregation.
I know that may be confusing so here’s what I mean…
I mean sermons that might be titled “3 Signs of A Healthy Church” or “The Main Job of The Local Church.”
I’ve learned over time that when sermons that have  a [...]

by Joel Southerland
Preachers can be the worst procrastinators around.
We have all these tasks that need to be done and there are notes and scribbles and mental To-Do lists everywhere of things we need to do . . . . eventually!
When we live in that constant state of procrastination it is extremely stressful.
Neil Fiore in [...]

by Joel Southerland
John Maxwell is set to release a new book entitled Everyone Communicates, Few Connect very soon. I was able to read an excerpt from the book before its release. The opening paragraph of chapter 1 says it all:
“According to experts, people are bombarded with 35,000 messages a day. Everywhere we go, everywhere we [...]

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In this episode, Smith and Southerland interview Pastor Brad Whitt about his amazing filing system that allows him to categorize and file everything:  illustrations, old sermons, digital audio files, books and even old preaching tapes.
And he can retrieve any of it by simply typing in a keyword or [...]

posted by Joel Southerland
How do you deal with interruptions?
The phone call.  The drop-in.  The IM interruption.
Now, I’m not talking about the real interruption — like the emergency that must be dealt with.  That’s not an interruption, that is ministry.
The interruption is something that interrupts your work flow that could be put off until later.
So, how [...]

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A big challenge for the preacher is to quickly connect with the congregation early in the sermon.
In this episode,  Smith and Southerland five proven ideas to instantly connect with your audience of sermon listeners.
(Don’t miss the special announcement at the end!)
Action Step: Pick one of [...]

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In this episode we discuss an important principle of time management for busy pastors.  How many “inputs” do you have?  Are you controlling them or are they controlling you?  Smith and Southerland give three keys ways to manage what tends to overwhelm us and sap [...]

Posted by Joel Southerland
We’ve been preaching that you need a predictable melody in your sermons in parts 1 and 2. 
But there are also times you really need to break it.
I’m a child of the 80’s – when Ronald Reagan and Rock ‘N Roll were king!  I have repented since, but I grew up listening [...]

Posted by Scott Newton Smith
The showdown.  The “early service.”  You know… the get-it-over-with crowd.  They sat there, droopy eyed and lifeless.  They had barely survived the song service.  The music guy, bless his heart, had done the best he could.  Just before I went up, he glanced at me as if to say, We’re fallin’ [...]