Ministry
105 conversations where the hosts get into ministry.
105 conversations
-
'What would I fight God on?': buildings, pews, and the zero-fruit youth group
- What would I fight God on — and would my heart go along with following him?
Ben shares what he ran into in the last couple weeks: 'what would I fight God on even if I knew it was him?'
From No. 603 · Found Out
-
Should churches count? Data, demographics, and ministry
- Should churches survey, count, and steer ministry by data?
The survey sparks a long reflection on whether churches should spend resources surveying, counting, and marketing.
From No. 464 · Buying International Locusts
-
Style over substance, appearance over authenticity, functionality over beauty
- For each critique on the list: in what ways would this be true, and what would have to be true for the critique to be valid?
The hosts work through three list items. Style over substance is agreed as a flat-out mistake, with caution that authenticity does not mean being crappy.
From No. 460 · 14 to 25 Mistakes From Wildin’
-
Jim Palmer's 25 mistakes: putting church over community
- Is putting church over community a real mistake or a false dichotomy?
A host reads Jim Palmer's list of '25 mistakes I made' as a pastor of a large North American church, and the hosts decide to walk through the list one critique at a time.
From No. 458 · 12 to 13 Mistakes From Wildin
-
Temptation four: avoiding suffering and failure — "Dan, let me ask you directly"
- Are you tempted to avoid suffering and failure?
Ben reads the article's fourth temptation — avoiding suffering and failure — and asks Dan directly whether he's tempted by it. Dan and Mike both say no.
From No. 429 · Following the American Jesus
-
RELEVANT article, part 1: the messiah complex
- Should Christians chase 'sold out' radical devotion, given the article's six problems?
A host (addressed as 'Ben' in the audio) reads 'Six problems with trying to be sold out for Jesus' from RELEVANT magazine: the author's story of dropping out of college at 20 for…
From No. 234 · The Messiah Complex
-
50 proofs bonus #52: watch your minister, pastor, or priest
- Does the 'watch your minister, pastor, or priest' proof show that God is imaginary?
Continuing the godisimaginary.com '50 proofs' series, the reader (addressed as Ben in the audio) reads bonus proof #52, which claims ministers ignore four biblical prescriptions:…
From No. 149 · Listening
-
When you are done serving yourself: Ben's running-with-the-dog testimony
- Am I serving God or serving myself in my ministry patterns?
Ben recounts praying while out running with his dog about whether his life has settled into self-serving patterns, even in faithful ministry work.
From No. 560 · Chill Out
-
Ministry as a job: double lives and lifestyle Christianity
Dan tells of a youth minister he sat next to on a flight who talked only about building campaigns, gigs, and organizational metrics — good measures of an organization, poor…
From No. 588 · hypokritēs
-
God led me to a bigger church? Community discernment and preachers
The room tests communal discernment: every preacher who leaves one church for another says God led them, and it is always to a larger setting with a bigger salary.
From No. 580 · Not Sure | Old Testament Law, Holy Spirit Guidance, Christian Discernment
-
Walking through "five ways to know Jesus is calling" — part 1
The hosts walk through a BeliefNet-style article. Sign one, a sense of emptiness, gets pushback: emptiness may simply be the consequence of separating from God, and the hosts don't see it as a biblical promise of an extra-biblical message.
From No. 500 · Cut and Colby-Jacked
-
Factor two: serving in ministry with your family
Factor two is serving with the family in a ministry — with, not merely on your own. The hosts warn that serving alone can look to kids like just another reason you are never home,…
From No. 463 · Getting Kids to Stick With Jesus
-
Factor four: entrusting kids with real ministry responsibility early
Factor four is being entrusted with responsibility in a ministry at an early age — not a token job title but an active role displaying Christ to others on their own.
From No. 463 · Getting Kids to Stick With Jesus
-
Church in the metaverse: VR Church
The hosts read about Sheryl Sandberg's hope that churches host services in virtual reality and Bishop DJ Soto, who left megachurch ministry in 2016 to lead VR Church, a…
From No. 462 · Jesus and the Metaverse
-
Membership over friendship, prayer over action, services over self-care
Three list items get quick verdicts. 'Putting membership over friendship' is read as a repeat of the church-over-community item and skipped.
From No. 458 · 12 to 13 Mistakes From Wildin
-
Should we measure anything at all? (part 1)
The hosts read the Life From The Path Bob Eisenlauer complaint line number, then take up the prime question.
From No. 457 · House Church Trouble in Olympic China
-
Being sure of your calling: holy moment or community discernment?
On the article's first tip — be sure of your calling — a host confesses he's 'squidgy' on God-calling-pastors as requiring a 'blue Blues Brothers' holy moment, recalling an interviewer's respect for him dropping by half when he said so.
From No. 434 · Rebuilding Tower of Babel
-
Temptation three: success — numbers vs. faithfulness, plus Ben's moving story
The hosts collapse the article's "worldly greatness" and "success" temptations into one: the church measures blessing by numbers, but bigger isn't always better.
From No. 429 · Following the American Jesus
-
The hardest part: watching people self-destruct in sin
- What is the hardest part of being a pastor?
Dan says the hardest part is knowing the consequences of people's sin and watching them ignore counsel — from pornography destroying marriages to life-shattering choices.
From No. 150 · Marriage in the Bible
-
RELEVANT article, part 5: blind devotion and spiritual abuse
Problem 5: 'you could fall into blind devotion' — the author fell into an abusive ministry in Africa with cult-like control over every part of life and misused donor money.
From No. 234 · The Messiah Complex
-
Interview: KJ on teen rap ministry
- What should people expect from a KJ show, and how did KJ get into hip-hop ministry?
The hosts interview KJ, a young Christian rapper playing the festival Friday at 7:35 on the Rock Stage.
-
Catching up with Jeff Arendelle
- What keeps a Christian band motivated to keep playing music for the Lord year after year?
The hosts catch up with Jeff Arendelle on the band's summer: the state fair, Dallas County Fair, churches, a Missouri listening room, and a fourth appearance at Nehemiah Fest, plus the recurring drummer soap opera.
-
Hope for public schooling: if not you, then who?
- In what ways do you look at public schooling and coaching with hope — and where is caution warranted?
Asked where he finds hope in public schooling, Gordon says every job is a ministry and divine moments show up daily; the leader's mentality is "if not you, then who?"
From No. 473 · Do Something With Your Life, Gordon
-
Dirk interview: recovery ministry and worship
Dirk describes performing worship inside addiction recovery programs: leading music at Sheep Gate Recovery Center (formerly Teen Challenge) in Colfax, Iowa, where the residents…
From No. 559 · 3 Songwriters Walk Into a Show