6 Neuroscience Insights that can Make a Pastor’s Sermons Stickier
I received an executive master’s degree in the neuroscience of leadership a few years ago and learned so much. I just completed a graduate certificate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching from Johns Hopkins University and learned a boatload there. Christian leaders and pastors can learn much from the latest neuroscience discoveries about the brain. Neuroscientists have discovered that
Mr. Rogers’ Advice to Discouraged Pastors
Do the Best You Can and Leave the Results to God… That phrase may seem trite and a bit worn to discouraged pastors, but it’s filled with truth. In Christ’s parable of the talents, the master, representing God, gave responsibility to the servants, us, based on individual ability.[1] The story implies that some pastors have greater
3 Keys to Making Change Stick in your Church
Change is inevitable. And unless a church creates healthy change in itself, it will soon become obsolete. Numerous empty or almost empty churches in Europe, America’s inner cities, and Canada bear witness to that. Ronald Heifetz, a Harvard professor and business/leadership author, is most known for a concept called adaptive change/leadership. Essentially adaptive change requires not
Feeling Overwhelmed in Ministry or Life? Try this.
Ministry burnout, overload, and destructive stress lead to an abysmal survival rate for pastors today. For 20 years a friend of mine followed 105 pastors and discovered that only half remained in ministry. Many other statistics bear witness to the high fallout rate for pastors. Burnout, moral collapse, and the weight of ministry has shattered
Your Brain’s Leadership X-factor
X-Factor: A variable in a situation that could have the most significant impact on the outcome. X-Factor: a tv show by Simon Cowell that didn’t do so well. The term X-factor usually carries a positive mystique, a quality not readily identified except by its impact. We’ll say… The singer has the X-factor that makes her
7 Keys to Help Church People Remember your Sermon Better
As a pastor I’ve been trained how to create a sermon so that it’s theologically sound (good hermeneutics) and applicable to the listener (good homiletics). However, seminary never taught me how I might help church people listen better and retain what they hear in a sermon. In the last few decades neuroscientists have learned much
A Simple Exercise that will Infuse Life into your Staff
Some time back our church staff held our annual in-house evaluation retreat when we reviewed the prior year’s goals and plans. God had given us a good year and we wanted not only to discuss how we could improve, but rejoice in His blessings. After we prayed, we did a simple exercise that infused life
Leaders and their Listening: at which of the 4 Levels do you listen?
One of the greatest skills a pastor or leader can develop is to learn to listen well. We pay others a high compliment when we listen. We affirm others’ God-given value when we listen. We develop our own heart when we listen. The father of the field of listening, Ralph Nichols, captures the essence of listening in these
Strategic Planning in a Nutshell
I’ve used this simple tool to capture the essence of strategic planning. Feel free to use it with your team. Related posts: How to Plan an Effective Solo Planning Retreat 5 Mistakes Pastors Make when Planning Staff Retreats
4 Traits of the World’s Second Greatest Leader
I believe Jesus was the world’s greatest leader. I would call the Apostle Paul the world’s second greatest leader because he wrote much of the New Testament and because he spread Christianity into the the west through his missionary journeys. The book of Acts details much of those early missionary journeys. Acts 16 describes four traits that Christian leaders
