At a recent lunch meeting with one of our outstanding young Kentucky Baptist pastors, our discussion turned to the Cooperative Program and the sacrificial generosity of the church he serves. It was a great opportunity to thank him for his leadership and to thank the church for its financial investment to advance the gospel. IContinue reading “Why Do We Give Through the Cooperative Program?”
Tag Archives: Evangelism
This Is Why We Cooperate
When I saw the social media post from Dr. Paul Chitwood, president of our SBC International Mission Board, reporting that there are 1,268 candidates in the IMB’s missionary sending pipeline, my immediate response was, “This is why we cooperate!” I could give that same response daily while witnessing Kentucky Baptists working together to advance theContinue reading “This Is Why We Cooperate”
A Providential Misspelling
I don’t catch every misspelled word and an important one got past me recently. While skimming through a meeting I noticed the spelling of cooperation as “co-operation.” The dash in the word highlighted the “operation” part of cooperation. Operation, as defined by Cambridge dictionary, is “an activity planned to achieve something.” When you add theContinue reading “A Providential Misspelling”
The Culture Ate Our Strategy
Calvin Wilkins, a much-loved and well-remembered Kentucky Baptist pastor and former KBC Mission Board staff member, once told me of a young pastor who wanted to find a new place to serve. The young man expressed to Calvin that he wanted to pastor a good church, a church like the one Calvin was pastoring. Bro.Continue reading “The Culture Ate Our Strategy”
Three Ways to Raise Up Church Workers
Ask any church in Kentucky, “What is your greatest leadership challenge?” and the answer will likely be, “We need more workers.” Gospel ministry opportunities abound, but finding the folks to lean into those opportunities can be a great leadership challenge for pastors. How can a church find the workers needed for its life-changing ministry? ConsiderContinue reading “Three Ways to Raise Up Church Workers”
Two ways to lead evangelistically
As a pastor, you probably won’t receive very much encouragement in your personal evangelism practices. I realize that is a little harsh, but true. Other more pressing ministry needs will likely pull you away from sharing Jesus with lost people. In fact, it is safe to say, you will have to personally prioritize personal evangelismContinue reading “Two ways to lead evangelistically”
How Door Knocking Can Change Eternity
Since becoming the executive director-treasurer for the Kentucky Baptist Convention in August 2019, I have had a long list of things to be accomplished. Given the challenges of our times, that list has changed some, but serving Kentucky Baptists remains the greatest joy of my ministry experience. One of my personal goals during my tenureContinue reading “How Door Knocking Can Change Eternity”
Remember the 98%
At his recent inauguration as the sixth President of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, Dr. Charlie Goodman made this statement about the cooperative work of Southern Baptists: “I understand not everything is perfect in our world, convention, or churches. But when you look at how our money is spent in our convention — it isContinue reading “Remember the 98%”
What Do I Do with My Discouragement?
According to Lifeway Research, 48% of protestant pastors surveyed listed “discouragement” as one of the top mental health challenges they faced in ministry. Levels of discouragement can run from “Ministry Mondays” where the challenges of Sunday make a pastor or Christian leader feel numb on Monday, to full blown depression that calls for a greaterContinue reading “What Do I Do with My Discouragement?”
Do It Now
I worked in sales when I was in my 20s, and the vice resident of our company bought me a little book to help me in professional development. The title of the book says it all, “Do It Now.” The book addressed a topic that impacts every leader: procrastination. Leaders procrastinate for a variety ofContinue reading “Do It Now”
Dr. Todd Gray 