Caring

Pastoral Response to Child Abuse

Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church, by Deepak Reju (here’s an article/interview about the book) Startling Statistics: Child Sexual…

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Grief & Grieving

This is an annonymous, general letter from a grieving couple: Please… 1. Know that we need you. We may not ask for help (we may be much too numb), but…

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A Friendly Church Is Hard to Find

Authors: Gene & Nancy Preston Our family returned to the U.S. last summer after nearly two decades of living abroad, where we were active in several international congregations. We settled into…

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The Heart of a Shepherd

The heart of a shepherd beats for the sheep. He is willing to sacrifice greatly for them (see John 10:11). The “what” of shepherding is laid out in Scripture in…

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Shepherding The Sick

Shepherding The Sick In another article, we looked at basic etiquette and the need to listen when visiting Christians who are sick. Now we are ready to consider how to…

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PREP

As an elder, you have probably spent countless hours listening to and studying the Word, in meditation and prayer. Unfortunately, this can render you ineffective in teaching new believers how…

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One-Minute Shepherding

That’s ridiculous, you may say. How can an elder be an effective shepherd in one minute? Shepherding takes far more time than that! We must first grapple with the reality…

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Leading From The Heart

He made it to the top, power and prestige were his. No record exists of his having any problem with women. Spiritually he was chosen and gifted by God as…

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Internet Accountability

The internet is a great tool for accomplishing a lot in our technologically advanced society. Yet with a single click it can easily bring temptation to the believer. Many people…

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How To Leave a Church

From time to time, Christians leave one church to go to another, or at least think about it—and often without any guidance or godly counsel. Odd as it may seem,…

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How To Choose A Church

We want to address helping Christians find a church. For some this is a no-brainer, just find the nearest church of their denomination or movement. For a more thoughtful approach,…

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Hospital Visitation

As shepherds of God’s flock we take our example from Christ himself: “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”  We need to “know”…

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Honoring Widows

Hands down, the telltale characteristic of a church that is genuinely following Jesus Christ is found in our Lord’s upper-room comment, “By this all men will know that you are…

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Handling Handouts

The phone rings, his story tugs at your heart. A young man’s car broke down while traveling cross country to visit his sick mother for Christmas. He has no money…

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Going Deeper With People

We elders are called to rise above our own personal reaction to people’s outward presentation of themselves and go deeper in trying to understand and minister to them. Yet, as…

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Encouraging the Sick

 Quarantined! Upon returning from a trip to Colombia, South America, I was exhausted and dehydrated—feeling miserable. With alarms of “malaria,” the doctors quarantined me in the local hospital. All I…

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Elders and Women

Men lead, women follow. Right? However, if we male elders aren’t careful, we can look self-serving and disingenuous if that is all we teach on the subject. A great weight…

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Avoiding the Crack Up of Fellowship

Some couples remain married with a growing joy in their relationship. Some couples fight, bicker and then divorce, believing their differences are irreconcilable. Still others try to push their tensions…

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Resource for teaching on Marriage

A book that should be on the shelf of every elder is God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundations, 2nd edition, by Andreas Kostenberger. This book is a resource book…

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Lesbian Funeral

Homsexuality is becoming increasingly main stream in our society, and the church cannot escape dealing with it. With the recent news of a church that at the last minute cancelled…

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One-Minute Shepherding

Today (Sunday) you, as a church leader or elder, will be busy at church. People to touch basis with, questions to answer, decisions to make, etc. But people need shepherding…

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