The Preaching Donkey Podcast

Ahh, a pillar of virtue. One who floats on the clouds unaffected by criticism, temptation, angry congregants and everything in between. That is basically what is expected of you at all times as a pastor. Is this fair? Is this biblical? Who gets to define how a "pillar of virtue" behaves? And how does this intersect with the qualifications for pastors that Paul lays out in 1 Timothy? In our final episode of this series on the unrealistic expectations pastors face, we'll dive into it all and discover how we should deal with this particularly hard to fulfill expectation.

Can weddings, funerals and baptisms lead to burnout? It depends on how you manage the expectation of being the officiant of all those ceremonies. In this episode, we discuss how to set the expectations and manage the responsibility of weddings, funerals and baptisms - and any other rituals, ceremonies or sacraments you're expected to facilitate.

I would guess that when you signed up to be a pastor, the absolute LAST thing on your mind was that one day you'd be expected to manage HR at your church. That you would effectively be a human resources director on top of being the spiritual shepherd and preacher of your church. Nevertheless, the expectation to hire staff, fire staff, develop staff, and build a good workplace culture probably falls on you - if you haven't done something about that expecation. In this episode, I'm going to give you a three part framework for how to manage the responsibility of HR in your church so that it doesn't take every last ounce of energy you have!

Your church needs money to operate. Almost nothing happens without it. And the expectation of raising enough funds for the church to meet its budget and fund special projects often falls squarely on you, the pastor. How do you manage such an important responsibility? In this episode, I'll give you a three part framework for fulfilling your role in your church's fundraising.

How do you handle the expectation of pastoral care in your church? Too often the senior pastor takes on this burden nearly entirely. This can become a massive drain on you - spiritually, emotionally and physically. The people in your church have to be cared for, but it doesn't have to be you carrying that burden. In this episode, I'll lay out a framework for making sure that everyone is taken care of without you losing yourself in the process.

When you signed up for ministry, did you know you'd be expected to function as a CEO? Oh, and you need to give a keynote address to the whole organization every Sunday. And, you better lead at a world class level. And bring the right team around you. And never let the church's attendance flatten or decline. And make sure you, your spouse and kids all remain pillars of virtue through every challenge. If you fail at any level as the CEO of the church, you will be replaced. Nothing to it, right? In this episode, we are examining the crippling expectation that pastors be the CEO of their church. We will discover a way to deal with this expectation so that we can come out on the other end with our sanity intact.

If you preach, you know the pressure of making your sermons awesome. But it's not just your content that has to be impeccable. Your delivery has to be at an expert level as well. You simply "must" be: -engaging but not too confrontational -humorous but not glib -biblical but not a seminary lesson -entertaining but still substantive -thorough but not long-winded. Easy peasy right? Recently a pastor wrote an article sharing why he has decided to leave pastoral ministry for good. His article went viral as so many people resonated with his sentiments on the pressures, stresses and unrealistic expectations pastors face. One of the expectations he lists is Professional Speaker. In this episode, we'll dive into that expectation to see how to manage it without losing our minds in the process.

Recently a pastor wrote an article sharing why he has decided to leave pastoral ministry for good. His article went viral as so many people resonated with his sentiments on the pressures, stresses and unrealistic expectations pastors face. In this episode, we'll dive into his article and see what we can learn from his experience. If you've ever felt as if they pressures of ministry are too great to bear, this episode is for you.

When we preach, we need one thing from our listeners in order to get our message across to them: their attention. If they are not listening, the message is not making an impact. This is why building tension in the beginning of your message is so important. It signals to the listener that the message is worth listening to. There are many ways to approach tension building, but in this episode I'm going to show you the best way.

Recently I received a question from a subscriber who asked me about how to move from preaching messages with multiple points to preaching one-point messages. I love this question because it begs another question: Why would you want to preach a one-point message? In this episode, we'll explore how to prepare and preach a one-point message as well as why it can be a great way to go!

Church attendance is in decline overall. But this is not just among those who have left the faith entirely. Even those who are committed Christians are attending church less and less. In an article on his website, Carey Nieuwhof explores why. In this episode, we'll dive into the ten reasons he gives for why church attendance is declining and what we can do about it in our churches.

If you've ever watched a video of yourself preaching, you've probably noticed some things you're doing that are distracting to your listeners. All of us could use some coaching in this area. When I look back through videos of my sermons I notice more distracting tendencies than I care to admit! But there is hope and we can all overcome these by knowing what they are and working to eliminate them. In part two of this series, I want to offer five common distractions I’ve observed in preachers over the years. For each one I'll give simple solutions to correct them so that your messages are as distraction-free as possible!

Every preacher has physical tendencies that unintentionally distract the audience. Sometimes these are known by the preacher and other times they are ticks and habits that must be pointed out to be changed. All of us could use some coaching in this area. When I look back through videos of my sermons I notice more distracting tendencies than I care to admit! But there is hope and we can all overcome these by knowing what they are and working to eliminate them. In this episode, I want to offer five common distractions I’ve observed in preachers over the years. For each one I'll give simple solutions to correct them so that your messages are as distraction-free as possible!

Living things grow. If something isn’t growing, it’s dying. This is why a church that is not growing is a cause for concern. A church should be alive and one way to know if a church is alive is to look at the numbers. Numbers aren’t everything, but numbers represent people and each person has a story and every story matters to God (I didn’t come up with that, but I love it). Every church leader should be intentional about positioning their church for growth. This is why I’ve pulled together my list of the best five books on church growth. Each one of these books will give you strategies and actionable best-practices to help grow your church.

A few years into my preaching ministry, I began to be intrigued with this idea: What if I could train myself to not need notes when I preach? What if I could prepare in such a way that I could deliver a message and never look down, but maintain eye contact and physical engagement with my listeners from start to finish? What if you could, too? In part two of this series, we'll dive into more of how to train ourselves to not look at our notes when we preach.

We’ve all seen this happen. The preacher walks up to the stage with a Bible, some pieces of paper, and a binder. He spends the first few seconds placing everything on the podium. While he’s doing this the audience is mostly looking at the top of his head as he looks down. As he begins speaking he reads from one piece of paper, looks up, finds another one in his binder, reads it, looks up again, and then looks down for his next idea. Aside from the sloppiness and the seemingly un-prepared vibe this gives off – it also risks not engaging the audience. Let’s contrast that scenario with the preacher who gets up on stage and speaks with clarity and command of the room, engages everyone with eye contact and energy, and you never see him look down, fumble through pages, or read from anything but the Bible. From a communications perspective, the preacher in our first scenario is far less likely to connect with his listeners. He is missing a vital aspect of capturing people’s attention immediately. Considering the fact that I’d like to avoid making the fatal mistakes the preacher in the first scenario made, I began to be intrigued with this idea: What if I could train myself to not need notes at all? What if I could prepare in such a way that I could deliver a message and never look down, but maintain eye contact and physical engagement with my listeners from start to finish? What if you could, too? In this episode, I want to share with you how I've trained myself to preach without looking at my notes.

It amazes me the insights and wisdom available to us in great preaching books. My preaching ministry has benefited vastly from some of the books I've read on the topic. I’ve pulled together the books that have impacted my preaching the most. Each one of these books will help you improve your preaching in distinct ways. I love all of them for different reasons, and my copies are all marked up. In this episode, I'm sharing my list of the best 5 books on preaching.

Every time we preach we have an opportunity to fulfill our God-given calling to impact lives with the truth of God’s Word and the hope of the gospel. But the effectiveness of our preaching is impacted by a host of variables we cannot control, including distractions in the room. But there is something we can control, and that is how well we prepare. I find one of the most often neglected aspects of effective sermon preparation is rehearsing the sermon. By rehearsing I mean preaching the entire message by yourself (or to a handful of people) before you actually preach the sermon to your church. The reluctance to rehearse is varied. Some preachers might think it’s awkward to preach to themselves. They’re totally right, by the way. It is awkward, but that does not mean you shouldn’t do it. Other preachers might avoid it because they don’t think it’s necessary. Still others may have just never thought of it. In this episode, I will show you why I believe the often neglected step of rehearsing the sermon is essential to great sermon delivery. We'll also dive into how to rehearse your message for maximum impact.

You make points in every sermon you preach. You try to communicate at least one point. One idea. One bottom line. You may have one major point but a number of supporting points. The point is, you make points. Get the point? So, what do you do with every point you make? Is it enough just to say the words. “My main point is _________. Okay, let’s close in prayer.” Well, we both know that would be insufficient. We have to do more than just say a point for it to stick. But how do we do this? How do we develop sticky points that land on people in powerful ways? If you find that your points are not getting across the way you want, it might be that they're missing three key ingredients. In this episode, we are going to dive into the three things you must do with every point you make in your sermons.

Have you ever prepared a sermon, but when it came time to preach it, you felt led to preach something else? Or you felt led to change up entire parts of the sermon? It happens to all of us, and it's wise to be ready for those moments. There are a number of considerations to deal with, in this episode, I'm going to share seven with you. Seven things to keep in mind if you are going to switch things up last minute.

One of your jobs as a preacher is to teach your listeners how to live out the truths you preach from Scripture. Preaching, of necessity, requires application. We’re preaching for life-change. We’re preaching to make the written word become the living word in people’s daily lives. But the application part of the sermon is often the most difficult to execute well. I once listened to a sermon where the preacher concluded with a list of 13 ways to apply the message. Thirteen ways! Most people struggle to remember thirteen different truths from one sermon, much less apply them. He was well-meaning, but the buckshot approach just doesn’t work. With that said, drilling down on just one application seems too narrow. You have a varied audience with varied needs. The text has one meaning, and hopefully your message can be summed up in one big idea, but the way the text can be applied to someone’s life is innumerable. You can’t list every possible way it could be applied, but you want to get your listeners to see for themselves how it applies to their situation. I’ve discovered that it’s often best to simplify it in my mind. When I unnecessarily make the process of teaching application too complicated it tends to be unhelpful. So, I’ve simplified it down to three categories of how I give application. Keep in mind, these are just categories. There is a lot of freedom within each one, but I like to have the basic framework. In this episode, I'll share them with you.

This week I attended the Exponential Conference in Orlando, FL. This is one of the largest church leadership conferences in the world with over 5,000 pastors and church leaders in attendance. I observed some trends in the capital 'C' church that I found to be incredibly encouraging. In this episode, I'm going to share those three observations with you and what we, as church leaders, can learn from them and apply to our own contexts.

Years ago my church hosted a conference to encourage and equip our lay leaders and staff. One of the speakers at the event impacted me with her engaging presentation. She spoke for nearly an hour training our leaders how to do ministry effectively in our context. About halfway through her presentation I had filled my page with notes and was eager for more. I started to think about what made the experience so captivating. Turns out, she had four key traits of irresistible speakers. In this episode, I'll share the four traits with you and show you how you can use each of them in your next sermon.

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Years ago I met with a pastor in my area who led a thriving church that he had planted the in 2003. At the time, it had grown from three families to 2,500 people in attendance. He spent an hour sharing a lot of fantastic insights about casting vision, setting direction, and bringing people along on mission to reach the community. But of all the insights he shared, one still sticks with me to this day. I want to share it with you: "Tell your church what they are and eventually they’ll become that." These words rang inside my head as he explained that his job as a pastor is to set the expectation high and let his church know he believes that’s who they are. Eventually, they will become that. Great leaders set high expectations and truly believe their church is capable of meeting them. I've found this to be true over and over again. In this episode, we will explore this concept and discover how to speak TO our church ABOUT our church to build the kind of church God is calling us to build.

For more than a week, there has been an ongoing, unplanned revival on the campus of Asbury University in Kentucky. It's been the talk of social media and thousands have even have made the trip to be part of it. In this episode, I want to draw out three lessons that we, as pastors can learn from this historic event.

Do you ever get stuck in a sermon prep rut? I know I do. Sometimes the sermon comes together like a beautifully crafted work of art. But other times I struggle to get any thoughts to come together. It’s hard to break out of sermon prep stuck-ness, but I’ve learned a few things that help me overcome these stuck times, and I want to share them with you. In this episode, we cover 16 things you can do this week to get unstuck in your sermon prep.

As a preacher you want to make your ideas come alive. When you labor preparing a message and perfectly craft your points you’re not thinking, "I’m sure this will be altogether unremarkable, but I’ll give it a try!" No, you’re thinking, "How can I make them see this and feel it and be changed by it?" We all want this because, what good is it if you make a great point, but no one feels it? If no one does anything with it? An effective illustration is the secret sauce that makes your listeners grab onto your ideas on an emotional level. A good illustration will reach out and grab your listeners and pull them into your content. It will make them care. But how do you use illustrations for the maximum impact? You can have a killer illustration that you misuse and have it fall flat. You can give a great illustration at the wrong time and have it lose its punch. You can have an amazing story that you tell poorly, or an interesting analogy that doesn’t quite fit, or a metaphor that you fail to connect to your point. I’ve made all of these mistakes, and I want to help you avoid them! In this episode, we'll dive into the 4 must do’s of using illustrations to make your sermons come alive.

There is almost nothing more important to sermon preparation than your outline. It is the structure upon which your sermon is built. Without an outline that takes people on a compelling, purposeful journey your sermon will seem aimless. If your sermon is aimless, people will not give it their attention. In this episode, I'm going to show you my four-step sermon outlining method. It will give you a framework for building sermons that take people on a meaningful path toward life-change.

Every church I've served has had multiple services, but no one ever took the time to explain best practices for maintaining energy levels while preaching all of them. Maybe they thought everyone was born knowing this stuff? Well, I am going to share so that there will be something in the world regarding this topic. ;) In this episode, I'm going to share my 7-step survival guide to preaching multiple services.

Preachers do weird things. One weird thing we do is prepare our sermons alone. Every week you have to get up in front of a group of people and say words. Those words have to be engaging, powerful, motivating, encouraging, accurate, practical and spiritual all at the same time. Every. Single. Week. And you prepare alone. All by yourself. I think this started with Moses. He went up on a mountain and heard from God. He came down and told the people, “This is what God said.” We’ve never really changed the model. Preachers have been preparing sermons alone ever since. I used to prepare my sermons alone. I would read commentaries, watch sermons and research articles, but it was mostly just me, by myself. If you’re like most preachers, you prepare alone. But is there a better way? Could you benefit from bringing others into the process? The answer is yes, and in this episode, I'm going to show you how!

Being a pastor is unlike just about any other profession. Because of the holistic nature of the work, we tend to take on “pastor” as an identity and not just a profession. Add to that the spiritual component that we are not just providing a service to people, but showing them how life is supposed to be lived for God’s glory (no pressure). Most people don’t quite know what to do with us because we seem like non-persons to them. They don’t understand us, but we really wish they did. We don’t feel any different than anyone else, and sometimes we feel like explaining ourselves, but most of the time we just live with it. Pastor, I want to speak on your behalf today. I want to help you put into words what you might be feeling and wish people understood about you. In this episode, I’m sharing from my thoughts and experiences of being a pastor for fifteen years and working with thousands of pastors here at Preaching Donkey. You may not relate to everything I say, but I bet you’ll find some common frustrations and maybe (hopefully) feel understood.

If you're in ministry leadership, I don't have to tell you ministry is hard. You know it, you live it. There are unique challenges to church and ministry work. But, often we make ministry harder on ourselves than it needs to be. In this episode, I'm going to discuss a Carey Nieuwhof article where he shares five ways pastors make ministry harder than it needs to be. In this we'll discover ways we can avoid making ministry unnecessarily difficult for ourselves.

With each sermon you preach, you should be absolutely crystal clear what you want your people to take away from it. If you are murky about how they’ll be able to use your message, then you can be sure they’ll be clueless. As preachers who want to communicate well, clarity must be a top priority in every sermon. But it’s easy, and sometimes necessary, to focus most of your prep time on your content and not your listeners. This makes it so crucial to think through how your listeners will receive and use your message. In this episode, I want to give you three simple tests that will help you ensure that your sermon is ready to go in terms of its impact on your listeners and their ability to apply it.

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It’s more important than ever before to work on gaining and keeping the attention of your listeners while you preach. Capturing and maintaining attention is one of the most difficult things a communicator must do. The reason we have to work harder to gain and keep attention has to do with what competes for the attention of our people every time we preach. Our listeners are so distracted, and we need to know what we’re up against. Some of these distractions are new, and some are as timeless as humanity, but they are all present every time you stand up to preach. In this episode, we'll dive into four things that compete for your people’s attention when you preach - and what to do about them.

So many pastors get burned out and fatigued because they lack balance. They are giving 100% of themselves 100% of the time. This is not sustainable and will lead to an inevitable crash landing. But there are two simple things you can do to keep yourself from burnout: Take a real day off; and have a real vacation. In this episode, we'll explore why it's so vital to guard your time off as a pastor, and even more importantly, we'll discover how to do it.

There are many things that can distract you while you preach. Distractions can easily interrupt your flow, make you lose your train of thought and potentially derail your message. It’s important to prepare for potential distractions ahead of time so that you're ready when they come. All preaching distractions fall into one of two categories: internal or external. Internal distractions exist inside your head. Your mind goes a million miles an hour while you preach. You think about a lot of things in the moment: -you can’t decide what your next word is going to be -you wonder how your message is coming across -you’re not sure if you’ve adequately made your point -you realized you’ve talked yourself into a corner -and on and on All of this goes on in your head while words are coming out of your mouth. It makes it difficult to stay focused on your message. These internal distractions come at you from your own thoughts. No one knows they’re happening except you. But there’s another type of distraction that is just as disruptive. External distractions come from something other than you, and they are largely out of your control. They vary from a crying baby to someone leaving during your message to someone coming in late to someone with an insidious cough. What can you do about distractions when you preach? Whether they are internal or external, is there a way to overcome distractions? While some distractions can’t be avoided, they can be managed. In this episode, we're going to explore five ways to overcome preaching distractions.

Sermon preparation can be vexing. It's important to put in the necessary hard work and deliver a sermon that is worthy of a listen. But when I write about the importance of working hard at sermon preparation, well-meaning people sometimes respond with this argument: "Just let the Holy Spirit guide you! No need for all this work." It is their desire to protect the purity of the process and not tarnish it with technique. They see preaching as this otherworldly exercise that the Holy Spirit superintends. In their view, the work of the Holy Spirit is thwarted when the preacher makes an effort to improve his preaching. In this episode, we'll look at why this is a misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit's role in sermon prep.

Often when I am preparing a message, I'm asking myself, "What is the point I'm going to make in this message?" Granted, that's a valid question. But there is a more important question to ask that goes a level higher than that: What's my objective for this message? To know if you were successful at something you’ve tried, you have to know what you were seeking to accomplish. This is true in every area of life but especially in preaching. This is why I nail down the objective of my message early on in the process of writing it. The objective drives the process from there. In this episode, I will show you how to arrive at the objective for a message and lay out one more vital question you must ask before writing any sermon.

As a preacher you should never shy away from tough topics. If the Bible addresses an issue, you should too. You want to help your listeners have a holistic view of how biblical truth intersects with every aspect of their lives. But the more controversial the topic the more important it is to handle it with care. I have preached on topics ranging from what the Bible teaches about alcohol consumption, to sex and sexual issues, to marriage, and financial giving. Along the way, I have learned a few things about how to approach these types of sermons, and I would like to share with you. In this episode, we'll dive into nine tips for preaching on controversial topics.

As preachers we must guard against a prideful spirit. It is a trap that can destroy our effectiveness and our ministries. But we need confidence in order to boldly proclaim God’s word. A tension exists between pride and confidence. Most of us would say that being confident in our abilities is generally good, but being prideful in ourselves can be detrimental. We know that the Scriptures contain harsh warnings against pride. You can be a confident person without being prideful, but it often seems like a fine line. A closely related character trait to pride and confidence is fear. Fear can be a huge inhibitor. Most of us bounce back and forth between pride and fear. Sometimes we’re prideful of our accomplishments looking for others to notice how awesome we are and validate us. Other times we are insecure in our abilities and fearful of what other people might think. Thus there is an ongoing struggle for what motivates our preaching. We must be motivated by the right things and avoid being motivated by the wrong things. In this episode, we'll explore two motivations we must avoid and how to replace them with something much better.

There are few things more vulnerable than preaching. If you do it right, it is a moment when you bare your soul for the world to see. So it makes sense that you wonder what people think of your preaching. You want to know if your sermon worked. Sometimes you just want someone to tell you that you did great so you don’t feel as awful about your mediocre sermon (we’ve all been there). Most of us walk away from a sermon we’ve preached with this resounding thought: Validate me, tell me how great my sermon was because I need to feel worthy as a person! Categorically positive feedback is acceptable from your mom or your spouse. Everyone needs someone cheering them on. But you have to pursue more meaningful feedback from others if you want to get better. You should seek feedback that actually makes a difference. You want the kind that tells you if your sermons are doing what they’re supposed to do – making an impact. But most people don’t give this kind of feedback naturally. You have to ask for it, and you have to receive it constructively. So, how do you get more helpful feedback on your sermons? We'll discover an easy way in this episode.

In our effort to become better preachers we often learn from the best preachers in our generation. We watch our heroes and take notes gleaning all we can from them. This, by the way, is a good thing. While you should never seek to copy someone else or become them, you can always learn a great deal from studying best-practices. But we have a lot to learn not only from our contemporaries, but also from those who have gone before. One leader and preacher who we can learn a great deal from is Paul. Paul, the Apostle, was not only a top notch theologian who wrote a huge part of the New Testament. He was also a missionary, pastor, church-planter and movement leader. We can gain a lot from watching his life and ministry. In this episode, we'll discover five practical things preachers can learn from Paul.

Prominent mega church pastor, Matt Chandler, steps down for an indefinite leave of absence from his preaching role at The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX. This is due to "unguarded and unwise" interactions between him and another woman on Instagram. This comes in the wake of many scandals involving high profile pastors stepping down from their roles - some permanently losing their ministries. But this situation has some nuances that few seem to acknowledge. For far too long, we've seen a lack of accountability in the church. Is this situation different? Did the elders at The Village Church actually do their job? In this episode, we'll explore the statements from Chandler and Patterson, and draw out some lessons we can take away from this situation as pastors and church leaders.

The days leading up to a sermon can be very stressful for a preacher. Your sermon content is on your mind constantly. The responsibility of preparing a sermon can be daunting because when Sunday comes you have to deliver. This is why you need a plan, a guide, a schedule to keep you on track. In this episode, we'll explore the reasons you could benefit from a schedule and how to create one!

Some preachers alliterate their outlines making all their points begin with the same letter. Sometimes just the main points are alliterated, other times the sub-points are alliterated, still other times the sub-sub-points are alliterated. At one point it was taught as a great way to organize your message and really get your listeners to remember. To make it stick, alliterate! was the mantra. But we don’t see as much alliteration anymore - at least not to the extent it was happening in the 90s and 00s. But does it make a difference? Alliterate or not, does it matter? We'll explore the wonderful wacky weird world of alliterated outlines in this video.

Churches rely on the generosity of their members to fund the church's ministries. It stands to reason that pastors would want to avoid doing things that end up reducing their members' giving. But many pastors and church leaders are unknowingly hindering their church's giving. This is according to an article on Carey Nieuwhof's site which we're diving into in this episode. Fortunately, every one of the five generosity killers is reversible and can be fixed. But you have to know what they are first. Let's dive into it in this episode.

The environment in which we preach is not always friendly towards pastors. The trust that a person in ministry might have had three or four decades ago has been eroded. Rather than implicit trust, we are more likely to be met with distrust, doubt and skepticism when people find out we're in ministry. But we still are called to preach the gospel with confidence. How do we do this? In this episode, we'll be diving into an article by Ed Stetzer in which he lays out some ways to communicate with confidence in this climate.

For your sermons to be most effective you should have moments of great intensity balanced with moments of relief. I once preached a sermon on how to change. The sermon was intense because it dealt with the fallen human condition. I talked about addiction, abuse, pain, hang-ups, hurts and everything in between. The general feel of the sermon was intense. It was heavy. When I finished preaching the first of two services that day I could not shake the feeling that the sermon needed some relief. It was too heavy. It was overwhelming in a way that wasn’t productive. You might be thinking, Wait! Heaviness is good. Intensity is good. People need their toes stepped on! That’s just the Holy Spirit working on them! I don’t deny that some intensity is needed. I don’t deny that God can use the heaviness to move people. And I understand the power of his Word to cut through hard hearts and break down barriers. But we are communicating with human beings who need to process the intensity. If your preaching is nothing but intense, then eventually all your words begin to sound the same. If every single word is vitally important, then no words are important. You get the most out of your intensity when it is balanced with relief. In this episode, we'll discuss how to strike a productive balance between intensity and relief.

"Shorter sermons are almost always better." That was the title of one of the first articles I published at Preaching Donkey back in 2014. I felt strongly that a shorter sermon is a more effective sermon simply because there is less room for fluff and filler. Over the years I've adjusted my view, and I want to share my thoughts on this issue. Is a shorter sermon better? Is a long sermon preferable? What are some things to consider? We'll dive into all that in this episode.

Pauses are great. They can add emphasis and give more weight to your point. A well-placed pause is a powerful public speaking tool that you should know how to use. But the wonderful effect of a pause is destroyed by a terrible public speaking mistake preachers make: the audible pause. What’s an audible pause? Well, um, it’s uh, um, I think it’s uh… (Sorry, just had to do that). An audible pause is when you fill in the gaps of your speech with throw away words like “um” “uh” “you know” “like” and others. These throw away words are a huge distraction, and every public speaker must deal with them if they are going to stand out. Rooting out these words is way easier said than done, but in this episode we'll discuss what you can do to reduce and eventually eliminate these words from your sermons and speech in general.

There’s nothing like a good snoozer of a sermon. We’ve all sat through them. We’ve all given them at one point or another (myself included). But what does it take to preach a sermon that makes your listeners fall sound asleep? What does it take to defy everyone’s ability to pay attention? If you aspire to give boring sermons that help your people catch up on rest while you preach, there are five easy steps which I'm sharing in this episode!

As a preacher, it’s easy to focus on your content and not really consider if your listeners are ready to hear it. You’ve been studying your material all week, and you’re totally energized by it. It’s all you’ve thought about for days. You are so excited to finally share these thoughts that are bursting out of you. But your listeners aren’t there yet. They walked into church with everything on their minds except your sermon. They have nowhere near the same level of enthusiasm about your topic that you have. That’s the way it works. You care. They probably don’t. So what can you do? The answer is simple: build tension. You have to make your listeners care about what you're going to say next. You have to make the want and need to hear the rest of your message. Tension is how you do that, and in this episode we'll dive into how!

Why Charismatic Churches are Growing - Lessons for Pastors. Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days For the last several decades, attractional churches have reigned supreme. They've gone by different monikers. Sometimes known as seeker sensitive, modern, etc. The idea in many of these churches, and in evangelicalism at large, has been to make sure churches are as user-friendly and approachable to outsiders as possible. Nothing weird. Nothing awkward. That was the goal. And for good reason. The thought was, "Let's not make the gospel weird and scare away spiritual seekers." Like most well-intentioned movements, there was an unintended consequence. Church became stale, predictable, and altogether forgettable. Many of these churches are experiences declining attendance patterns. But, there is a church movement that is growing and has been for years now - not just in the US, but around the globe - charismatic churches. In this episode, we're going to look into an article by Carey Nieuwhof in which he explains this phenomenon and some lessons we can learn from it. Whether you are charismatic or ever intend to be, there are lessons in here for your church.

Holographic Tech for Multisite Video Preaching (Too Much or Spot on?) Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days I've served on staff at multi-site churches as well as single-site churches. There are unique challenges and approaches to leading a church with more than one campus. When it comes to multi-site ministry, there are basically two approaches: 1) Video preaching at the campuses with one live communicator at a "main" campus; or 2) In-person preaching at each campus. But now there seems to be a third option: Holographic teaching. What? Yes, you read that right. At least one pastor is trying it and we'll look into it in this episode. Is it a good idea? Is it over the top and excessive? We'll dive into those questions in the episode.

BREAKING: Southern Baptists Refused to Act on Abuse, Despite Secret List of Pastors | Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days A new report by Christianity Today's Kate Shellnutt details the results of an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention's handling of abuse survivors within its churches. From the report: "Investigation: SBC Executive Committee staff saw advocates’ cries for help as a distraction from evangelism and a legal liability, stonewalling their reports and resisting calls for reform." It's a heartbreaking report that shows abuses and cover-ups going back decades within the SBC and its Executive Committee. In this episode, we'll dive into the report and draw out some lessons we can learn as church leaders and pastors.

TWO Ways to Approach Preaching (One is common but terrible) Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days This week as I was preparing my message for this Sunday, something hit me. It would be so easy to preach this text completely detached from it personally. Hear me out, in any sermon, it would be so easy to stand up, teach through a text, boldly proclaim its claims and call people to obey it - all the while remaining completely unmoved by it myself! Unfortunately, this is all too common. I want to propose a better way - especially for those times when you study a passage and realize you're not living up to it yourself - but Sunday's still coming! We'll dive into all of it in this episode of the podcast!

Four MISTAKES to Avoid when ENDING a Sermon Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days How you begin your sermon is vital. It can mean the difference between your listeners checking out or deciding to pay close attention. The things you say at the beginning of a sermon are what your listeners subconsciously use to build a framework for your whole message. If your thoughts are murky and unclear, you’re laying an unstable foundation. But the way you end a sermon is just as important. If the closing of your message is disorganized and unclear, then your listeners will walk away feeling the same way about your message – that it was disorganized and unclear. When I first began preaching I would prepare relentlessly for the first five minutes of my sermon. I wanted my opening thoughts to be perfect. I would prepare the opening remarks and the body of the sermon with careful detail. But when it came to the end of my message I would just let the sermon kind of close itself. I didn’t have a plan for ending my sermons most of the time. The result was a lot of missed opportunities where I could have had a much sharper impact if I had called people to action or drove a point home. Instead, I just winged most of them. I have learned from these mistakes and I now plan much better for closing my sermons. I want to share with you some of the mistakes I have made because a lot of preachers make the same ones. In this episode, we'll explore four common mistakes preachers make when ending a sermon.

Half of All Pastors OVERWORKED & Need TIME MANAGEMENT Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days A recent survey finds over half of all pastor say they're overworked and struggle with time-management. This is a topic I'm passionate about because I think churches can do so much better when the pastor is in a healthy place. In this episode, we'll dive into this issue and I'll give you some things that I have found to be helpful with overwork, overwhelm and time-management.

One of the most difficult tasks we have as preachers is making our messages stick with people. We all want our listeners to walk out the door and take action on what they've heard from God's word. But this is not an easy task. People are distracted and there are many things competing for their attention when we preach. One way that we can help this problem is by making our points stick in people's hearts and minds. In this episode we're going to talk about how to do just that!

Simple Vs. Deep: Which is Better for Sermons? Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days When it comes to preaching, information transfer is not enough. We must aim for transformation in our listeners. But how to do preach messages that result in the transformative life-change we're seeking? Some say you gotta be super deep. Others say keep it really simple. So which is better? Which approach leads to life-change? In this episode, we'll dive into this question and explore the best way to preach messages that are geared toward life-change in our listeners.

A recent Pew Research study finds post-pandemic church attendance in America is plateaued - What this means for pastors. Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days We are now solidly two years into the pandemic. With most restrictions lifted and churches back in full pre-pandemic operation, one thing is still lagging behind - attendance. A recent study shows that attendance patterns have plateaued over the last six months with very little increase even as churches are back in full swing. What does this mean for church leaders? What can we do about it? We dive into all of that in this episode.

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days Developing your skills as a preacher is a lifelong endeavor. You never "arrive" and that's part of what makes preaching such a challenging, but incredibly rewarding task. This is why I love talking about how to find your voice as a preacher. Your voice is the only one God gave you. My voice is the only one God gave me. However, as preachers, it's tempting to try to fit someone else's voice into our own. This results in us being a less effective version of (insert your favorite preacher here). In this episode, Mike Ash discusses how to find your voice as a pastor and how to best serve your listeners with what God has equipped YOU with. We dive into a plethora of other topics as well including sermon prep, preaching teams, research and study and the various trends and waves in evangelical Christianity over the last few decades. There is a lot packed into this one, and I know you're going to enjoy it.

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days When it comes to fulfilling your church's vision and impacting your community, you won't get far without funds. This is why giving is so important to churches. But the method in which we receive donations has changed over the last few years - especially in these last two years of the pandemic. In most churches, we've seen a shift from a long-standing tradition of in-person, pass the plate style giving to some form of digital giving online. There are many benefits to this shift and some cautions. We'll get into all of it in this episode.

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days It would be fair to guess that someone in your church or someone you know has been going through a deconstruction process. What is deconstruction and why does it seem like everyone is talking about right now? And what's the difference between deconversion and deconstruction? And how does this affect our ministries day to day as we're leading our churches? In this episode, we will dive into all of these questions and aim to get a better understanding of what's going on in our culture right now.

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days

When it comes to sermon length, how long is too long? How short is too short? Do people care how long the sermon is?

Someone should look into this! Well, they did. By "they" I'm talking about a recent survey conducted by Grey Matter.

They discovered what congregants think about a variety of factors affecting preachers from the length of sermons, to asking for tithes and offerings, to dealing with social issues.

There is much in this study for us to discover as preachers. We dive into all of it in this episode of the podcast!

In this episode, Lantz Howard of Champion Hope joins me to discuss how to be calm. In a season of chaos and stress, as leaders we must manage ourselves well. Self-management and self-leadership include training ourselves to be calm even in times of stress. As 2021 is coming to a close and 2022 is right around the corner, putting into practice what Lantz reveals in this episode will serve you and your ministry well. Find out more about Lantz Howard's work at https://www.championhope.com/ https://www.championhope.com/links/

According to a recent article in Christianity Today, worship songs do not last as long as they used to. Thirty years ago a worship song would be song in church for a decade or more. These days, that time is cut my two-thirds or more. Why has this changed and what does it mean for the way we select songs for our congregations? In this episode, we'll dive into all of the *fun* surrounding music, worship styles and song selection in church. CT article: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/december/worship-music-lifespan-shrinking-faster-study-tanner-ccli.html

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days

A recent Barna survey revealed that 38% of pastors want to quit ministry. Many of them would if they had any other way to make a living.

What has led to this trend? Why are so many pastors burned out, tired, frustrated and wanting out?

There are many facets to this, and we'll dive into all of it in this episode.

Article referenced: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/november/pastor-burnout-pandemic-barna-consider-leaving-ministry.html

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days

When you finish writing a sermon, it's important to make sure it's completely ready to go before you preach it.

But this can be complicated if you don't what to look for or how to determine if your sermon is complete.

In this episode, I'm going to give you three simple questions you can ask yourself before preaching any message to make sure it's 100% ready to go!

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast by Christianity today has been the best podcast to come out in a long time. In it, host, Mike Cosper, profiles the story of Mark Driscoll who rose to prominence as the leader of Mars Hill Church, President of Acts 29 and #1 New York Times Bestselling author. 

The podcast holds nothing back in telling the story - the good and not so good parts of the journey and ultimate fall of Mark and his church.

Listening to this podcast has been a journey for me in itself. I admired Driscoll in my formative years of ministry. He was different, but in the end proved to be the same as so many pastors who have fallen.

From the first ten episodes of the podcast, I have drawn out three important lessons that I believe are important to share with you.

Grab your FREE 21-Day Guide to Creating Killer Sermons: https://preachingdonkey.com/21days

It is important to evaluate every message you preach. Intentional evaluation can keep you from repeating distracting mistakes and help you know what's working in your sermon delivery.

But, many preachers avoid evaluation altogether because there's not enough time or it just feels like a negative process.

In this episode, I'll show you a simple, yet effective, way to quickly evaluate any message and gain the insights you need to make the next one better!

Grab your FREE 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist: https://preachingdonkey.com/checklist

When you have prepared your sermon well, it's important to make sure you are just as intentional about the delivery.

How you preach your sermon can either make your hard work come to life or leave you and everyone else wondering what just happened!

In this episode, we'll explore some important must-do's of sermon delivery.

Just as important as what people see on the screens when you preach, is what people have in their hands as you preach.

Your handout, bulletin, listening-guide - whatever you call it - should be intentional.

There are three main ways to structure what's on the handout. In this episode, we'll explore all three and I'll let you know which one I think is most effective!

When it comes to sermon prep, slides and other supporting media can often become an after thought.

But what your listeners see on the screens in the room while you're preaching can make a big impact on your sermon.

It's important to be intentional about your slides, how they're designed, and what they display.

In this episode, we'll explore some best-practices and some things to avoid in your sermon slides.

One of the most neglected aspects of the sermon prep process is also one of the most important: rehearsing.

By "rehearsing" I don't mean memorizing like the lines of a script. Rather, you want to rehearse so that you fully internalize and understand the message BEFORE you preach it.

Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a rookie, in this episode I'm going to make the case for why every preacher should rehearse and give you steps on how to do it.

Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

One of the things I've discovered over the years is the power of a good preaching team.

What is a preaching team? If you're not familiar with this idea, it can seem more complicated than it is.

A preaching team is simply a group of trusted people that you select to help you formulate your sermon at different points of your message preparation process.

Utilizing your preaching team is a vital part of the sermon prep process, and in this episode we will dive into exactly how to form a team and best use it when you write your sermons.


Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

Just as important as outlining is in the sermon prep process, so too is building out that outline with the right content.

A skeleton with no muscles and skin is not very useful. An outline by itself is left lacking as well.

This is why in this episode we will spend some time looking at how to build out the content in your sermon specifically around your bottom line and points.

Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

Outlining is a crucial part of the sermon prep process. 

Just like a body needs a skeleton, a sermon needs an outline to provide a framework for the message.

In this episode, we will dive into the most effective way to outline your message every single time.

Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

Every sermon should be rooted and grounded in Scripture. 

This means that the way you study the Bible for a sermon is important to get right.

In this episode, we will dive into a simple, systematic approach to studying the Bible for a sermon that will serve you well as you prepare your sermons.

There's a lot packed in this one! I can't wait to see what you do with it!

Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

Sermon prep can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be! The key is to have a good process where you know exactly what steps to take along the way.

In today's podcast, we're starting a new series on sermon prep where we'll be walking through the ten essential steps of a good sermon prep checklist.

We begin with determining our topic, title and hook. 

Download your 10-Step Sermon Prep Checklist FREE: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/checklist

I was a youth pastor for several years and I still believe this to be true: If you can communicate clearly with teenagers and children, you can communicate with anyone. 

Kids and students only pay attention if you have something worth listening to.  And by the way, this is actually the case with adults too - it's just that adults are more subtle about ignoring you.

So whether or not you speak to students on a regular basis, knowing how to communicate truths to them is vital.

This is why I'm so excited to have Kyle Smith on the podcast this week. He's been in student ministry for nearly two decades and has a lot to say about how to speak to students effectively and what leads to life-change in students.

I know you're going to enjoy this one! Be sure to let me know what you think of today's episode.

You may have noticed, but over the last few years, there has been a number of influential Christian leaders renounce their faith, or "deconstruct" as some call it.

Deconstruction has a spectrum. For some it means a complete abandonment of Christian thought and practice, while for others it's merely a departure from some tenants they used to hold and believe.

The latest in this trend is Kevin Max of DCTalk. He let his followers know in a recent tweet that he has been on a decades long journey of deconstructing but still believes in the "Universal Christ."

In this episode, I walk through these recent departures from faith and see if we can drill down on some root causes, what we can do about it in our churches, and what lessons we can learn as pastors and church leaders.

What's the most important attribute a pastor can have? Some might say competence - they have to know what they're doing.

Others might say charisma - they're charming and dynamic enough to speak persuasively and powerfully.

While I agree that competence is important and charisma definitely helps, there is an attribute that is more important than either of those: character.

This is sobering: If we are not people of character, our ministries will suffer for it.

In this episode, we explore the importance of character, how it relates to preaching, and why it's so important to get it right.

When we preach we make points. 

Sometimes we make one point, other times we make multiple points. 

But the point is, we make points.

A point is like any other part of our sermon... if structured and delivered well, a point can synthesize and drive home a powerful truth.

But often the power of a point is missed because of two simple mistakes preachers make when giving points in a message.

In this episode of the Preaching Donkey Podcast we are going to discuss what these mistakes are and how to deliver powerful points every time you preach.

https://www.preachingdonkey.com/sermoneval

Celebrity pastor culture is everywhere and it affects a lot of  church life and culture. What caused it? How dangerous is it? These are questions I wrestle with a lot. 

And I'm not the only one.

The Instagram account, PreachersNSneakers, took social media by storm a few years ago by pointing out the amount of money celebrity pastors were spending on their shoes. 

Ben Kirby, the creator of the account, never meant to do anything more than bring attention to this part of celebrity pastor culture, but it struck a chord with so many.

Some pastors came out in support of his work, others were offended that he'd point it out. Others were glad to know their pastors were fitted with $1500 shoes.

In this episode, we're going to dive into the challenge of celebrity pastor culture and see what lessons we can learn moving forward as preachers and church leaders.

Check out the full article referenced here: https://www.christianpost.com/books/preachersnsneakers-creator-churchgoers-demand-celebrity-pastors.html

My friend, Jameson Reynolds, joins me for episode 27 of the Preaching Donkey Podcast.

In this episode we discuss the vital relationship between the lead pastor and worship pastor. As the lead worship pastor at a large, multi-site church, Jameson shares his experience working with his senior pastor and other senior leadership to create the best possible weekend experiences for their attendees.

We also dive into the importance of building systems, evaluating everything and everyone in the organization and building a culture of trust.

I think you'll really enjoy this one and gain a TON of practical insights!

On a personal note, I really enjoyed this episode. Jameson and I have been friends since high school and we share some of our experiences that built our friendship over the years.

Instagram @jamesonreynolds 
Instagram and YouTube @battlecreekchurch

Ministry can be draining. We love the work, the people and the calling, but...

It can still be draining.

This is why we NEED time away. True, actual time away.

But, many pastors can't or won't protect their vacations and they end up being interrupted or cut short.

Friend, it does not have to be this way! In this episode, I will give you a step-by-step plan for making the most of the precious time you get away with your family.

The pandemic changed a lot of the ways we structure our services.

Prioritizing the online experience became essential for any church to thrive during that time.

But now most churches are back to some type of in-person services (depending where you are, of course). 

This does NOT mean we should go back to "normal." Instead, we should still seek to engage the people attending online and make them feel part of what we're doing.

In this episode, I'm going to share one thing you can do to keep virtual attendees (those watching online) just as engaged as those attending in-person.

Should your church's focus be on reaching the lost (evangelism) or helping believers grow (discipleship)?

Believe it or not, this is a debate churches can get caught up in. Some churches pride themselves on being discipleship oriented. Still other churches place a high value on aggressively reaching the lost.

I think this whole debate has been framed wrong, and in this episode I'll explain why there's a much better way to approach this question.

Greg Atkinson joins me for episode 23 of the Preaching Donkey Podcast. 

In this episode, we discuss the importance of capturing imagination when you preach, the role first impressions play in the effectiveness of your sermon and virtual church best practices.

There is so much packed into this conversation, I know you're going to get a ton of value from it!


Follow Greg:

https://gregatkinson.com/
https://firstimpressionsconference.com/ 
https://worshipimpressions.com/
Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn: @GregAtkinson
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/gregatkinson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegregatkinson

As I've worked with and coached preachers over the years, and in my own ministry, I've found that church leadership and preaching is tough work - it's not for the faint of heart.

New challenges are always surfacing; the joys are elating and the lows can be devastating.

At the same time, to remain sharp in my preaching and leadership, I need ongoing training.

I know I'm not the only one! We all need continual training, but many pastors only have their seminary training to fall back on (if they went).

Unfortunately, seminary often isn't adequate to deal with the rigors of day-to-day ministry. And while it's no doubt valuable, it's not designed to help pastors continue growing throughout their ministry careers.

All pastors need three vital things to continue growing throughout their ministries:

1. Ongoing, practical training

2. Personalized coaching

3. A community of like-minded pastors

But so few pastors actually have these three vital resources in an ongoing, intentional way.

In this episode, we'll explore these three needs and how the Advanced Coaching Community can provide you with all three.

To check out the Advanced Coaching Community, click here: https://www.preachingdonkey.com/advanced

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, preaching is a waste of time, but if he did rise from the dead, it's among the most important things we could ever do.

Every preacher is susceptible to pitfalls. We have to intentionally navigate around them to ensure that we stay healthy.

In this bonus episode, I want to jump into the first of three pitfalls and then invite you to join in on The Preacher's Journey Workshop which is a FREE workshop this week at Preaching Donkey. Register at https://www.preachingdonkey.com/journey

The ministry landscape is always changing and we must be prepared for those changes. What we relied on to work yesterday might not work tomorrow.

This is why I love Carey Nieuwhof's blog post on five preaching trends that will shape the future. In this episode, we'll examine each of the five trends and see what we can discover and apply to our preaching and leadership.

5 Trends article: https://careynieuwhof.com/5-preaching-trends-that-will-shape-the-future/

Equipping our people with the tools they need to understand and defend their faith is an ongoing task we have as pastors.

Many people in our churches do not know how to their faith stands up to skeptics. Sadly, this can result in Christians who do not know how to respond when their children reject the faith because they can't reconcile it with post-modern thought.

On this week's episode of the Preaching Donkey Podcast, apologist Lori Morrow joins me to discuss her ministry to women which seeks to help  them live out and speak about their Christian convictions with confidence and courage, so they no longer have to feel frustrated or intimidated by the influence of our increasingly secular society.

There is so much packed into this interview, and I know you're going to benefit from it.


Find out more about Lori's ministry at: https://www.thespoonfedsoul.com/

More from Lori Morrow...
 
* If you're a mom who wants to understand why faith is harder for the Next Generation, CLICK HERE....https://www.thespoonfedsoul.com/Harder-Faith-Intro

* If you're someone who wants to know how to navigate today's faith challenges by Building a 21st Century Faith, CLICK HERE...https://www.thespoonfedsoul.com/21-cf-intro-page

* If you're tired of clunky faith conversations & getting stumped by questions you're not sure how to answer, you can get 19 Faith Conversation Starters by CLICKING HERE...https://www.thespoonfedsoul.com/Faith-Conversation-Starters

"Church People" is a new movie releasing this week which centers on a pastor who is relying on outlandish means to reach people and his youth pastor who is doing everything he can to get the church back to the simplicity of the gospel.

I had the opportunity to sit down with the director of the film, Christopher Shawn Shaw, and lead actor, Thor Ramsey, to discuss the making of the film, the impact they hope it has, and the Christian movie industry as a whole.

I think you'll enjoy this (very different) episode of the Preaching Donkey Podcast!

See my reaction to the trailer here: https://youtu.be/UD2UOuiktLI
Learn more about the movie: https://churchpeoplefilm.com/