Category: Pastors
Posted on January 13, 2021
by Brad Bates
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This morning there was a fun discussion happening on a friends Facebook thread. Basically, it revolved around a call to the church to focus more on character than charisma when it comes to church leadership. Below are some of the thoughts that came to… Continue Reading “Thoughts on Church Leader Qualifications (The Modern Church Vs the New Testament Church)”
Category: Church, education, Ministry, PastorsTags: Accomplishments, Acts 4:13, character, Charisma, Church Leader Qualifications, Church Leaders, Churches, education, Love god, Love others, Pastors, Peter and John, Qualifications, Qualifications of Elders
Posted on December 8, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Yesterday I posted an article where I began to raise some questions about the immense amount of focus that gets placed on the role of the pastor. If you haven’t read it, check it out HERE. I talked with my wife a little bit… Continue Reading “The Unexpected Familial Casualties of Being a Pastor in the Modern Church”
Posted on December 7, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Over the years of my life I have noticed something that few like to talk about or question and that is this: why there is so much emphasis placed on pastors in the church? Especially when one takes a look through scripture and you… Continue Reading “Why is so Much Attention Given to Pastors Over all the Roles Found in Ephesians 4?”
Category: Church, Ministry, Pastors, PropheticTags: Apostles, Church, Ephesians 4, Evangelists, Pastor Resources, Pastors, Prophets, Shepherds, Spiritual Gifts, Teachers
Posted on March 27, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Most churches are still putting a great deal of effort into making the 1 hour Sunday gathering viable over the internet for most of their church body. Some are making efforts to find discipleship opportunities outside of Sunday morning. And unfortunately, a great deal of people are still screaming that they want things to go back to the way they were.
Seeing all of these reactions, I can’t help but ask, should we go back?
Category: Change, Church, Faith, Life, Ministry, Pastors, UnityTags: Church, Church Growth, Consumer Church, Consumerism, COVID19, Egypt, Hebrews, Numbers 14, Pandemic, Promised Land, Seeker Sensitive, Success, The Way Things Were
Posted on March 16, 2020
by Brad Bates
4 Comments
According to Pew Research, about 15-20% of Christians in America are under the age of 30 leaving the mass majority of individuals identifying as Christian in America over the age of 30, with about 45-50% being over the age of 50.
Category: Church, Ministry, Pastors, UnityTags: Age distribution, Blog, CDC, Christian Blog, Christian Podcast, Church, Church Closing, Coronavirus, COVID19, Pew Research, Podcast, School Closings, Social Distancing, The Walking Dead, To Close or Not to Close, Toilet paper, Wuhan Virus
Posted on January 28, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Matthew 19:13-14 NLT – One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Family, Pastors, WorshipTags: Age Segregated Worship, Angry Christian Podcast, Battle of the Ages, Big Church, Church, Church Growth, Church Wars, Cottage Grove Minnesota, Gallitin Tennessee, Generational Wars, In fighting, Matthew 19, Multi-Generational Church, Parenting, Parents, Podcast, Worship, Young and Old
Posted on January 13, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Before The Mandalorian told us that “This is the way” as he protected that undeniably cute baby Yoda (spawning COUNTLESS memes), Jesus had already come before and shook up the world as he claimed and proved to be “the Way”, the Truth, and the life (John 14:6), and Paul who was once persecuting the followers of “The Way” was now claiming to be a follower of the teachings of “the Way” (Acts 24:14).
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Faith, Life, Pastors, Social Media, Truth, UnityTags: Acts 24:14, Angry Christian Podcast, Angry Christians, Apostasy, Apostate, Baby Yoda, Battle of the Ages, Christianity, Christians, Church, Church Growth, Church Wars, Cottage Grove Minnesota, Disney, Gallitin Tennessee, Generational Wars, Grace Christian Fellowship, In fighting, John 14:6, Journey Church, Knightsville United Methodist Church, Little Christs, Local Church, Martin Luther, Multi-Generational Church, Social Media, Southern Baptist Church, The Mandalorian, The Way, The Way the Truth the Life, This is the Way, United Methodist Church, Young and Old
Posted on October 2, 2019
by Brad Bates
7 Comments
My particular rod of choice was my tongue. I was (and still am) quick witted and could conjure up snarky unkind responses at the drop of a hat. All a church member had to do was corner me, or hit me up before the church service was beginning to complain about something, and the rod (that was my tongue) would get whipped out and promptly applied to the head of the unsuspecting sheep.
Category: Angry Christian, Ministry, PastorsTags: Acts 20:28, Angry Church Leaders, Angry Pastors, Church Leaders, Ezekiel 34:1-11, Jeremiah 23:1-4, Pastors, Sheep, Shepherds, Titus 1:5-9
Posted on July 26, 2019
by Brad Bates
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There once was a man who was in the market for a car that was really good on gas mileage, was cheap, and was small (he worked in a downtown area where parking was minimal). This man found a 2002 Mini Cooper with 56,000… Continue Reading “The Parable of the 2002 Mini Cooper: A Lesson On Getting Help”
Category: Change, Church, Cultural Engagement, Family, Life, Marriage, Ministry, Offense, Parenting, Pastors, TruthTags: 2002 Mini Cooper, Clinical Counseling, Clutch, Counseling, Despair, Help, Issues, Mini, Parable, Problems, Transmission
Posted on March 19, 2019
by Brad Bates
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Being called a Spiritual Son or hearing someone call themselves my Spiritual Father (or mother) was something I wasn’t used to growing up in the Southern Baptist Church. Which is odd, because there is certainly this type of relationship displayed throughout the Bible.
Posted on February 5, 2019
by Brad Bates
3 Comments
au-thor-i-tar-i-an /əˌTHôrəˈterēən/ adjective: favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government at the expense of personal freedom showing a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others; domineering; dictatorial. noun: an authoritarian person Nothing is more unattractive to… Continue Reading “6 Signs of an Authoritarian Church Leader”
Category: Church, Ministry, Pastors, TruthTags: About Jesus, Abuse, Anger, Angry Christians, Authoritarian, Authoritarianism, Best Sermon Podcast, Christian Podcast, Church Leaders, Church Leadership, Ezekiel 34:1-11, Globe Trotters, Good Christian Podcast, Grinch, Jesus, Leadership, Matthew 20:25-28, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Pastors, Podcast, Podcast Religion, Qualifications of Elders, Ray Stevens, Sheep, Shepherds, Spiritual abuse, Untouchable
Posted on January 3, 2019
by Brad Bates
3 Comments
Have you ever seen those commercials or read the inserts on some prescriptions that seem to describe side-effects that far exceed the issue it is supposedly treating? You know, crazy things like, “This drug treating a mild cough could cause internal bleeding, the breakdown… Continue Reading “No, Your Pastor Shouldn’t Be Expected to Lead Your Friend to Jesus and The Church Gathering is Not For The Unbeliever”
Posted on September 24, 2018
by Brad Bates
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In recent weeks, months, and even years there has been a growing concern for the mental and emotional health of pastors (especially younger pastors) as we have seen far too many of them take their own lives leaving behind ministries, families, and friends behind… Continue Reading “A Pastoral Epidemic of Biblical Proportions (Part 1)”
Posted on September 18, 2018
by Brad Bates
2 Comments
I just recently read an article titled 20 Signs of a Toxic Church Culture, where the author Dr. Joseph Mattera recounts several signs that he has observed over time that indicate that the church you are part of may have a toxic culture. The article appeared… Continue Reading “20 Signs of a Consumer Driven Church Culture”
Posted on August 28, 2017
by Brad Bates
3 Comments
I’ve been serving in the ministry in one shape or form for the last 15 years. Be it volunteer or paid, full or part time, or as a youth minister, music minister, or both at times. And while I certainly don’t have the track… Continue Reading “10 Lessons I’m Learning About Being in Ministry”
Posted on July 17, 2017
by Brad Bates
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American Churches, and more specifically, American Pastors have a growing theological problem. No longer the more vocal, and more publicly visible pastors standing on a theology built upon The Rock, but they are sliding further and further toward the beach and beginning to build… Continue Reading “Doctrinal Sandcastles”
Posted on January 12, 2017
by Brad Bates
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You know, around January 1 everybody put out a “Year in Review” blog or Facebook post or something out there in the social media ether discussing 2016. I certainly have my thoughts on 2016, but didn’t want to get washed over by the plethora… Continue Reading “2016: A Series of Unfortunate Revelations”
Category: Cultural Engagement, Pastors, Politics, RevivalTags: 2016 in Review, Church, College, Hillary, Obama, Politics, Revival, Situational Ethics, Situational Theology, Trump
Posted on January 3, 2017
by Brad Bates
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Recently a member of the Abolish Human Abortion (AHA) society put out a Facebook status that stated that the gospel was not the main thing. He argued that loving God and loving others was the main thing and that the gospel was secondary to… Continue Reading “The Gospel IS the Main Thing…and Here’s why”
Posted on October 24, 2016
by Brad Bates
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This election season, unlike any other I’ve witnessed in my very short 16-year voting history, has been one of the most stressful and disheartening elections I have personally been through. We are still a good 2 weeks out from election day, but let’s not… Continue Reading “Minds Are Made Up. So where do we go from here?”
Category: Church, Cultural Engagement, Government, Life, Pastors, Politics, Truth, UnityTags: Church, Clinton, Future, Politics, Prophetic, Trump, Truth
Posted on May 26, 2016
by Brad Bates
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Psalm 18:2 ESV The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. When I read scriptures like this, that utilizes imagery to describe… Continue Reading “Attempting to move the immovable “
Category: Church, Marriage, Pastors, Sex, Sin, TruthTags: Church, gay marriage, homosexuality, immovable, Marriage, MCC Church, mountain, Pastors, rock, Romans 1, Sex, Truth
Posted on September 2, 2015
by Brad Bates
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“It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”… Continue Reading “Run to the Battle – 5 Important Points for Pastors Engaging the Culture | Guest Contributor Dr. Kevin Baird”