by Dr. Paul Chappell | Dec 4, 2017 | Christian Life, Ministry Leadership
Christmas might very well be the most wonderful time of the year…but it is also the busiest! I know for our ministry, the next three weeks are packed with activity—extra Christmas outreach, special Christmas services, and unique opportunities for ministry. On top of...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 29, 2017 | Ministry Leadership
This past Sunday evening, we had a service specially themed around worship and the importance of the home in setting the direction of a child’s worship. In the early part of the service, families played and sang, and two of our staff men gave tips on involving...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 25, 2017 | Christian Life, Current Events, Media/Resources, Ministry Leadership, Ministry News
Just ten degrees north of the equator to forty degrees north, on the Eastern Hemisphere, lies a relatively narrow section of the world—the 10/40 window—that holds over half of the world’s population. Of these almost five billion people, close to 90 percent are...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 22, 2017 | Christian Life
Last week our grandson, Chandler, went to the doctor for a follow up appointment on his lungs. (He had severe necrotizing pneumonia and lung surgery last year.) As he sat on the little table in the checkup room, the nurse began taking his vitals. As she prepared to...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 17, 2017 | Ministry Leadership
Without question, the greatest responsibilities a pastor carries are prayer and preaching. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.—Acts 6:4 Even so, administration is part of the leadership package as well. In fact, this...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 14, 2017 | Ministry Leadership
Every church has a culture—a functioning set of values and identity. Hopefully, this culture reflects what the church says it believes and teaches. But that is not always the case. Too many times, the culture of a church becomes one of divisiveness, pride, or...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 10, 2017 | Christian Life
One of the plaguing sins of American Christians is ingratitude. So many people spend their lives looking for that something—some other place, person, opportunity, recognition—that will be better. Their discontentment diverts their attention from what they already...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Nov 7, 2017 | Current Events, Ministry Leadership
Like many churches around the nation, Lancaster Baptist had a time of prayer last evening for First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Less than six hours earlier, twenty-six people’s lives were taken during the worship of that church. A mass shooting is...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Oct 30, 2017 | Christian Life, Current Events, Ministry Leadership
Five hundred years—the amount of time it’s been since Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door in Wittenberg—is hard to wrap our minds around. That’s over double our American history as a nation. It’s even longer than the children of Israel were in...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Oct 21, 2017 | Christian Life, Ministry Leadership, Ministry News
The fall season here in the States is a visual reminder of Jesus’ words to His disciples: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37–38). One...