by Dr. Paul Chappell | Apr 15, 2014 | Christian Life
On Sunday, we celebrate the victory of the Resurrection of Christ. We remember His triumph, and we thank God for the hope that brings in our lives on a daily basis. But remember, there could be no resurrection without the crucifixion. The empty tomb is a powerful...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Apr 10, 2014 | Christian Life, Media/Resources, Ministry Leadership, Ministry News
The 2014 Spiritual Leadership Conference is fast approaching—it’s now less than nine weeks away. If you have not yet registered for the conference, I would encourage you to do so today. Here are seven reasons I believe you need to register—the first two of which are...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Apr 7, 2014 | Christian Life
Every morning brings fresh opportunities—and fresh challenges. Sometimes the challenges seem to outweigh the opportunities. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the opportunities embedded in the challenges. Sometimes—with or without challenges or opportunities—it’s just a...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Apr 4, 2014 | Christian Life, Family
We’ve been privileged this week to host hundreds of teenagers for the West Coast Baptist Youth Conference. It has been a joy to see their responsiveness to the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. Teenagers are a delightful challenge—even to themselves! The teenage...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Apr 1, 2014 | Ministry Leadership, Spiritual Leadership Podcast
Leading in ministry in any way—whether it be teaching a Sunday school class, leading a bus route, serving in missions, or pastoring—has many challenges, There are always ups and downs along the journey. But through it all—excitement, trials, or testing—God can give...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Mar 27, 2014 | Christian Life, Ministry Leadership
As a new pastor, I had one very good reason to preach about finances—the church had no money! But I had an even more compelling reason not to preach about finances: I didn’t want to offend our few members! Pastors probably know the jokes and one-liners about preachers...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Mar 21, 2014 | Ministry Leadership
This year marks my twentieth year to pastor what researchers call a megachurch—a church averaging over two thousand people in weekly attendance. Statistics on pastoral tenure in churches suggest that for a pastor to remain twenty-eight years in the ministry, let alone...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Mar 20, 2014 | Christian Life
Many Christian financial consultants wisely counsel people to budget and save for predictable large purchases rather than be caught unprepared and go into debt. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Mar 14, 2014 | Ministry Leadership, Ministry News
The statistics for pastors aren’t good: Fifty percent of pastors starting out will not last five years. One out of every ten pastors will actually retire as a pastor in some form. Over 1,700 pastors left the ministry every month last year. Over 1,300 pastors were...
by Dr. Paul Chappell | Mar 13, 2014 | Christian Life
Giving is not a minor topic in Scripture. In fact, the word give in its various forms is used 2,162 times throughout the Bible—that is more than believe (271 times), prayer (268 times), and love (714 times) all combined! Of the twenty-nine parables Jesus told, sixteen...