Category Archives: Pastors

A Pastor’s Main Job

Posted on November 7, 2018 by russellmckinney

(Series: “The Early Church of Jerusalem” post #11) What do you do when one group of members from your church claims that another group is showing favoritism in regards to church benevolence? If you are the 12 apostles — with … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible Study, Church, God's Word, God's Work, Individuality, Ministry, Pastors, Prayer, Priorities, Series: "The Early Church of Jerusalem", Spiritual Gifts, Talents, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The First Church Fight

Posted on November 5, 2018 by russellmckinney

(Series: “The Early Church of Jerusalem” post #10) The world’s first church, the church of Jerusalem, was colossal in terms of sheer numbers. Acts 4:4 puts the number of men at 5,000. If we assume there was one woman per … Continue reading →

Posted in Anger, Christian Unity, Church, Complaining, Favoritism, Leadership, Pastors, Series: "The Early Church of Jerusalem" | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The First Church Scandal

Posted on November 3, 2018 by russellmckinney

(Series: “The Early Church of Jerusalem” post #9) I don’t care how smoothly a church is humming along, it isn’t immune from scandal. The problem is that people can’t help but be people. They are sin-marred individuals who are members … Continue reading →

Posted in Addiction, Adultery, Alcohol, Backsliding, Church, Deacons, Depravity, Discernment, God's Chastening, God's Judgment, Holiness, Hypocrisy, Lying, Ministry, Money, Pastors, Personal Holiness, Series: "The Early Church of Jerusalem", Sin, Temptation, The Holy Spirit, The Sin Unto Death | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The World’s First Megachurch

Posted on October 31, 2018 by russellmckinney

(Series: “The Early Church of Jerusalem” post #8) A megachurch is generally defined as being any Christian congregation that has a sustained weekly attendance of 2,000 people or more in its worship services. With that definition in mind, we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Baptism, Bible Study, Christian Unity, Church, Church Attendance, Discipleship, Evangelism, God's Word, God's Work, Leadership, Ministry, Missions, Money, Needs, Pastors, Prayer, Preaching, Salvation, Scripture, Series: "The Early Church of Jerusalem", Service, Stewardship, Sunday School, The Bible, The Gospel, The Holy Spirit, Witnessing, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Lesson Samuel Didn’t Learn

Posted on October 10, 2018 by russellmckinney

Of all of Israel’s great spiritual leaders, none rises any higher than Samuel. He was a prophet, a priest, and the last of Israel’s Judges. He personally anointed the nation’s first two kings (Saul and David), and two books from … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Backsliding, Children, Discernment, Discipline, Elderly, Faithfulness, Family, Fatherhood, God's Holiness, God's Work, Headship, Husbands, Influence, Leadership, Marriage, Ministry, Motherhood, Parenting, Pastors, Sin, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Trouble with Power

Posted on October 5, 2018 by russellmckinney

Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, “Not during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Character, Church, God's Will, God's Work, Greed, Headship, Leadership, Pastors, Politics, Submission | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The People Had a Mind to Work

Posted on October 3, 2018 by russellmckinney

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. (Nehemiah 4:6, N.K.J.V.) The book of Nehemiah tells the story of a Jew named Nehemiah. … Continue reading →

Posted in Attitude, Church, Church Attendance, Commitment, Complaining, Deacons, God's Work, Ministry, Missions, Money, Pastors, Sacrifice, Service, Sunday School, Work, Worship | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Word About Church Services

Posted on July 18, 2018 by russellmckinney

A faithful churchgoer was asked by his fisherman friend, “How can you go to the same church every service, week after week, month after month, year after year? It’s the same place, the same people, the same hymns. You’ve even … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Attendance, Current Events, Discipleship, God's Work, Ministry, Music, Pastors, Prayer, Prayer Requests, Preaching, Service, Spiritual Gifts, Sunday School, Talents, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Divorced Pastors & Deacons? (post #3 of 3)

Posted on July 6, 2018 by russellmckinney

I closed the previous post by promising to present cases for both sides of this argument. So, I might as well go ahead and jump right into that. I’ll start with the scriptural case for a divorced man serving as … Continue reading →

Posted in Adultery, Church, Deacons, Divorce, Divorce & Remarriage, God's Work, Husbands, Marriage, Ministry, Parenting, Pastors, Preaching, Series: "Divorced Pastors & Deacons?" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Divorced Pastors & Deacons? (post #2 of 3)

Posted on July 4, 2018 by russellmckinney

This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife… (1 Timothy 3:1-2, N.K.J.V.) For this reason I left you … Continue reading →

Posted in Adultery, Church, Deacons, Divorce, Divorce & Remarriage, God's Work, Husbands, Marriage, Ministry, Pastors, Preaching, Series: "Divorced Pastors & Deacons?" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment