Today's post is a guest post by Michael McDaniel, who serves as pastor of the Northeast Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Michael, who was a bi-vocational pastor for six years, recently taught a session for bi-vocational pastors at the E.K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference. He was kind enough to share some thoughts from his session with us. You can reach Michael here. Someone referred to bi-vocational pastors as “Iron Men.” I agree. Bi-vocational pastors face unique challenges… Time. Do I have enough time to get everything done? Balance. How can I maintain proper priorities? Self-Confidence. Will I ever find relief in...

I was preaching away from home on a Sunday morning. Before the service, the pastor asked an associate preacher to lead the offering. “Can you do that?” he asked, somewhat sternly. “Sure.” “Just receive the offering. That’s it.” “Okay.” This back-and-forth went on for several minutes. I didn’t get it… until it happened. The young preacher rose and said, “It’s offering time.” Then he added, “Before we receive the offering, let me tell you a story!” He went on to tell several jokes and then fuss at the congregation. The pastor was as hot as fish grease. I laughed. But...

I was ready to quit. For real, this time. I know I was serious, because I went to tell my pastor. I did not (do not) make major life decisions without talking to my pastor about it. How about you? I sat down in Pas' office. And I broke the news to him. I was resigning. I was too young and had too much ahead of me to waste any more time in this extended church conflict, or so I thought. Pas began to warn me about how difficult it is to organize a church from scratch. This warning was...

I was in the middle of a spectacular church fight. It was my first pastorate. I was barely 21. And I had reached my "Popeye" moment. "That's all I can stand, and I can't stands no more!" There were several out-of-town speaking engagements before me. I determined I would resign when I returned him home. I wanted to do something else. I wanted to get married. I wanted out of this foolish conflict with church people. I did not know what I would do next. When asked, I would say that I planned to become a talk show host. But...

The people of God will follow the pastor who feeds them the Wordof God. That isn’t to say that they won’t balk once in a while. They can makethe pastor’s life a living hell. But week in and week out, year in and yearout, Christians will not cut themselves off from the one who sets theirspiritual table. Even the delinquent son has an uncanny sense of when dinner’son, and he knows he will not be refused. While the people of God want desperately to flock to thespiritual food of the Word of God, pastors flock to seminars on how to...

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." - 2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)   I was intimately introduced to this verse as I was reading church history some years ago. I do not remember the specific source, unfortunately. But I distinctively remember the reference to this passage and the story related to it. Jonathan Edwards was sharply criticized during the Great Awakening. But in spite of the unfair and unwarranted attacks, Edwards never responded. He never...