By Kellye Carmack
I’ve had a lot of experience with unmet desires, with years of praying and longing but not receiving. Like our foster child, I’ve known what I wanted, and it has looked so good. I’ve been certain it would be the best thing for me, and I have been angry with God for not agreeing with me. I’ve spent a good bit of time trying to interpret and understand my losses through the lens of Scripture.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
When we are perplexed about those who come against our ministry without merit, we can know that God will not hear the lie against us. Rather, He listens attentively to our prayer against the lie! When your ministry is denigrated, criticized unduly, slandered, or unfairly judged, let your vindication come from the Lord who sees, knows, and understands. If people are lying about you, the Lord will not hear it because He knows what is true. But be certain that He hears your prayers to Him for help. One day, He will right every wrong.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
Do you have a burden to care for the hurting people in your church? There are so many resources for people who want to develop basic counseling skills for use in your local church. Today, I want to recommend a few that have been helpful to me.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
Ministry isn’t a race. It’s not a sprint through a few tough Sundays and a fast-approaching finish line where we bask in the glow of our successes. No, ministry is life of slow plodding in quiet faithfulness, trusting Jesus for every step. Ministry involves dying to your dreams, standing firm through trials, and entrusting every endeavor to Christ.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
If you are in the middle of a difficult season, let me encourage you to meditate on the resurrection of Jesus. Be encouraged and find joy in the victory that He won for you when He was raised from the dead. God has saved us. He will sustain our faith until the end, and He will save us in the end. Our hope in Christ is a full assurance that God is going to do good for us. He fills our earthly homes with hope and praise. He is filling our Heavenly home with a beautiful, everlasting inheritance. It’s an absolute guarantee.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
Though that awkward dinner took place more than a decade ago, I’ve never forgotten the wisdom my friend spoke to me over lunch the next day. I’ve had many occasions to apply her advice in my relationships within the Church. When we are given candid (and sometimes hurtful) criticism from another believer, there are few things we need to do on these occasions.
Read MoreBy Cara Croft
Here is the truth: the bereaved are already thinking about their loved ones who have died, and they need us to ask about them. They don’t need solutions or answers. They need someone to walk with them in their mourning. They need someone to listen and lament with them. They need someone with whom they can share their stories. They need someone to hold sacred space and be a quiet presence of our loving God.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
Conflict is inevitable in Christian circles but in Christ, peace and reconciliation are always possible. The love of Jesus covers over the multitude of sins that we commit against each other. His grace is sufficient for all of us. Battles within our churches are disheartening but be encouraged—Christ won the victory before the battle even began.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
If you’re feeling discouraged today over what is likely a season of low attendance and involvement, stay the course. Resolve to regularly thank the Lord for your church, to pray and reach out to them, and to remember that whatever you do in life and ministry, you do for the glory of God, not man. You are never more like Jesus than when you persevere with faithfulness through the trials and sufferings of this life. He has promised to aid you in that faithfulness, and He will help you stay the course.
Read MoreBy Cara Croft
Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite poems. Even if you do not read it all, I encourage you to take a few stanzas and listen to the heart of Christ as he heads to the cross. May it be an encouragement and a reminder of Christ’s great love for you.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
Is a missionary from your church coming home this summer? Perhaps they are retiring or taking a much-needed break. The church should be a place where missionaries receive refreshment, encouragement, and discipleship. Here are a few suggestions for how to help them transition and recharge before returning to the field.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
Music has a powerful way of touching our emotions and articulating things we don’t quite know how to say. Just this morning, I was listening to some praise music while running through my neighborhood. The words of one particular song were simple and true and set to a catchy melody. I found myself singing along while huffing and puffing down the street–words about God’s faithfulness that I needed back when I wondered if we’d survive the church trauma and mass exodus. I appreciate the way simple truths of Scripture can be called to mind in song so that we can praise, pray, and cry out to the Lord.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
There are so many practical ways to accomplish the great commission and I want to share a few suggestions directly from the mission field. I asked missionaries from various parts of the world to share the most encouraging ways their home church has supported them. While this list is by no means exhaustive, just a few ideas for how you can care for the missionaries from your church. Read them and be encouraged.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
We don’t have to be strong for others. We don’t have to be unmoved by sorrows or stresses. We don’t have to pretend that life is easy for us. We only have to run to the One who is always strong, always good, and always full of steadfast love. As the Lord sustains us, we can point others to His faithfulness that will never disappoint.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
At Practical Shepherding Women’s Ministry, we want to help as you navigate the challenges of leadership in the church.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
When I realized that my hope must be in Christ and not other’s opinions of me, I stopped praying for my church to love me back and began praying that they would love Jesus the most. It is unfair to hang our contentment on the people with whom we worship and serve; they were never meant to be the anchor for our hope. Only Christ can shoulder the weight of our souls’ satisfaction.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
as believers we have been adopted into one family. We are brothers and sisters who share the common bond of being raised to new life in Christ. A new life and a new family where grace and love can abound because we are the children of the God who is love. Through His church, God gives us the gifts of experiencing His rich love and mercies if we will just open our hands to receive.
Read MoreBy Cara Croft
Am I good pastor’s wife? It was a question I asked myself many times for as long as we have been in ministry. There was always this nagging doubt, this suspicion that I was not “doing my job” well.
Read MoreBy Glenna Marshall
Safe in-person friendships in ministry are gifts to celebrate, even if they only last for a season. These bursts of friendships are often gifts of God’s grace to us during times of extreme suffering and isolation. Regardless of the length of the season, safe friendships are expressions of the Lord’s care for us. When we view friendships as gifts from God rather than rights to be claimed, we can cherish them deeply while holding them loosely.
Read MoreBy Kellye Carmack
This pandemic has been like a never-ending tornado, disturbing or destroying everything it touches. We all know the church has been hit in different ways. Congregations have lost beloved members to COVID and have seen others become seriously ill. As services and meetings have decreased, church members feel disconnected and frustrated.
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