In this edition of the Ministry Briefing speed round we hit four topics of interest from the headlines: Snapchat pictures don’t disappear after all Christian heavy metal band singer attempts to hire hitman Singapore mega-church pastor charged with misappropriating funds Truth is your name recognition is less than you think Interested in more stories like these? Check out May’s edition of Ministry Briefing Digest.

Mother’s Day is a bittersweet day for Theresa and I. While on one hand we enjoy recognizing the influence that our mother’s have had on us, there is a painful side of Mother’s Day as we are reminded of our miscarriages and struggle to have children. Within the church world, there is a tendency to celebrate and honor motherhood, family, and children on these days, and while it is right and good to do so, [...]

This afternoon we present the latest Ministry Briefing Speed Round, featuring stories focused on Ed Young and Mark Driscoll: Mark Driscoll surprises everyone by making environmentally insensitive comments, and suggests that men who drive minivans are mini-men. Ed Young hosts “Dog Days Weekend,” which encourages everyone to bring their dogs to church and tailors the sermon around dogs. Pray for the janitor. If stories like these interest you, check out Ministry Briefing Digest, 175 stories, articles, and studies that pastors [...]

According to GeekoSystem, a recent study suggests that women find men with beards to be more attractive than those without. Being a beardless man, I instantly recognized this study as a bunch of hoooey, just another piece of pop-science that is being manipulated to make certain communities feel good. In this Ministry Briefing video, you will find little in the way of spiritually edifying material, however you will find: A picture of Ed Stetzer A [...]

A recent Barna Survey attempted to assess whether Christians were more like Christ, or the pharisees. Not surprisingly the study suggests that 51% of respondents were more pharisaical than Christ-like. From MY perspective, the study was intriguing to me as it attempted to discern Christ-likeness in the lives of believers. This is something near and dear to my heart, as much of the work that I do with church leaders is helping them figure out [...]

In the wake of the Boston bombings CNN shared a piece on four signs that let you know that your spiritual beliefs have become evil. I know people that fall into each of these four categories, but I also acknowledge that there is some truth to the list. The issue becomes one of balance, and making sure that we keep the main thing, the main thing. CNN’s list includes: I know the truth, and you [...]

Today marks the release of the May edition of Ministry Briefing. This month’s edition covers approximately 175 articles, studies, news stories, and blog posts that we think are helpful for church leaders to read. In honor of today’s release, we thought we would share some of our favorite stories from this month’s edition of Ministry Briefing: Game Show Network’s new show could put old church ladies out of business. “It Takes a Church” looks to [...]

Today is the second installment of the Ministry Briefing Speed Round. In this edition we discuss: Zachery Tims’ memorial service The son of Paula White calls out the rapper behind Fal$e Prophet$ Self-censoring on Facebook Catholic school teacher fired for homosexual relationship Dallas “Rave Church” shut down Each of these stories were covered in the soon to be released May edition of Ministry Briefing Digest. Which of these stories do YOU think is most significant for the [...]

The millennial generation wants to give to your church, but many of them aren’t… a recent Leadership Journal article unpacks the four main reasons why: We’re not a “target demographic” Use your money wisely Impact your community and the world Let us lead In today’s Ministry Briefing we discuss the article, generational habits, and we have the reappearance of cranky Todd. How are YOU engaging the millennials?

Today we are trying a little something different: Ministry Briefing Speed Round. We take five topics from the soon to be released edition of Ministry Briefing Disgest. Todd selected five stories at random, and without telling me, and we discuss them in a rapid fire style. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this format, and whether it is something you’d like to see more of. On today’s speed round: Breakaway church loses real estate case [...]