Apr 28, 2010 Posted by Anthony

All Access 2010: Day Two, Session One with Rick Bezet

The morning started off with powerful worship led by the Healing Place Church worship team. And after worship Pastor Rick Bezet of New Life Church in Arkansas opened up the morning with a powerful message from the Word of God. Rick Bezet recently had an appendectomy that put him out of commission for a few days. That made him slow down and see what God was trying to say. He realized that one day the people... read more

Apr 11, 2010 Posted by Anthony

Post Easter Sunday

So your church probably had a large number of visitors last Sunday. You, as a pastor, gave them the best service programming of the year and preached your heart out. You preached the Gospel in creative and complelling ways. You saw new people respond to the message and surrender their lives to Jesus. You tried your best to follow up with all of your visitors. All week long you were given affirmation for... read more

Mar 31, 2010 Posted by Anthony

Offense, Part C

For the last two days, I have written on offending people, particularly on pastors (like myself) offending people within their congregations. Yesterday I wrote that, today, I would state what it is I should do when I offend someone. I’m not sure if I’m ready to so that, but I’ll give it a shot. First of all, offense is relative and is based on the offended party’s point of view and... read more

Mar 30, 2010 Posted by Anthony

Offense, Part B

Since being in ministry I have offended plenty of people for plenty of things: asking people not to smoke on a church outing, removing an adult youth worship leader for being romantically involved with an underaged student, making the decision to keep an emotionally unstable teen at a youth camp, teaching too much Bible on Sunday mornings, trying to place someone in a ministry that fits them better than... read more

Mar 30, 2010 Posted by Anthony

Offense

I learned a lesson early on in ministry. You offend a lot of people- really, a lot! Before you have the title or position of pastor or ministry leader, people let the things you do, think, or say run smoothly off their back. But once you have some position of influence or authority, watch out! The things you do, think, and say roll off of people’s backs like a square piece of wood up a hill of... read more