Category: Expository Church

  • No, We Shouldn’t Be Streaming or Recording Church Services

    No, We Shouldn’t Be Streaming or Recording Church Services

    No. Churches shouldn’t be recording or streaming church services. Welcome to Ministry Monday on the brand new Andrew Paul Cannon podcast–where we consider issues in ministry, exposition, and theology. I want to thank you for joining me, and before you forget–hit that subscribe button. No, I don’t care if you follow me, but I hope…

  • On Evaluating a Sermon

    On Evaluating a Sermon

    I know. It sounds really unspiritual to say we would ever evaluate someone’s sermon. If we are to follow Jesus, we need to know if what we hear from people is, in fact, from Him. It is not bad to think well about what we hear from the pulpit. There is good preaching. There is…

  • Make Pastors Small Again

    Make Pastors Small Again

    Starting about six years ago, my philosophy of pastoral ministry has changed significantly. The shift was so significant that I ended up quitting the ministry altogether. Part of my departure from ministry had to do with church hurt. Most of it had to do with my pride and the fact that I found my identity…

  • I Will Never be The Pastor Again, Anywhere

    I Will Never be The Pastor Again, Anywhere

    I have been thinking for a long time about the legitimacy of the America’s pastorate—not the biblical pastoral office, mind you, but the American use of the pastorate. A church hires a “pastor” to lead or rule the church. Sometimes, the pastor that the local congregation “hires” is a hireling unfree to do ministry as…

  • Should Churches Participate In Formal Denominations?

    Should Churches Participate In Formal Denominations?

    Denominations within orthodox Christianity exist primarily because people disagree on the person and/or work of Jesus Christ. They don’t disagree about small things. Denominations make formal doctrinal statements concerning the authority of God in salvation and the responsibility of people. They make statements about the essential nature of the person and about whether salvation is…

  • What Is Pastoral Care and Are There Bad Expectations in the Church?

    What Is Pastoral Care and Are There Bad Expectations in the Church?

    As a part of this current leadership series, we want to address the idea of pastoral care for our own benefit, self-examination, and so that we can know what the Biblical responsibilities of a pastor are regarding pastoral care. I think the concept of pastoral care is often abused. Pastoral care in the church could…

  • Should Churches Host Concerts (or any other events)?

    Should Churches Host Concerts (or any other events)?

    We are continuing our leadership series exploring the place of different methodological components of the local church. In the first section, we explored the different components of the main church services or meeting times. In this section, we are considering the different components of the local church’s overall ministry method. I have seen churches do…

  • Practicing Wisdom in the Specialized Ministries of the Church

    Practicing Wisdom in the Specialized Ministries of the Church

    We are continuing our leadership series exploring the place of different methodological components of the local church. In the first section, we explored the different components of the main church services or meeting times. In this section, we are considering the different components of the local church’s overall ministry method. In this section, we are…

  • What is a Biblical Church Business Meeting?

    What is a Biblical Church Business Meeting?

    We are moving into the second part of our current leadership series as we evaluate the methodological place of the different components of the church service. In this part, we will move beyond the Sunday gathering and observe the different components of our organization and think together about the Biblical place of church business meetings,…

  • How Long Should a Church Service Be?

    How Long Should a Church Service Be?

    Church services vary in length. The average timeframe seems to be from one to two hours while there are worship services as short as thirty minutes. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Scripture gives no explicit instruction on how long or short a Christ-centered worship service should be. What I will not do is…