In an informal survey of pastors, I asked a simple question: What do you wish you had been told before you became a pastor? Some of the responses were obvious. For me, a few were surprises. "I wish someone had taught me basic leadership skills." "I wish I had been given advice on how to deal with power groups and power people in the church."

God has blessed me with the privilege of speaking to groups of teenagers for the last twenty five years or so. From small youth groups to medium sized camps to arenas full of students I have known the thrill and terror of trying to get and keep the attention of adrenalin-filled, twitchy teenagers.

This issue is not new, but it does seem to be one gaining more attention. A new church is started in a community with many members of an existing church. Unfortunately, the existing church has not blessed the new church start, nor has it been consulted about it.

When it comes to ministry there are show muscles and there are go muscles. Show muscles range from church attendance, budget size and number of baptisms. Go muscles have more to do with spiritual growth

I recently asked a few hundred laypersons to write down what they desired of a pastor. Their responses were open-ended, and there was no limitation on the number of items they could list. Among the top 10 responses was "love of congregation."

Is it fair to suggest any relationship between the decline of the malls and the future of the church buildings? I think so. To be sure, most malls are adversely affected by the growth of online shopping. There are not too many brick and mortar stores that don't feel the impact of the Internet.

Their are 3 brands of "duct tape" that keep Christians quiet about Jesus. These types of tape seek to seal our mouths shut about the good news of Jesus. The "Um, I'm not sure" Duct Tape - for the most part, church leaders are not doing enough gospel training.

It has been said that men talk of killing time while time quietly kills them. According to the Bible, we live our lives for a certain period of time – not a moment longer and not a moment shorter.

People often ask me what I think about the future of youth ministry. My response usually surprises them. I am VERY excited about the future of youth ministry. As a matter of fact 2013 could be youth ministry's break out year.

I spoke at the memorial service for Lenya Avery Lusko, who at age 5, went to Heaven on December 20th. She once said to her mom, Jennie "Mom, when I get to Heaven I'm going to buy a box of cheese and a whole box of peanut butter from the store. There are stores in Heaven, right Mom? I love this because it shows that this little girl understood heaven is a real place.