Yes, 2020 Has Been a Good Year
It’s true that this year has been challenging, but God has also glorified Himself in and through it.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Thinking Through Pastoral Transitions
In this episode, Mike discusses some of the right and wrong reasons for pastors to consider transitioning to another church or ministry.
Council of Eighteen Plans for Association’s Future
The Council of Eighteen—governing body of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches—met virtually on Nov. 16 and 17 to make strategic plans for the …
Seven Reasons to Preach through Revelation
The message of Revelation needs to be shared, and as a pastor, you are in the prime position to teach it to your congregation.
You’re Invited to a 100-Day Prayer Challenge
In late July two retired pastors were talking about the problems COVID-19 has brought to the US and about the nation’s political upheaval. They wondered …
Murky Waters, Murky Minds
In order to have a Biblically clear mind, we need a Biblically developed worldview filter that can sort out the good from the bad, the Biblical from the secular.
Three Ways to Live Out Your Heavenly Citizenship
Our Heavenly citizenship is a gift that should change our perspective on how we live out our lives.
Hindals Retire from Regular Baptist International
Chris and Deb Hindal have retired from Regular Baptist International as director and administrative assistant, respectively. When they first came to Gospel Literature Services, the ministry’s name at the time, they had already served as a pastor and wife for 35 years at churches in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Florida.
Parents, Don’t Negotiate With Terrorists!
Indulging your children when they throw a temper tantrum is unhelpful and counter-productive.
No Fear This School Year
If you are fearful entering this school year, then turn to God’s Word for hope. Within the pages of the Bible, there are precious promises for scared, weak, and needy people to grab hold of.
Finding Joy instead of Jealousy in Your Work
Let’s put our hearts and minds into what the Lord has for us. Let’s do it wholeheartedly for the Lord.
Your Pastor’s Wife Is Human
Churches need to realize that although the role of a pastor’s wife can be rewarding and special, it can also be lonely.
Back to the Mission Field of School
As school starts this year, create a new tradition at supper for each person in your family to think about someone at their school or workplace they can pray for, then pray for them as a family during supper time.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Overcoming a Competitive Spirit
Mike and David discuss Mike’s new book, No Contest: Overcoming a Competitive Spirit.
Five Ways to Encourage Your Pastor During a Global Crisis
Your pastor might have several degrees hanging on his wall from prestigious seminaries and educational institutions. But rest assured, he has never taken a class …
A Perfect Time for Your Church to Grow
By Bob Cowman I tend to see opportunity at the strangest times and in the weirdest ways. If you read the news or follow the …
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: How to Leave a Church Well
Mike and Bob discuss the many issues surrounding the difficult decision to leave a church.
How We Must Respond to Bigotry, Hatred, and Racism
As Christians, we must be prepared to confront both racist actions and racist attitudes, because sin originates in the heart.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Supremacy and Beauty of Christ
Mike interviews Steve DeWitt on the subject of Christ’s supremacy and beauty.
Biblical Principles for Social Media
The question isn’t so much whether or not to utilize social media, but what we are trying to say and why. Our communication is to be seasoned as with salt—that implies that we are putting in some thought beforehand.
Why I Won’t Tell Churches How to Reopen
“Can we gather yet as a church again?” A national representative of a fellowship of churches does not have the definite answer for each local church. But thankfully, the principles of God’s sufficient Word do.
COVID-19 & When Should We Reopen the Economy?
What should we be considering, as Christians, when we ponder and discuss the idea of reopening the country?
Why Humility and Submission Are Especially Important for Churches on Lockdown
By Steve Viars Indiana’s governor, Gov. Eric Holcomb, along with his assembled team of medical and business professionals, has the gigantic task of leading our …
On Uncertainty
This is a time of great uncertainty, but it is also a time for reflection on First Things, on Prime Principles. On what is certain. On Truth.
Crisis Catapults Courage
We’re all in over our heads right now. These are hard times. But the hard times are the best times to become who God made us to be.
Forgiveness
Just as biblical love is an action (not a feeling) so is biblical forgiveness. Stop looking at your emotions as a barometer and start looking unto Jesus.
Evangelism in the Time of COVID-19
Like the early church, we must boldly step into the challenge of caring for the vulnerable and sick. We must point them to the only One Who can deliver us.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Church and COVID-19
Mike and David discuss Christian living and church ministry in an age of Coronavirus lockdown.
Why We Won’t Have Online Communion
Observing the Lord’s Table remotely might not be the best idea.
Church Polity and the Coronavirus
What does the Coronavirus lock-down mean for our Baptist understanding of church polity?
Spiritual Stimulus—Finding Renewal in a Time of Mandatory Rest
Four suggestions for using this extraordinary time as an opportunity for spiritual renewal.
Memorize
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).
What Is the Meaning of “Iron Sharpens Iron” in Proverbs 27:17?
The “iron sharpening iron” process that Proverbs 27:17 provides is a helpful and maybe even convicting part of a believer’s life.
How God’s Love Helps Us When We Are Afraid
We have good reason to take the virus seriously. But we also have good reason to trust God, live courageously, and love others.
COVID-19 and Anxiety
What are you worried about? Try this three-step approach from Philippians 4:6–7.
Why We Care About COVID-19
Four reasons Christians should sincerely care about the current COVID-19 crisis.
Four Theological Threats Facing the Church This Decade
Today the church is facing several incoming threats about which we cannot afford to say, “Don’t worry about it.”
No Shame?
The idea that shame has no place at all in the life of the believer says too much.
Change: Adopting a Biblical Approach in the New Year
God calls us to live actively in confident faith and hope, not fear. Like our Biblical forerunners, He asks us to trust in the fact that He is already present in the places that are new and untested for us.
Four Goals for the GARBC in 2020
Let’s commit ourselves to work together for God’s glory in 2020 to make disciples in healthy local churches.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Who Were the Magi, Really?
In this episode, we consider the historical identity of the Magi and offer some reflections on the account of their visit to the Christ-child in Matthew 2.
Thanks & Giving
This Thanksgiving Day, as we sit down with our family and friends and stare at that turkey with the trimmings, perhaps we should remind ourselves to be better thankers and better givers.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Pastoral Recruitment and the Call to Ministry
This episode features a panel discussion on pastoral recruitment and the call to ministry.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Marriage in Ministry
Mike discusses marriage in ministry with John and Daria Greening.
I Am Called to Self-Sacrifice, Not Self-Care
Self-care in its proper place is good, but that road can be slippery. We are not our own; we are Christ’s.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: What Is the Purpose of the GARBC?
David and Mike discuss the proposed updated purpose statement and how it better answers the question, “What is our purpose and our mission?”
Suffering and the Goodness of God
God is a good Father. He loves to give good gifts. At the cross, the most significant suffering in history collided with the greatest gift anyone could ever offer.
5 Reasons for Pastors to Attend Local and State Fellowship Meetings
Five reasons to invest in both your local and state fellowship.
A Few Good Men
It is God’s business to turn people who are not good into people are who are. Justification declares us to be righteous based on the righteousness of another, so we are “good” in the estimation of God as He sees us in Christ.
If you commit suicide, can you go to Heaven?
By Kevin Carson Some questions that readers ask are harder to answer than others. This is a very hard question. Whenever someone asks this question, …
Four Blessings of Close Friendships in Pastoral Ministry
Pastoral ministry can be a lonely place. But it doesn’t have to be. Years ago it was common for seminary professors to caution aspiring pastors about having close friendships.
The War Within
Do you find yourself in a cyclical battle with sin? Next time you sin, stop yourself, and walk yourself through James 4:1–4.
10 Things I’ve Learned as National Representative of the GARBC
A little over 13 months ago Christina and I unpacked our belongings and began settling into the northwest suburbs of Chicago. We also began a …
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Signs & Wonders and Biblical Sufficiency
Mike and David discuss signs and wonders, spiritual gifts, and Biblical sufficiency.
Why Go to Seminary When the Fields Are Already White for Harvest?
It is true that people are lost and dying, and that we should be urgent about pursuing the lost, but skipping seminary in order to rush into ministry would be like performing a surgery without any schooling.
Be Hopeful: The Church Does Not Rise or Fall on Christian Celebrity
Let’s not forget while hearing the heartbreaking accounts of spiritually shipwrecked Christians that there are multitudes of faithful Christian brethren all around the world still persevering in their faith and staying true to the gospel, sometimes even under intense persecution.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Developing an Evangelistic Environment in the Local Church
Pat Nemmers and Chuck De Cleene discuss the importance of intentional evangelism.
Three Common Barriers to Church Revitalization
Three common fears will eventually lead a church down the road to closure instead of revitalization.
My Grandpa’s “Worry Gene”
While it is true that believers may struggle with sins, those sins should no longer define the believer: we must cease being what we were and become what we are.
According to Warren Wiersbe
A tribute to Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929–2019).
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Church and the Kingdom
David Gunn and Andy Woods discuss the coming Kingdom and its relationship to the Church.
Stanley’s “Irresistible” Is a Dangerous Disappointment
A Critical Review of Andy Stanley’s “Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World.”