Joe Radosevich

Most of the people reading this are pastors and church leaders. Most of us are readers. Our lives have been changed by books. We can't give away our favorite books, though. Many people won't read them because they are long. Today, I want to describe some great short books that you might give away. I’ve found that most people will read a book if it is relevant, excellent, and short. I think a short book should be under 100 pages. Maybe someday people will read longer books, but the point isn’t the length. The reason we give books is that we want to help people grow in Christ. Here are … [Read more...] about Great Short Books to Give Away

I didn’t tell my wife about the problems in my first senior pastorate. I wanted to protect her from worry.  I was deceived into the position. I was mistreated and deceived throughout my pastorate. I was scared, hurt, and angry. I didn’t want her scared, hurt, or angry too, so I buried it. That was the advice I had heard in ministry: protect your wife by not taking your problems home. I thought I could outwork the problems. When I couldn’t hide the problems anymore and told her everything that I had faced for three years, she struggled to trust me. She wondered what else I had hidden from … [Read more...] about The Worst Ministry Advice I Ever Received

Since Dr. Danny Akin announced his retirement yesterday, I thought I would share my Dr. Akin story. Dr. Akin preached a revival at our south Georgia church when I was in high school. He was still at Southern seminary as Dean and professor of preaching.  I felt called to ministry and thought preaching would be in my future, so I paid careful attention to his preaching. He preached four or five times that week. I still remember one sermon warning us against falling away like Demas. I noticed that he started each sermon on the left side of the pulpit at the front of the stage. I suspected … [Read more...] about My Dr. Danny Akin Story

I’ve never listened to sermons much outside of regular church attendance or conferences. Since I am a pastor and preach most Sundays, I haven’t listened regularly to others preach since seminary. I want to change that. I made it a goal to listen to one sermon a week. When I listened to Warren Wiersbe’s sermon on Lev. 16, it was terrific. I wondered how I had missed his preaching all these years. Maybe you can help me. Maybe others could use your recommendations too. Who are some preachers that you think I and others could learn from? Who should we listen to? What should we … [Read more...] about Who Are Preachers We Should Learn From?

Our church gives away lots of books. We give them away at the bus stop, Easter egg hunts, lunches for high school students, Christmas time, summer break, etc. It has become a evangelistic ministry for us, and I want you to consider how you can give away good books. What kind of books should we give away? Give short books. Longer books are not great for gifts because it feels like an assignment or work. Books as a gift should be under 100 pages. We get our books from 10ofThose and Matthias Media. We especially love the books The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller and Empty by … [Read more...] about Give Away Evangelistic Books

“A larger church up the road is hoping to serve other area churches by helping them to organize their security teams,” a denomination leader told me once. When I was a kid, our church had a team of men (and sometimes their sons) driving around on golf carts as part of the security team. I loved the doughnuts in the shed. In my current small church, all the men are the security team every Sunday morning. That's not a separate ministry. Most church training events and conferences don’t include the average church. The average church is 65-75 people and has one pastor. Most training events are … [Read more...] about Include Small Churches in Your Training Events and Conferences

I suspect I’m not the only person or pastor who wishes for better friendship. I haven’t made the friends that I should have or kept up with the good ones that I had. Pastors often have temporary work friendships until life and ministry take them in different directions. Here is what is helping me: Pray for your friends and their families. I’m gearing this for pastors, but this applies to everyone. I started praying for a couple of friends 1-2 years ago. I just wrote down two names and prayed for them once a week or so. One is a friend that I see once per month. The other is a friend that … [Read more...] about Praying for Friends and Their Families