by Derek Sanford | Sep 1, 2026 | Articles
Overweight preachers don’t get to lecture anybody about sin. That was the headline on an Instagram post, over a video of a guy doing shirtless squats. It’s part of a trend. Fill in the blank. If your pastor doesn’t do or say ______ to your liking,...
by Derek Sanford | May 14, 2026 | Articles
Epiphanies Need Margin I’m going on sabbatical this summer. Three months. After thirty-one years at the same church, I’m taking a long pause. The strange thing about announcing a sabbatical to other pastors is how many of them lean in and lower their voices. I...
by Catherine Sandgren | Apr 7, 2026 | Articles
I preached a five-week series last summer called Influencer. The first two weeks were classic teaching. We opened the Scriptures, laid a theological foundation for what it means to be an everyday influencer for Jesus, and explored two big questions: What has God given...
by Catherine Sandgren | Mar 13, 2026 | Articles
A Lent reflection for church leaders. There’s an assumption baked into church leadership culture that I’ve watched hurt a lot of good leaders. It goes something like this: you need to hold space for everyone else’s pain. You’re the one being paid. The one who signed...
by Daniel (RTL) | Jan 15, 2026 | Articles
Carey Nieuwhof’s annual trends report dropped, and as usual, it is worth your time. Check out The 7 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2026. I want to respond to a few of them. The Gen Z Surge Is Real (And We Better Not Blow It) I’ll keep this brief because...
by Daniel (RTL) | Dec 18, 2025 | Articles
A New Scorecard for Christmas Eve Most of us will evaluate our Christmas Eve services the same way we always have. Attendance. Offering. First-time guest cards. And on December 26th, we’ll either feel good or disappointed based on whether those numbers went up...
