Here are the top posts I wrote this year. Maybe you have read them and need to revisit them. Maybe you have not, and this is your first time to check them out. 

Thanks to everyone who reads what I write. These are the ones people shared and visited the most this year. Enjoy.

Honorable Mention – Down in My Heart and Looking for a Reason

5. Next

4. Building a Sermon

3. What I Am Learning About Discipleship

2. False Narrative

**1. Redefining Love

Have a Happy New Year, everyone.

This year, I have marked a few milestones in my life. 

I have been blogging (again) for ten whole years. Tomorrow will be post-2750. I always debate quitting, but God continues to show me that he is working through my writing for the good of his kingdom. Plus, I genuinely enjoy writing, even if no one ever reads it. It is incredibly fulfilling to go back and read old posts to see how I have grown as a Christian.

In September, I completed 30 years of preaching in a local Church. I spent 18 months doing it part-time as a college student and then went into it full-time. There have been several occasions where I thought about quitting, and one time, there were a couple of months between ministries where I didn’t preach, but overall, this is the career in which I invested my life.

My third son graduated from college and started his career. Three of my four boys have undergraduate degrees and are doing well in their jobs. My final son will be done before long, and my boys will all be officially adults. The time has flown.

I am celebrating 29 years of marriage. It has been a fantastic journey of ministry, parenting, and marriage. Our life is always an adventure of family and following God together. This year, we took a lovely trip together through Tennessee and Arkansas. We dream of taking a wonderful extended vacation for our thirtieth anniversary next year.

If you know me, you know I continue to dream of the future and am never content with the past. What does God want me to do at the Church I am leading? What are the next steps on our journey of faith and ministry? How can I have my most significant impact for the kingdom of God?

My plans include continuing to find a staff member to help me in ministry work. I am going to disciple as many people as possible. That consists of a one-year Bible reading group, at least 3-4 people in individual intentional discipleship, training and developing our leaders, leading a small group or two or three, and preaching 48 times. 

Every year at this time, I sit at the edge of the calendar and gaze into the new year. It is hard to imagine what the next 365 days will bring, but I am ready for God to lead me every step of the way, and I hope you are as well. 

Our Church is working through the process of developing an emergency preparedness plan. If we are to have an intruder or a conflict situation, how will we deal with it? We want to be prepared to handle anything unexpected.  

Before we completed this plan, we started by creating an emergency prevention plan. What steps can we take to keep from having emergency issues?

When you make a plan for the next year as an individual or as part of a group, remember the saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Doing the things that prevent a crisis often seems boring, tedious, and unnecessary. But I guarantee you it is far better to do those things now than clean up a mess later. Monotonous activities done regularly are not surprising, which is precisely the point.   

At halftime, the coach of the leading team was interviewed as he made his way back onto the field. He said his team was doing well in the first half and, “We just got to keep it going.”

Having a good start to a game or even a season is terrific, but you must keep it going through the entire thing.

After Christmas, people will ask how I am feeling. I want to tell them all the things we are doing correctly. Lately, our generosity has been outstanding. Attendance is higher than average, and we have had lots of guests. We have baptized 15 people this year and had about 30 go through the membership class. More people are involved in ministry than ever before. There are individuals taking discipleship seriously and working with others to see them reach maturity in the faith.

This fall and Christmas season exceeded my expectations. Now, we have to keep it going.

Easter is 13 Sundays away. The stretch from Christmas to Mother’s Day is when we experience the most significant impact as a Church.

But we have to keep the momentum going. People must stay generous, keep coming, continually inviting, serving, and sharing the message of Jesus.

Things are going well at the Church I lead, and we need to keep it going until the final trumpet sounds.

I pray that you may know the truth of Jesus’ incarnation. May you find joy that God sent his son into the world to identify with our weakness. I pray that you will know Jesus as more than an infant in a manger, but as a Savior who went to the cross. You can let go of all your past sins and find forgiveness in him. I pray that you may trust in the power of his resurrection. Death is defeated, and you have the hope of eternal life. I pray that not only you come to follow Jesus but also everyone you love might accept him as Lord and Savior. I pray that your Christmas is filled with Love, Grace, and Hope because of Jesus.

There isn’t one. 

This week, I have seen articles posted and shared with controversial titles, unique takes, and in-depth information. Everyone I read leads me to the same stories and passages; nothing new was revealed in any of them.

And that is okay.

Believers do not have to dress Christmas up and try to find some new truth in those old stories. They simply need to embrace the Biblical teaching about the incarnation of Jesus.

God came to earth wrapped in human flesh as his greatest gift to humanity. He came to identify with our struggles and ultimately save us from our sins. The resurrection is the pinnacle of his work on earth, but it starts with his coming.

How about this Christmas? Instead of looking for some new take on the old story, how about we make sure everyone we love knows that story? 

I wrote the post.

I reread the post and made changes for clarification.

I then opened my Grammarly program and let it go through and fix numerous errors I had missed, along with giving me suggestions for better wording. I accept some of the changes and reject others as I try to keep my own voice in my writing.

Next, I went to the “Review” tab at the top of my Microsoft Word program, and then I used the feature called “Read Allow.” This enables me to hear how things will sound when they are read, and it often helps me clarify and make final adjustments to my post.

Finally, I reread it and make any minor tweaks I feel are needed.

Whenever I feel comfortable with my writing, I put it into WordPress and set a publishing date.

Recently, I opened up my post immediately after it was published and noticed a mistake in the first ten words. I repeated myself unclearly and unnecessarily. I jumped over to WordPress, fixed it, and republished it before almost anyone would notice.

Even after all the hoops I make myself jump through to ensure I will no longer have errors of any kind, I still mess up. I can blame it on my humanity, “After all, I am only human.” I can make excuses, “I was tired and busy.” I can give a hundred reasons why it happened, but the truth remains that it happened. Mistakes are regular occurrences for me.   

All you can do is own it, forget about it, and keep writing. I can apologize to anyone who was hurt or offended. 

And you, as a reader, can forgive me and move on. You can act like it didn’t happen or at least not let it impact your view of me. You understand that mistakes happen because you have made them yourself, and you know we all need grace.

Oh, I am no longer talking about a blog post.

I was told the story of an ancient monk named Brother Lawrence. One day, while working, he bent down and cleaned the kitchen corner behind the equipment. Another monk asked him why he was working on something so trivial because no one would see it.

He responded, “There is one set of eyes that will see it, and they are the only thing that matters.” 

God sees everything we do. He is ever-present in the activities of our lives.

This concept should impact everything we do, from when I am at home with my spouse and children, at work with my superiors and employees, when I am out having fun, to serving the Lord somewhere.

Whatever we do, the Lord knows, even when no one else notices.

We are less than a week from Christmas, and there will be innumerable opportunities to bring a non-Christian friend to a Church event this coming weekend. People ordinarily resistant to invitations will often be much more willing around the holidays.

Do you plan to reach people with the message of Jesus this season? If not, here is a simple strategy.

1. Decide Who. Think through all your non-Christian friends and compose a list of 5-10 individuals or families you would like to attend Church with you to hear the message of Jesus. These can be family members, friends, neighbors, or coworkers.

2. Pray. Pray for them and for the invitation you are about to give. Pray for open doors and open hearts.

3. Invite. Ask these people to come with you to Church for a Christmas program. The earlier you do this in the week, the better.

4. Text. The people that say they are willing to come. Immediately text them the info about the program you want them to attend. Stress your excitement at their arrival and be sure they know any significant details.

5. Text Again. If you asked early in the week, text them again on Saturday night and remind them how excited you are for them to join you. Tell them when you will be there and that you will look for them. Possibly give them a place to meet you in the building.

6. Sit With Them. Once your guests arrive, invite them to sit with you. Make room for them in your row and your heart. Introduce them to people, show them around, and help them feel comfortable.

7. Connect. On most Sundays, I encourage people to invite their guests for a meal. Christmas may be more complex, but it is worth asking them anyway. If not, try to set up another time to connect.

8. Pray Again. When the event is over, lift them up in prayer. It is also good to ask them at some point, how can I pray for you?

9. Invite Them Back. Hopefully, they had a good experience, and this will be an opportunity for them to join you again sometime soon.

10. Don’t Be Discouraged. It is extremely rare for a person to come the first time and return immediately. A door was opened, and it takes time for them to commit. Easter is only three months away and the perfect opportunity to invite them again. 

I look forward, as a Pastor, to seeing all the new people you invite this Christmas season.  

In 2014, I wrote a blog about the Pastor’s Christmas Card – HERE. Since I published it, there have been thousands of hits every Christmas season. It is my most viewed post of all time, and several people have told me it was helpful information. Today, almost ten years later, I am going to revisit it.

So here are my thoughts on what I would like to hear as a pastor in my Christmas card.

1. Write Something. Every year, I get piles of cards from people with nothing inside but their names. A cheap card can be redeemed with a personal note. An inexpensive card with only your name tells me you sent this out of obligation and to clear your conscience. Take the time to write anything from a line to a paragraph to express your feelings and thoughts.

2. Tell the Truth. Don’t exaggerate. Many people will write about how much they love their Church and Pastor and only attend once a month. If you really loved me and my preaching, you would be here more often. Your Pastor knows the truth; you do not have to lie and exaggerate your love for him and his ministry. Here is a line I like: “Every sermon I have heard is well done.” Or something like: “I can tell that you really do care about people.” Perhaps simply, “I truly appreciate you and your work.”

3. Be Specific. It honors me that some people “enjoy all my sermons.” But I would rather hear someone tell me they understand grace better since I speak about it regularly. Tell me which sermon or sermon topic you liked. Tell me what you have learned from me specifically. Tell me about the time I prayed with you. Tell me how much you appreciated that visit and when I said that one thing. You get the idea. Remembering specific details underlines how much of an impact I had on you. Mentioning something that no one else may have noticed is deeply touching.  

4. Avoid Passive-Aggressive Statements. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at what some people write. I have read things like, “I enjoyed that one time you visited with me, and I wish you would do it again.” I know that people are well-intentioned, but some cards are used as a backhanded way to tell me what they want. I once received a card with money inside as a gift, and the card then proceeded to tell me how I could use the money to purchase some nicer clothes to wear on Sunday. I appreciate the thought, but it also hurt me.

5. Compliment My Wife. People often have nice things to say about me and are very complimentary. Well, my wife donates hundreds of hours to the Church yearly simply because I am the Pastor. It makes me feel like we are both loved when you mention her and her efforts in my ministry. And when you forget to add her, it hurts her when she reads it.

6. Mention Your Prayers. Several times in the New Testament, Paul tells a Church or an individual that he is praying for them. Of those times, he often mentions specifically what he is praying for. He tells the Church that he is praying they will understand the fullness of Christ. He tells individuals that he is praying for their ministry. Obviously, do not lie (once again). But if you do regularly pray for your Pastor, tell him. It is wonderfully empowering.

7. Including a Gift is Tricky. A gift card can be a double-edged gift in many situations. For example, let’s say you give a $25 gift card to a restaurant that usually costs about $50 for a meal (with a tip) for two. Now, you have given me a $25 expense. In the early years of ministry, I did not have the extra money, so my wife and I “re-gifted” most restaurant gift cards. We would have to pay a sitter, drive to a place of someone else’s choosing, and then spend money we didn’t have on top of the gift card. We were grateful for the thought, but honestly, cash or nothing would have been better. Genuine and kind words are a blessing without anything else included.

These are simple suggestions; please do not run out and copy the lines of this post specifically. Be creative and put your spin on it for your Pastor. I would also say that many of these ideas apply to the elder, deacon, staff member, ministry leader, or any other person in your Church who is a blessing to you. Every Church leader loves to hear about how they are appreciated for what they are doing for God. May your words be a blessing to those who serve in ministry.