Over 100 Sessions Plus Videos—A Huge Resource for Christian Leaders! This week it was our joy to host several thousand guests in Lancaster for our annual Spiritual Leadership Conference! What a wonderful week. We are delighted to be able to make the entire conference available soon as a complimentary download from www.strivingtogether.com. This includes over…
Recently, I posted about our Q&A times with students at teen camps and retreats. Over the past five years, hundreds of questions consistently revolve around the same themes. If you are a parent or youth worker, this list might help you get into their heads. It is a general consolidations of hundreds of questions. Here are…
There are two very different attitudes towards spiritual leaders. Some Christians seemingly never see anything good, and in fact have given themselves over to criticism and fault-finding. While other Christians opt to be prayerfully and joyfully supportive and encouraging toward leaders. Which position have you taken in life? Just a couple of quick thoughts to…
Helping Others by Asking the Right Questions Not long ago I was on our church campus on an off day. As I left the building, headed home, there was an unfamiliar man taking photos of our buildings. Trying to be hospitable and also cautious, I approached him and kindly asked where he was from. He…
During my senior year of high school, the Lord allowed me to meet Dr. Al Smith and have lunch with him. I was visiting Bible colleges with my father and praying about God’s will for my future. Little did I know that God’s will for me would include serving in music ministry. I’ll never forget…
How an Honest Q&A Time Can Help Your Students This week we’ve been at teen camp with 275 of our teens from LBC. It’s been a great week! One of my favorite aspects of camp is something we instituted a few years ago called “Answers to Tough Questions.” It’s a one hour Q&A time before…
Only for Those Looking for a Simple First Step Towards a More Productive Life Ok—this one is just for laughs, but I couldn’t resist! This past Sunday our Pastor’s son, Larry Chappell, preached a message in our PM service and used this photo from Skymall magazine as a part of an illustration of ridiculous products….
One of the Most Important Books I’ve Ever Read! Striving Together Publications is happy to announce the new book Church Still Works from Paul Chappell and Clay Reed—available July 13! (And sooner for Amazon Kindle.) This is one book every Christian and local church leader should read and re-read. It is fascinating, encouraging, biblical, and…
What an awesome privilege it is to work on a team with incredible, talented, godly, committed people! The people I get to work with truly are great, in every sense of the word. Over the past week, I have been reminded, humbled, and sincerely blessed over and over again at the spirit and heart of…
This past week, my Dad sent me an excerpt from a George Mueller life story that reflected on how Mueller discerned the will of God. Mueller listed the following steps he believed were necessary in determining God’s will regarding any decision. I thought they might be helpful to others: “I get my heart into such…
A Complimentary Monthly Spiritual Leadership Lesson from Dr. Paul Chappell For several months now, our team has been planning and preparing for the launch of a new podcast from Pastor Chappell—The Spiritual Leadership Podcast. After much planning and work, the first four lessons of this podcast are now available as a free subscription through iTunes….
More and more people prefer to read blogs “on the go” through their mobile device. I am happy to announce that you can now view this blog in a mobile version through your mobile phone browser (designed for iPhone, Adroid, or iPod touch.) Simply type in the URL and the site should automatically detect your…
This post is certainly not original. In fact, many of you will find it “old news,” but it comes with the spirit of “redeeming the time” and passing along good ideas—all of which are in no way original—practical tools for friends and co-laborers. So, here are a few things things that have made a difference…
The following is an excerpt from C.H. Spurgeon that speaks powerfully to how we as Christians should invest our time, our efforts, and our words. May we live our lives and invest our time into things that glorify Christ and edify people. This quote has a powerful significance in this day of internet gossip and…
(This is the third in a series articles about the first big tests that high school graduates face. We’ve been studying them in our senior Sunday school class and I hope these ideas will be helpful to you or those you influence.) The Challenge of Freedom—this third challenge speaks of the increasing freedoms that always…
On Her Birthday, I Say, “Thank You!” Today is my wife’s birthday, so in honor of her, I want to share a few things that I really love in her. As we near our 20th wedding anniversary, I can’t believe how much more I love her today than I ever thought possible. This is a…
(This is the second in a series articles about the first big tests that high school graduates face. We’ve been studying them in our senior Sunday school class and I hope these ideas will be helpful to you or those you influence.) In the first article of this series we visited the challenge of a…
Are we willing to honor a living Saviour the way we honor deceased soldiers? Colossians 1:10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…” There is often debate amongst Christians about “standards of living” and there is a pervasive thought among Christian today that says, “I will do as I please, because…
After a lot of encouragement from friends over the past two years, I have decided to develop the blog a bit more. This new design and collection of new features is the first step. (Not to mention that the last design was barely more than basic.) Here’s a quick highlight of what’s on this new…
(This is the first in a series articles about the first big tests that high school graduates face. We’ve been studying them in our senior Sunday school class and I hope these ideas will be helpful to you or those you influence.) Have you ever seen a train wreck? There’s not a much more vivid…
