Ministers don’t explode…you never hear of a minister grabbing an Uzzi and shooting up his or her congregation. Most of the time, ministers implode. That is, the pressure of life becomes greater on the outside than the pressure of the person’s inner life. The result is the minister’s life collapses under the stress of working in a local church. This usually happens with some kind of public failure that requires the church to fire the minister in question. For some ministers, getting fired is the only way they can escape the crushing pressure they feel from the constant demands of ……

Why are so many offended when Christians proclaim Christ as the only way of salvation?  Why is anyone surprised to hear this?  Isn’t this the same message we have been preaching for 2000 years? I guess there are a lot of reasons people would be turned off by this message.  For one thing, to say Jesus is the only way forces us to choose.  We have to decide—and decide right then—whether or not we believe Jesus  is our only hope.  How you decide then determines how you live from that moment on.  Most of us are uncomfortable being confronted so ……

What’s ahead for Brentwood Baptist in the next five years? We’ve been looking at five ways we believe Jesus is leading our church to advance his kingdom and respond to the culture. Here’s one of them: Equip and empower a growing number of leaders. Out of Christ’s generosity, he gives believers spiritual gifts, gifts that equip the church to accomplish everything Jesus calls us to do. God entrusts us with the opportunity to identify and develop those gifts so that they can be unleashed to serve his kingdom. Let’s talk about how we can become an equipping center that strategically ……

Sometimes, Jesus’ teachings are difficult and hard to understand.  Other times, His teaching and what that particular teaching means is as plain as the nose on your face… like this one in Matthew 6:15.  Jesus says, “But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”  Oh this one is easy to understand, but very, very hard to do. It’s hard to do because, well, forgiving others is hard to do.  We can flippantly say to someone, “I forgive you,” but to actually let the pain go and never bring it up again to the one ……