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Ben Mandrell Named Pastoral Candidate at Bellevue Baptist Church, One of Four Things to Know This Week, July 10, 2025

7/9/2025

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A Word to the Wise: 15 “Nots” to Remember as You Attend Church (Chuck Lawless)
 
Getting ready to gather with God’s people is an important step before you go to church this weekend. Here are 15 “not’s” to remember as you go:
  1. I have not prepared for worship if I haven’t prayed beforehand.
  2. Church is not about me.
  3. The pew/seat/chair where I sit every Sunday is not my space. 
  4. I cannot worship well if I have unconfessed, unforsaken sin in my life.
  5. Worship through music is not about my preferences.
  6. I have not given sacrificially to God’s work until it costs me something.
  7. I do not know all the burdens my pastor carries to the pulpit.
  8. The Bible is not just a book.
  9. The Word that will be preached is not for someone else only; it’s also for me. 
  10. I’m not likely to hear the Word well if I’m not listening. 
  11. The gospel is not intended to make me feel comfortable.
  12. Not responding in some way to the preached Word is, in fact, a response. 
  13. If nothing changes in my life after the service, I have not genuinely worshiped God.
  14. Many believers around the world will not have the privilege of worshiping that I have. 
  15. Satan, the enemy of God who wants to distract me from worshiping, will ultimately not win in my life. 
https://chucklawless.com/2025/07/15-nots-to-remember-as-you-attend-church-this-weekend/

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12 Reasons Leaders Stop Growing, One of Four Things to Know This Week, July 3, 2025

7/2/2025

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A Word to the Wise: 
 
Start with the best opportunity available to you. If you make the most of what you have in front of you right now, better opportunities will become available as you go along.
James Clear, 6.26.25, 3-2-1 Thursday

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Why Great Leaders Know When to Pass the Baton, June 26, 2025

6/25/2025

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A Word to the Wise: Why Great Leaders Know When to Pass the Baton (Jim Sheppard)
 
There’s a point in every leader’s life when the bravest move isn’t charging forward—it’s stepping aside.
Not because the mission has changed.
Not because you’ve run out of vision.
But because the role you’ve played needs to evolve - for the sake of the mission, and for the good of the people carrying it forward.
 
Most leaders don’t like talking about succession. Especially in ministry, the line between “calling” and “identity” can get blurry. We don’t just do the work - we carry it. And after years of pouring our hearts into something, the idea of handing it off feels… unthinkable.
But here’s the truth:

Healthy succession isn’t a threat to great leadership. It’s the evidence of it.
1. Succession Isn’t an Exit Strategy. It’s a Leadership Discipline.
Waiting until you're “ready” to leave is too late. Great leaders think succession early and often. Not because they’re planning their escape, but because they’re building something that lasts. If you're not intentionally raising up future leaders, you're not leading - you're just managing a moment.
2. Your Successor Shouldn’t Be a Clone.
If the next leader has to imitate you to succeed, you didn’t raise up a leader - you trained a mimic. True succession means continuity of mission, not personality. Make room for the new leader to lead in their own voice. And cheer them on, publicly and privately.
3. Trust Is the Bridge—Not the Plan.
You can have the best succession strategy in the world, but if trust isn’t present, it’ll collapse. Your people need to see that you trust your successor. That trust becomes the currency the team trades in during the transition. No trust? No chance.
4. You’ll Feel Things. That’s Okay.
Succession can stir up all kinds of emotion - grief, pride, joy, fear, even a bit of envy. That’s part of the process. Let yourself feel it. Celebrate what’s been. Honor what’s changing. And thank God for what’s next.
Jim Sheppard, 6.25.25, Church Leader Insider, Why Great Leaders Know When to Pass the Baton

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Bivocational Ministry Success Hinges on Servant Mentality for Pastor, People – One of Four Things to Know This Week, June 19, 2025

6/19/2025

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A Word to the Wise: 4 Steps to Take When Yesterday’s Sin Haunts You 

1.   Make sure you’ve truly repented. Have you, in the power of God, truly turned from your sin? If not, yesterday’s sin might continue to haunt you because it is, in fact, today’s
2.   Talk with a trusted Christian friend or pastor. Simply being honest with somebody “with flesh on” can help you trust God’s forgiveness.
3.   Know and trust the Word of God—particularly its teachings about what God does with our sin. Know these many texts, and believe them:
  • He has separated us from our sin an immeasurable distance: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
  • He has dropped our sin to the bottom of the ocean: “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19b).
  • He has blotted out our sin: “It is I who blots out your transgressions for My own sake” (Isaiah 43:25b).
  • He remembers our sin no more: “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin” (Jeremiah 31:34b).
  • He has cleansed our sin: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
  • He has cast our sin behind His back: “for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back” (Isaiah 38:17).
  • He has forgiven and covered our sins: “How joyful are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered!” (Romans 4:7).
  • He does not count our sin against us: “That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
  • He laid all our sin upon His Son: “We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
  • He takes away our sin: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29).
4.   ​Thank God for His forgiving grace. Genuine gratitude can go a long way toward breaking bondages to yesterday’s sin. Cry out like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 (“God, have mercy on me, a sinner”)—and thank Him for His grace.
Chuck Lawless, 6.17.25, https://chucklawless.com/2025/06/4-steps-to-take-when-yesterdays-sin-haunts-you/


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SBCAL Marks Milestones, Presents First-Ever AMS of the Year Award – One of Four Things to Know This Week, June 12, 2025

6/11/2025

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​A Word to the Wise by Harold Gregory, Founder of SBCAL
 
“It matters little if there is frost on the roof if there is fire in the boiler.”
Harold Gregory, Local Missions: Keystone of All Missions, 1949
 

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Lead On Podcast with Jeff Iorg: The Role of the Baptist Association – One of Four Things to Know This Week, June 5, 2025

6/5/2025

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​A Word to the Wise: Barna Study Finds 2 in 3 Pastors Struggle with Porn
 
Barna’s groundbreaking study, Beyond the Porn Phenomenon—produced in partnership with Pure Desire Ministries— found that two in three pastors (67%) say that they've struggled with pornography use at some time in their life, and one in five (18%) would say that it's currently an issue. 

​The larger cultural statistic Barna found is that 58 percent of Christians use porn.
 
In a culture saturated with sexual content, it’s no surprise that pornography affects many inside the Church—including those in leadership. But what’s often missing in the conversation is honesty, hope and a clear way forward.

Barna email, 6.3.25, 2 in 3 Pastors Struggle with Porn

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10 Former SBC Presidents Sign Letter in Support of ERLC – One of Four Things to Know This Week, May 29, 2025

5/28/2025

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A Word to the Wise: How to Handle Tough Conversations (Dan Reiland)
 
3 guidelines to help you prepare for the tough conversation:
1) Learn the power of one sentence.
When we’re anxious during a challenging conversation, we tend to over-talk. We talk all around the core of the real issue, and we end up not being direct enough to accomplish the purpose of the moment. 
In the vast majority of those tough moments, the heart of the entire situation is best delivered in one sentence.
2) Understand the secret behind the moment.
It’s not really a secret, but we don’t talk about this very often. When you try to power up to get through the tough moments on your own, you will typically overdo it and therefore not realize the outcome you hoped for.  
The “secret” is in the preparation and involves how you engage God.
When you invite God into the process of a difficult conversation, you gain a quiet confidence that translates to spiritual strength in the moment.
3) Measure your outcome by inner peace, not outer perfection.
As I mentioned, the outcomes are never guaranteed. The other person or group can choose their response. But when you enter into the tough moment with inner peace, the potential for great results increases exponentially.
When you enter in unsure, you will not likely gain the results you pray for.
When you are clear, and at peace with God, you have done your best and need to leave the outcomes to Him.
Experience may be gained slowly because you don’t practice this on a daily basis. But the companion to tough conversations are honest conversations, and they can happen often and will help you become better at the tough ones.  
Dan Reiland, 5.26.25, How to Handle Tough Conversations, https://danreiland.com/how-to-handle-tough-conversations/

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At 100, CP Still Fuels Shared Mission of Southern Baptists – One of Four Things to Know This Week, May 22, 2025

5/21/2025

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​A Word to the Wise: 8 Ways to Pray for Missionaries, Chuck Lawless

  1. Get to know us, and pray for our ministry. The best remedy for this problem is to get to know “real live” missionaries and ask us how you can be praying for us.
  2. Pray for our people. Missionaries carry the enormous burden each day that their target people group would come to know Christ. Living in isolated places, often disconnected from the outside world or even other believers, we face doubts that slowly creep in: Does anyone else care if these people accept Christ? Is anyone else even praying for them? 
  3. Pray for our physical health. Mission leaders often send people to “hard places” with little clean water and no adequate medical facilities. Moreover, the markets where food is purchased or the restaurants where food is prepared are often unsanitary. Pray for us to stay healthy so we continue to faithfully proclaim God’s Word.
  4. Pray for our spiritual health. Similarly, some missionaries live in places that are spiritually hard, wrestling in a battle against “this present darkness” (Eph 6:12). Since we are putting ourselves in spiritually dark locations, our walk with the Lord is critical. Pray for us to pursue holiness each day. 
  5. Pray for our marriages. Paul teaches that marriage is a picture of the gospel (Eph 5:31) and that a healthy marriage is critical to ministry effectiveness (1 Tim 3:2-5). Pray that both husband and wife would share a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their missionary calling.
  6. Pray for our families. Issues like whether our children adjust well to a new cultural setting, have a stable schooling environment, or develop local friendships can affect the health and happiness of the family. Pray for wisdom as we lead our families.
  7. Pray for our ability to communicate. One of the primary markers of long-term effectiveness on the field is the ability to communicate well in the target language. Pray that we would love our target language and would choose to be life-long learners.
  8. Pray for us to have boldness. In Ephesians 6:20 Paul asked this church to pray that “words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” Like Paul, we need the Spirit to embolden us to faithfully share the Word with the lost around us. Pray we will have this boldness.
Chuck Lawless, 5.12.25, 8 Ways to Pray for Missionaries

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Mohler Questions ERLC’s ‘Utility,’ One of Four Things to Know This Week, May 15, 2025

5/14/2025

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A Word to the Wise: The Root of Words, by Paul David Tripp
 
James unequivocally declares that our communication problems cannot be solved by normal human means. Changes in location, situation, education, training, exercise, or the nature of the relationship will not solve the problem.
 
What we speak is directly related to what we want. Our words are one means to get what is important to us. An idolatrous heart produces words that serve the idols that grip us, which are often destructive and hurtful to others who stand in the way of our idols.
 
Word problems reveal heart problems. The people and situations around us do not make us say what we say; they are only the occasion for our hearts to reveal themselves in words.
 
How does this change begin? James 4:7-10 holds the answer.
 
Change begins at the level of the heart. Our passions, desires, thoughts, and motives must change. We must renounce the idols that have replaced God and turn our hearts back to him so that our words will reflect a heart ruled by God alone.
 
Because Jesus died, this transforming grace is freely available right here, right now.
​
Paul David Tripp, 5.14.25, Wednesday’s Word, https://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word/posts/the-root-of-words

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8 Reasons We Can’t Give Up on Our Non-Believing Friends, May 8, 2025

5/7/2025

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​A Word to the Wise: 8 Reasons We Can’t Give Up on Our Non-Believing Friends
 
  1. God’s still doing the work of drawing people unto Himself. He will be doing so until believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language gather around His throne (Rev 7:9-10). The family member or friend for whom you’ve been praying for a long time might well be in that number.
  2. We don’t always know what’s going on in the hearts of others. We might think we do, but we can’t fully know what others are thinking. I’ve seen situations where someone who seemed to be hardened was actually considering Christ – just quietly and unbeknownst to me.
  3. We don’t always know what God’s up to in their lives. I’m so glad that God works according to His plans, but I’m still learning how to trust Him with His plans. What I’m learning is that God isn’t obligated to give me the details when He’s working in somebody else’s life.
  4. God’s timing for responding to our prayers is seldom our timing. He doesn’t operate according to our calendar or our clock. He’s not rushed, nor is He ever late. His delay in answering our prayers is not evidence that He doesn’t care – so we can’t give up.
  5. God loves our family and friends more than we do. He sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, and He is love in His very nature. That love ought to allow us to rest in His work in our lives and the lives of others.
  6. It’s the enemy who wants us to give up on others. Ultimately, what he wants us to do is not just give up on others, but rather give up on God. “After all,” he says, “God surely doesn’t care if He hasn’t answered your prayer yet.”
  7. Some of us can speak of God’s answering prayers many years after we started praying. If you’ve read this blog for some time, you know we prayed for my dad and mom for 36 and 47 years, respectively, before the Lord dramatically changed them. 
  8. Many of us can talk about others who never gave up on us, no matter how far we had walked away from God. They kept praying for us. And kept praying for us. And prayed some more, until God saved us. In many cases, we’re our own best example of why we can’t give up on others.
Chuck Lawless, 5.5.25, https://chucklawless.com/2025/05/7-reasons-we-cant-give-up-on-our-non-believing-friends/

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    I’m Ray Gentry, the President/CEO of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL). I’ve served Southern Baptist churches & associations in various roles for over 35 years. I have served as an associational leader for five associations, starting in 1993. The most recent one being the Southside Baptist Network, McDonough, GA.

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