The apostle Paul’s solemn charge to Timothy was to “preach the Word.” Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:2) Biblical preaching and teaching is the expounding of the Word of God to a world that needs to hear it. Of course, the gospel is our central message in preaching. But pastors are also to declare “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) as the expound Scripture to their church family. I have been preaching now for just over forty years. This is God’s calling on my life and is one of the great privileges of my ministry as a pastor as well as in training preachers at West Coast Baptist College. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, my son Larry and I discuss what biblical preaching is, how to rightly divide the Word of truth, and strategies for the practical implementation of study and delivery of messages. Whether you are a senior pastor, a Sunday school teacher, or a father sharing God’s Word with your children, I believe our discussion will provide scriptural context and relevant ideas for expounding the Word of God.

Pastors are surrounded by stress-inducing circumstances. Whether it be the uncivil culture in which we minister, family burdens, financial pressure, dealing with problems in the church, or any number of other factors, stress is a daily reality for pastors. But if stress is a daily realty for pastors, the availability of God’s grace is too. Jesus told us, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) In this new episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share eight practical ways to appropriate God’s grace in dealing with pastoral stress. Whether you are a pastor or serve in ministry in any capacity, I pray this episode will be a help and an encouragement to you.

Every church has core values, but not every church has written them down. And actually, it wasn’t until several years ago that I and some of the other leaders in our church worked on writing our core values. Both the process and the product proved to be a helpful exercise and tool. Today, we have our core values visibly displayed and give them to each new member. They are a key way that we communicate the philosophy of ministry and goal for the body life of our church family. Whether you are a church planter or have been pastoring for many decades, clarifying the core values of a church is beneficial at any stage. As ministries mature, sometimes clutter in purpose and goals builds. Creating a written list of core values can be an aligning tool that helps bring a renewed focus on the church’s doctrine and philosophy of ministry. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, my son Larry and I discuss the process that went into developing and sharing the core values of Lancaster Baptist Church as well as walking through the core values we presented to our church family.

In the process of leading a church family and building a congregation, there are times when you need a restart. Sometimes this needed reset is because the church has gone through a specific trial or need. Other times, it’s simply the process of a spiritual leader stepping back, renewing his own heart and focus, and then helping the church family reengage in the work of the Lord. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share seven steps that have been helpful to me in this process.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Jerry Vines for the Spiritual Leadership Podcast. Some of the audio and technical quality was not up to the quality we desired, and so we delayed in posting it. However, I felt the content of this interview is relevant and important, and so we are posting today in hopes that it will be a help and encouragement to you. We discussed ministry trends and his commitment to Bible truth. I enjoyed our discussion and hope you will enjoy it as well.

At a recent California for Christ meeting, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Alan Fong, Robbie Yapp, and James Kim to discuss the need for and challenges of church planting. It was our joy nearly twenty-five years ago to help Pastor Fong in planting Heritage Baptist Church in San Leandro, CA. It was a blessing to me then in this discussion to join with Pastor Fong to encourage a new generation of church planters on their journey. Robbie Yapp and James Kim are preparing to plant new churches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties here in Southern California next year. In this episode of the podcast, the four of us discuss several topics that relate to sending out church planters and being a church planter including the biblical model of church planting shown in Acts 13, the kinds of churches that get involved in planting other churches, the church planter’s heart for God, the spiritual pressure on a pastor, the need to refresh your spirit in the Lord, developing a calendar for your first year, disciplining your time, establishing convictions and training faithful leaders in a new church, and how the gospel penetrates a liberal culture. If you are involved in any aspect of church planting—whether as a supporting pastor, a sending church, a church planter, or praying about God’s direction to plant a church—I pray this episode will be an encouragement and help to you. (For more information on the California for Christ initiative mentioned in this episode, visit CA4Christ.org.)

At a recent California for Christ meeting, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Alan Fong, Robbie Yapp, and James Kim to discuss the need for and challenges of church planting. It was our joy nearly twenty-five years ago to help Pastor Fong in planting Heritage Baptist Church in San Leandro, CA. It was a blessing to me then in this discussion to join with Pastor Fong to encourage a new generation of church planters on their journey. Robbie Yapp and James Kim are preparing to plant new churches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties here in Southern California next year. In this episode of the podcast, the four of us discuss several topics that relate to sending out church planters and being a church planter including the biblical model of church planting shown in Acts 13, the kinds of churches that get involved in planting other churches, the church planter’s heart for God, the spiritual pressure on a pastor, the need to refresh your spirit in the Lord, developing a calendar for your first year, disciplining your time, establishing convictions and training faithful leaders in a new church, and how the gospel penetrates a liberal culture. If you are involved in any aspect of church planting—whether as a supporting pastor, a sending church, a church planter, or praying about God’s direction to plant a church—I pray this episode will be an encouragement and help to you. (For more information on the California for Christ initiative mentioned in this episode, visit CA4Christ.org.)

In this episode, I have the opportunity to sit down with Coach Joe Kennedy, who recently won a cast at the United States Supreme Court. He had made a decision to pray on the field after each football game, and that decision cost him his job and ultimately led to his cast coming before the high court. Also joining us is Jeremy Dys, his attorney from First Liberty.

When the Lord first brought me into the pastorate, I was twenty-four years old and had a great desire to reach people in our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s hard to believe that a few weeks ago, I celebrated my sixtieth birthday, and in a few more weeks, I’ll begin my thirty-seventh year at Lancaster Baptist Church. Sometimes I wonder where the time went! I still believe that I have far to go, and with every part of my being, I want to finish well to the glory of God. But I’ve been reflecting over the journey God has given me and noting some of the key aspects of what a biblical journey of local church spiritual leadership should include. I often tell our staff that if a spiritual vision will survive, it must be accompanied by a strategy of faith. In other words, just hoping for the best, isn’t a great plan. We need biblical markers of where we’re going and what we are striving to accomplish for Christ. In this month’s Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share very personally about five biblical and essential principles that I have been learning along the way of local church ministry. Some of these are principles that perhaps as leaders we have a tendency to give lip service to but neglect to implement. Some are ones I didn’t start out with in ministry but have worked to develop. All are principles that I am still growing in and still asking God to increase in my life. I pray that these truths are a help to you as you seek to provide spiritual leadership.

Mentoring may be a corporate buzzword, but when you think about it, the whole idea of mentoring is a biblical process. From Jesus mentoring His disciples to Paul mentoring Timothy and Titus, we see these kinds of relationships throughout the Bible, including the New Testament. One of the most direct instructions about mentoring is a verse we commonly think of in relation to discipleship: And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2) Paul challenged Timothy to take the things he had learned from Paul and to commit them to faithful men to the point that they could train others also. This is a great pattern for mentoring relationships because it moves past just the word to a functioning definition. Mentoring takes place when we have so trained someone that they are able to train others. Paul gave another description of the mentoring process in Philippians 4:9: Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:9) A wholistic approach to mentoring is a process that involves more than just hearing or instruction. It includes observation, reception, and application. In this month’s episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I share some principles God has blessed in my life as I have endeavored to mentor our ministry staff, men in our church, and various leaders in our community. I hope these are a blessing to you.

That word perilous in 2 Timothy 3:1 speaks of an unraveling. It’s not hard to see the application of this verse to the world we live in today. It seems that culture from top to bottom is unraveling around us. The question is, how should we as spiritual leaders respond in this perilous time? In this newest episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, my son Larry and I discuss three vital responses: We need to settle our convictions. We need to know what we believe from Scripture and be unwaveringly faithful to biblical truth. As culture moves further and further from the truth there is a stronger and stronger pull on Christian leaders to accommodate their beliefs to the whims of culture. We must resist this trend. We need to study our culture. We need to be discerning of current trends. While we must never bend our convictions to culture, we do need to understand the world in which we live in order to reach people for Christ. We need to understand how to teach and apply biblical truth to the people which we are ministering. We need to seize our calling. We need a renewed commitment to proclaiming the gospel and to serving the local church. We need to lead like Jesus, walking in the Spirit even as we face opposition.

Prayerfully, and with God’s help, as vaccines get distributed, it looks like we could soon be closing the chapter on COVID-19. I think most of us are looking forward to breathing a collective sigh of relief. This season of ministry has brought numerous challenges, and most church ministry today does not look like it did just 12 months ago. Most of our churches have seen some combination of spiritual, physical and financial challenges over the past year. So what do we do now? How do we restart with fresh passion and vision? In today’s episode of Spiritual Leadership Conference, my son, Larry and I discuss moving ministry forward. We talk about learning from the challenges and reengaging our staff and our church family in our cause of declaring the gospel to our lost world.

Time is one of God’s greatest gifts. He gives it to all of us equally, and how we use it is our gift back to Him. We often speak of managing our time, but I have learned you really can’t manage time—you can only manage yourself. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, we discuss how to develop and remain accountable to a weekly schedule that holds all of the core responsibilities which God has given to us. My son, Larry, joined me for this discussion and posed helpful questions throughout, including these: What is a good starting point for developing a weekly schedule? How often do you step back and re-evaluate your priorities? What are the differences in your purposes for a weekly, monthly, and annual view? How often does your week go as it was planned? What are some of the ways you replenish and restore after expending energy? How do you deal with interruptions? What would your advice be to ministry leaders who want to implement this for themselves as well as for their team? I enjoyed this discussion with Larry. We have different temperaments but share the same desire to steward our lives fully for Christ. I believe what we covered in this conversation is helpful for every leader regardless of their temperament, responsibilities, or specifics of their weekly schedule. Near the end of our conversation, we talked about a new resource that is a tool for your weekly schedule—the revised edition of the Stewarding Life Planner. The changes in this edition are substantive and useful. They include a new weekly review process as you go through your roles as well as a daily page spread with room to include devotional thoughts, identify the big priorities for the day, and map out the day’s appointments and tasks. The planner is available for pre-order now and will be in before Christmas. For listeners of this podcast, we are offering a special 20% discount if you order by December 18. Simply use the coupon code PODCAST20.

If you have a heart for missions and for the spread of the gospel around the world, you are going to love this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast. Our three guests on this episode each brought a unique vantage point to our discussion on New Testament missions. There are entire denominations that have designated social works as missions. But when we look to the New Testament model in Acts, we see missions as winning the lost, discipling them, and planting indigenous churches. Visiting with these men on this focus of missions was refreshing to me, and I believe it will be to you as well.

In today’s episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I interview Pastor Tim Rasmussen, Pastor of the Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park, CA, and his brother, Dr. Mark Rasmussen, who serves as a vice president here at West Coast Baptist College. I recently had the honor of attending the funeral service for Mark and Tim’s father, Dr. Roland Rasmussen, who pastored the Faith Baptist Church for decades. I was struck by his testimony and how he was able to pass his faith and convictions on to the next generation—not only within his own family but also within his church and community. I know this conversation encouraged and convicted me as a dad and a pastor. I hope that some of the principles that we discussed with challenge you, as a spiritual leader be passionate about souls, family, and biblical convictions.

In this new episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, my son Larry and I discuss my new book, Keep the Faith and walk through the chapters and topics covered. This episode is for anyone who teaches or preaches God’s Word or anyone who would like insight into the changes happening in churches nationwide. Keep the Faith is available here: https://strivingtogether.com/products/keep-the-faith The book is organized into three parts: Standing for Biblical Truth—In these introductory chapters, we cover the importance of the truth itself, the biblical premise behind ecclesiastical separation, and then spend three chapters looking at church history. The history section is important because it provides context for the trends we look at in part 2. Although we look briefly at early church history, we zero in on the beginning of the modern fundamental movement and how it was birthed as a response to German rationalism, looking at how this affected the Baptist world in particular. Then we look at some of the various Baptist groups and recent Baptist history. From there we move into the birth of the New Evangelical movement and how it set the context for some of the ministry philosophies today. Discerning Ministry Trends—Part 2 is the meat of this book. It begins with an overview of the cultural changes that affect today’s ministry landscape and then looks at the shifts taking place in ministry. From there, we examine terms such as integrative ministry, syncretism, contextualization, missional ministry, Critical Race Theory, identity politics, social justice, gospel centered, radical grace, and much more. We discuss these on the podcast as well as diving deep into them in the book. Reaching forward with the Gospel—If part 2 is the meat of the book, part 3 is the purpose for it. Reaching forward with the gospel must be our passion if we are to obey the Great Commission of Christ. These final chapters of the book (and of our discussion on the podcast) wrap up the previous material with recommendations for how to keep he faith and reach into our communities with the gospel. In these chapters, I argue that we need freedom and liberty in our methods, but we need to remain focused on pleasing Christ and making Him known. We want to not only keep the faith, but also advance it! If this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast was a blessing to you, please share it with a friend. You can subscribe to future episodes via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or YouTube.

On today’s podcast, I begin a discussion about leadership qualities for turbulent times. What kind of spiritual leader will you be during this trying time? First I believe God’s people deserve a leader with a sense of calling. We should have a firm belief that God intends for us to serve Him. Secondly, I believe we need spiritual leaders with the right spirit. Just as Daniel expanded his leadership influence through his excellent spirit, people are looking for a genuine hearted, kind, forgiving leader. Thirdly, I discuss the subject of spiritual gifts. How can we give people the opportunity to exercise their spiritual gifts during this unusual season of ministry? Fourthly, I believe it is critical that we have spiritual leaders with integrity. We cannot simply have the right position doctrinally, we have to live a life that is consistent with the biblical values we teach. Fifthly, we need spiritual leaders who are compassionate. People are looking for someone who has a heart for them and their needs. I hope this episode is a help, we will be back next month with the conclusion of this lesson. Until then, may God richly bless you.

What can Christian leaders do during this unprecedented time of challenges, anger, and unrest? Pastor Paul Chappell discusses with his son Larry nine biblical principles that should be applied during this time of delusion.

Nehemiah was taken captive from his home land, and worked for King Artaxerxes for decades, but what is recorded for us in Scripture and what we remember from his life is how he responded to his defining moment—the building of the wall in Jerusalem. In this episode of Spiritual Leadership Podcast, Pastor Chappell is joined by his son, Larry to discuss principles from Nehemiah on how to navigate and maximize defining moments. Whether you are pivoting to a new leadership role, starting or restarting a ministry, or returning to church services after a global pandemic, there are lessons you can apply from the life of Nehemiah.

Adapting Ministry for COVID-19

Efficiency Management Principles

We are living in unprecedented times. In over thirty years of pastoring, I have never experienced a moment of ministry leadership like we are all experiencing now. Today, I put some thoughts together about leading in a time of crisis, and I hope they will edify and encourage you.

Easter is not only a time to celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also a great opportunity to share the gospel. There are very few days of the calendar year that offer as great an opportunity to invite someone to your service and to share the powerful truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ with them. This week, I sat down with Gabriel Ruhl, our executive pastor and we discussed how to prepare for a great Easter weekend. We talked through the fact that on Easter weekend: Our Reach should be intentional. Our Schedule should be flexible. The truth should be central. Our invitation should be relatable. The experience should be enjoyable. I trust these thoughts will be a blessing to you and your ministry as you prepare to celebrate and share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with your community.

In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I set down with General John Teichert and discuss how he applies biblical principles of servant leadership in his current role of Base Commander at Edwards Air Force Base. John was saved here at Lancaster Baptist Church several years ago, and God has blessed his life and career. We discuss leadership styles and principles. We talk about mission first or people first leadership. I enjoyed hearing General Teichert’s view of mission sustainability through building and investing into the leaders around you. I pray this podcast will be a blessing an encouragement to you.

I recently sat down with one of my greatest friends and mentors, Dr. Don Sisk to talk about a subject we are both passionate about—world-wide missions. I consider Dr. Sisk to be one of the greatest spokesmen in our generation for Baptist missions. We talked about his journey from the Southern Baptist convention’s cooperative missions program. He tells why he left that movement and the strengths he sees in the independent Baptist model of directly supporting missionaries. Dr. Sisk also talked about the great need for pastors and parents to encourage young people to consider serving Christ as a missionary. Jesus had one prayer request—laborers for the harvest. We talked about the 10/40 window and the opportunity we have to influence that region for Christ through Spiritual Leadership Asia. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Bro. Sisk, and I believe this episode will be an encouragement to you as well.

Recent studies show that roughly two-thirds of teens stop attending church after graduation across protestant denominations. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I talk with our youth pastor, Larry Chappell, and the Young Adults ministry director of Franklin Road Baptist Church, Joel Norris about how to reach and engage single young adults for the cause of Christ. We discussed answering common questions that arise from this group about ministry and culture. I appreciate the heart of these two men to make an impact in the lives of teens and young adults, and I believe you will find this conversation encouraging and insightful.

In this episode of Spiritual Leadership podcast, I discuss the development of the church staff. I thank God for the wonderful team of staff that He has brought to Lancaster Baptist. I believe in the necessity of staff. God gives different gifts to different people to work together to meet the needs of the local church. The right staff can bring perspective and creative ideas to the work of the ministry. In this episode I talk about how to bring a staff together. How to hire like-minded people with a positive spirit, and what role the staff plays in helping to support the health of the church and the Pastor. I pray this episode will encourage you.

In this podcast Niranjan Sundararaj and I discuss the needs in the 10/40 window and how we can work together with American churches, Christian businessmen, and Asian national pastors and missionaries to shine the light of the gospel into this area of spiritual darkness.

In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I am joined by Pastor Jeff Amsbaugh and WCBC professor Tobi England. We discuss a number of contemporary issues including Calvinism, progressive sanctification, the Gospel-centered movement, and collaboration.

At times, there can be a healthy tension between a honoring our heritage and being creative in ministry and outreach. For this episode of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast, I sat down to discuss how we manage that tension with Pastor Dave Delaney. Dave pastors the First Baptist Church in Long Beach. He is a millennial aged pastor ministering in an urban environment. He is also committed to Bible truth. At the beginning of the podcast, I also answer a few listener-submitted questions. If you have a question or topic for future episodes, please send an email to [email protected].

God’s work deserves our very best, and we serve a God of order. As His servants, we should desire to be as effective as we can in serving Him, ministering to His people, and reaching the lost with the gospel. In this episode of the Spiritual Leadership podcast, Pastor Paul Chappell discusses practical ways to improve administration in church ministry. Pastor Chappell also takes time to answer a few questions about transitioning into a leadership role, the role of generations in ministry work, and the importance of a soulwinning ministry. If you have a question or topic for future episodes, email us at [email protected].

Let politicians deal with political challenges— The people of the growing hispanic population in our communities need to be reached by the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our community and in hundreds of communities across America, the demographics are changing, and there is a greater need for Bible preaching in the Spanish language. This week, I sat down with my friend, Ezekiel Salazar, pastor and founder of the Montecito Baptist Church, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of reaching Spanish-speaking people with the gospel.

Spiritual Leadership Podcast from Pastor Paul Chappell. In this episode, Pastor Chappell discusses identifying challenges and obstacles to growth. Every growing church will grow by God’s grace and will make adjustments by God’s grace.

In this episode, Pastor Paul Chappell answers questions from listeners, and gives insights about strategic team building

Pastor Paul Chappell answers questions about sermon preparation, conducting invitations, and dealing with family health issues. Send questions for future episodes to [email protected]. This month’s lesson is “How To Be a Team-Building Leader Part One” How do you build and nurture a productive team? Pastor Paul Chappell shares insight from his decades of experience at Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College.

The first episode of The Spiritual Leadership Podcast, “Is Your Motivation Style Demotivating?” deals with four types of motivation that Paul Chappell describes as “unhealthy and unscriptural” This episode goes on to outline four healthy and scriptural types of motivation. Future episodes of the podcast will dedicate time to answering questions and addressing topics that are submitted by email to [email protected]. The Spiritual Leadership Podcast is the latest in a long series of ministry leadership resources that have been produced by Paul Chappell. He is the author of more than a dozen books and devotionals. He writes online booth on his own blog, paulchappell.com, as well as founding ministry127.com, an online resource website for ministry leaders.

Taught by Dr. Paul Chappell at West Coast Baptist College for a conference on the subject of church planting

Taught by Dr. Paul Chappell at West Coast Baptist College for a conference on the subject of church planting

Taught by Dr. Paul Chappell at West Coast Baptist College for a conference on the subject of church planting