Bud Brown

What’s the one thing we don’t teach new Christians?

Churches by and large do a pretty good job of teaching new believers “the basics” of the Christian life. If you peek beneath the surface you’ll find that most of them establish new believers in a few basic spiritual disciplines. Assurance Baptism Prayer Bible reading Walking in the Spirit Witnessing After all, pastors and churches

10 Promises That Will Change Your Church in 2015

This is it. You’ve reached decision time. You’ve got to decide whether 2015 will rehash everything that’s gone before. Or will it be different? Is it the year your church breaks out? It can, but only if you promise to start doing things different. Here are 10 promises you can make, Pastor, that will change your church in

5 Times Pastors Should Say “No!” In Order to Change a Church

Relentless focus on the mission. Uncompromising devotion to the vision. Insistence on “no more business as usual.” These hallmark behaviors distinguish pastors capable of introducing change that results in new life and new growth in stagnant and dying churches from pastors who don’t.[1] Do you know what’s implicit in these behaviors? Demand for change. A

5 Items for the Turnaround Pastor’s Year-end Checklist

Is 2015 the year you start leading like a Turnaround pastor? If so, it’s time to start implementing those best practices Innovation. Changing it up. Doing things different. Breaking the mold. These are hallmark behaviors of successful Turnaround pastors. It’s how they lead stagnant and dying churches into new life, time after time in church after church.

Change Management: Tools Every Pastor Needs

Back in olden days, between the end of WWII and the end of the War in Vietnam, pastors had a simple goal for themselves and their churches: keep doing what they’ve been doing. It was a period when an homogenous culture shared was rapidly expanding into new communities around America’s urban centers. The people who

5 Things Jesus Is Not

Jesus is a lot of things to a lot of people. Most folks are so biblically ignorant and the culture (and many a church) is so consumer centered that Jesus is made out to be whatever anyone wants him to be. But there are 5 things that Jesus most definitely is not! (Well, there are actually

3 Leadership Lessons From A Gadget Designer

Turnaround pastors can learn a lot about leadership from a guy who designs gadgets for a living. Seriously. The designer’s relentless focus on form, function and beauty should be part and parcel of every pastor’s philsophy of ministry. These “best practices” are hallmarks of the successful Turnaround pastor. Case in point: Jony Ive, Senior Vice

4 Words Church Visitors Dread

Do you know the 4 words a pastor should never say during the worship service? “Stand and greet somebody.” These four words are the worst part about being a church visitor. They make me shrink down into my seat even though I’m a ministry professional who visits many churches every year. Frankly, I’m surprised that

A free professional development tool for pastors

Other people. The Turnaround pastor’s most effective professional development tool. More important than biblical languages. More important that seminary education. More important than professional certification. The only “tool” that surpasses the value of other people is the call to ministry and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Consider the following three scenarios. Scenario 1 –