The Church Lobby

Karl Vaters interviews Dianne Finkelde, the author of several books, including Unlock Your Bible: The How-to Study Guide for Everyday Christians.Karl and Dianne talk about, not just the importance of reading the Bible, but how to read it in a way that the everyday person can understand it, appreciate it, and do what it says, including:Letting the Bible explain the BibleHearing God as he speaks to us through its pagesHow to remember what we readGoing deeper with character studies, word studies and moreLinks From This Episode:Unlock Your Bible: The How-to Study Guide for Everyday ChristiansTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

If you've never taken a sabbatical or wondered why they matter, this podcast is a great introduction to it.In this solo podcast, Karl Vaters talks about:Why sabbaticals matter for pastorsAn important lesson on time management from the life of the Apostle PaulWhy Karl is taking his sabbatical nowThe sabbatical template he will followHow to get the most out of a sabbatical Links:PastorSoul.comThe DREAM GuideBonus Chat Karl talks about the DREAM acronym he will be using on his sabbatical:Disengage from ministry and reengage with GodReconnect by spending quality time with family and friendsEvaluate your ministryAssess your needsMove into your new way of livingTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Sallie Guillory, the author of YouTube Strategy for Churches: A practical guide for your church to reach more people through YouTube.Karl and Sallie talk about some extremely practical ideas to use the world’s biggest video platform and second largest search engine to help people find your content, including:How to get more mileage out of the content you’re already creatingCreating videos that answer the questions people are actually askingHow to create short videos from longer presentationsWhy simple and helpful is more important than having high production valuesAnd more.Links:YouTube Strategy for Churches: A practical guide for your church to reach more people through YouTubeCanva.comAdobe expressSean Cannell on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@seanTHiNKsBonus chat 6 Tips to Write Better Titles for Your Church’s YouTube VideosIn this bonus content, Karl talks with Sallie Guillory about some very simple, practical ways to get your titles seen through the clutter of YouTube, including:How many words to use in your titleUsing keywords correctlyThe value of using question, numbers, and lists in the titleAnd moreTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Dale Sellers of the 95 Network, which provides resources for the 95 percent of churches that are not large.In this conversation, Dale and Karl talk about some of the important issues facing small churches as we come out of the pandemic and look ahead to 5-10 years of fallout, including:The need for rest and soul care for pastorsWhy the expected wave of pastoral resignations hasn’t happenedWhat to do instead of chasing absent membersThe importance of accurately defining your congregation’s current realityLinks:95 NetworkStalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They'd Be There by NowThe New Very Large ChurchTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Michael Clary about the dangers of what he calls Elitist Christianity.This conversation was inspired by a Twitter thread Michael wrote in which he confessed to an arrogant attitude he had developed as a young, successful church planter. Michael found himself looking down on pastors and Christians who hadn’t had his training, even though they were the people whose shoulders he was standing on.His vulnerability, confession, and repentance hold great lessons for all of us.Links:Michael Clary on Twitter: @DMichaelClaryRead Michael Clary’s Twitter Thread on Elitist ChristianityRead it here if you’re not on TwitterTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Ryan Lokkesmoe, a church-planter and the author of a new book, Paul and His Team: What the Early Church Can Teach Us About Leadership and Influence.Karl and Ryan talk about what we can learn from the way Paul worked with his ministry team, and how those lessons translate to ministry today. Including:How Paul dealt with conflict, not seeing people as enemies to be defeated, but as people God loves and who can be redeemed just as he was redeemed.Paul’s Kingdom Diplomacy as seen in a very helpful, eye-opening walk through the short, but challenging book of Philemon.How Paul’s teaching and life match each other in the way he dealt with people.How Paul prioritized constantly handing ministry off to the next generation.Links from this episode:The NET (New English Translation) BibleBook: Paul and His Team: What the Early Church Can Teach Us About Leadership and InfluenceReal Hope Community ChurchTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Sean Nemecek, author of the just-released book, The Weary Leader’s Guide to Burnout: A Journey from Exhaustion to Wholeness. In this episode we’re talking to pastors who are wondering if they might be dealing with burnout in ministry.Sean walks us through the following steps:What is burnout, and why does it seem to be on the rise, lately?How do I know if I’m struggling with is burnout?How do I take steps to recover from burnout?How do I protect myself from future burnout? Sean also works with pastors through Pastor-in-Residence Ministries (pirministries.org), where his primary focus is on coaching pastors through burnout and recovery.Links:SeanNemecek.comPastorSoul.comPIRministries.org@pastorsoul on Twitter and InstagramFacebook https://www.facebook.com/sean.nemecekThe official website for the book is www.wearyleadersguide.comTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Brad Roth, a Mennonite pastor in rural Kansas, a blogger at DoxologyProject.com, and the author of God's Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church.Brad and Karl talk about four concepts from his book:The importance of Rural churchAcediaThe importance of PlaceA New Way to Measure GrowthThey also have an important conversation about replacing the typical metrics of demographics and attendance with what Brad calls “getting weird” as we assess church health and growth. Specifically, Brad raises the idea of using “rule” rather than metrics as our baseline.This episode will encourage you who serve in rural areas, and hopefully will inspire pastors in transition to keep small towns on your list of ministry options.Links from this episode:The Daily YonderRural AdvancementSmall Town SummitsRural Home Missionary AssociationDoxologyProject.comBook: God's Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural ChurchBook: The Hunger Inside: How the Meal Jesus Gave Transforms LivesTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Craig T. Owens, a pastor, author, co-host of the podcast “The Craig and Greg Show”, and a blogger at CraigTOwens.com.In this conversation, Karl and Craig talk about the subjects addressed in his recent book, Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics that Really Matter.Some of the important subjects include:Using biblical metrics for pastoral ministryThe tendency to lead based in confidence or humilityThe essential nature of sabbath in a life of ministryThe relationship of wisdom to shepherdingThe importance of overcoming guilt as a motivator for decisions in ministry There’s also an important undercurrent throughout the episode about putting our servanthood into action first, knowing that only then will a servant’s heart follow.Links from this episode:YouVersion Bible AppTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

In this conversation, Karl Vaters talks to Daniel Sih about the information in his recent book, Spacemaker: How to Unplug, Unwind and Think Clearly in the Digital Age.Specifically, we address three areas that are having a massive effect on our lives and ministries:ClutterNeuroplasticityThe stories we tellIn our increasingly tech-driven world, the technology that used to be (and still can be) so helpful is now causing significant changes to the way we work, worship, live, communicate and even the way our brains are wired. And many of these changes are not good.But the news is not all bad. Daniel offers great Bible-based insights into how we can acknowledge these challenges, offer a far better alternative, and minister in ways that answer people’s deepest needs.But first, we need to get and stay healthy, ourselves. Stop living by the world’s stories, and find ourselves immersed in the bigger, better story God is telling.Links:Movements.netSpacemakersRaising HumansTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.