3 Ethical Considerations: How to Choose a Health Plan Without Compromise

By Nadeena Kersey, GuideStone Chief Insurance Officer When evaluating how to choose a health plan, some questions automatically come to mind about costs, deductibles, networks and prescription medication coverage. After all, these factors directly affect your wallet and access to the medical care you need. However, have you ever considered that just as important are the Christian ethics in this …

Property Preservation and Stewardship: A Christian Approach to Church Risk Management 

By Nadeena Kersey, GuideStone Chief Insurance Officer Planning events, preparing sermons, meeting with members, recruiting volunteers, paying staff and scheduling building maintenance — these activities are likely a familiar part of your day-to-day tasks. Daily duties can become so routine that it’s easy to lose sight of potential risk exposure that could damage your ministry without the protection of church risk management.  …

The hopeful future of theological education

By Dr. Jonathan SixTheological education is at a point of transition. Some have even called it a crisis. Delivery methods have changed, educational approaches are ever evolving, and seminaries and divinity schools find themselves in some of the most challenging days. In addition to the rise of online learning, the general reluctance for traditional educational practices creates intimidating challenges for …

In More Ways than One, Mission:Dignity Gives Dignity

By Dr. Aaron Meraz, Director of Mission:Dignity, a ministry of GuideStoneWe are on a Mission to provide Dignity to retirement-aged Southern Baptist ministers, workers and their widows — the dignity that comes with knowing they’ve served the Lord faithfully and can pay their bills at the end of the month. Michael and Sandra Dowling have served the Lord together for …

Three Retirement Best Practices for Pastors

By Hance Dilbeck The first sermon I preached was on a Sunday night at a small Oklahoma church. I preached on Revelation 2 and 3, the letters to the churches. I delivered it in about seven minutes. It was a train wreck. I’m thankful there are no recordings of that first sermon on YouTube! Through training, first at Oklahoma Baptist …

Equipped to Serve: How Nate’s MDiv Experience Prepared Him for Ministry – An Interview with Nate Akin

Life on mission is a life of service as worship — worship of Christ through service to his Church. For Baptist21’s Executive Director Nate Akin, that is what the MDiv at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary enabled him to do and what he saw modeled by his Southeastern professors in the classroom and on the mission field.  Preparing students for a …

Nebuchadnezzar U.

By Heath Thomas Although universities should help us understand what it means to live a meaningful life in our day, unfortunately they too often create confusion instead of clarity. Sadly, many of our young leaders are equipped to answer all the wrong questions and miss the right ones on our campuses.  What are we to do? We can respond in …

What to Do When Depression and Ministry Overlap

By Dr. Mark Dance, GuideStone Director of Pastoral Wellness After pastoring in a fog of clinical depression for several months, I came very close to walking away from the church I was pastoring — and the ministry altogether. I had been pastoring for 22 years at the time and was burned out and fed up — mostly with myself. At …

University Education with a Soul

By Heath A. Thomas The American university lost its soul, and we need to find it again. University education is a beautiful, noble, formative and helpful endeavor. At its best, university education is transformative: it effects change in people. But the question is…what do they become? We may see graduates who can land a job and make money, but all too often, …