Strength for Today's Pastor

Does anybody even practice what we call church discipline anymore? And if a church does practice church discipline, why do they do it? How do they do it? What is its purpose? Show host and Poimen Ministries Director Bill Holdridge draws from the scriptures, coupled with his experience in pastoral ministry, to make suggestions to pastors about the whys and how's of church disciple. For instance, Bill calls us these principles in mind: To be a Great Commission church, the church must...

What is the purpose of the gift of tongues? What is its most common use? How is it exercised in a corporate setting "decently and in order'? What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? What is the main evidence of being filled (baptized) with the Holy Spirit? These questions have clear Biblical and practical answers, and Gayle Erwin will help us find out what those answers are. Gayle Erwin is a longtime pastor, Bible teacher, conference speaker, and author. His books included The Jesus...

Gayle Erwin is an international treasure, a man who has allowed the Lord to use his life for many years as an author, pastor, lecturer, professor, and conference speaker. Gayle has (as he puts it) "one string on his guitar," and that string is Jesus and His nature. This podcast is on that subject. How does the nature of Jesus effect the way we live as pastors, and how we shepherd the flocks the Lord has committed to our charge? In Gayle's classic book The Jesus Style, Gayle goes into...

Spoiler Alert: this is much more than a dialogue on church polity. It has to do more with the way a pastor leads, the way he works with his fellow leaders. This stuff is GOLDEN! When Pastor David Guzik was pastoring in Simi Valley, CA, he delivered a message on the subject of church government. In that message, he acknowledged the three major forms of church government and then argued for the validity of a pastor led form of church government. The message was entitled "Church Government:...

Warren Wiersbe served the Lord Jesus well ... and his impact upon the body of Christ, and upon pastor-teachers, is incalculable. Join host Bill Holdridge as he is joined by Pastors David Guzik (https://enduringword.com) and Jeff Jones as they share about the legacy of this faithful steward of God's Word. This interview took place very shortly after Wiersbe's entrance into heaven (Warren Wiersbe: 5/16/29-5/2/2019). Jeff shares about his personal meeting with WW and a great takeaway that...

Pastors of churches of less than 200 people? Did you know that the church you pastor is a 'normal' sized church? Did you know that the normal sized church is called that because it's the normative sized church, world-wide? Are you discouraged because your church hasn't become a medium, large, or mega sized church? Karl Vaters is a current voice, speaking wisely to pastors of small (aka "normal") churches. Since a very, very large percentage of churches fall into this category, it stands to...

In an Eastern Utah community which is 70% LDS, the Lord has visited Ashley Valley Calvary Chapel with a harvest of souls ... with the effect that a large percentage of their church body is made up of those converted to Christ out of Mormonism. It's a compelling story, and its lessons are transferable to any church and any pastor anywhere in the world. When show host Bill Holdridge met Phil Daggett in May of 2020, he asked him a question: “What is the common denominator in the conversions...

John Gundacker is the senior/lead pastor of Calvary Chapel in Pahrump, NV, and has been for 20 years. Pahrump is a little more than an hour from Las Vegas, obviously a huge city. The church John was trained in was in Las Vegas. So when his family moved to tiny Pahrump to start a church, expectations had to change. In the process, John has learned contentment, which is a huge key in any ministry. As we'll see in this podcast episode, contentment produces its own kind of fruit ... makes it...

Steve Sager is a seasoned and balanced pastor with a long history and varied history with Calvary Chapels — in many places and for different seasons. During much of his pastoral ministry, Steve has been bi-vocational. He was with the first Calvary Chapel ministry in Napa, CA which produced a shocking number of pastors who went out from there to plant other churches (Joseph Prudhomme, Frank Ippolito, Jay McCarl, Lee Shaw, Damian Kyle, Larry Anderson to mention a few). Steve has served as an...

Gayle Erwin is well known in many Christian circles, around the world (he's in the 3,000,000 category of frequent flier miles). As he likes to say, he has only one string on his guitar ... and that string is the nature of Jesus Christ. Author of The Jesus Style, The Father Style, The Spirit Style, The Body Style, Handbook for Servants, That Reminds Me of a Story, That Reminds Me of Another Story, and Not Many Mighty, Gayle's teachings have inspired many to learn about what God is like, and...

Matt Valencia has a huge heart for God’s Kingdom, and a sincere love for the greater Body of Christ. Recently, Matt was asked to lead a discussion on the topic of this podcast. This interview dives into the meat of that discussion, and why it matters. Matt Valencia is the Lead Pastor of the Regeneration Church of Scotts Valley, CA and is also the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel in Gilroy, CA.

Daryl Zachman is one of a number of pastoral friends that I gained while living in Idaho. This podcast was recorded in Boise, because Daryl invited Poimen Ministries to come and do a church assessment, as well as share at a ministry conference hosted at their church. Daryl and his wife Cindy were directed by the Holy Spirit to launch out to Boise in 1994. So they started as pioneers, as is true of so many of the pastors in our fellowship of churches. The Holy Spirit has used Daryl and...

In this podcast episode, Pastor John Milhouse of Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley, CA talks about his current church transition process. John has been in ministry as a senior pastor for more than 38 years. He speaks with careful wisdom, and with the voice of experience and grace. In addition, John comments on a message he delivered at the recent Calvary Chapel Deep South Pastor's and Leader's Conference in Stone Mountain, GA. The title of the very timely message John delivered that day is "Our...

Bryan Newberry is like a leadership guru. Plus, he's a discipleship guy as well. The combination of those two traits has been beneficial to many pastors and future pastors during his very long ministry. Bryan was the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel San Diego, where he served for 32 years with his wife Cheryl. Currently, Bryan serves as the (new) senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Los Alamitos, as well as with Poimen Ministries. Bryan’s teachings are available at bryannewberry.org. His...

Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching." When speaking with Pastor Bryan Newberry, one can learn a lot just by listening. Bryan is a great resource for pastors and church leaders. His thing is discipleship, and that's what he does. He mentors and disciples believers, and in his role with Poimen Ministries, he mentors and disciples pastors. Join us in this episode in which Bryan discusses his new pastoral assignment, pastoral leadership, the...

Pastor Tim Brown of Calvary Chapel in Fremont, CA has written extensively to his congregation and to the greater body of Christ ... particularly during this COVID-19 season. In one of his recent blogs, Tim made a strong, logical, and Biblical case for civil disobedience, as it has been exercised since apostolic days in the church. In his writing, he makes a very clear distinction between civil disobedience and outright rebellion against governing authorities. This episode will prove to be...

In this podcast episode we’ll be talking with a brother in Christ, who is a blogger and a committed follower of Jesus, on something that is strengthening me, and I think will strengthen many pastors … and also their congregations. It’s a word from the Lord about how we should then live, in the light of our current global and local situations. His pseudonym is "Blogger Jeremy," the anonymity being for security reasons. KEY CONVERSATION POINTS ~ It is clear we are at war and that 2020 will...

In episode 84 of Strength for Today's Pastor we’re going to hear from Pastor Sandy Adams of Calvary Chapel Stone Mountain, Georgia. A couple of weeks ago, show host Bill Holdridge had the privilege of attending the Calvary Chapel Deep South Pastor’s Conference at the church Sandy has pastored for almost 40 years. Sandy preached a message on Monday night on the subject of “Race in America.” As anyone who is familiar with Sandy’s ministry would expect, the message was factual, historical,...

Here is a conversation with Cliff Stabler, a mentor and friend of show host Bill Holdridge for 40 years. Cliff introduced Bill to an amazing men's discipleship experience called "Barnabas," and to book Authentic Christianity by Ray Stedman. But most importantly, Cliff further introduced Bill to the life of the New Covenant. Cliff is a longtime pastor, a former missionary, and a discipler of men. Cliff was with us for episode 24 ... talking about reaching men, one of his passions in...

Paul Berry assumed the senior pastor role at Calvary Chapel Santa Maria, CA in 1992. When he started, there were 50-60 people in attendance, but there was a e mere skeleton of a leadership team. Therefore in the very first months of his pastorate, Paul dug in and began raising up men who would serve the Lord, His church, and their families in the way Christ called them to. In this podcast, Paul will share with us what they did, how they did it, and why they did it. Also, resources are...