Dustin Schadt

As Holy Week begins, some encouragement for my fellow pastors... 1. It's a big week, but it's not everything. Take a deep breath, do your best, and be faithful. 2. Create a special family moment at some point. It's a very public weekend, but taking even just a few minutes to pray or celebrate as a family can make it feel less performative. 3. Do a really good version of what you normally do. It's less about creating a decisive moment and more about laying groundwork for people to return. 4. Enjoy Jesus in front of people. Some guests may not yet delight in him, but they should see that you do. 5. Love the volunteers. We should always do this, but many people give a lot of extra time to serve Jesus this weekend. Show them some love. 6. Find your inner extrovert, at least for a few hours. Shake a ton of hands, give hugs, kneel down to give high fives to kids. The people at your church want you to meet their friends, so get after it. 7. Afterward, thank your people for inviting friends. Especially celebrate those who invited somebody but the friend didn't come — those people are just as faithful, and it's worth encouraging them. 8. Rejoice with your fellow pastors. When you see that other churches had a ton of guests or baptisms or decisions, rejoice! Don't let the enemy win by giving into envy. 9. Preach the gospel with stunning clarity. Don't be too cute, and don't try to innovate. Christians and non-Christians both need the good news of Jesus' resurrection. Make it clear and preach it confidently. 10. Soak it up with appreciation. There was a time early in your life when you only dreamed about an opportunity to preach & lead like you get to do now — what a privilege! There will be a time someday when you don't get to do this any more — soak it up while you can! Pastors, with God's help, you've got this! You're the man for this moment. Trust him and have fun!

The presidency of the SBC is a stewardship. I have been raised by Southern Baptists, shaped by Southern Baptists, and educated by Southern Baptists. It is my privilege to serve alongside other Southern Baptists for the sake of the Great Commission. A short video and article…

If the primary reason we come together is to cooperate for missions and education: being at IMB, meeting our church planters, and being on campus at any of our seminaries, helps you to see that things are going very well.

After 17 trips to a bomb shelter over 36 hours and a man named Moses leading them into Egypt, a group of weary pastors and their wives are headed back to the United States. baptistpress.com/resource-li…

🚨BREAKING: Erika Kirk has a MESSAGE for ALL of the MEN around the world watching. "To all of the men watching around the world, accept Charlie's challenge, and embrace true manhood." "Be strong and courageous for your families. Love your wives and lead them. Love your children and protect them. Be the spiritual head of your home. But please be a leader worth following." "Your wife is not your servant. Your wife is not your employee. Your wife is not your slave. She is your helper. You are not rivals. You are one flesh working together for the glory of god."

"I mean, we get a bunch of free sneakers. I wear sweat suits to work. My kids are healthy, my wife's hot." Pat Kelsey is living the life and doesn’t have any complaints about how difficult his team’s schedule is

I saw this picture online today. I loved the photo, but I didn’t like the message. I disagreed with it so much that I stopped scrolling and immediately wrote down my issue. We have a weird belief in our culture that says 3 unhelpful things: “Do it while you’re young! It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!” “Don’t grow up, it’s a trap,” as if when you hit your 30s the fun parts of life are over. You must choose between joy or responsibility. It’s either make money or make memories, but you certainly can’t do both at the same time. Those are all busted ideas in their own ways, but together they put tremendous pressure on people in their 20s. I remember being 25, standing in a Blockbuster video on a Saturday night and thinking, “I must be doing it wrong. I was told my 20s would be the ‘time of my life’ but they’re kind of lonely and confusing. Is everyone else having an amazing time, but me?” This simple social media post probably hit me so hard because my daughters are 20 and 18. They’re about to head into the “dream decade” and I’m not a huge fan of what the world is telling them right now. I’m 48 years old and I have some good news for you: 1. The Grand Tetons are still open in your 30s and 40s. I have a sneaking suspicion they let you visit them when you’re in your 50s too. Same goes for Europe. If you didn’t get to take a semester abroad when you were 21, they still let you visit. 2. Traveling with your own kids is awesome, too. Your joy is multiplied by the unabashed enthusiasm of a 6-year-old who is seeing their first mountain. You think seeing a moose is an exciting experience at 27? Try seeing one with your son or daughter. 3. I like my 40s better than my 30s. It’s true. I also liked my 30s better than my 20s. I think my 50s are going to be awesome, too. Don’t even get me started on how dope my 60s are going to be. If you pursue wisdom, the older you get the better you know yourself and enjoy yourself. One of my random beliefs is that you should take your honeymoon a year after you get married not 10 minutes after you get married. You don’t even know how to vacation together yet. Why take the most luxurious vacation you’ll go on for a decade when you don’t really even know how to be a married couple yet? With a year under your belt, you’d love that trip infinitely more. 4. Anyone who tells you being an adult is boring is doing it wrong. Never take advice from unhappy adults. Being an adult is a blast! Also, side note, don’t wear shirts that say, “I can’t adult today” like adult is a bad word. It’s the best word if you do it right. 5. You don’t have to choose between joy and responsibility. It’s not easy to pull off both, but when has excellence ever been easy? When you accomplish this rare feat of building your life AND enjoying your life at the same exact time, your life is magical. Send this email to a Gen Z you know. They’re not going to read it because they don’t do email, so maybe show them how old you really are and print it out. On paper, that doesn’t expand or scroll. With a staple. Made of metal. Enjoy your 20s. Enjoy your 80s. Enjoy every decade in between. If you want a guide to do that, read this: amzn.to/45znFgm Jon (I wrote this for my free newsletter, the “Try This!” Sign up today to get ideas just like this, twice a month. Acuff.me/newsletter)

For my British and European friends who are "shocked" and "surprised", here are 10 reasons you didn't see this coming. Read this short post and then read the replies from our American friends who will confirm what I'm saying. 1. Americans love their country and want it to be the best in the world. America is a nation of people who conquered a continent. They love strength. They love winning. Any leader who appeals to that has an automatic advantage. 2. Unlike Europeans, Americans have not accepted managed decline. They don't have Net Zero here, they believe in producing their own energy and making it as cheap as possible because they know that their prosperity depends on it. 3. Prices for most basic goods in the US have increased rapidly and are sky high. What the official statistics say about inflation and the reality of people's lives are not the same. 4. Unlike you, Americans do not believe in socialism. They believe in meritocracy. They don't care about the super rich being super rich because they know that they live in a country where being super rich is available to anyone with the talent and drive to make it. They don't resent success, they celebrate it. 5. Americans are the most pro-immigration people in the world. Read that again. Seriously, read it again. Americans love an immigrant success story. They want more talented immigrants to come to America. But they refuse to accept people coming illegally. They believe in having a border. 6. Americans are sensitive about racial issues and their country's imperfect history. They believe that those who are disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth should be given the opportunity to succeed. What they reject, however, is the idea that in order to address the errors of the past new errors must be made. DEI is racist. They know it and they reject it precisely because they are not racist. 7. Americans are the most philosemitic nation on earth. October 7 and the pro-Hamas left's reaction shocked them to their very core because, among other things, they remember what 9/11 was like and they know jihad when they see it. 8. Americans are extremely practical people. They care about what works, not what sounds good. In Europe, we produce great writers and intellectuals. In America they produce (and attract) great engineers, businessmen and investors. Because of this, they care less about Trump's rhetoric than you do and more about his policies than you do. 9. Americans are deeply optimistic people. They hate negativity. The woke view of American history as a series of evils for which they must eternally apologise is utterly abhorrent to them. They believe in moving forward together, not endlessly obsessing about the past. 10. America is a country whose founding story is one of resistance to government overreach. They loathe unnecessary restrictions, regulations and control. They understand that freedom comes with the price of self-reliance and they pay it gladly.

Preparing for Tuesday? Here is my thinking: It’s clear that neither candidate completely shares my values, convictions, and character expectations. But it’s also clear that one of the candidates and their potential administration hates and opposes most of my worldview at nearly every turn and the other does not. Vote, trust Christ, and remember that “history in its entirety and in its parts corresponds to the counsel of God and exhibits the glory of that counsel.” — Herman Bavinck

Stop having imaginary conversations with people. You're going to war in your head every day, fantasizing and rehearsing and really letting someone have a piece of your mind...you feel powerful and righteous... But you never say a word in real life. Problem is, your body doesn't know the difference. It gears up for war and running and fleeing every time you start another imaginary fight. Your body is exhausted from imaginary conversations. Either have the hard conversation or move on. You're worth having peace. Delony