The Top 35 Blogs Christian Leaders Need To Continually Read In 2019

It appears blogging is becoming less and less popular.  Over the past few years, great leaders and writers like Derwin Gray, Steven Furtick, Michael Lukaszewski, Paul Sohn, Charles Specht, Scott Williams and many others have taken to other mediums to express their thoughts.  In fact, many leaders are using Instagram as, in essence, a micro-blog.

However, those who have remained faithful have carved out quite a sphere of influence.

I am now pleased to announce my annual listing of The Top 35 Blogs Christian Leaders Need To Continually Read In 2019.  The following is the criteria I use to determine which great sites I prefer:

• First, my recommendations are my personal list.  They are writers which have had a tremendous impact on how I personally learn and lead.  So when asked, I recommend theses individuals and sites.
• I only recommend leaders who have conservative views on Jesus, the Trinity, Heaven and Hell, personal behavior, marriage and politics.  I care less about what is divisive and more about what should unite all of us – the one we love, Jesus Christ.
• I am not interested in getting into a firestorm debate on Christian, political, or social debates.  If your site reflects this approach, I will let you be recommended by others.
• Great blogs provide solutions to the issues Christian leaders face.
• Great blogs provide inspiration.  A great blog tells you you can make it and then how to do it.
• Great blogs have credibility because they are written by proven expert practitioners.  There is definitely a difference between exposure and experience.
• Great blogs have consistent new content and are worth re-visiting on a regular basis.  This is a BIG!  Bloggers who go through extended periods of drought do not make this list.  Unfortunately, this removes many potentially great writers from the list.
• And finally, consistency is queen but content is king.  Great blogs have great content.  It rarely, if ever, disappoints.

With that as the criteria, the following are The Top 35 Blogs Christian Leaders Need To Read In 2019.  If some of your favorites were not included, be sure to check back on Monday, January 7th as I promote more great Christian writers with my Top 30 Christian Leaders You Need To Follow On Twitter In 2019.

Aggregators 

• ChurchLeaders.com – This site does a tremendous job in aggregating the best Christian writings on a daily basis.  Specializing on current events, this site is a must-read  – Written for all Christian leaders.  I also appreciate their conservative approach.
• Outreach Magazine – I love this site.  Everything you would want to know about relevant leadership and evangelism is contained here.
• Pastors.com – Founded and primarily written by Rick Warren, Pastors.com is an invaluable resource for relevant content and resources.  There is not a more loving Christian leader than Pastor Rick.  He is truly a pastor to pastors.

Pastors 

• Kurt Bubna – Kurt has been in pastoral ministry since 1976 and is the founding and Senior Pastor of Eastpoint Church, a vibrant, growing, and community-focused congregation in Spokane Valley, Washington.  His ministry experience includes being a marriage and family pastor, teaching pastor, church planter, and senior pastor for many years.
• Brandon A. Cox – Brandon longs to be a godly man and love his family and friends well – to echo to others the grace he received from Jesus.  Brandon believes the Bible is God’s ultimate revelation of himself to us and he wants to spend my life learning how to fulfill God’s eternal purposes.  Brandon helps people discover their purpose and live it out passionately.  He does this as Lead Pastor at Grace Hills Church and as a blogger and writer.  Brandon’s hope is to share the truth and grace of Jesus with his life.
• Kevin DeYoung – Kevin is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, board chairman The Gospel Coalition, assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte), and a PhD candidate at the University of Leicester.
• Rusty George – Rusty is the Lead Pastor at Real Life Church in Southern California; a multi-site church with campuses in Canyon Country, Simi Valley, Valencia and a large online community.  Beyond leading his church of 6,000+ members every weekend, he is a global speaker, leader and teacher focusing his message on helping people find and follow Jesus.
• J.D. Greear – J.D. is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.  This church is characterized by its gospel focus and sending culture. As Pastor J.D. often says, “The gospel is not merely the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity, it’s also the pool itself.” The deeper we dive into the extravagant love of Christ, the more our lives will be filled with unquenchable joy, reckless generosity, and audacious faith.  Depth in the gospel also leads to width in the mission. Under Pastor J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of nearly 10,000, making it one of Outreach magazine’s “top 25 fastest-growing churches in America” for many years running.  Pastor J.D. is currently serving as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
• Pastor Joe McKeever –  I wish more senior adult Christian leaders entered the blogging conversation.  Pastor McKeever has been saved more than 65 years, been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ more than 55 years, and has been writing and cartooning for religious publications more than 45 years.  He put in 42 years pastoring six Southern Baptist Churches, followed by 5 years as director of missions for the SBC churches of metro New Orleans. No site contains more wisdom than this one.
• NewSmallChurch.com – This site is written by Karl Vators who has been a Small Church Pastor for about 30 years. The most recent 20 years has been with his current church, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California.  Small Churches make up 80% – 90% of the known churches in the world, but are the subject of probably less than 1% of the books and blogs about how to do church ministry.  New Small Church wants to help fill that gap. They exist to encourage, connect and equip innovative Small church leaders. They want to see better, stronger, healthier Small Churches, led by passionate, prayerful, capable, innovative and loving pastors.
• Carey Nieuwhof – If you are not familiar with Carey, then you are new to Christian leadership.  His blog is great place to start.  I’ve said it for years, no one writes better Christian leadership content than the Teaching Pastor of Connexus Community Church located just north of Toronto, Canada.  Simply put, the best Christian leadership blog on the web.  Make sure you also sign up for his incredibly popular podcast by clicking HERE..
• Perry Noble – I was Perry’s friend when he was pastoring NewSpring Church.  I am his friend today.  And there is no leader I am praying for and rooting for more in 2019 than my continued good friend Perry.  Last year he launched a consulting ministry for growing churches which I cannot recommend enough.  If you want his assistance in helping your church grow, click HERE.  I am anticipating seeing a real-life story of restoration and redemption played out before our very eyes as Second Chance Church is launched.
• Joshua Reich – Joshua is the Lead Pastor of Revolution Church in Tucson, AZ.  The goal of his blog is to help you take your next step in leadership and life.  You will find posts about healthy leadership because without healthy leadership, everything falls apart.  He is also the area lead for Acts 29 and speaks at a variety of conferences on church planting, leadership and marriage.
• Rookie Preacher – I love this site.  Written by Brandon Kelley and Joe Hoagland, their hope is this website will be a resource for pastors who want to preach and lead better.  The role of a pastor is demanding.  Some weeks you probably find yourself wondering how you are going to get your sermon prepared or wondering how you are going to lead through a problem.  They want to help you in those areas.
• Senior Pastor Central – This site is written by Pastor Brian Jones who the founding Senior Pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley, a church that grew grown from 0 to 2,000+ amazing people in the northwest suburbs of Philadelphia.  It contains full-length articles of actionable ideas designed to challenge your thinking and push you out of your comfort zone.
• Charles Stone – Neuroscience, how the brain works, has become a focal point of discussion for pastors and Christian leaders.  Few are better equipped to discuss the topic than the Senior Pastor of West Park Church in London, Ontario, Canada.  He has been in ministry for 33 years—21 of those as a senior pastor.  This site offers a completely unique look at leadership.
• Adam Weber –  Adam is one of the pastors at a church called Embrace.  Embrace is a 10-year-old church that has grown to 6 campuses and 4,000+ people in weekly attendance, and is still growing.  In 2013, 2014, & 2015, Embrace was listed as one of the fastest growing churches in America according to Outreach Magazine.  Adam  also wrote an incredible book on prayer called Talking With God.

Executive Pastors 

• Rich Birch – Rich speaks at conferences like Orange, WFX and various regional multisite church events.  He is a featured writer on ChurchLeaders.com and MinistryBriefing.  His book UNREASONABLE CHURCHES: 10 Churches Who Zagged When Others Zigged and Saw More Impact Because of It, is an Amazon bestseller in the Church Leadership category. It’s designed to help church leaders think a new thought and take new risks in impacting their community.
• Dan Reiland – Dan is absolutely one of my favorite people to ever spend time with.  There is no leader I respect more than Dan Reiland!  He is the beloved Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia.  He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.  Dan is best known as a leader with a pastor’s heart and a coach’s instincts. He truly loves the local church, and is described as one of the nation’s most innovative church thinkers.  His passion is developing and empowering leaders who want to grow, are willing to take risks, and enjoy the journey.

Church Consultants 

• Paul Alexander – Paul is a pastor, speaker, strategist, and ministry consultant at The Unstuck Group.  Most of what he writes about focuses on helping churches and ministry leaders take steps to make the vision God has given them become reality.  Paul has more than 20 years of experience serving in the local church, the last 16 of which have been on the Sr. Leadership Teams of some of the nation’s leading mega-churches. Currently, he serves as an Executive Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church, a large multi-site church located in the Phoenix Metro area.
• Greg Atkinson – Greg is a professional secret shopper for businesses in the hospitality industry (restaurants, automotive, and hotels).  He enjoys traveling the country as a secret shopper or mystery worshiper for churches of all sizes. You can find out more about that ministry here: www.worshipimpressions.com.  Greg is a coach and consultant – specializing in areas such as first impressions (also called hospitality or guest services), leadership, and the entire worship experience.
• Ron Edmondson – Ron is the CEO of Leadership Network.  Previously, he was a pastor, revitalizing two churches and planting two churches.  Ron is passionate about planting churches, but also helping established churches thrive.  He loves assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. My specialty is organizational leadership.
• Chuck Lawless – Chuck is Dean and Vice-President of Graduate Studies and Ministry Centers at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, where he also serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions. In addition, he is Global Theological Education Consultant for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  Dr. Lawless is also president of the Lawless Group, a church consulting firm.  And one more thing, he writes an incredible blog!
• Shawn Lovejoy – If you are looking for a personal coach in the area of personal, emotional and organizational health, Shawn is your man!  He is a dear friend and the Founder & CEO of CourageToLead.com. His heart beats for coaching leaders and helping them all conquer whatever’s keeping them up at night.  Shawn previously served as Founding and Lead Pastor of Mountain Lake Church, and Directional Leader for churchplanters.com, and the annual Velocity Conference.
• Tony Morgan Live – I have said it many times – Tony Morgan is simply the finest church consultant I know. He is the Chief Strategic Officer and founder of The Unstuck Group. He’s a consultant, leadership coach and writer who helps churches get unstuck and have a bigger impact.  He is incredibly intelligent and his book Killing Cockroaches is the most impactful Christian leadership book I have ever read (other than the Bible!)
• Thom Rainer – Thom is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources.  Prior to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism.

Culture

• Phil Cooke – An internationally known writer and speaker, Phil Cooke has actually produced media programming in more than 60 countries around the world.  In the process, has been shot at, survived two military coups, fallen out of a helicopter, and in Africa, been threatened with prison. And during that time – through his company Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California– he’s helped some of the largest nonprofit organizations and leaders in the world use the media to tell their story in a changing, disrupted culture.Phil was Executive Producer of “Let Hope Rise – the Hillsong Movie” released to theaters nationwide in 2016, and Producer of “The Insanity of God” a feature documentary that premiered nationwide as a Fathom Event. According to former CNN journalist Paula Zahn, Phil is rare – a working producer in Hollywood with a Ph.D. in Theology.
• Joseph Lalonde – Joe is one of my favorite people.  He currently serves on the leadership team for Catalyst and the youth ministry of Gateway Church.  Joe plans experiences for students, mentor and grow students, and much more.  His blog is one of the most highly read Christian leadership blogs in the world.

Women 

• Margaret Feinberg – A self-described “hot mess,” Margaret Feinberg is a popular Bible teacher and speaker at churches and leading conferences such as Catalyst, Thrive,and Women of Joy, and creator of best-selling coloring and creative books for grown ups.  She was recently named one of 50 women most shaping culture and the church today by Christianity Today, and one of 40 who will shape Christian publishing by Christian Retailingmagazine.
• Lysa TerKeurst – Lysa TerKeurst is an inspiration and a picture of everything that is right in Christian ministry.  As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa and her team have led thousands to make their walk with God an invigorating journey through daily online devotionals, radio programs, online Bible studies, speaker/writing training, and more.  Lysa was recently awarded the Champions of Faith Author Award and has been published in multiple publications such as Focus on the Family and CNN online. Additionally, she has appeared on the Today Show as one of the leading voices in the Christian community.

Students

• Growing Leaders – Written by the incredible Tim Elmore, Growing Leaders exist to turn ordinary students into growing leaders who will transform society. Providing student leadership training and resources targeted for the millennial generation, we help young adults discover their purpose, equip them for leadership development and show them how to use their gifts to serve the world around them.

Small Groups

• Mark Howell – Throughout this site Mark shares everything he has learned over a three decade ministry leading small groups and small group ministries, launching new groups, connecting unconnected people, making disciples, building effective coaching structures, leading church-wide campaigns, and working with senior pastors, helping them be the champion they need to be.

Business

• BELAY – BELAY’s core values are based around Biblical principles. The Founders, Bryan Miles and Shannon Miles, both left successful careers behind in 2010 to follow God’s call into founding their own companies that would glorify Him while providing meaningful, flexible work opportunities for virtual assistant professionals across the country.  In January 2017, the Miles AG suite (eaHELP, MAG Bookkeeping, Render and Ellipsis) came together under one name – BELAY.  This name has a great deal of significance to leaders because of its core meaning: To belay is to provide the support a climber needs to ascend…And that is precisely what we do for their clients.  BELAY’s suite of services allows their clients to scale with peace of mind, and take their organizations to new heights.  They also have a great blog!
• The Unstuck Group – Led by the aforementioned Tony Morgan, they aim to humbly serve, sacrifice and live for pastors and churches by helping them get unstuck. They create margin in our lives to be available for the needs of fellow believers and leaders.

Communications

• Steve Fogg – Steve has been a Graphic Designer, a Creative Director, a Director, a Communications guy to one incredible church called Crossway.  He started Crossway’s church online congregation in 2015 which now averages over 2,500 every week.  Steve wants to help you communicate clearly and simply so you are able to tell your story in a way that connects with your audience whether you are a business or non-profit.

Well, that is my list of 35.  What other great sites do you read on a regular basis?

My book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders is available for purchase.  If you have ever wanted to become the leader God created you to be, this book is for you!  By combining leadership lessons from biblical heroes like Jesus, Daniel and Joseph, along with modern day leaders like Bill Gates, Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant and multiple pastors, Timeless will equip and inspire you.  This book is not to be read alone.  Discussion questions are included in each chapter allowing you to develop those in your circle of influence.  Click HERE or on the image provided and order your copies TODAY.