Shepherding Thoughts

by Pastor Ben Francis

Welcome to Shepherding Thoughts: An inside look at a Southern Baptist Pastor's comments on navigating popular topics in Christianity and Religion.

A Pastoral Guide to Preparing for Communion

Ben Francis

Dec 158 min read

A Pastoral Guide to Preparing for Communion

Communion ; the Lord’s Supper ; also called the Eucharist . ** A Note upfront : This guide represents the Baptistic tradition and...

50 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Jul 126 min read

Give us Preachers, not Shepherds!

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do...

131 views0 comments

What Are Pastors Doing During the Week? 10 Things...

Ben Francis

Mar 187 min read

What Are Pastors Doing During the Week? 10 Things...

I often get a lot of questions about how I spend my time as a Pastor. People are understandably curious about what I do. Some people are...

238 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Sep 21, 20237 min read

How God is Saving Me from Preaching

Thoughts from a growing Pastor-Shepherd… I'm a Pastor-Shepherd, and I preach and teach every week; multiple times each week. And by God’s...

360 views0 comments

An Open Letter to the Person County Library, and Person County Government from her Pastor-Shepherds.

Ben Francis

Jul 10, 20239 min read

An Open Letter to the Person County Library, and Person County Government from her Pastor-Shepherds.

An Open Letter to the Person County Library, and Person County Government from her Local Pastor-Shepherds. On behalf of the members of...

1,236 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Apr 28, 20238 min read

What Does it Mean to Be Pastored?

Life in the Local Church Belonging to a local Church of the Lord Jesus Christ entails all sorts of things: Membership, fellowship,...

201 views0 comments

A Lament for the Hard Things: The Joy of Pastoral Ministry; A Follow-Up…

Ben Francis

Apr 15, 20238 min read

A Lament for the Hard Things: The Joy of Pastoral Ministry; A Follow-Up…

When I sat down to write the previous post, “A Lament for the Hard Things,” my goal was to share a tangible illustration of what I had...

121 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Dec 22, 20227 min read

The Fragile Mission of the Church...

Can We Keep It? “The Church exists for a mission. Jesus did not give a mission to His church; He formed a Church for His mission…”. -...

139 views0 comments

Is In-Person Preaching better than a Screen?

Ben Francis

Sep 5, 20226 min read

Is In-Person Preaching better than a Screen?

With the advent of new technology, new possibilities are introduced to the human experience. The rise of computers, the internet, and...

152 views0 comments

Has Big Eva Made Too Much of her Human Leaders?

Ben Francis

Sep 1, 202211 min read

Has Big Eva Made Too Much of her Human Leaders?

“Big Eva” …Big Evangelicalism. The structures and Institutions that make up American Evangelicalism with all of its power, prestige, and...

98 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Jul 5, 20226 min read

The Pastor and the Dietitian...

Over the last year or so—as I have been reading and educating myself about food, diet, exercise, and the like— it occurs to me that...

77 views0 comments

Ben Francis

May 11, 20224 min read

Are Hymns Important? Yes!

We are living in an age when music is doing all sorts of things. Churches are attempting and trying a number of musical variations in an...

116 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Apr 3, 20227 min read

The Commodification of Discipleship.

A building Crisis comes calling… Have you ever thought about how odd it is to walk into a grocery store? It is odd to walk into a store...

66 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Mar 23, 20223 min read

Presidential Uncertainty...Again!

The SBC Presidential race heats up… It seems like the Southern Baptist Convention is gearing up for another fight for the Presidency....

83 views0 comments

The Evangelical Industrial Complex and the Fall of Discipleship.

Ben Francis

Mar 13, 20228 min read

The Evangelical Industrial Complex and the Fall of Discipleship.

What Happened to Discipleship? The Evangelical Industrial Complex — “Big Eva” - Big Evangelicalism. If someone were to ask you, “ What is...

872 views1 comment

Elitism and Power in the SBC - A Follow-Up

Ben Francis

Mar 2, 20224 min read

Elitism and Power in the SBC - A Follow-Up

Elitism and Power in the SBC - Part 2 In August of 2021, I wrote a post entitled, “Elitism and Power in the SBC.” It was meant to serve...

146 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Sep 21, 20216 min read

Marks of Healthy Preaching

In a previous post, we discussed the pressing need for good, healthy, Biblical preaching. In this post, we want to outline some of the...

67 views0 comments

What is Good Preaching? And Does it Really Matter?

Ben Francis

Sep 20, 20218 min read

What is Good Preaching? And Does it Really Matter?

Preaching is one of those words that, for the most part, makes us think of things like: Church, Sunday, a Preacher, etc. But, what makes...

167 views0 comments

Ben Francis

Aug 21, 20215 min read

Who are Deacons to Be?

New Testament Deacons: Servants in the Household of God. Who are these Deacons to Be? -In the last post on Deacons, we looked at the...

66 views0 comments

New Testament Deacons: Servants in the Household of God. Where Do Deacons Come From?

Ben Francis

Aug 4, 20214 min read

New Testament Deacons: Servants in the Household of God. Where Do Deacons Come From?

In our last post on Spiritual Leadership in the local church, we noted, “So, if Pastors are not expected to be managers and CEOs, who is...

103 views0 comments