The truth is that the gospel is both simple and complex, like a stained glass window with many different different colors. Each is beautiful itself, and when you stand back the whole is even more beautiful.
All in Church
Reclaiming Imagination: An Update
These crosses make an imaginative declaration of faith: through the cross we have given up our sins, entrusted our struggles to God, and submitted our identity markers to our identity in Christ.
Our Spiritual Worship
The good news is that the process of “renewing our minds” and “preparing our minds for action” is not solely left up to you and me. This is not a self-help process. It is the work of the Spirit of God.
Negotiating with Michael Scott
Church leaders would do well to heed Scott’s efforts and courage, not his methods. Many HAVE learned how to fabricate a smile, and have dark alleys in their churches they have chosen not to walk down.
That’s What You Do in a Small Church
I love the church and will invest my life in it. I will laugh when they laugh and cry when they cry, because that’s what you do when you’re the minister of a small church.
So That You Will Be a Blessing
When a stranger meets us on an airplane or in a grocery store, may they see in us love, joy, and peace. May they hear in our voices patience, kindness, and goodness.
Who Decides Who Decides? Developing an Action Plan
Clear decision-making processes are vital for healthy leadership, but the conversations that help to set guidelines can often become complex!
Reasons Why Church Leaders Should Go On Short-Term Mission Trips – Part 1
Here are some of the reasons that our involvement in mission trips is beneficial to our ministry among our own church family.
He Is Risen!
Raised in a traditional Church of Christ, with all the benefits I gained with that heritage, I had a long journey to make from discrediting the Christian calendar to embracing it.
Getting Warmer
The strength of the congregation’s intra-warmth is actually the cause of the congregation’s weak inter-warmth. Warmth makes churches grow, they conclude. Especially when it comes to young people.
Nowhere to Hide
Before I walked through the death of my marriage I thought that church would be a place of comfort for a person in grief.
You Cannot Grow a Family Without New Births
Church growth is about telling outsiders about the good news of Jesus and inviting them to become part of his story.
Family Time
No matter how serious the content of our worship, Family Time leads us to end our services aware of one another. When people are hurting, we know it if they are only willing to speak it out
The Emotional Brain, Romantic Idealism, and Church-Planting
The answer might be surprisingly boring. If the priority is the growth of God’s Kingdom, however, then this kind of redirection should be welcome.
Soul Care in the Wilderness: A Preacher’s Journey
I learned how to take care of my soul in the wilderness of small town and small church ministry.
The Discipline of Friendship
Friendship requires trust, openness, and time, which can be difficult for ministers to achieve. People with whom you can be real, open, vulnerable, honest, and forthright with.
Preaching against the Clock?
If I were to preach again I would never preach longer than twenty-five minutes and would not worry about speaking for twenty minutes or less.
Back in the Saddle Again (Part 3)
Thou shalt let the toddlers toddle and infants be make all their baby noises. And unless absolutely necessary, thou shalt not whisk them out of the worship assembly.
Shepherding When Sin Strikes
Every church leader has witnessed it: one of the members of their church community gets caught it sin. They were caught in their sin and are desperately seeking your advice and counsel.
Timeless: Ancient Psalms for the Church Today
This project is to produce a new translation with notes and a short commentary for each of the 150 psalms along with the composition of two to three new songs for each psalm.