If, as a church today, we are living out a comfortable and easy Christianity—if the practice of our faith presents us with no challenge or sacrifice, no discomfort or opposition—perhaps it is because the grace we are living by is a cheap grace.
All in Discipleship
Reframing Agape Love
What if Paul is wanting us to understand not how to love better, but instead what God’s love for us is like? What if this love from God is what Paul actually meant when he said at the end of the 1 Corinthians 12, “And yet I will show you the most excellent way?”
The Question I Was Asking Wrong
I did what most people do when they first encounter the Enneagram: I started asking everyone around me things like “Do you do this?” People would look at me a little sideways, and I could not figure out why my question was not landing.
Learning a New Language
I came to deeply admire and respect the faith of my brothers and sisters in Christ in Argentina. We didn’t always agree on theological points of view or ministerial practice but I loved and admired their profound faith and faithfulness to the way of Jesus.
Christianity on the Move, Acts 8
Individually, we are only a grain of salt, and a grain of salt by itself is not very useful. It doesn't season anything. It doesn't preserve anything. Salt must be used in handfuls to fulfill its function. The church is the salt of the earth as a community, and therefore, it must preach the gospel as a community.
Is the Church a Gold Mine or a Bottomless Pit?
Church is meant to be more than a bearer of ideology. We are to be a pilgrim people, journeying together on the difficult yet rewarding path of becoming more and more godly each day, while inviting others to join us on that journey.
Trusting and Practicing Your Story in God’s Story
Though we likely believe that God is in what we feel called to do, there is a serious temptation towards doubt and apprehension towards failure in those partnering with God’s Spirit in kingdom building.
Are You Growing?
So ask yourself, am I feeding my flesh, or am I feeding my soul? Am I merely wearing the name of Jesus, or is His Spirit shaping my life?
Son of Encouragement, Acts 4:36-37
Let us pray that God sends Barnabases to our churches! Let us pray that He will make some of us “sons of encouragement”! The need couldn’t be greater today!
Conflict: Our Story (Part 2)
Conflict is to be expected; get in there and work on it. Possibly the best gift for your congregation is conflict training. The longer you wait, or the more you let fear paralyze you, the worse it gets.
Conflict: Our Story (Part 1)
With this article, we offer our perspectives, regrets, and takeaways of our conflict, so that others may learn to behave with more skill and wisdom. In this first part, we’ll talk about how we got to that point of conflict, and the actions we took to try to resolve things.
Living Out the Priesthood of All Believers
In the Old Testament, priests were called by God, had access to God, and were separated out because of God’s calling. Just like them, we are also called by God. We have access to God, and God has separated us out and marked us for His service.
Pray, Invite, Ask… What?
We expect all of our members to be doing these three things: pray, invite, ask. The only problem with this is that we found it to be a catchy phrase, but we needed more depth and understanding. Pray what? Invite to what? Ask what?
The Hope of the Hopeless
God is the Help of the helpless. God is also the Hope of the hopeless. Oh, that we might all lose hope and embrace hopeless despair in order to discover our true Hope.
Growth and Delegation, Acts 6:1-7
The effectiveness of leadership can be measured by the willingness to delegate responsibilities to qualified men and women. Men and women “attested to by the community,” filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, are the ones who should be leading the programs of the congregations.
A Ministry of Coming Alongside
How often in ministry do we try to give people what we think they need? Whether that is in a pastoral counseling session or in upcoming class offerings or even from the pulpit, many times we think we know the answer to people’s situations without hearing where they are coming from.
Choose to Think on These Things
What is true? What is pure? What is praiseworthy? These are the things we are to focus on. We must also practice the things we have learned in Jesus.
Experiencing God in Seasons of Silence
As I waited for God to speak, I became increasingly disillusioned by His silence. As someone in vocational ministry, I felt inferior to those who heard from God often. I feared the silence because I thought I wasn’t disciplined or important enough to hear Him.
This is Why God is in Charge of Church Plants
Only God could plant a church like this. And if He could do it then, He can certainly do it now. Listen to God. Talk about Jesus to everyone. Baptize all of them. Plant a church full of people that have only one thing in common: Jesus.
Connecting Saints and Sinners
When God connects saints and sinners, it is often the saint he is moving. Philip. Ananias. Peter. Sometimes he connects the seeker. The Ethiopian. Saul. Cornelius. Sometimes the person who at least on the surface has no God-interest.