Summer can be a valuable opportunity for growth and new experiences, and in ministry it can also provide an opportunity for students to contribute at a higher level.
Resource Highlight: Elders’ vs. Members’ Perceptions and the Church Health Assessment
How similar are elders and members in how they perceive the health of the congregation?
PSA: People in Church Aren’t Psychic
Of all the communication-based issues a person could have in church, my favorite is the apparent assumption of psychic abilities.
The Bite of a Red Delicious
Would you like an apple? They’re a prized variety with supernatural vitamins. Come on; eat one! It’ll open your eyes to good and evil.
I Am a Big Brother
When I say I am a big brother, I’m not speaking only in relation to my little sister. Rather, I am a big brother in a Luke 15 kind of way.
All Scripture Is Inspired, and All Scripture Matters
If all Scripture is inspired and is profitable for our life as Christians, then perhaps we should not try and decide which section of Scripture is most important.
Discipleship or Spiritual Formation? Time to Embrace One and Shelve the Other
Spiritual formation is a good and helpful way of describing our faith development. Discipleship calls us deeper.
Why All Dogs Do Go to Heaven
When I was younger and thought I knew much more than I actually did, I thought it silly when people would talk about animals as if they had a divine spark to them.
Prison Isn’t Exactly a Confidence Booster
My prayer for all of us in ministry, is that we, just like John the Baptist, are only motivated by the desire to point to Jesus. That’s our job.
Talking about Faith and Mental Illness
If your church wants to talk about mental health, I’d suggest nine things you ought to know.
A Difficult Conversation
As I watch my daughters grow in their relationship with Christ and start to discover their gifts as empowered by the Father, I am worried.
Simple Children’s Ministry: Thinking Intergenerationally
When children and adults spend time together in worship and fellowship, we get to know each other, learn from each other, and grow together.
On Getting Dressed
The dichotomies present in one outfit feel suffocating. How is she supposed to look attractive but not too attractive, fashionable but not young?
Rhythm
Daffodils push up through snow and icicles drip from tiny, chartreuse tree leaves.
Green grass burns in heat while lantanas flourish.
Celebration and Suffering: Psalm 22
To appreciate what hope means, we need a word of wisdom about our human condition that is more ancient than our American culture in the 21st century.
Do We Miss the Opportunities Right in Front of Us?
How one church in Memphis is working to reach their Hispanic neighbors.
Mission Evidences from the Field: What Do Healthy Growing Churches Look Like?
What are the characteristics of newly planted churches that are thriving?
Lessons from a Landlord
I contend that there is almost nothing better suited to the task of revealing and developing character than having rental properties
Waiting for Easter
I wonder what Jesus’s followers did in the long hours between the death and resurrection. It was only a couple of days, but it likely felt like an eternity.
Building Walls, but Opening the Gates of Joy
Ministry requires us to build some walls in order to survive. But one of the walls we must build is that of joy.