Programming and Your Church Strategy
Your church has programs. Or environments. Or whatever it is that you call things where people gather/attend/meet together on a regular basis. Many church leaders struggle connecting strategy or discipleship process with church programming. It is common for a team to gather to discuss discipleship process or strategy and fail to see implications of their […]
3 Advantages of “Non-Traditional” (Formal) Theological Education
Young leaders often ask me questions related to pursuing formal theological education, attending seminary, and the different ways one can do so in our modern age. I am extremely grateful for how the Lord used seminary in my life. I found the disciplined and systematic approach helpful. I met and studied alongside lifelong friends who […]
Neither Dependence nor Independence
I am excited about the launch of my latest book, Transformational Groups with Ed Stetzer. Ed and I are both big believers in small groups because we are both big believers in Christian community—community that is rooted in Christ. The Christian life is meant to be interdependent and interconnected, believers in partnership and fellowship together. […]
Do You Want a People Filled with Gratitude?
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16). Most church leaders long to see the people they serve become a people who teach and encourage one another in the Christian […]
Breaking Up with the Groups/Discipleship Pastor
One of my mentors, Brad Waggoner, recently told me that he noticed a major shift in church ministry in the early ’90s when “senior pastors of churches broke up with their discipleship pastors/ministers of education and ran off with the worship pastor.” Of course, a senior pastor does not need to choose between the two. […]
The Miracle of Unity
Through the sacrificial death of Christ, believers are one with God. It is the miracle of salvation. A holy God and sinful man unified. God also desires the miracle of unity for the church — for your church. Without the miracle of unity, churches divide and ministry suffers. And all this occurs while the world […]
Remember You Are His Bride
As you live, remember you are the pure and forgiven bride of Christ. Remembering your identity as a pure bride should lead you to live pure and blameless. Purity is your new identity. To live impure is to not live the reality of who you really are. To live impure is to revert to your […]
The Bride of Christ: Pursued and Purchased
The reality that Christians are the bride of Christ is illustrated in the Old Testament through the explicit story of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea was a prophet who ministered during a very rebellious period in Israel’s history. God chose an interesting way to get the attention of His people. When the Lord began to speak […]
I Don’t Need Church; I Worship Him Alone
Perhaps you have heard someone say something like, “I love God but I’m not really into church.” Or “I don’t need to go to church to worship God; it’s more of a private thing for me.” There’s a common misconception, a common misunderstanding, that our faith is private. There’s confusion between a private faith and […]