The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail
So that my in-laws would be somewhat comfortable with their daughter living in Miami, we bought a house in a gated community. After all, Miami is not known as the safest place to live. Miami Vice and CSI Miami do not help the perception. So I was excited to tell my in-laws that I was […]
Gospel Forms Community
The church in Philippi was home to people like this: a wealthy, upscale businesswoman whose material success could never satisfy her; a slave girl with a deep, dark, wounded past; a tough-nosed jailer and his family, just to mention the few we know. So ask yourself: What else did these people have in common but […]
Why Aren’t More People in Your Groups?
God has supernaturally designed community to mature His people. The writer of Hebrews stated, “Encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception” (Hebrews 3:13). Community centered on Jesus is what keeps our hearts soft and moldable before the Lord. Isolation hardens us. Or […]
Five Resources on Multiplication
Each month, in conjunction with the Creature of the Word book that I wrote with Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson, we list questions and action items for church leadership teams to consider on the Facebook page. We recently listed some of our top resources on multiplication. Here are several that have impacted me: The Master […]
View Sin as Spiritual Adultery
Sin is cheating on God. When I served as a pastor, I counseled several couples struggling with the pain of infidelity. I have seen the hurt and despair in husbands and wives who are crushed because their spouses pursued excitement or intimacy with another. I have also seen the pain and regret in those who […]
A Snapshot of the Gospel
Entire lifetimes of study on the nature and comprehensiveness of the gospel fall short of its beauty and significance, but we want to offer a simple snapshot. The apostle Paul clearly stated that the gospel brings salvation and is the core message of the Christian faith on which we stand. How does the gospel bring […]
Five Questions to Discern Ministry Idolatry
Local church ministry can be thrilling, even addictive. Seeing the Lord transform lives and bring people into a relationship with Himself provides a buzz that nothing in this world can provide. And because we are prone to replace God on the throne of our lives with something else, something lesser, ministry can easily become the […]
Three Lessons Learned from a Season of Idolatry
Last week, I shared the story about how God graciously rescued me from ministry idolatry. For a season, I placed ministry above my relationship with Him and my relationship with my wife. Here are some of the lessons I learned: 1 – I am the one responsible. Godly people in the church surrounded me, but […]
Hezekiah and Makeovers
Hezekiah was a revolutionary for simple. He was extremely focused. He was against cluttered spiritual lives. Evidently God liked this characteristic about him because 2 Kings 18:3 indicates that Hezekiah did what “was right in the Lord’s sight.” He returned God’s people to the Lord. He brought them through an extreme makeover. He got rid […]
Only the Gospel Forms Deep Community
“PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST . . .” This phrase is used countless times each weekend when churches gather for worship across the United States and around the world. And while such wording is helpful in describing the intimacy of our fellowship with God, it is only part of the truth—because it neglects the reality that […]