Four C’s of Building a Team
A wise leader obsesses over having the right players on the team. A team filled with the right players is exponentially more effective than a team filled with the wrong players. Whether hiring employees or recruiting volunteers, I find it helpful to have a general framework from which you view potential team members. Two of […]
Two Keys to Having an Effective Group Strategy in Your Church
One of the biggest takeaways from the research behind our upcoming book Transformational Groups is the need for churches to be more clear and focused in their group strategy. Church leaders must know how their groups (classes, Bible fellowships, etc.) fit into their overall discipleship strategy/process, and many don’t. They simply have groups. Once leaders know how […]
What People Want from Your Groups
Ed Stetzer, Micah Fries, and I are currently working on a new book, Transformational Groups, based on insights gleaned from a massive research project conducted on small groups (including classes, Bible fellowships, etc). In one phase of the research, the research team at LifeWay Research surveyed and interviewed people who were once in a group but […]
Transformation Is Only Possible Through Jesus
Discipleship apart from Jesus is nontransformational. It may bring changes, but it essentially leaves you in the same spiritual state as it found you. The discipleship may provide education, improve behavior, increase happiness, add value, or make the disciple more skilled at a craft. But these are just changes. It’s the reskinning of the same […]
Are Groups Really Important in Your Church?
I believe groups (classes, Bible fellowships, etc) should be important to churches because God has supernaturally ordained community to sanctify His people. God, who is an eternal community of three Persons, created community for our benefit and His glory. And small groups help believers live in community with one anther. Though most pastors say that […]
Group Life and Personal Evangelism
I’m currently working with Ed Stetzer on a new book, Transformational Groups. In the book we will share some significant lessons learned from a massive research project conducted on small groups. Ed and I recently sat down with Micah Fries, the Director of Ministry Development at LifeWay, to discuss some of the insights we’re gleaning from […]
Common Errors in Contextualization
The Jesus-centered church is a church that affirms certain characteristics from its surrounding culture while still holding faithfully to the gospel. The purpose of contextualization is to glorify God by reaching sinners with the gospel of Christ. And every church executes some type of contextualization to this end. But as we all know, good efforts […]
Five Time Stewardship Practices
The wise stewardship of our time is a very spiritual matter. The Lord has graciously given us a predetermined amount of time, and we are responsible to utilize it with wisdom. As Oswald Sanders points out in his classic work Spiritual Leadership, each of us has the same amount of time each day as the […]
Time Stewardship
A few evenings ago, I walked into Eden’s room to discover her piggybank was emptied and a dollar bill was lying on the floor in several pieces. I have been slowly teaching Eden about money and the stewardship of it, so obviously I still have some work to do. While we all know that ripping […]
Enron & Your Church
The Enron scandal is perhaps the most documented case of corporate greed, cover-up, and dishonesty. The lack of integrity displayed by Enron executives robbed people of millions of dollars and led, at that time, the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. In the midst of the scandal, proudly displayed in the lobby at Enron were […]