The Law as a Mirror
I am the proud dad of two little girls, Eden (5) and Evie (3). When Kaye and I were first married, if you would have asked me if I wanted sons or daughters, I would have responded sons. I imagined rough wrestling matches, basketball games, and guy talks. Instead, I play Barbies, enjoy tender pillow […]
Designing for Spiritual Growth
Church leaders must craft opportunities where people will encounter the grace of God. Simple church leaders are designers, not programmers. They excel in designing a ministry process that leads to spiritual growth and vitality. Spiritual growth is a process. It always has been. Thus, it would make sense for church leaders to design their churches […]
Will You Be Like Moses or Joshua?
Moses and Joshua enjoyed a very special relationship. Moses poured his life into Joshua, entrusted Joshua with responsibility, and prepared him for service. Joshua is first mentioned in the Scripture when Moses chose him to lead the Israelite army in battle against the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16). From that moment forward, we observe Moses intentionally developing […]
A Pastor’s Job Description
Last week I mentioned the holy cause and effect found in Ephesians 4:11-13—the reality that if church leaders will train people for ministry, then the church will be healthier. And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of […]
Reflecting the Character of God
As a former youth pastor, I learned what makes parents proud. Parents love to hear how their children reflect them . . . He looks so much like you. She has your eyes. She has your intelligence. He has your business savvy. She definitely has your athletic ability. I see you in him every time I […]
Offensive vs. Defensive Discipleship
There is mammoth difference between offensive discipleship and defensive discipleship. And a leader’s approach reveals his theology about the heart of people. Defensive discipleship plays to not lose the hearts of people to the world because defensive discipleship believes the hearts of people are pure. Consequently defensive discipleship focuses primarily on protecting people from influences […]
A Holy Cause and Effect
Cause and Effect — [kawz-uh nd-i-fekt] adjective — noting a relationship between actions or events such that one or more are the result of the other or others. Kids learn about cause and effect every year in elementary school. The learning is deemed critical because understanding cause and effect helps children make wise choices. For example, kids […]
Main Event Church and Theological Schizophrenia
Several years ago a few of my friends and I decided to post a job on churchstaffing.com. We were bored watching football on a Sunday afternoon, so each of us chipped in some money and created a job that did not really exist. Now churchstaffing.com is a serious site that churches uses to seek a […]
A Caution in “Evaluating Worship”
Multiple summers, while living in Miami, massive spots in my lawn were completely parched. I am not referring to small spots that can be corrected with a few patches of grass; I mean embarrassingly ruined sections of my lawn that caused my neighbors to cast looks of sympathy my way because my house had potentially […]
Do We Worship the Creation or the Creator?
On May 27, 2009, the world’s largest worship venue opened in Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. With close to 30,000 parking spaces, the ability to hold 110,000 people, a state-of-the-art sound system, and a gigantic center-hung, high-definition television screen that measures 160 x 72 feet, it is the perfect location to gather, sing, shout, […]