Values, the Vine, and Kids Ministry
In children’s ministry, teaching children how to behave can seem attractive. I know this personally, as sometimes I just want my kids to behave, obey their mom, and be sweet to our friends. Teaching children values and virtues to pursue and emulate can be really appealing. I mean—who would say they do not want their […]
Don’t Love a Good Thing Less
My heart, and yours, has a tendency to love other things more than God. We have a proclivity to cherish the blessings, the good things He gives, more than Him. To fight this, we sometimes decide to abandon the good things altogether. When confronted with our idolatry, we can convince ourselves we should love a […]
6 Thoughts on Building a Team from the PayPal Mafia
In his new book, Zero to One, Peter Thiel describes the early culture of PayPal—the company he started with several friends before selling it to eBay for $1.5 billion. Because PayPal was a tech start-up, you might expect Thiel to emphasize free massages, ping-pong tables, and an on-site sushi chef, but instead, he calls those […]
5 Phrases Leaders Need to Say More Often
The following is by Art Rainer. Art serves as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a cofounder of Rainer Publishing. He has written two books, Raising Dad and Simple Life, and lives with his wife, Sarah, and two sons in Wake Forest, N.C. This article originally appeared at Art’s personal […]
2 Ways to Help a Church Embrace Her Fragility
As I shared recently, even healthy churches are more fragile than we often realize. The fragility of a local church is intentional because God does not need any of us, or a collection of any of us, to accomplish His purposes. In His grace, He invites us to join Him—but He does not need us. […]
5 Thoughts on Unity and Uniformity
1. There is a danger in confusing uniformity and unity. Uniformity offers a pseudo-unity. After all, it is possible to build something (even a ministry) on uniformity and call it unity, when in reality it is not unity at all. A church with uniformity gathers people from the same socio-economic strata, the same cultural background, […]
3 Ways to Love Negative Nancy
The following is a post by J.A. Medders. J.A. Medders is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church in Tomball, TX. He and Natalie have two kids, Ivy and Oliver. He blogs at www.jamedders.com and tweets from @mrmedders. His first book, Gospel-Formed: Living a Grace-Addicted, Truth-Filled, Jesus-Exalting Life released in November. This article originally appeared at Gospel-Centered. Every pastor, ministry leader, and church-goer knows what a […]
A Constant Struggle in a Growing Church
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges leaders in growing churches face is the sense of failing to meet expectations, particularly of some who were in the church when the church was not as large as she currently is. Here are a couple of examples from recent conversations with church leaders: Example A: Some members of […]
The Faith of a Servant or a Son?
Many people relate to God as a slave and not as a child. They seek to appease Him with their good deeds, to earn His favor with their good works, and to justify themselves before Him with their own righteousness. For years John Wesley approached God this way before trusting Christ and Him only for […]
10 Reasons to Be Thankful
In the Book of Galatians, we find the apostle Paul was astonished and unsure of what to do with the Galatian believers. At one point, they were overwhelmed with God’s grace expressed toward them. But they had drifted from grace and were attempting to earn God’s approval and qualify themselves to stand before Him with […]