Who, What, and Where
Yesterday I was talking to a good friend about his next ministry assignment and what is most compelling to him about his next step in vocational ministry. We talked about which is more important to him during this next phase of his life—the who, the what, or the where. Through my years in ministry, I […]
Managing the Downside of Your Groups Approach
There has been ample debate on the approach a church takes to their small groups. Should the groups be “open” or “closed”? Should the groups meet on-campus or off-campus? I rejoice that the discussions take place because this means pastors and ministry leaders are wrestling with how to help people live in biblical community. At […]
Trade-Offs on Where Your Groups Meet
Michael Porter has famously said that strategy is about making choices, about making trade-off decisions. As an example, IKEA is known for making the trade-off decision of offering great prices over offering great service. It is not that they de-value service, but they have chosen to value “low cost” more. This strategic choice impacts organizational […]
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 […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 3
It has been nearly eight years since Simple Church was first released. Now after eight years of discussions and observations with church leaders, I have been posting a series of blog posts on the five most significant lessons learned from Simple Church. Here they are: 1) Churches drift. 2) Thinking “process” is a mammoth shift. 3) Simple is reproducible. Whether you […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 2
It has been nearly eight years since Simple Church was first released. Now after eight years of discussions and observations with church leaders, I am offering a series of blog posts on the five most significant lessons learned since then. The last post was about the proclivity for churches to drift. The second lesson is […]
Simple Church Epilogue Part 1
Almost eight years have passed since the initial release of Simple Church, and to say that we are overwhelmed with the response would be a vast understatement. Our shock with the response is not a statement of humility (unfortunately) but the reality of the nature of the book. Let’s be honest—it was a nerdy research […]
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. […]
A Woeful Substitute
The apostle Paul challenged Timothy, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Notice the order of the language. Paul did not say, “Entrust to able men who will one day be faithful.” He did not encourage […]
Digging in the Wrong Hole
For years, generations of people have wondered how Stonehenge became Stonehenge. How did these massive stones end up where they are? One theory is that the stones were moved from one of the Preseli Hills—150 miles away. To learn as much as possible about the stones and life surrounding them, archeologists have been digging on […]