Safe, Not Soft

  “Abhor what is evil.” A gospel-centered community acknowledges the presence of sin and welcomes the confession of sin. But a truly gospel-centered community never reduces the severity of sin. To “abhor” describes the way a believer should react to sin. The word means to “shiver in horror,” the way your body reacts to an […]

Choosing the Title of Doulos

People love job titles. One corporate executive revealed to me that to keep employees happy, her company is overly generous with titles. The title “vice president” is attached to many positions. The corporate brass knows that titles motivate people. And it is easy to give a title to someone who is willing to work longer […]

Define Your Process

Defining your ministry process is extremely important. In our research for Simple Church, we asked vibrant church leaders and comparison church leaders to evaluate how clearly defined their ministry process is. We asked them to state their level of agreement with the following statement: “We have a clearly defined process for moving a person from salvation to […]

Blueprint for Discipling People with Wisdom

The apostle Paul described his ministry as skillful building in response to and empowered by God’s grace. He said, “According to God’s grace that was given to me, as a skilled master builder I have laid a foundation” (1 Corinthians 3:10). In other words, the apostle Paul did not just “wing it” or “go with […]

Three Applications of the Great Exchange

In the last post from Transformational Discipleship, I discussed how Psalm 32 is an Old Testament celebration of the Great Exchange. How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How joyful is the man the Lord does not charge with sin and in whose spirit is no deceit! When I kept […]

Lecrae and Culture

Several months ago, I was honored to spend several moments discussing faith, culture, and music with Lecrae. I respect Lecrae, his music, and his mission. I am grateful for his commitment to the Lord, his understanding of the gospel (he insists it is the power of God and must not be viewed merely as a […]

You Are a Builder

Congratulations, you are a builder. Build lives. That is what ministry is all about. It is what you and your church are called to do. The apostle Paul gives specific instructions to church leaders: And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,for the training of the saints […]

The Great Exchange

Kyle McDonald is a Canadian who became famous for an amazing story. He was without a job, essentially had no money, and his girlfriend was floating his rent. Yet he wanted to own a house. All he had was one red paper clip. He decided to offer the red paper clip on Craigslist in exchange […]

The Danger of “Hiring the Best”

The longer I lead, the more I realize how essential the right leaders are to the success of a team, ministry, or organization. While the right leaders will overcome insufficient systems and processes, great processes and systems can never overcome ineffective leaders. The right leaders are not necessarily the “best” leaders. The “best” leaders when […]

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 […]