It’s graduation season and your mailbox is likely filled with graduation invitations and pictures. Your church has likely asked graduates to stand and be recognized or marched them across the stage as proud family members took photos and celebrated/mourned the ending of an important season in their lives. It is an exciting time for graduates….
Bible
6 Important Reminders for Leaders from Proverbs
The Bible is not a self-help book given to us to help us become better people, better leaders, or better at whatever it is we attempt. If it is about leadership, it is about God’s rule and reign and His relentless pursuit of people. At the same time, the Bible is incredibly practical and offers…
A Helpful Framework for Teaching in Ministry
When you think about presenting or teaching or delivering a message, is there a helpful framework that guides how you structure the message? Preparing content is critical, but so is preparing how you will deliver the content. When I was serving as a student pastor and driving to seminary on my day off (long before…
4 Ways Confrontation Must Happen in Christian Community
For almost fifteen years, you have likely been exposed to “If you see something, say something” messaging. An ad agency developed the messaging shortly after the horrific terrorism and tragedies of September 11, 2001. While some federal agencies rejected the campaign, the NYC Transportation Authority adopted it to encourage residents and tourists to report any…
Three Key Phrases Jesus Used for Leadership Development
Whether one is a Christian or not, one has to recognize that Jesus has changed the course of human history. His teaching and ministry began with a small group of unlearned, ordinary men and then turned into a movement that rapidly spread and is still spreading across the world. Remarkably, Jesus spent most of his…
Three Important Stats About Our Cultural Context
The end result of a church’s focus must not merely be a bigger or better church, but a transformed community. The end result of a church’s mission statement must not be the church itself, but a broader community impacted and changed. As we consider serving and impacting the world around us, it is wise to…
Add Leaders, Multiply Ministry
One of the reasons developing leaders is so critical for a church is the multiplying result. As leaders are developed, the influence of the ministry is exponentially expanded. Ministry is greatly multiplied when leaders are developed and deployed. As the scope of leadership broadens, so does the scope of ministry. When you add a developed…
5 Freakish Things a Church Must Do
Christians are a peculiar people. God describes us that way in His Word. We are not of this world as He is not of this world (John 17:16). We are “strangers and temporary residents” here (1 Peter 2:11) because “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We are not supposed to fit in. We are…
A Pursued and Purchased Prostitute
The story of Hosea and Gomer is a shocking one, but one that reminds us of our sinfulness and God’s enduring love for His people, His bride. Hosea was a prophet who ministered during a very rebellious period in Israel’s history. The people were pursuing other gods, and to confront His people with their idolatry,…
3 Places the Word Must Be Central in Your Church
There is one spiritual discipline that increases engagement in every other spiritual discipline. In the research behind Transformational Discipleship, we discovered that when someone is engaged in studying the Bible, participation in every other spiritual discipline is positively impacted. While the other spiritual disciplines are important, engagement in one of these (from a research vantage point)…