We use the Spirit as a less flagrant hall pass to claim that following my personal agenda is just following God.
Church Ministry
Where to Find Wisdom
True wisdom is not hidden in some coded cipher on the back pages of a musty book. She’s clear, visible, and prominent. She wants to be found. She plans her locations like Walgreens.
Bribe your way out
My mom used to bake Christmas cookies for our bus driver. Was that a bribe? If so, he might have hoped for better, despite the generous portions of frosting and sprinkles.
What’s better than being rich?
The accumulation of riches without wisdom would be like building out a hardware superstore in your backyard, while being unclear how to use a hammer.
Consumer Church
Despite our temptation to draw broad stroke, short-cut evaluations of a church’s faithfulness to Christ based on its forms of worship (music, liturgy, ministries), we must hold back.
How to develop new leaders: The Freedom to Fail
If you hand over your car keys to your sixteen year old, you can pretty well guarantee the car is not going to come back to you in better condition. The spectacle of driving which you will powerlessly witness will be neither textbook safety nor racecar precision. But unless you want to play chauffeur to your maturing young adult, you must run that risk.
1 Step Evangelism
It’s not that evangelism training is useless, it’s just that graduating from the latest training program can be a bit like completing one year of med school. Suddenly, you discover you have eight diseases you didn’t even know existed, and you’re offering unsolicited diagnoses to every person who coughs
Why Small Groups Are Hard
Small groups are the hardest thing in the world. You know why? Two reasons. First, because they are supposed to do everything. Secondly, relationships. Not a single element of ‘doing church’, with the possible exception of sacraments, drops out between Sunday morning...
Church = Small Groups
What should your church do well? Discipleship? Missions? Evangelism? Worship? Teaching and education? Service? Well, it’s all about context, right? Wrong. The answer is all of them. That’s the challenge of being the church. You will not do all of these to perfection....
Why Small Groups Are Easy
Imagine your church published one of those handy little instructional pamphlets titled: “So you want to be a small group leader?” The packet might sit in a bookstore with its topical comrades of vocational advice and hobby-building, such as: ‘Mastering the art of...
