Adoption: The Congregational Mission
I was visiting a mainline church recently that had been experiencing ongoing and significant decline. The church wasn’t exactly a small church, but it wasn’t huge either. Over 200 people attended worship there every week. The odd thing was that, although this church was in decline in terms of attendance and participation, it was taking […]
A Very Smart Church: A Christmas Eve Reminder
This post is reprinted from friend and colleague Clif Christopher. It ran on his blog last year, but as you plan for your Christmas Eve service, be thinking about these points. A Very Smart Church J. Clif Christopher Quite frequently in this newsletter I write about something that I witnessed a church do that was […]
Announcements Are Commercials
After receiving one of my church audit reports the pastor called and asked why I said they shouldn’t begin with announcements. I said to him, “Do you watch TV?” He replied, “Sure.” I said, “Do any of the programs open with all 15 minutes of commercials?” “No,” was his reply. “But what’s that got to […]
Aftershock
I just finished reading Aftershock by Wiedemer and Spitzer. In this book, they lay out the next global financial meltdown and what to do about it. They show how disastrously the bubbles will burst, causing chaos and panic in all areas of life. They go so far as to say “The party is coming to an […]
10 Things We Wish We’d Learned in Seminary
This brief list was inspired by a blog post by Ben Reed at http://www.benreed.net/. Once I read it, I thought I’d jot down my own top ten list and I asked Bill Easum to do the same. I found it interesting to see what we identified. Bill T-B’s List That today’s churches need leaders more than […]
Why I Prefer Antioch over the Jerusalem Church
I believe the primary mission of the local church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. If I believe that, then everything my church does should be pointed toward that goal. If I believe that, then I must also believe that making disciples doesn’t begin inside the church, it begins out in the community with […]