Developing a Missional Mindset
As Bill Easum has already pointed out, there has been a lot of confusion around the whole Missional, Emergent, Emerging conversation. Most church leaders I speak with couldn’t cogently define the difference with anything like clarity. They’ve read one book and came away with that author’s perspective and for those brave souls, they’ve read one […]
Jerusalem or Antioch – Which Church Are You?
I just finished writing a book entitled Preaching for Transformation. I used Acts as the text, especially Acts 1:8 where the apostles (“apostles” means “the sent ones” in Greek) were told they would be Jesus’ witnesses throughout the world when the Holy Spirit came upon them. God had a plan for the apostles. Let’s call that “Plan A.” Plan […]
Doing Church in Tough Times
Doing Church in Tough Times: Create an Opportunity Ethos There’s no question the times are tough. The economy is in the tank. Unemployment is rising faster than soda pop bubbles. The banking industry is on the ropes. The Big Three auto makers are on their knees. And no one knows who’s going down next. Even […]
Changing the Committee Forecast for the New Year
It’s the time of year when churches across the nation will be installing their new officers, committee chairs, board members, etc. There will be a meaningful installation service (there will be a meaning-full service in your church, right?) and these committed men and women will excitedly begin their service to the church for the next year. In […]
Playing Fair When Dancing with Dinosaurs
Before you read this post, please burn into your brain that I was one of the first authors to shoot a warning shot across the bow of the institutional church by questioning its effectiveness and validity. In 1993, I wrote the book Dancing with Dinosaurs, in which I said the present form of institutional Christianity […]
Heresy Today and How to Respond
I was just getting ready to do a blog on the comparison of heresy in the first few centuries to that of today since today is so much like the 1st century, when I received a post from one of the members (Anne) of our Advanced Leadership Forum asking if our group had seen the […]