Dinosaurs to Rabbits: Turning Mainline Decline into a Multiplication Movement

Mainline Christianity has been in a free fall decline since the mid 1960s.  Some want to blame it on a changing culture; others say it’s the way all organizations go sooner or later; while others just throw up their hands and give up the ghost. The truth is, we don’t believe any of these excuses […]

Killers that Stunt Your Personal and Organizational Growth

Turn around or growth are usually the result of some action taken by the leadership. Usually its not the little changes that kill a church, but the big changes that go untried.  Either leadership is afraid of these BIG changes or they can’t even imagine them.  Either way, nothing is deadlier than ignoring the BIG […]

God is a Baseball Fan

Although I have played many sports throughout my lifetime, baseball has always held my heart. It all started when as a young boy I would watch my hometown Chicago Cubs each Spring and Summer afternoon on WGN T.V. That love of the game continues to this day. Baseball has long been known as America’s national […]

Turnaround Is Messy and Lonely

Turning a church around is a messy and lonely responsibility. I know because I did it three times and each time the early years were depressing enough to damped even the strongest spirit. When you consider where the church is and where it needs to go, attempting a turn around appears to be an impossible […]

No Retirement in the Bible

Yesterday after a morning at church and an afternoon whacking weeds, I took a break to listen to the last couple of innings of my favorite baseball team on the radio. My wife Debbie recently purchased a hammock which we hung up between two giant pine trees in our backyard. As I laid there relaxing, […]

The Church is Not a Service Organization

Not long ago our organization received a response from a pastor to one of our posts that showed one of the major misconceptions about Christianity.  Here is the quote “If I must go somewhere else to have those needs met I will. Like any other service organization care for the caregiver is critical.”  The pastor […]