How Vile Are You Willing to Be?
I became a Methodist because I read John Wesley during one of my desert periods. As a result I decided to join the United Methodist Church. But over the years I’ve learned that United Methodists aren’t very Methodist, at least not by Wesley’s standards. We aren’t vile enough. Let me explain. When Whitefield invited Wesley […]
How to Grow Your Church
The secret to church growth is that there really isn’t any mystery to growing a church. The principles and practices for how to grow a church are the same ones that have been used since the beginning of the church. The problem isn’t so much about knowing how to grow churches as it is rolling up […]
Is Your Church Kingdom-Minded or Church-Minded?
The other day I was talking with a pastor about me possibly coaching him. In the course of the conversation I mentioned the need for churches to be more Kingdom minded than church minded and it went totally over his head. You could see in his eyes that he had no concept about what […]
What is the Secret to Effective Worship?
I am driven by the terrible fact that only about 15% of Americans worship as Christians on a given weekend. This consumes me. In a country where we are free to worship, why do so many refrain? What about you? Are you like me? Are you distressed by our worship reality? Do you wonder how […]
Build On Your Strengths First
I’m a big fan of the therapeutic model … if you need therapy. But it’s a rare church that needs therapy … and over the years we’ve found that the therapeutic model is seriously hurting a lot of churches. Let me explain. In case you’re not familiar with the therapeutic model, it’s the practice generally […]
A New but Old Metric
I just finished a book called Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send by J.D. Greear. The premise is basically that the more people you send or give away for whatever reason, the more likely the church is to thrive because that is God’s plan for all churches as seen in […]