9/11 Ten Year Anniversary
Coming up in September we will celebrate (if that is the proper word for it) the 10th anniversary of the fateful day of 9/11. If there was any doubt that the world has fundamentally changed, 9/11 should settle that. Now the real question is, what are you planning in the way of a celebration that […]
Stewardship is a Way of Life
We received a note today on our advanced leadership forum that asked what place to begin talking with churches about stewardship. My response was this: stewardship of money comes from the heart. That’s where you begin. Then a list of things I have believed for a long time surfaced in my pea brain. I thought I would […]
It’s Hard to Believe
It’s hard to believe how stupid and un-Christian so-called Christians can be. The pastor, Terry Jones, who burned the Koran today, ought to be kicked out of the church. No mercy for an idiot of his kind who presumes to be called by God. Shades of the Crusades. This man needs to be defrocked. He […]
Four Core Processes of Growing a Missional Church
My experience has taught me that only four things grow a church (other than the Holy Spirit): Bringing people to Christ and/or to the church – forgetting this is the number one reason church plants stop growing and established churches start declining. Retaining people long enough to disciple them – this includes first impressions, worship, and small groups […]
Mergers, Past and Present
According to Leadership Network, 2% of all U.S. Protestant churches have merged in the last two years and 8% more are planning on it within the next two years. That represents some 30,000 churches. Is this a trend or a blurp? In 2003 Dave Travis and I wrote briefly about mergers in our book Beyond […]
Some Thoughts about My Methodist Friends
I just finished reading the Call to Action by the Bishops of the United Methodist Church. It’s good stuff. In fact, it’s great stuff – to a point. The five aspects of a vital church it proposes are right on target. Look at what it says. “Vital congregations are Spirit-filled, forward-leaning communities of believers that welcome […]