Some of you may remember the Church Growth Movement of the sixties and seventies. Great leaders such as Donald McGavran and Win Arn led the movement and soon every church in town was running programs like Bring a Friend Sunday and doing follow-up with visitors. Every time you turned around, there was a new […]
In difficult times, churches have a tendency to clap shut their shutters, hide their money under mattresses, and delay anything that might be innovative and new – especially if it costs more than a nickle. Okay, so I exaggerate. A little. But the reality is that when the economy or the political winds turn […]
In the first and second centuries, the leadership capacity of a Christian was seen in whether they had been with Jesus or had been associated with one of the original disciples rather than what they believed. What they taught or believed was overshadowed by whom they had been with. Relationship with Jesus or his […]
One of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In it Harrison Fordβs character is faced with difficult trials in order to regain the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at his last supper. One of the tests he has to endure is to make a seemingly impossible leap across a […]
At my final worship service from the church I planted, pastored and grew for over twenty years, two of the staff members I had discipled since they started attending, walked on to the platform each carrying a five foot tall, three feet wide cardboard poster of my head. From behind these giant facial facades, […]
As we bid farewell to the Super Bowl (and hello to the XFL!) I am reminded that leading a church is very much like coaching a football team. The playing fields may be different, but youβll find some things in common between playing in a football game and helping your people succeed in the […]
George Barna recently came out with a poll reporting that the majority of Christians donβt believe in either Satan or the Holy Spirit. Since then, I have received a small mountain of emails with Christian leaders crying βWhere did the church go wrong?β I suppose these questions probably deserve and answer, but Iβm not […]
The other day I wrote a blog on preaching memorable, life changing sermons that drew a slew of controversy. It wasn’t about the preaching that was at odds, but a passing statement I made on my way to teaching how to make a sermon life changing. That statement was this:
One might have thought I’d […]
The other day I got a Twitter question from Phil Longmire, a church planter in Richmond, TX. We were talking about church planting priorities and I was saying how important it is for planters to be out of the office, away from the computer, and out in the public’s eye. So he Tweeted me […]
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery