Burnout Is Coming. Here’s How to Prevent It.

In the helping professions, burnout can seem almost inevitable.

The thing we want to give—deep, sincere compassion for others in their time of need—runs dry. We want to help, but we can only take so much suffering. We become victims of our own giving. Read More

Related Article:
10 Reasons Why Burnout Doesn’t Have to Be Fatal or Final

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers # 18

God Didn’t Call Someone Else to Preach to Your Church

As we battle the insecurity that so often accompanies church planting, it’s almost impossible not to compare ourselves to other preachers and their successes. Read More

Preach Less

As a church plant begins to mature, the church planter should preach less by sharing the pulpit more. And by sharing the pulpit, I mean with biblically qualified men, not just those who want to or can stand up and talk in front of a crowd. Read More

Check out the related resources below the article.

Say it in a Sentence

You aren't ready to preach until you can state what your sermon was about in one, clear sentence. Read More

7 Questions for Preachers to Ask about Their Preaching Calendar

Preachers, I’m putting you on the spot today as you think about your preaching calendar. As we approach the final quarter of 2018 and look toward 2019, prayerfully answer these questions for yourself as you think about your preaching plan for the months to come.... Read More

3 Ways to Navigate Politics in the Pulpit

Faithful pastors can hardly avoid social and political issues if they expound the full teaching of Scripture. But how can we do so in ways that are constructive and helpful? Read More

25 Ways to Pick Good Worship Songs for Your Church

Worship song selection is no easy task.

You have to choose a song that people will sing, that you like playing, has a good message…the list goes on.

I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to fear finding the right music for your church. Sure, there’s a lot to consider, and you won’t get it right every time.

That’s okay.

You’ll learn more from your failures than your successes in this area. Still, you want to have a healthy tally in the “win” section, and that’s why I put together a checklist of 25 things to look for in a good worship song.

You certainly don’t have to hit all 25, but finding a good song is more like finding a good car or place to live. If you hit 70-80% of your wish list, you’re doing great.

So without further ado, let’s get started! Read More

We're Exiles, Not Expatriates

The cultural turbulence present in the United States of America in 2018 resembles that of the 1960’s. As the axiom says, “History doesn’t repeat; it rhymes.” We can see in our day it’s the same old song, just a new verse. As pastors, it’s easy for us to look through the corridors of the past and call out the blind spots of church leaders 50 years ago, all the while neglecting the ones staring back at us.

As our church, Reach Fellowship, has been walking verse by verse through the book of James, the opening verses call my attention to the fact Christians in America are indeed exiles in a foreign land. Since our primary citizenship is in the city of God, not the city of man. The challenge that accompanies our citizenship is to engage in the mission of Jesus while living as exiles, not expatriates, who have no investment in land they dwell in. Read More

Intentional Friendliness: Making A Great First Impression In A Smaller Church

Coming to a small church for the first time is an act of great vulnerability. So it’s important to do the personal things well.

You only get one chance to make a first impression.

That’s one of those truisms that’s actually true – in church and in life.

One of the hallmarks of healthy churches is that they work hard at making a good first impression. Helping guests make the leap from staying at home to being glad they came is essential. That’s much more likely to happen when they experience friendly people, helpful directions, easy-to-understand language and other expressions of love and care.

First impressions are so important that they’ve become a central part of today’s pastoral training, including the inaugural First Impressions conference that I was honored to speak at this week. (With more conferences coming soon). This article is a shortened version of that talk. Read More

Social Justice or Evangelism? There Shouldn't Even Be a Debate

A debate is raging among a handful of Christian leaders about social justice and the Gospel. Some super conservatives are saying that the entire concept of social justice is unbiblical. A handful of ultra-liberals have asserted for years that social justice is the Gospel. Still others are saying that social justice should be a natural lead in and outflow of the Gospel.

But before I dive into this debate I want to make something clear...I take this debate super personally.

Why? Because I was raised "American poor." Read More

Friday's Catch: Leadership Focus and More

A 3-Step Plan To Increase Your Leadership Focus

Knowing how to focus, and focus on the right things at the right times is essential. Without intentional focus, your progress, and therefore overall effectiveness decreases. Read More

Eight Demons Pastors Fight...

To stay in the ministry any length of time, a pastor needs to learn to fight some predictable “demons.” Read More

How Does Your Social Media Presence Reflect Your Faith?

As a Christ-follower, you have to think about how you engage online. Next time your Facebook feed becomes one long dialogue on the latest social issue, think through these three steps before you join the conversation. Read More

The Sins Forbidden by the Ninth Commandment in a Social Media World

This is the second of two articles by Tim Challies about the ninth commandment and its relevance in a world in which so much of our communication takes place through social media. Read More

The Duties Required by the Ninth Commandment in a Social Media World

This is the first of two articles by Tim Challies about the ninth commandment and its relevance in a world in which so much of our communication takes place through social media. Read More

Lyft Your Eyes to Jesus: Why Ride Sharing Can Be the Next Ministry Frontier

Ride sharing creates an opportunity to engage and invite. Read More

The Burden for Missions Begins at Home

Don’t underestimate how you handicap missions in a church by making evangelism seem optional in the Christian life. Read More

Thursday's Catch: Characteristics of a Healthy Church and More

Ten Characteristics of a Healthy Church

A healthy church is one where members are wholly in love with Christ and fully committed to His Great Commission. Read More

Engagement: A Small Church Advantage We Need To Cultivate

Getting a few people engaged and involved is far more important than attracting a big crowd. Read More

How to Develop Tactical Patience in a Revitalization or Replant

Tactical patience means waiting to change things when the time is right. Pastors often get in trouble when they rush into change. Today, Thom Rainer, Mark Clifton, and Jonathan Howe discuss how to grow in that patience. Listen Now

The Unintended Impact of The Church Planting Industry on Our Evangelistic Impact

Is church planting still the most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven? Read More

The Nollian Quintagram

Mark Noll, in his essay on “What Is ‘Evangelical’?” in the Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology (ed. Gerald R. McDermott; Oxford University Press, 2010) offers his own list of common characteristics that evangelicals share. Read More

Should You Go Bivo?

I invite you to consider three lenses through which we should measure the wisdom of bi-vocational ministry. If you’ve ever tried to open a combination lock, you know getting just two numbers correct isn’t enough. Likewise, I submit a successful bi-vocational ministry will need to have (at least) these three aspects properly balanced. Read More

Top 10 Things I Love That Worship Leaders Do

I love it when worship leaders.... Read More

Too Much Screen Time, Too Little Horseplay for Kids: Study

Only one in 20 kids in the United States meets guidelines on sleep, exercise and screen time, and nearly a third are outside recommendations for all three, according to a study published Thursday. Read More

The True Sexual Revolution

We live in a world where, in short, much of what was once taboo has become mainstream but what remains taboo is more taboo than ever. Sexual sin is viewed as something unforgiveable and sexual sinners as people irredeemable. Read More

New Strategy for Seeing Fall Festival Guests Return

It's that time of year. Churches everywhere are gearing up for their Fall Festival. We're in the middle of our preparations.

One of the biggest questions churches ask as they prepare is, "How do we see the guests who attend come back on a Sunday for services?"

That's a question we wrestle with every year. We've tried lots of different strategies. We've tried big giveaways, follow-up emails, follow-up phone calls and starting an exciting new weekend series following the festival, just to name a few.

And to be honest...it has been with limited success. Yes, we've reached a few families with these strategies, but we want to be more effective at seeing the guests who attend our Fall Festival return and become a part of our church family.

And I've got a feeling you're thinking the same thing. I've yet to hear of a church that has cracked the code on this and been able to see a high percentage of guests return from their Fall Festival and become connected long-term to their church.

So with this in mind, we went back to the drawing board and have developed a new strategy that we're piloting this year. I'm going to share it with you. Read More

Christians Are Inviting People to Church but Is That Enough?

LifeWay Research recently found nearly two-thirds of Protestant churchgoers say they’ve invited at least one person to visit their church in the past six months. To many evangelical believers, this is an encouraging discovery in a highly secularized culture where attending church is not as common or popular as in past years.

Church leaders may see inviting people to church is a powerful way to welcome unbelievers to learn more about the Christian faith and fellowship. However, Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, says it’s imperative Christians view the act of inviting someone to church as just one method of outreach, not the equivalent of personally sharing the gospel. Read More

Tuesday's Catch: Christmas Is Just Around the Corner and More

6 Steps to a Low Stress Christmas Program

Most people look forward to Christmas music all year long. But there are a few who, surprisingly to some, might dread it: the worship leader, choir director, and anyone involved in the production. Read More

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is really good advice for Christmas programs. No cantata. No dancing Christmas gifts. May be a candle light service with a solemn procession, a couple of special Christmas hymns or carols, and plenty of Christmas greenery--evergreen boughs, holly, ivy, and rosemary. Keep a close eye on the flower committee. Otherwise, they'll bury the communion table and the choir under poinsettias. Instead of burning incense, rub the base of the pews or the legs of the chairs with frankincense oil. You get the fragrance without the smoke. Treat everyone to hot chocolate, spiced apple cider,  and other Christmas goodies after the service. Take lots of photos.

Should Your Church Go to 3 Services?

If your church is considering a move to three services, here are some essential things to consider. Read More

If you are planning to launch a third service, you should keep this thought in mind: you are also launching a third congregation, not just providing a third time for your existing congregation to worship. You need weigh carefully what segment of the community's unchurched population that you are hoping to reach with the new service as well as what will be the style of music used in the new service and how else the new service will differ from the existing services. This requires forethought and planning. A third service is not something that you can throw together at the last minute.

My former parish learned this the hard way. Very little forethought or planning went into the new service. Promises were made and were not kept. The style of music was supposed to be contemporary but the new service, when it was finally launched, would differ very little from the other service that had music. This did not sit well with the church members who had been led to believe that the music of the new service would be contemporary in style. The broken promise would contribute to the erosion of the relationship between these church members and the rector and was one of the factors behind a call for his resignation and an eventually split in the church that cost the church one third of its member households.

On the other hand, a neighboring parish launched a third service with no problems. It had identified who it was going to target with the new service and decided upon what style of music that it was going to use in the new service and mobilized its resources to accomplish its goals for the new service. The difference between the two churches was that the rector of the second church took long range planning seriously while the rector of the first church did not--he tried to fly by the seat of his pants. He would leave seven years after the church split. By then the church's attendance and giving had gone down that it required subsidization.

Francis Chan: Stop Treating the Book of Acts Like Hyperbole

The former megachurch pastor asks today’s churches to measure their practices against the New Testament standard. Read More

8 Things to Do When Your Church Is in a Bad Location

For years, I’ve heard the phrase about real estate and churches: “it’s all about location, location, location.” I agree that a poor location can be an obstacle to church growth, but re-locating is not an immediate option for many congregations. If you think your church’s location is a hindrance, here are some options to consider.... Read More

7 Questions to Ask Before Beginning a Building Project

In my last post, I shared 10 Ways to Succeed in a Building Project. If you are considering a building project or are already in the middle of one, I encourage you to go read that post. In this article, I want to suggest seven questions to ask before beginning a building project. Read More

The 2 Battles Every Minister Fights [Video]

You’re called to be ministers of Christ, to be like Christ, to look like Christ, and to picture the gospel in your life in microcosm. Watch Now

5 [New] Character Rules Every Leader Should Follow

If you’re a Christian leader, there should never be a gap between your private walk and public talk. Read More

Dumbed Down? Why Reading the Bible Is so Elusive—Yet so Vitally Important

Three reasons we need to engage Scripture both intentionally and frequently. Read More

The Problem with Sacred Spaces

Any space can, and does, become sacred when it’s animated by God’s presence and activity through the lives of a submitted people.

Cultures are often defined by their sacred spaces. Think of the majestic cathedrals throughout Europe—their vast ceilings and ornate wall coverings testified to the grandeur of the God worshipped inside.

But sacred space is not limited to religious buildings. Some vividly recall formative conversations of spiritual significance that took place on a sunny back porch, or in grandma’s spotless living room. Infused with intentionality, these ordinary spaces were instilled with spiritual significance and meaning that bubbles to the surface with every remembrance.

James K.A. Smith, in his book Desiring the Kingdom, argues for the necessity of such spaces in shaping the pattern of worship among God’s people. Because people are not “brains on a stick,” Smith suggests, their love for God is fortified through imagery, beauty, structures, and symbols that influence the heart in profound ways. One cannot help but think of the way a towering cathedral puts us in a place that creates an awe-inspiring sense of God’s otherness.

Sacred space can be powerful.

But there’s also a downside to sacred space. The pesky adjective “sacred” spells out the troubling issue. Read More

Stop Complicating Ministry: The Smaller The Church, The Simpler We Need To Keep It

Ministry will never be easy, but it doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it.

So, you pastor a small, struggling church.

You’re trying to help it become less small and less struggling, but all the “can’t miss” answers from the latest church growth conferences never seem to work for you.

You don’t have a big worship team singing new songs, a dynamic small group ministry, a trendy youth group, maybe not even a building of your own to meet in.

That’s okay, you don’t need any of that to have a vibrant, healthy, effective church ministry.

We make church way more complicated than it needs to be. Some of that comes from (mis)reading and listening to pastors of big churches. We see them with professional-grade musicians, lighting, graphics and self-designed curriculum and we think we need to do that, too.

But we don’t.

Big churches didn’t become big by having cool new stuff, they added that stuff when it became the best way to manage the size of the crowd. Parking attendants with matching shirts didn’t cause their growth, it was a byproduct of their growth. Read More

9 Things You Should Know About Christian Hymns

Today is the 147th anniversary of the death of Charlotte Elliott, author of the hymn “Just As I Am.” Billy Graham said his team used this hymn in almost every one of their crusades, and the historian of hymnody Kenneth Osbeck wrote that “Just As I Am” had “touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other song ever written.” Here are nine more things you should know about one of the most important musical forms in the history of the church. Read More

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #17

Preaching Talent is Overrated? (The Surprising Truth)

What separates the best communicators from the rest? Is it simply God-given talent? A spiritual gift of teaching or prophecy? Is it personality? Or is it something else? Read More

Monday's Random Thoughts about Yesterday's Preaching

Preachers, I’m speaking to you and to me today. For all of us who preached yesterday, here are my random thoughts about the task of proclaiming the Word. Lay leaders, pray for your pastors as you eavesdrop on this conversation among preachers. Read More

Seeker Comprehensible Preaching…Without Dumbing Down

I’m not saying that every attempt at preaching in a way that unchurched understand is dumbing down the preaching. I’ve written plenty on the value of seeker comprehensible preaching. I’m talking about those who so simplify the message that it is dumbed down. Read More

The Benefit of Bad Sermons

Poor preachers are gifts from the Lord. That’s what I learned, ironically, from one of the greatest preachers who ever lived. Read More

Boring Preaching Is A Crime! 7 Ways to Be Interesting

If you think the gathering of biblical facts and standing up with a Bible in your hand will automatically equip you to communicate well, you are desperately mistaken. It will not. You must work at being interesting. Boredom is a gross violation, being dull is a grave offense, and irrelevance is a disgrace to the gospel. Too often these three crimes go unpunished and we preachers are the criminals. ~ Charles Swindoll Read More

How to Stop the Inner Mental Chatter When You Preach

Have you ever had a sermon or talk be interrupted by a distracting inner dialogue? Here are some ways to deal with it. Read More

Outline That Sermon -- If You Can

Sure, it seems like a no-brainer, but what if you're a "right-brained preacher"? Read More

5 Tips to Make Series Titles at Your Church More Sticky

How do you create a compelling series title? Read More

Three Possibilities Preaching The Psalms

Instead of simply quoting a Psalm once in a while, when's the last time it was the featured text in your message?

Read More Why You Should Train Others To Preach

What is your church doing to train future preachers and pastors? Read More

Saturday Lagniappe: Total Depravity and More

What’s So Great About Total Depravity?

The doctrine of total depravity is not just something we learn so as to score high marks on some theology exam. Instead, total depravity is a doctrine to live by. Read More

The Anglican formularies--the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1572, the Book of Common Prayer of 1662, and the two Books of Homilies--while they do not use the term "total depravity" nonetheless affirm that doctrine. A self-identified Anglican clergyman who maintains that our souls are only wounded by sin, that we retain a residue of original goodness, and that we can perform good works of our own apart from God's grace working in us and thereby earn God's goodwill and favor towards us does not stand in the tradition of historic Anglicanism and his Anglican credentials are open to question.

Help Your Friends Escape False Teaching

Maybe you’ve got family and friends who believe things taught by preachers that aren’t quite biblical. I haven’t got anything profound to say. No six-steps sure-fire way for getting them into their nearest reformed-conservative-evangelical church. But having come from ‘the other side’, perhaps I can bring a perspective that may be of some use. Read More

Don’t Assume That Your Assumptions Are True

Never assume assumptions are safe. If you spend most of your time building your positions and beliefs based on assumptions, you will be a very shallow and misguided person. If you’re a preacher, well, you will be a very shallow and misguided preacher. Consider how easily it is for the devil to get into the details of assumptions. Read More

How Ignorance Works FOR You and AGAINST You as a Young Leader

Is ignorance ever a good thing in leadership? Strangely, sometimes it’s amazing. And other times it’s deadly. Read More

Are Our Pastors Being Discipled

Discipleship is much easier to preach about than it is to practice. Pastors, like myself, are often more enthusiastic about making disciples than we are about being discipled. So, pastor, who is discipling you? Dr. Dan Garland is spot-on when he reminds pastors, “To make disciples, we must first be a disciple.” Read More

Let Your Church Hear You Sing

Do you love the members of your church enough to minister to them through song? Read More

10 Reasons Every Christian Should Share the Message of Jesus

At Saddleback, we’ve learned that explaining why evangelism is so important helps people understand the necessity and value of sharing their faith. Here are 10 reasons from the Bible why God wants us to share our faith. Read More

Friday's Catch: A Hill Worth Dying On and More

Every Hill You Face Is Not Worth Dying On

The greatest leadership lesson I have ever learned is: Every hill you face is not worth dying on. Read More

Five Types of Infrequent Attendees

Declining attendance isn’t as much of an issue in churches as declining frequency of attendance. Today Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe discuss those who miss frequently and how to solve that. Listen Now

I am prompted to wonder whether the woman Thom Rainer mentions in this podcast was actually unregenerate–a convenient explanation–or the church failed to assimilate her into its life and fellowship–a less convenient explanation but one that often accounts for why new converts drift away. Too often churches focus on conversion to the neglect of assimilation. They are more interested in baptizing than they are in discipling those whom they baptize and integrating them into life and fellowship of the church.

I also recall a woman who regularly attended church services at my former parish for a while. She came from a different socio-economic background than the bulk of the attendees and they did not accept her. She eventually stopped attending church. Churches can be very tribal and if key members conclude that a newcomer does not belong to their tribe, they will push the newcomer to the boundary of the church, leaving the newcomer with the choice of occupying the role of permanent outsider, attending a different church, or dropping out of church altogether.

How to Use Your Fall Festival to Reach Families

Dale Hudson offers some advice on how to reach and keep families through your church's Fall Festival. Read More


Why Your Church Probably Needs to Change Its Social Media Strategy

Churches face a daunting task of trying to leverage social media to reach both insiders and outsiders. Read More

4 Tasks of Mission

How we understand and define mission matters for local church ministry. Read More

At What Price Awakening? Examining the Theology and Practice of the Bethel Movement

As a pastor of an Australian church, I too am passionate to see revival happen in Australia. There is, however, a huge difference between revival and revivalism.... Read More

Evangelicals Argue Against US Reducing Refugees to 30,000

Trump administration says Christians in Iraq face genocide; only 18 have been allowed to resettle in America this year. Read More

Thursday's Catch: God, Gender, and Language and More

Swedish Lutheran Church

Is God Male? Why Some Clergy Are Changing Their Language

After a U.K. survey found that only 1 percent of British Christians consider God to be female, some Church of England leaders are urging clergy to consider their word usage. According to research conducted by YouGov, younger Christians are now more likely than older Christians to view God as male. Read More

All Churches Make Mistakes, Why Do Ours Feel Fatal?

Christ is with us when we suit up again, even though we fell flat on our face the last time we went on the field. Read More

The Kingdom Mindset of Churches That Are Willing to Be Replanted

It’s important for churches to have a kingdom mindset if they are going to revitalize or be replanted. Today, Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe discuss what that looks like in a church. Listen Now

The Horrors and Habitat of Hell: Some Details You May Not Have Considered

In recent years, the biblical concept of Hell has come under fire. Hell is seen as the great scarecrow of Christianity, an antiquated tactic used by preachers of yesteryear to frighten people into making professions of faith. Those who view this as illegitimate fearmongering have responded by reinterpreting biblical passages on Hell to make it more palatable and less offensive. But Scripture teaches that Hell couldn’t be more real and gives great detail about the horrors of this habitat of certain torment. Read More

Pastor, Don’t Be a Secondhander

Merely imitating—instead of owning and believing what we’re doing—is to put on the appearance that something is abiding deep inside of us. This certainly applies to the Christian life in general, but I’m specifically thinking of those in pastoral leadership. Having a “bag of tricks” is being a secondhander, and we must guard against it. Here are three signs we’re at least bordering on being a secondhander. Read More

How to Help Prevent Your Child from Becoming an Atheist

According to a new study on adult atheists, the less that parents “walk the walk” about religious beliefs, the more likely their children are to walk away from the faith. Read More

A Missionary's Most Crucial Spiritual Discipline

Watchfulness is especially crucial for missionaries (and ministers, elders, and pastors) who bear the unique responsibility of caring for the souls of others as part of their vocation, often amid considerable challenges. While this calling brings many blessings and joys, missionaries also face unique temptations. Read More

Wednesday's Catch: Generation Z and Religion and More

In a departure from my usual format, I am posting only the links to seven articles that I thought that Anglicans Ablaze readers might benefit from reading. I have caught a cold and the coughing, sneezing, and other symptoms make cutting, pasting, and typing difficult. I decided on this temporary expedient over not posting anything.

Generation Z and Religion: "It's All Good."
A Sex Offender in the Neighborhood: Some Reminders About Child Safety
How to Do a Fall Festival During Church
2 Ways Artificial Intelligence Affects Our Families Without Us Knowing
Grace Means Christians Should and Can Live Differently than the World
Have Mercy as God Has Mercy
America’s Age of Skepticism: How Christians Should Respond

The Unattainable Perfectionism of Millennials

The young adults of the Millennial generation are showing a higher rate of mental problems than previous generations. A study says that the problem is perfectionism and their inability to attain it. Read More

Photo by State Farm via Flickr, Creative Commons License

3 Ways Church Planting Kills Consumerism

Consumerism is not a new phenomenon in the West. It’s so engrained in our lives that confronting it is like rejecting the air we breathe.

As a society, we don’t simply consume to live; we live to consume. There’s a collective void inside us that we attempt to fill with newer, better, more.

But here’s the thing: study after study reveals it’s not working. Most data, in fact, suggest the opposite. The more we consume, the less satisfied and fulfilled we feel. Read More

5 Better Ways to "Argue" About Social Justice . . . or Anything Else Online

This will be a short post, not about social justice per se, but about why some of us are having trouble seeing any fruitful conversations taking place online about it -- or any other subject of controversy within the Church -- and are reluctant to contribute. Read More

The Paradox of American Religion and American Secularism

In America, some of the most (apparently) devout people behave in the most secular ways. This is not a new phenomenon – the great sociologist Will Herberg was one of the first to identify it in his classic book Protestant-Catholic-Jew (1955). Polls in the 1950s already showed that Americans were overwhelmingly religious, but they often seemed to know little about the faith they affirmed. Read More

9 Principles For Creating An Annual Budget In A Small Church

With the possibilities for small church budgeting being so flexible, are there guidelines that are universal? I believe so. Here are nine of them.

Big churches and small churches design their budgets very differently.

While large churches spend their time balancing percentages, designing requisition sheets, and tracking an increase or decrease of giving as one measurement of the church’s health, small churches deal with an entirely different set of issues.

For instance, I just Googled “what percentage of a church budget should be salary?” and I found several helpful articles.

One of them, from a very good church consulting ministry, acknowledges that while “…every church is different,” their team “…generally encourages churches to try to stay in the range of 45 to 55 percent of total budget. We’ve seen churches that have gone as high as 65 to 70 percent… (but) these higher percentages raise red flags. These ministries may be in a danger zone.”

This is good advice, based on years of experience and sound stewardship principles. But those percentages mean nothing in most small churches because the smaller the church, the more likely you are to fall into the “every church is different” part that they mentioned. Read More

3 Temptations Challenging the Prayer Life of the Local Church

Prayer is a bigger deal than we’ve made it out to be.

It’s vital for the life of our churches. Having read books on prayer before, I know the difficulty isn’t in starting to pray more. The difficulty is in sustaining this attitude.

It’s not hard to start. It’s hard to solidify habits.

Over the years, I’ve learned that I don’t need to send out a survey or do market research on people’s common temptations. I merely need to look inside my own heart and see where I’ve failed to pray. Read More

The Myth of Missionary Neutrality

Everything we do either propels God’s mission forward or hinders the embodiment of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Cars rarely operate in neutral, but churches do all the time.
Maybe this is because neutral is the normative posture of those who make up the church.

It’s common to hear people speak as if there are three possible positions for life in relation to God. Some are in drive—moving forward in active obedience to the Great Commission. Others are in reverse, demonstrating rebellion against God’s authority and living to undermine God’s mission in the world. The rest are sitting in neutral, somewhere between drive and reverse. Read More

Can You Hear Me Now?

In an age when most are rushing to have their say, Christians can love by giving others a hearing.

Instead of listening for what others might say, we need to recover the art of listening to others. If you have ever been on the receiving end of the listening for conversation, you know what this feels like.

When we simply listen for what another person is saying, we reduce that person down to a stereotype that we already have in our mind. This kind of listening is not really listening. It is merely argument formulation masquerading as listening.

When we listen to others, it is as if the posture and disposition of the conversation becomes open-handed. Listening to another person implicitly says, “I want to learn from you even if I don’t agree with you.” As Christians who are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, this strikes me as exactly the sort of thing we are called to do. Read More

Saturday Lagniappe: Hurricanes, Disaster Relief, and More

9 Things You Should Know About Hurricanes

This week Hurricane Florence struck the Carolinas, dumping massive amounts of rain and triggering catastrophic floods inland. Here are nine things you should know about these types of deadly storms.... Read More

If You Really Want to Help after Hurricane Florence, Set Out to Be Humble—Not a Hero

Leave the cape at home before leaping into action because it’s humble hearts and hands that are needed to save the day. Read More

Why the Recent Stir about Safe Ministry?

Some volunteers will need to get a full Police background check—just to offer a helping-hand in the kids program they’ve been a part of for years. Read More

How to Deal with Theological Issues in Revitalization

Theology is important in a church. And sometimes when churches aren’t growing, there can be a temptation to be lighter on theology in exchange for relevancy or growth. Today Thom Rainer, Mark Clifton, and Jonathan Howe discuss why that’s a terrible idea. Listen Now

The Perils of Preaching an Implications-Free Gospel

Jared Wilson offer 5 reasons why clear application of the gospel is important and why in fact declaring an implications-free gospel is spiritually perilous. Read More

‘What Should I Do to Become a Pastor?’

I work for a seminary, but my advice for aspiring ministers doesn’t start there. Read More

Don’t Be A Halfhearted Christian

We all will leave a legacy of sorts – either a positive one or a negative one. Our lives eventually will come to an end, and each of us will leave a legacy. The truth will come out – the good things we did, the bad things we did, what we really stood for. Read More

How to Look Past Yourself to Be Kind to Others

You may feel like other people have got it all together, but if you take the time to listen, you’ll see we’re all dealing with something. Read More

Why Millennials ARE Coming to Church

There have been plenty of articles about why Millennials—those twenty somethings—are not coming to church. Plenty of time and attention towards what would bring them back.

Well, in our church at the moment plenty of Millennials ARE coming. It’s been noted by the older crowd that they’re starting to get outnumbered by that particular cohort this year.

As one older, wiser, godly Pentecostal brother who has been attending our service (as well as his in the morning) remarked about this fact, “Well I can tell you, it’s not for the music.”

Our music is pretty good—if you like really stripped back with one or two instruments and a couple of singers on the stage leading 150 singers in the seats. Which, if you’re a Millennial, I actually think you’ll like. We don’t need to be your favourite rock concert—you can go to your favourite rock concert for that. We want you to hear yourself sing with other people.

That aside, why are the Millennials coming? Why, beyond the fact that we may be the latest flavour or some such? My own thoughts, plus some conversations with these Millennials (as opposed to the results of a Survey Monkey poll) offer up the following reasons.... Read More

Favoritism in the Church

It seems that favoritism was an issue in the early church, as those with greater wealth or standing were accorded better treatment than others. The Apostle James spoke against this impulse in his epistle:

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1–4)

He goes on to say,

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (vv. 8–9) Read More

Finding the Antichrist Today

Perhaps no subject broached by contemporary Bible prophecy teachers engenders more speculation and less sound Biblical exegesis than does the subject of Antichrist....

While it may come as a surprise to many, there are only four texts in Scripture (all in John's first two epistles: 1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 7) where the term "antichrist" is actually used.[4] John's four texts set out a markedly different understanding of Antichrist than that given us by contemporary prophecy "experts." Therefore, it is most helpful to review them.

Based on these texts, there are three critical points to be made related to John's treatment of the Antichrist. Read More

Pastor, Include More Prayer in Your Church Service

I remember hearing a story about an African church leader who was brought to America to tour churches. At the end he was asked his thoughts.

He replied, “I’m surprised by how little prayer I witnessed.”

The American church, at least in my experience, tends to be lackluster in prayer. This is especially evident in corporate worship services. It can be hard to find an evangelical church service that even contains one three-minute prayer. Yet Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Matt. 21:13).

Maybe it’s our independent American spirit, or maybe it’s a lukewarm faith. Regardless, many churches need to repent of prayerlessness, especially in corporate worship. Read More

Because they use set forms of prayer in their corporate worship, Anglicans tend to think that prayerlessness is not a problem for them. But this is far from the case. Too often these forms are recited in a perfunctory manner which suggests that the congregation is not praying from the heart. While the liturgy may abound in opportunities for silent or extemporaneous prayer, congregations rarely take advantage of these opportunities. The problem of prayerlessness for Anglicans is not so much a lack of prayers but a lack of prayerfulness.

Thursday's Catch: Scheduling Christmas Eve Services and More

5 Things To Consider As You Schedule Your 2018 Christmas Eve Services

Christmas 2018 affords a number of unique opportunities and challenges for churches this year. Let me highlight some key considerations for your team to wrestle with to help you pick the right Christmas Eve service times.... Read More

6 Things Your Church May Be Doing Illegally

As a best practice to ensure your church is acting above reproach in honoring copyright law, survey the below list and seek to avoid the following six things that may be putting your ministry at risk. Read More

5 Bad Ideas That Will Make Your Service Fake

We have all been there. Everything may sound fantastic, look attractive and was planned with purposeful intent. But, something just doesn’t seem right. You feel fake vibes when hoping for authentic ones. Regardless, what makes a worship service fake might be boiled down to a few things even though there may be many things we can put on a list. Read More

Whats the Next Mission Wave? Ordinary Believers on Mission

The question is no longer if we are called to leverage our lives for the Great Commission; it’s only where and how. Read More

7 Reasons Most Churches Aren't Reaching the Lost in Their Own Backyards

Greg Stier identifies 7 reasons why many churches are not effectively reaching the lost with the Gospel in their communities. How well is your church doing?Read More


How to Evangelize Your LGBT Neighbors

When Christians live communally, outsiders find intimacy within the family of God. Read More

10 Simple Ways to Reach Your Neighbor for Jesus

Most believers will never share the gospel with anyone, and many will never even invite anyone to church. Sometimes, in fact, we overstate the hard work of evangelism, and our folks never even try to reach anyone. Here are some simple ways to start correcting this problem by reaching your neighbors.... Read More

“Let Them Not Share in the Affairs of Life”: How Ancient Christians Were Viewed as Dangerous to Society

Celsus “just can’t stand Christians.” So, writes James O’Donnell (Pagans, 101) as he describes the vicious opposition to Christians in the earliest centuries, particularly from the second-century critic Celsus. Read More

The Slow Killing of Congregational Singing

Here is a great historical irony. Fifty years ago choirs ruled the church. Usually, they were supported by a very loud organ. To be frank, many choir members were performers, and when the choir was large they drowned out the singing of the congregation. So, sadly, the very people appointed to help the congregation sing actually smothered congregational singing. Bit by bit, choirs disappeared. I think most churches didn’t mourn the loss.

Here’s the irony: we then replaced the choirs with song leaders (or, what we inaccurately call ‘worship leaders’). Over time the number of song leaders grew and grew until they became as big as a choir. Then we gave the song leaders full-volume microphones and electrical instruments, and many became performers. When the music team was large and the microphones were turned up they drowned out the congregation. So, sadly, the very people appointed to help the congregation sing actually smothered congregational singing. Read More

God’s Will Is Not a “Choose Your Own Adventure” Book

We often see the will of God like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story: We have two doors in front of us, and one probably leads to peace and prosperity and the other to doom and destruction. When things go wrong later, we look back and think, “If I had only known the right door!” How do we know what God wants us to do in any given situation? Read More

The FAQs: What Parents Should Know About Peer Contagion

What is peer contagion?

The term peer contagion describes a process of mutual influence between a child or adolescent and their peers that includes behaviors and emotions that potentially undermine one’s own development or cause harm to others. Examples of peer contagion include aggression, bullying, depression, disordered eating, drug use, bisexuality, suicide, tobacco use, and transgenderism.

Peer contagion is a form of social contagion—the thesis that attitudes, beliefs, and behavior can spread through populations as if they were somehow infectious. “Simple exposure sometimes appears to be a sufficient condition for social transmission to occur,” research psychologist Paul Marsden says. “This is the social contagion thesis; that sociocultural phenomena can spread through, and leap between, populations more like outbreaks of measles or chicken pox than through a process of rational choice.” Read More

5 Important Questions to Ask Yourself When Making a Decision in Your Life

When you make a decision in your life, how do you know it is the right thing to do?

Quick decision making often results in poor decision making. Conversely, long and drawn out decision making can paralyze your life as well as others who look to you for leadership. Is there a way to know we are making the right decisions in life?

Preparation is really one of the important things about decision making. I believe that when you passionately walk with God daily, it prepares you for decision making. The power of Christ will see you through every decision you make.

Ask yourself.... Read More

How to Launch a Second Worship Service

One of the big questions we are asked all the time in our coaching is: We’re thinking about going to two services—what do you recommend? Should we launch another service?

Let me start by saying: I love a multi-service reality when it’s done at the right time, for the right reasons and in the right way. Unfortunately, too many churches make the move without the proper forethought or preparation and end up getting less than ideal or desired results. Read More