Monday's Catch: How the Enemy Attacks Churches and More

8 Ways the Enemy Attacks Churches

I have studied spiritual warfare for more than 25 years. Here are some of the primary ways I’ve seen the enemy attack churches.... Read More

When The Small Church Pastor's Biggest Critic Is In Our Mirror

Small church pastors can’t get mad at others for looking down on us when we keep looking down on ourselves. Read More

On Court Prophets and Wilderness Prophets

Christian responses to the president. Read More

5 Ways the Church Can Address the Immigration Crisis

How the church can help our neighbors at the border. Read More

10 Ways Leaders Shape Their Teams

The popular and often-quoted leadership axiom “speed of the leader, speed of the team” captures the reality that the leader of a group of people sets the tone and pace for the group. Of course, there are exceptions. There are times that gifted people with high integrity give themselves fully to their work despite their leader being disengaged or disingenuous. But often the axiom is true. Healthy teams are typically led by healthy leaders. Here are ten ways leaders shape the teams they lead.... Read More

When Christians Just Don’t Read the Bible

The issue is not ignorance, personal expectation, or raw ability, but commitment. People simply do not do what they believe they ought to do and, on one level, actually want to do. This leads me to a few points of personal application that may be helpful to you as well. Read More

4 Ways to Read the Bible for Personal Application

It is a marvel how personally the Bible applies. The words pointedly address the concerns of long-ago people in faraway places, facing specific problems, many of which no longer exist. They had no difficulty seeing the application. Much of what they read was personal application to actual situations they were facing. But nothing in the Bible was written directly to you or specifically about what you face. We are reading someone else’s mail. Yet the Bible repeatedly affirms that these words are also written for us: “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Rom. 15:4; cf. Deut. 29:29; 1 Cor. 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:15–17). Application today discovers ways in which the Spirit reapplies Scripture in a timely fashion. Read More

7 Principles for Teaching Kids to Interpret the Bible

Of the three steps of Bible study—observation, interpretation, and application—the middle one is often the most daunting. We may hear words like “hermeneutics” (the science of interpretation) or “exegesis” (critical explanation or interpretation of a text) and think interpretation is something best left to experts.

While we should certainly take advantage of the expertise of pastors, scholars, and theologians, basic interpretation of the Bible is a necessary task for every believer. Here are seven principles that should guide your efforts as you teach children to interpret the Bible. Read More

This is the second in a three-part series on teaching children to study the Bible. See also part one, How to Teach Your Kids to Study the Bible.

5 Disciple-Making Hijackers

Here are some common disciple-making hijackers we need to avoid becoming or following.... Read More