Saturday Lagniappe: Countdown to Christmas and More

Christmas: Not the Way We Would Have Done It, Lord!

God rarely does anything as we would have done it or expected it. In the 8th century B.C., God told Israel, “Your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). So, when God got ready to put His earth-saving plan into effect, we may expect it to be different. Vastly different from how we would have done it. Read More

The 10 Christmas Commandments

Kyle and Matt discuss five things TO DO and five things NOT TO DO during Christmas at your church...let's just call 'em the 10 Christmas Commandments. Please note: The views expressed are the views of the one that expresses them, not necessarily both knuckleheads on the pod. Listen Now

Why the fuss about the three wise men? First the Bible does not specify how many magi, or wise men, visited the infant Jesus. Second, the Bible tells us that the magi did not visit the infant Jesus on the night that he was born but several months after his birth.

Unadorned Clay Pots: The Best Gift for the Lonely at Christmas

Are you one of those people who make a list and stock Christmas gifts the whole year through? If not, you will probably spend the last few weeks before Christmas worrying about what present will please your relatives, particularly those you don’t know well because you don’t see them very often. Yet the best gift of all, the one that literally changes lives, is the simplest. And, like an expensive fragrance, its effects last for a long time. I’ll come back to this later. Read More

Religious California Town May Hold Lessons for Living Longer

People in the area live 8 to 10 years longer. Read More

Should Christians Be Vegan

Christians have not been prominent among the rapid growth in those moving towards a vegan diet in recent years, but David Clough argues they have strong faith-based reasons to reduce or eliminate animal products in their diet. Read More

Animals Targeted in ‘Occult’ Attacks in Hampshire

Occult symbols have been painted on a killed sheep and on the door of a church in a spate of attacks in the New Forest which are believed to be linked. A sheep and two cows have been attacked as well as well as Satanic symbols painted on the door of St Peter’s Church in Bramshaw, Hampshire. Read More

Preaching Interview: Matt Hensley [Podcast]

Matt Henslee sits down with Dr. Barry McCarty for an interview to discuss preaching in rural churches. Listen Now

Reaching a New Generation with the Bible

We can no longer depend on methods that worked 20 years ago. Read More

Four Suggestions for Making Your Way through the Old Testament

Josh Philpot offers four suggestions for making your way through the Old Testament. Read More

A Revolutionary Prayer Life

Somewhere near the top of the list of questions that send most conversations amongst Christians into a tailspin is this one: “So, how’s your prayer life?” Read More

45 Recipes Grandma Stole from Her Church Friends

You and your church may find these recipes from Taste of Home useful during the holiday season and throughout the year. Read More

Judea, Suburbia, to the Ends of the Earth

Suburban America is a strategic mission field. Read More

Door-to-Door with a Difference

Given that so few people in our communities engage with the Church or formal religion, it is surprising when we expend so much of our evangelistic efforts at ‘bringing them to us’. Do we put on gospel services regularly and just expect people to find their way into an alien building to partake in the strange ritual of a church service? Events in neutral buildings such as cafes or restaurants are easier for visitors to come to, but this still depends upon someone being invited. The issue is – how do we reach out to the unchurched, how do we undertake the equivalent of ‘cold calling’ in our day? Read More

Sharing Jesus with your Hindu Neighbour

Have you got Hindu neighbours or workmates? Would you like to share your faith with them but wonder where to start? Read on. You might be the only follower of Jesus your friend has ever met. If you don’t give it a try, maybe they won’t have another opportunity. Read More

Top Tips for Sharing Jesus with Muslims

Brother Silas, a missionary with the London City Mission has spent the last 30 years sharing Jesus with people from Muslim communities, both in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. Here are his top tips for beginning gospel conversations with Muslims. Read More

Sharing Jesus with your Sikh Neighbour

Mark Pickett offers ten tips for sharing Christ with Sikhs. Read More

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #54

5 Ways--No, 6--To Lull Your Listeners To Sleep

There's nothing like a good snoozer of a sermon. But what does it take to preach a sermon that makes your listeners fall sound asleep? Read More

Exegeting Your Audience

Pastors, it is important to know and understand your audience. The truth of Scripture never changes, but the way we communicate that truth should if we want to be truly effective in reaching people with the Gospel. So here are a few quick tips for exegeting your audience.... Read More

3 Questions to Help You Apply the Bible to Today

We must preach the biblical text to the point that people see how it comes to bear on their lives today. If we fail to do this, we have failed to preach. So how can we do this well? How can we apply the Bible to today in our preaching? I have found that asking the right questions of the text makes all the difference. Read More

How to Preach Without Chapters and Verses

In our last article we explored a new way to think about Bible study. This week we’ll look at the implications our “read first” approach has for how we preach the Bible. Read More

A Contagious Pulpit

I remember Haddon Robinson saying that a mist in the pulpit will result in a fog in the pew. It seems so obvious to say it, but there is a strong connection between what is going on in the preacher and what will go on in the listeners. This is true both positively and negatively. Here are some examples with brief comment.... Read More

Destroy a Church in 4 Simple Steps

Here are those four simple steps that lead to a church’s self-destruction. Read More

Protect Your Church in One Simple Step

The church that remains faithful to God is the church that remains faithful to the Word of God. The healthy church is the preaching church. Read More

6 Bullet Points on Preaching

The Apostle Paul had a lot to say about preaching, but I think the majority of it can be grouped under six main headings or ideas. You could, of course, extract specific teaching points from each one, but I think there’s value in looking at them in a broad sense. Here is what Paul says about the preaching of God’s Word.... Read More

The Kind of Preaching God Blesses

There are some books on preaching that are meant for preachers. These are books that teach the nuts and bolts of preaching, that are full of practical tips and illustration. There is a place for such works. There are other books on preaching that are meant for all Christians. These are books that describe the power and priority of preaching in the Christian church and in the Christian life. Steven Lawson’s The Kind of Preaching God Blesses falls squarely in the second category. This is a book for all of us whether we preach weekly, preach occasionally or never preach at all. Read More

8 Ways Expository Preaching Changed Our Church

Faithful expository preaching meant that the Word of God is presented as the words of God. It sounds funny to write it that way, in tautology, but this was earth-shaking news. Every word of Scripture was pure ‘truth’ and ‘argument’ of God, flowing out upon people, forcing they either accept or reject His holy position. The light had dawned: expositional preaching was the only preaching that had any power. Faithful preaching could only be expositional preaching. Read More

Store Away The Criticisms For Tuesday Morning (And 3 More Great Suggestions)

One of the most dangerous times for a pastor are the hours following his Sunday sermon. Read More

10 Reasons I Don’t Use Negative 10-Point Lists In Preaching

A tongue-in-cheek commentary on a popular preaching style. Have you ever used it? How'd it work for you? Read More

Staying Sharp as a Preacher: The Power of Illustration

One of the keys to staying sharp as a preacher is to continually hone your powers to illustrate and to apply biblical texts. This need is often expressed to me by preachers and students of preaching with this question: “Where do I find good illustrations?” The answer is what I have come to call my watchword for preaching, rhetoric, and simply being a literate person in general: “Read widely, live observantly, and look up stuff.” Read More

The Secret To Picking The Best Illustration? It's Right In Front Of You!

We must think deeply about how our illustration choices affect how our congregation hears our sermon. Read More

Are You A Pastor Stuck On Hurry?

Hurry is an enemy of learning. Leaders are always looking ahead for the next hill to climb. But sometimes we must pause and make ourselves fully present in the moment so we don't miss God's subtle, but important lessons. Read More

Sermon Critique

The routine of preparation and delivery can subtly pull us into complacency, which will keep us from ever giving our best for the glory of God. Opening ourselves to meaningful critique of our sermons will help us avoid complacency and refresh our drive for excellence in preaching. Read More

How To Do Bible Study Without Chapters and Verses

We’ve been making the case over the last few months for rediscovering the power of Bible reading. In many ways, simple and straightforward reading has been the forgotten practice in the modern era of the Bible. We contend that reading whole books remains the first and most natural thing to do with the Bible.

But what about all the other things we do with the Bible? What about Bible study? Should we still be taking closer looks at smaller parts of the Bible? And does this “read first” approach have any implications for how we preach and teach the Bible? We’ll start this new mini-series of articles by taking a closer look at what it means to study the Bible. Read More

Related Articles:
How Personal Application Can Derail Your Bible Reading
How We Receive Guidance From the Bible’s Story What Is Immerse?
The Story Behind Immerse
Video Story: Immerse at Southern Wesleyan University [Video]
Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience [Video]

The Bible was not divided into chapters until the early 13th century. It was not divided into verses until the mid-16th century. See the Wikipedia article "Chapters and verses of the Bible." When you read an Immerse Bible, you experience the Bible as would have Christians in the first thirteen centuries of Christianity.

Friday's Catch: Entry Points, Middle Doors, and More

Create New Entry Points

Congregations cannot stand by passively and expect people to walk through the front doors of the church on Sunday morning. Churches must break the traditional rules of evangelism and provide multiple, creative, and easily-accessible entry points to faith communities. Read More

When Churches Say No

Why have people come to expect that the answer to anything new in the church is No? Perhaps it’s because the church sends a thousand subtle messages of being closed to new people, new ideas, and new experiences without even realizing it. Not only are some churches saying No to new ideas, they are also saying No to new people without being aware they are doing so. Most congregations think of themselves as friendly, welcoming communities, open to ideas and new people. But in reality outsiders and newcomers often feel closed out and shut down. The church thinks it’s saying Yes, when in fact it is saying No. Read More

Understanding Resistance to Change in Churches [Podcast]

In this podcast Thom and Sam Rainer discuss an incredibly common topic and major pain point for many churches: change and why resistance to change exists. Listen Now

A Mother And Daughter On Homelessness, Humility And A $6-A-Week Grocery Budget

The day before Ashley Baker turned 16 years old, she moved into a Dallas motel with her mom. They were newly homeless. Sandy, Ashley's mother, then 44, had just left a troubled marriage, scraped together what money she could and left home with Ashley. For the next two and a half years, they were homeless. They recounted the challenges they faced during a recent StoryCorps interview in Dallas. Read More

Note how a church played an important role in helping this homeless mother and daughter to find a new home.

25 Best Christmas Nativity Crafts for Kids in Your Children’s Ministry

With so much to do this time of year, we know that you’re looking for easy Nativity Christmas crafts that also have a wow factor! And…we know that you want to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas. That’s why we found nativity crafts–and not just any craft. Here are 25 of the best nativity Christmas crafts we found for you on Pinterest and the internet. Enjoy! Read More

Where To Find Great Video Production Blogs

Knowing the top five video production blogs online and how they can help you, will ensure that you know exactly where to go when you have questions about how to create and edit your video production. Read More

Impeachment, Impatience, and Our Call to Follow Christ

As you watch the impeachment hearings, think through whether remaining silent is going to hinder your gospel witness. Read More

Give Us This Day Our Daily Catch

With the oceans no longer teeming with life, scientists and missionaries alike challenge Christians to faithfulness in the face of daunting odds.

Last month, the United Nations released a sobering report about the state of the earth’s oceans. The 1,200-page document, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reported warming water temperatures and sharp declines in fish populations and warned that ocean levels could rise up to three feet by the end of the century.

That’s in stark contrast to early history as accounted in the Bible, pointed out Bob Sluka, the lead scientist of A Rocha’s Marine and Coastal Conservation Program. “Genesis 1 talks about the oceans teeming with life in abundance,” he said. “The only place these days to really see that is in marine protected areas.”

The report is a first for oceans and a wake-up call, said Kyle Van Houtan, chief scientist at the internationally-acclaimed Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. “What this report says, at the highest level, is that the ocean has been buffering the impacts of climate change for decades, and that buffering has a limit,” Van Houtan said. “Even though it has an immense ability to absorb and buffer heat and carbon from us, our industries, and our activities, it cannot do that indefinitely.” Read More

What You Believe Affects How You Live

Surrounded by the Colorado mountains, Lauryn Maloney-Gepfert is teaching people how to walk. Or rather, I should say, she is teaching people how to walk…again. The physician’s assistant developed a program called Neuroplastic Functional Training (NFT) and the results are nothing short of miraculous. People with debilitating injuries were beating insurmountable odds. Patients whose prognosis was lifelong paralysis, who were told that, at best, they might be able to feed themselves, were now fully functioning, walking, even getting up from the ground unassisted.

They relearned how to walk through Maloney-Gepfert’s whole-person approach. She found that recovery was indeed possible, but it had to include all aspects of a person’s being. Her method focuses on physical movement (the body), neuroplasticity (the brain), and one more element – the mind.

She explained that patients begin the healing with mental barriers that impede their recovery. These barriers inhibit the brain from changing and, as a result, keep the body from moving. Someone who hears she will never walk again and accepts that message inhibits her brain from relearning how to function.

Maloney-Gepfert discovered that what we believe about ourselves affects how our brain neurologically functions, which quite literally affects how we live. Our minds consciously choose what messages it accepts about ourselves, which changes our brains, which changes how we live. In other words, a vital factor in whether a paralyzed patient will ever walk again is what she believes. Before she can go from immobile to fully-functioning, she has to believe that she will walk again.

As I heard these miraculous stories, I thought of how much this applies to spiritual change. Our minds choose what we will believe, which changes how we think, and changes how we live. Read More

Thursday's Catch: Understanding the Growth of Non-Religious Affiliated Americans and More

What to Understand about Christianity’s Decline in America [Podcast]

Last month, Pew Research Center published survey data from 2018 and 2019 on religion and Americans. The big takeaway: the number of non-religiously affiliated Americans was growing; the number of Christians was declining. Here’s how they summed it up.... Listen Now

Seven Important Scorecards for Revitalization [Podcast]

Measurements are important. Numbers tell us where we have been and where we might be headed. Thom and Kevin take this episode to discuss 7 important metrics that should be included on a church revitalization scorecard. Listen Now

Should Your Church Stop Having a Stand and Greet Time

What is it about this stand and greet time that many guests don’t like? Here are the seven most common responses, again listed in order of frequency. Read More

Keeping Your Advent Preaching Fresh [Podcast]

Kyle and Matt are all by themselves on this episode. No special guests, just the two of us waxing eloquently on ways to keep your Advent preaching fresh. Whether you're a hard-core Text-driven guy or all-in on all things Advent, you'll find something for you on this chat. Enjoy! Listen Now

Pray for Christians in These Five Countries Where the Persecution Is Extreme

Did you know one of the most common requests of persecuted Christians is that people would pray for them? Around the world today, Christians are suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ. They may not have the ability to write us letters and ask for our prayers, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if our persecuted brothers and sisters were also those who received the most support through intercessory prayer. Here are five countries where the persecution of Christians is considered the most extreme. Open Doors has provided several helpful suggestions for how to pray for people in each of these countries. Read More

55 Years of Evangelism... We Still Have a Ton to Learn

At the Luis Palau Association, we’ve spent the last 55 years talking about evangelism. In the last year, we’ve decided to stop talking about evangelism. Why? Because positioning ourselves as learners enables us to discover some of the best ways people are evangelizing today. Read More

Surviving the Holiday Season

Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the most stressful holidays of the year. When I was involved in child welfare work in Louisiana, we saw a spike in referrals during this time of the year. There are a lot of reasons why these holidays can be stressful. It is my hope that these three articles will be helpful to not only pastors and their families but also to the members of their congregations and those who are not yet a part of a local Christian community. 

7 Tips for Peace During the Hustle and Bustle of the Holidays

Thanksgiving and Christmas make up a wonderful time of the year—one that’s especially meaningful for the church. However, these holidays can also leave a pastor completely exhausted. How can you enjoy the holidays and avoid exhaustion? Here are a few tips.... Read More

How to Handle Family Conflict This Holiday Season

We are broken people, which is why the first and most essential step for handling family conflict is to constantly remind ourselves that our homes are broken because we are all sinners. The most important tool for handling family conflict is to keep your focus on Christ and to constantly search his Word to understand his commands for you and your family. But you should also keep certain principles in mind as you deal faithfully with family conflicts this holiday season. Read More

Holiday Hosting Hacks That Free Your to Serve

Entertaining during Thanksgiving and Christmas can be stressful but a lot of pressure can be eliminated with a little planning and by keeping our daily focus Jesus’ command to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39). Here are a few tips to get organized and prepared so we’ll have room to do what Jesus calls us to do. Read More

Wednesday's Catch: The Effects of Decreased Church Attendance and More

How a Decrease in Attendance Frequency is Affecting Your Church

A phenomenon is impacting churches across the United States. Maybe your church is an anomaly. But most churches—regardless of size and denominational affiliation—are experiencing a decrease in attendance frequency. Attendance frequency measures how often a person comes to church. For example, an “active” member was once considered someone who came twice, or even three times a week. Today an active member is considered someone who comes twice a month. Read More

Jesus Came to Proclaim Good News to the Poor. But Now They’re Leaving Church.

It’s well-established that the gap between the middle class and those who earn the highest incomes in the United States has grown wider over time, spurring partisan responses over how or whether to address income inequality. But there’s a facet of this issue that should be particularly worrisome to Christians: Many of the poorest Americans are abandoning church en masse. By stepping away from church communities, the people who are most financially strapped also end up losing out on social networks and social capital—which can make their economic situation and outlook even worse. Read More

Young Adults Feel Isolated and Anxious

As Americans gather with family and friends this week, many young adults in the United States and around the world report feeling lonely and isolated. Only a third of young adults around the world say they often feel cared for by those around me (33%) and often feel someone believes in me (32%), according to a survey from Barna and World Vision of 18- to 35-year-olds from 25 countries. Read More

What’s Next for the Multisite Church?

In a short time, one church in multiple locations has become a new normal. A pioneer of the model predicts where it’s headed. Read More

While the number of multisite churches have grown exponentially in recent years, it is an exaggeration to characterize them as a "new normal." The number of non-multisite churches still exceeds that of multisite churches. As has been noted in several articles posted on Anglicans Ablaze, there is also a trend away from multisite churches.

Is Positive Psychology All It’s Cracked Up to Be?

To many of its followers, the movement is a godsend, answering a need to belong to something larger than themselves and holding out the chance of better, fuller lives through truly effective techniques backed by science. To its critics, that science is undercut by positive psychology’s moralizing, its mysticism, and its money-spinning commercialization. But how valid are these concerns, and do they matter if positive psychology makes people happy? Read More

With Joel Olsteen, Kanye Drops a Clue about His Faith and His Kinship with Trump

This past Sunday, Kanye West appeared in front of perhaps his biggest church audience yet: Lakewood Church of Houston, pastored by Joel Osteen. West wore a blazer and crew neck sweater — a more conservative outfit than his typical fashion-forward attire. Answering a series of questions that felt more suited for a midday Christian talk show, West revealed a tidbit that goes a long way toward explaining why Kanye is Kanye. Read More

Kanye West's recent conversion has prompted a slew of articles on the Internet. This article offers some insight into his religious background. New Thought not only has connections to Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science but also E. W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, and the Word of Faith movement.

Called to Discipleship, Called to Community

Why the Christian Life is a Call to Community

The mom with three small children, the overseas missionary, the 50-year-old caring for aging parents, the one who’s chronically sick—they’ll tell you there’s no cookie-cutter shape for community. But one thing’s for certain: we need each other. Read More

7 Practical and Everyday Ways to Encourage

he ability to encourage others is an essential skill for any leader. The desire to encourage others is an essential disposition of the heart for any leader. In fact, if encouragement is not a natural part of your leadership, you may unintentionally push people away from you rather than draw them to you. Read More

Encouraging others, whether they are fellow Christians or non-believers, is a part of Christian discipleship. It is not something that only church leaders should be expected to do.

12 Vital Reasons Each of Us Should Be Part of A Church

Do you really need to be involved in a church? Can’t believers just worship Jesus on their own? Why do we need to be involved in “organized religion?” It seems like a growing trend that many Christians don’t believe they need to be part of a church. Read More

The 3 Kinds of People in Every Church

In Judson Edward’s book, The Leadership Labyrinth, he describes 21 paradoxes in ministry. He defines the ‘relationship paradox’ in this way: the people who like you the most will be the ones you try least to please. He then writes that these three kinds of people fill every church. His insights are quite helpful. Read More

Partnering for Mission

How to Select a Mission Partner

How do you begin to select a mission partner with so many out there? What do you say when you’re inundated with requests? I’ve created three filters that help on the front end. There is more to selecting a mission partner than these filters. However, with three simple requirements, you can eliminate most requests without sounding harsh with a quick “no.” Read More

How an International Partnership Could Benefit Your Church

Insofar as our churches join in the discipleship of other nations, our church members will also be discipled. Jesus poured himself out that we might go and do likewise. This—this!—is the joy-filled, upside-down, counterintuitive way to pursue Christlikeness. It will take time. Years are needed to cross geographic, linguistic, cultural, and traditional barriers. Those who’ve experienced success say it takes at least three years of intentionality to see real fruit in both church bodies. But it’s worth it. Read More

Reaching and Revitalizing Rural America: Overcoming Misconceptions, and Answering the Call (Part 2)

Misconception #2: Idyllic Life

The second misconception is that rural America is doing fine, while the inner cities alone are in decline. Though the general population of rural communities is diverse, there are challenges that are increasingly pervasive and common among many of these people groups. This is due in part to national trends in population migration. Over the past century, the U.S. has seen ongoing urbanization. In 1900, roughly 35 percent of the population lived in metropolitan areas. Today, that number is 86 percent. Urban sprawl has overtaken many formerly rural counties, transforming and reclassifying them. Fewer than 50 million people currently live in the 1,976 counties that remain classified as non-metro today, and the collective population within those counties is shrinking.

The result is a smaller American countryside comprised of slower-growing counties with a reduced and stagnant economic potential. Despite a resurgence of jobs and rising wages since the economic downturn of 2008, recovery in rural America is slower. In fact, rural employment rates remain below pre-recession levels.

A 25 percent decline in rural manufacturing caused 700,000 jobs to disappear between 2001 and 2015, with many of these jobs moving overseas. The jobs that do exist offer significantly lower salary rates than those in urban places.

Rural areas are also lagging in education and healthcare. Even as national education levels increase, there is a widening gap between the number of urban and rural dwellers with college degrees.

The Demographics Research Group at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia reports that since 1990, college graduates living at the center of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas soared by 23 percentage points, while in communities 30 miles away, the rise was merely 10 points. The gap grows as one continues to move further out from the city. This is due in part to the relocation of those who obtain degrees to find more economic opportunity. Read More

Core Convictions about Prayer

To experience God in our midst we must be people of prayer. To be people of prayer we need to know what prayer is. From the example of David in Psalm 109, we can see that prayer is the total offering of oneself to God for everything that is needed. Because of this people of prayer affirm several core convictions. Read More

Related Articles:
You May Not Know What to Pray, but the Holy Spirit Does
How to Pray for the Global Church
How to Pray for Your Pastor
20 Ways to Pray for Worship Leaders
A Simple Method for Church Leaders to Pray One Hour a Day
You Pray the Lord’s Prayer. But Do You Understand It?

Five Reasons Rural and Small-Town Churches Are Making a Comeback

The obituaries of rural and small-town churches are premature.

Indeed, we continue to see clear evidence of hope and promise for both the churches and the communities. While the need is still great in the cities and more urban populations, we cannot ignore God’s work and opportunities in less populous areas.

What is taking place to give us such optimism and hope? Allow me to share five reasons. I must admit I was surprised at some of the research I found on this topic. Read More

Is It OK to Confess That Jesus Descended into Hell?

If your church has ever recited the Apostles’ Creed, you’re probably familiar with that awkward feeling you get when you come to the part that says “he descended into hell.” Numerous questions come to mind. For example:

• Why would he do that?
• Did he suffer there?
• Where does the Bible say this?
• Doesn’t Luke 23:43 explicitly say that Jesus went to paradise when he died?

And so on. Unanswered questions like these have led some Christians to simply remain silent when their congregation recites this part of the creed. Other churches have chosen to delete the phrase altogether. Indeed, no other line of the Apostles’ Creed has received so much pushback from modern evangelicals. In 1991, theologian Wayne Grudem wrote an article titled “He Did Not Descend into Hell: A Plea for Following Scripture Instead of the Apostles’ Creed.” His arguments have been echoed by many others.

Now clearly, if the Apostles’ Creed is at odds with Scripture on this point, we should go with the source that’s God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). At the same time, the Protestant view of sola Scriptura has never denied the role of creeds and confessions. Indeed, Protestant confessions like the Belgic Confession and the Thirty-nine Articles explicitly affirmed “the three creeds”: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian. The Heidelberg Catechism structures many of its questions and answers around the Apostles’ Creed. So despite not being inspired, it would seem that with a creed as ancient and basic and widely confessed as the Apostles’ Creed, you would need a pretty good reason to disagree.

Do we have such a reason in this case? Matthew Emerson thinks not. Emerson is a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, executive director for The Center for Baptist Renewal, and blogger at Biblical Reasoning. And in his new book, ‘He Descended to the Dead’: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday, Emerson argues that the doctrine of Christ’s descent, besides being the ancient faith of the church, rests on a firm biblical foundation and has great practical significance. As such it ought to be retrieved by those who don’t currently confess it, and better understood by some who do.

This is a book every evangelical and Reformed pastor should read, especially those whose churches recite the Apostles’ Creed. Not everyone will agree with Emerson’s answer. But it deserves to be considered, and it has the potential to bring greater unity and understanding to the body of Christ.

In this review, I want to draw out three points about Christ’s descent from Emerson’s book. Read More

This controversy is not new. It goes back to the eighteenth century if not earlier. See E Clowes Chorley's The New American Prayer Book: Its History and Content. 

Is youth ministry a BIG strategic focus in your church? It should be!

Youth ministry is often dismissed as something less than strategic in far too many churches. Some even view it as a kind of glorified babysitting. In their thinking, teens need just enough games and God to keep them coming back....until they are old enough to make a difference in the church.

The unspoken implication is that teenagers aren't "real members" until they are old enough to have jobs, give offerings and serve in the big boy/big girl roles of the church.

But Jesus didn't wait for the disciples to get out of their teen years to appoint them as "real" apostles. He appointed them to lead the charge while they were still in their teen years.

Do you find that hard to believe? Then check out Matthew 17:24-27 where Peter, Jesus and the disciples go to Capernaum but only Peter and Jesus pay the Temple Tax. If you cross reference this passage with Exodus 30:14 you'll see that this particular tax, originally the Tabernacle Tax, was only applicable to those 20 years and older.

All the disciples were there but only Peter and Jesus paid the Temple Tax. That means that, 11 of the 12 apostles, were teenagers when they began to follow Jesus.

Why in the world would Jesus choose mostly teenagers to lead the charge for the most important mission in history? Wrestle with that question!

How can you utilize and mobilize the teenagers in your youth group for community-wide impact like Jesus did? Wrestle through that question too!

Here's a few realities to think about as you do.... Read More

Young people assumed adult responsibilities at a much earlier age in past centuries than they do today or they did in the last century. Adolescence is a relatively modern development.

Why Church Planting in Rural Areas is Urgently Needed

Part One: The State of Things

“Rural America has become the new inner city,” recently reports one popular news source.

From the earliest days of my own ministry training and down through the years the message has been: the church needs to focus on the cities. “The Apostle Paul did cities.” “Rural areas are already adequately churched. The future of culture, power, and decision-making is determined by the metropolitan areas.” “The city is where it’s at. The rural areas will do fine on their own.” Indeed, it’s considered hip to live and minister in the inner city. A church planter who goes to the city is considered a missionary so fundraising makes sense. However a church planter who “settles” for a small town risks being considered as settling for less meaningful ministry, and fundraising will be a more difficult sell.

The myth and mystique of Mayberry still lives on in the American psyche as the idealized version of “real America”. All is well in Small Town, USA. The data, however, paint a different picture.

What do we mean by “rural”? There’s no one definition. “Areas with a population center under 50,000” is sometimes used. “Micropolitan” is used to describe rural statistical areas; and some suggest that if the town has a Starbucks it’s not rural, but if there’s a Subway in the gas station it’s rural.

Fundamentally, rural is something of an ethos, not just a statistical construct, so hard boundaries and rigid categories don’t really apply. Rural also implies a state of remoteness–a feeling of being isolated from mainstream culture, and being at least somewhat removed from a practical availability of goods and services. Simply put, rural is what is not urban, and it’s what needs intentional resourcing.

This is not to say that cities are no longer important. They are. Nor is it to say that urban ministry isn’t still needed. It is. Yet, it is to say that there are critical needs in non-urban areas that are being overlooked, and that these needs can best be met by multiplying healthy rural churches. Let’s look at four of these critical challenges. Read More

Related Articles:
Go Big or Go Home: Reimagining Rural Church Planting
Rural Matters: Placing Rural Church Planting Back on the Map
3 Reasons We Need Rural Church Plants

4 Keys to Replanting Rural Churches

There are no-name places all over the nation. These are places the rest of the world has forgotten about (it’s called fly-over country for a reason).

But in these places are people serving God faithfully who want to see the Kingdom of God expand. Not to mention scores of people who need Jesus. Read More

Related Articles, Podcasts, and Resources:
"Fun" with Facilities Text-Driven Preaching [Podcast]
Preaching Source
Visitor Follow-Up [Podcast]
Preaching in Rural Churches [Podcast]
Replanting Rural Churches Intro [Podcast]
Praying in Rural Churches [Podcast]
Passion in Rural Churches [Podcast]
Persevering in Rural Churches [Podcast]
Not Another Baptist Podcast
4 Tips for Praying in a Rural Church
Rural Replanting

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #53

Preaching Is Worship, Not Performance

I’ve learned (okay, I’m learning) I’m not performing before an audience, I’m worshipping an audience of One! Read More

The Overlooked Answer To Powerful Preaching

Before the preacher can persuade any sinner to turn to Christ, he must first be persuaded himself. Read More

Prepare the Preacher Before Preparing the Sermon

Preparing the message you are going to preach is a hard process. I fall into the temptation every week to just jump right in whether that be on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. I have learned some important truths though. If I am not personally prepared spiritually, physically, and mentally to start this task then I will end up frustrated, unproductive, and unfulfilled. Here are some things I have learned to do to prepare myself before I prepare a sermon. Read More

Preaching That Connects The Dots: The Cross, The Sermon And Discipleship

Personal identification and participation with Jesus marks the life of each disciple—past, present and future. Read More

Too Many Listeners Hear Blah, Blah While We Try To Present Wow, Wow!

Part of the preacher's role is to slow people down and to help them make sense of what the text is actually saying. Read More

5 Reasons I Often Begin a Sermon with a Personal Illustration

Chuck Lawless explains why he often begins a sermon with some kind of personal illustration. Read More

Practice Your Sermon Delivery? Yes: 7 Elements Of Great Practice

Three factors have made the biggest positive difference for me: preparing my heart before the Lord, scheduling adequate study time to avoid feeling rushed and practicing preaching my sermon. Read More

Four Different Communication Styles and How Each Can Improve

Over the last 20 years, I have coached business leaders, preachers and teachers on how to make their next presentation their best presentation. During this time, I’ve noticed there are four presenter voices and that we usually have one of these as a primary voice. When we discover which one of these four voices is our dominant voice, it allows us to leverage the strength of that voice while avoiding the weakness. This helps in a variety of ways but most importantly it helps in our preparation process. This is why discovering your presenter voice is so important. The better you prepare, the better you present. Read More

Issues in Contemporary Worship

4 Reasons to Plan Worship Around the Word

What is the rationale for singing the songs you do in worship? On what basis do you say yes to one song or no to another? For me, it’s very simple. The songs we sing on Sunday are selected not based on a song’s style, but on the text I’m preaching. Read More

In his article Andrew Hébert overlooks two other important considerations in the selection of hymns and songs for a worship gathering--the juncture in the service in which the hymn or song will be sung and the occasion or season of the church year. Some hymns and songs can be used at a variety of junctures in the service. Others, however, are suited for only a particular juncture in the service--at the opening of the service, between the lessons, after the sermon, during the Lord's Supper, or at the close of the service. In churches that observe the Christian calendar of festivals and seasons, the particular festival or season should also be considered in the selection of  hymns and songs. A well-planned service strikes a balance between all these considerations. It also strikes a balance between the didactic and the doxological.

The Crucial Discipline Church Leaders Often Neglect on Sundays

We don’t have to be so focused on the sermon we are about to preach that we can’t sing and pray with the congregation. We shouldn’t neglect these aspects of worship as if we don’t need them. We can, and should, worship the Lord together. Here are five reasons I make worshipping with the congregation I serve a priority. Read More

Music and Your Brain, Worship and Your Heart

The thing about music is that it deeply shapes us—often without us recognizing the full extent of its influence. Read More

4 Reasons Modern Worship Services Should Engage the Emotions

Churches, on the whole, should be infusing more emotional engagement into their worship services and not less. Read More

In addition, a well-planned service strikes a balance between head and heart.

Analog Vs. Digital Mixer – The Great Debate 

Analog Vs. Digital Mixer? Both an analog mixer and a digital mixer can deliver fantastic sound, but they represent different ways of thinking about the process and the finished result. There are some musicians who are die-hard analog enthusiasts who swear that they will never go digital. They believe the analog components sound superior to digital, i.e., that they give a warmer and richer sound. Yet others prefer digital mixers. Read More

This Is How to Answer the Question About Gender Pronouns

On his latest “Ask Me Anything” podcast, Pastor J.D. Greear answered the question of whether or not Christians should use a trans person’s preferred gender pronouns. In his response, Greear said he follows several principles that lead him to conclude, “Personally…if a transgender person came into our church, came into my life, I think my disposition would be to refer to them by their preferred pronoun.” Read More

You may also want to listen to Greear's podcast, "When talking with a transgender person, which pronoun should you use?"

There are undeniable biological differences between men and women but the extent to which these differences are recognized is determined by our language and our culture. Some languages unlike English are not only genderless but also gender-neutral. See the Wikipedia article, "Gender neutrality in genderless languages". This knowledge may be helpful in deciding what gender pronoun we should use in particular circumstances.

Often the struggle over what gender pronoun we should use come down to the weight that we have learned to give to the conventions of a language. In Japanese, for example, the use of the second person pronoun "anata" has certain connotations. Due to these connotations it is common to hear someone refer to a person by name when speaking to that person rather than use "anata." For instance, one might say "Mary-san's handbag" rather than "your handbag." It would be considered rude and excessively familiar to use "anata." .

4 Things Our Small Church Did to Multiply

Earlier this fall, we had the privilege of sending out a new church plant into our city.

When we think about sending out new churches, many think only large churches with substantial resources can do such work. However, though our church would be considered relatively small, we’re experiencing the joy of helping start a new church.

Here are four intentional things we did.... Read More

Related Articles
5 Ways a Church Can Cultivate an Environment of Multiplication
3 Ways Story Telling Can Build a Sending Culture

Six Lessons from Luther's Preaching

Many think of Martin Luther primarily as a reformer. However, he thought of himself first and foremost, as a preacher. John Ker wrote, “Preaching was the center and spring of his power; by preaching he moved Germany and then Europe, till he shook the Papal throne. Melanchthon was a scholar and theologian, Calvin was a theologian and an exegete, Cranmer was a religious statesman; Luther was great in all those respects, but still greater as a preacher.” What can we learn from Luther the preacher? Read More

10 Things You Should Know about Demons and Satan

This article is part of the 10 Things You Should Know series.

1. Demons are fallen angels.

Sometimes our theology textbooks state that sin first came into the world with the sin in the garden, but already there was a fall before the human fall. The serpent came into the garden from the outside and with evil intent (Gen. 3:1–2). The serpent questioned God’s goodness by insinuating that God was withholding something good from his human images. Later in Scripture, the devil is described as “that ancient serpent” (Rev. 20:2). How much more we would like to know about all this. However, Scripture is addressed to us and not to angels. What we do know is that Satan leads an army of rebellious angels (Rev. 12:7–8), who are now cast out of heaven. Demons are these fallen angels. Demons are not ministering spirits, but spoilers.

2. Demons have a leader.

Satan is their leader. Was he a cherub gone wrong or was he an archangel gone wrong? We do not know for sure. Michael and his angels defeat him and his angels in battle. So, he was defeated by an archangel (Rev.12:7). Scripture has a number of titles in addition to “Satan” and “devil” that sum him up. Millard J. Erickson1 provides a handy summary of them: “Several other terms are used of him less frequently: tempter (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5), Beelzebul (Matt. 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 19), enemy (Matt. 13:39), evil one (Matt. 13:19, 38; 1 John 2:13; 3:12; 5:18), Belial (2 Cor. 6:15); adversary (1 Peter 5:8), deceiver (Rev. 12:9), great dragon (Rev. 12:3), father of lies (John 8:44), murderer (John 8:44), sinner (1 John 3:8). Read More

Related Article and Video:
The Devilishness of ‘Let Go and Let God’ Theology
Were the sons of God in Genesis 6 fallen angels? Who were the Nephilim? [Video]

The Worst Time to Plant a Church

In 2006, more than 90 percent of The Falls Church voted to leave the Episcopal denomination.

In one sense, the decision was easy—two years earlier, The Episcopal Church (TEC) had installed openly gay bishop Gene Robinson, the “flash point that showed how far the repudiation of Christian orthodoxy had gone,” wrote The Falls Church then-rector John Yates and author Os Guinness.

In another sense, the decision was painfully difficult. Technically, everything The Falls Church had purchased—from the buildings to the communion silver to the choir robes—belonged to TEC. Even though 94 percent of the congregation voted to try to hang onto the $26 million property, they knew they’d have a fight on their hands.

They did. The court battle was expensive ($5 million in legal fees) and exhausting (over five years, The Falls Church saw a ruling for them, an appeal, a ruling against them, a remand back to the trial court, and a final ruling against them). In the end, they’d have to walk away from their building, the parsonage, and the bank account.

But if you’d walked into the sanctuary back then, you wouldn’t immediately know there was trouble. Giving was up, enthusiasm was high, and The Falls Church was—of all things—planting other churches. Read More

Why Plant Churches in Small Towns?

“What? Why?”

That was the first response I heard from someone learning of the Acts 29 Rural Collective, whose focus is churches planting rural churches. Like most other people, they assumed effective church-planting strategies should only (or at least primarily) focus on metropolitan areas.

Sure enough, this was the response I received when I told people I wanted to plant a church in a small town. Instead, I was encouraged to head to the city where there would be more to do, more opportunities, more people to reach. For all but a few I spoke with, small-town ministry was not just an afterthought; it was never a thought.

Few ministries prioritize church-planting efforts to easily forgotten places. The assumption is that those living outside large cities have already been reached with the gospel, and that small towns are idyllic locales free from the brokenness that ravages cities.

Small towns are seeing churches close and divide when they need to be witnessing churches planted and multiplying.

The needs of rural communities, however, mirror those of big cities. Both populations experience crushing poverty (16.6 percent in rural communities versus 17.2 percent in large cities), racism (vestiges of the KKK and redlining remained part of “small-town America” long after the Civil Rights Act), and the need for better community development.

While Acts 29 helps churches plant churches in cities, they also understand the spiritual plight of small towns, forgotten places, rural communities, and secluded villages. Should we plant churches in major cities? Yes, but not at the expense of small communities, since small towns and rural communities are under-gospeled. Read More

Related Articles and Podcast:
To Every Village
Planting in a Small Town
Identifying Leaders in Small Towns
The Rural Reality: An Interview With John Hindley
Pastoring in the Forgotten Places [Podcast]

Tuesday's Catch: The Thriving Rural Church and More

The Thriving Rural Church

While the vast majority of America’s land space is rural and a surprising number of ministry leaders in America have “served time” in rural churches, knowledge, vision and leadership for rural ministry is often overlooked in light of the need to reach the densely populated urban centers and suburban communities. Read More

See also Five Things Small Town Church Planters Wish Their Denominational Leaders Knew, 5 Benefits of Pastoring a Rural Church, Second Shift: Thriving in Bivocational Ministry, 3 Reasons Rural Churches Matter More than You Think, and Four Mistakes Rural Pastors Make (That All Pastors Need to Avoid)

Activists Protest USDA Changes That Threaten Free School Lunch

A proposed rule change to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, threatens free school lunches for a million or more children in the United States. Read More

It is unrealistic to expect church food pantries and community food banks to fill the gap this proposed rule change will create. Children will go hungry.

Five Ways to Address the Oversized Sanctuary [Podcast]

Church practices change with cultural norms. The norm in the church used to be everyone gathering at one time in one place. In this podcast Thom and Sam Rainer discuss changing church practices and five ways to address an oversized sanctuary. Listen Now

6 Key Questions to Ask of Your Sermon Before You Preach It

Before you preach your next sermon, take the time to answer these 6 questions. If you do, you’ll have greater clarity for the content of the message and the congregation will have greater clarity for the expected action from the message. Read More

5 Ways To Overcome Nerves Before You Preach

She took my hand, which was freezing cold, leaned over and whispered, "Are you nervous? Your hand is freezing." I nodded, "Yep." Read More

Toys R' Us Relaunch: What the Church Can Learn from It

What can the church learn from this reopening? Here are couple of biggies.... Read More

When I was involved in guest services and hospitality ministry at the Journey, we served a light breakfast (donuts, breakfast cookies, muffins, granola bars, bananas, etc.) as well as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and bottled water BEFORE the service. This was especially appreciated by parents with young children.

The Inspirational, Interdenominational, Multi-Congregational Ministry Movement

What happens when local churches stop competing and start seeing themselves as multiple sites of God’s Church in a city? Read More

5 Ways to Cultivate a Heart for the Nations 

How can we cultivate a heart for the nations, even nations that may want to kill us? Allow me to offer five ways.... Read More

Half of Pastors See Opoid Abuse in Their Congregations

Nashville-based LifeWay Research asked 1,000 Protestant pastors about their personal connections to the opioid epidemic and how their churches are looking to address the issue. Read More