Monday's Catch: Questions to Ask When Your Church Isn't Growing and More

5 Key Questions You Should Ask if Your Church Isn't Growing

One of the best things any leader can do when they’re in a tough spot is to stop making assumptions and start asking questions. Our assumptions got us to where we are, but they won’t necessarily get us where we need to go. Here are 5 telling questions every leader can ask when their church stops growing.... Read More

Fifteen Characteristics of Genuinely Friendly Churches

This post originally appeared in November 2014. It has been updated to reflect changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

5 Tips for Effective Preaching during Difficult Seasons

How we as ministers are handling this time where the church and the world are experiencing a difficult season—in both a corporate and an individual sense. How are we demonstrating encouragement from our pulpits? Here are five practices—and I’m sure there are more—that have come alive for me in these recent days. Read More

What Does Discipleship Look Like in Real Life

Jesus said, in Mark 1:17, “Follow me … and I will make you fish for people.” The next thing it says in verse 18 is, “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” This exact same pattern is duplicated in verse 20 because, like Miyagi and Daniel, the disciple is supposed to do everything the leader says, without question or hesitation. Such is discipleship in real life. Read More

If “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love,” Will They Know We Are Missionaries by Our Listening?

The brooms in Tanzania start early each day. A familiar “swish, swish, swish” emanates from every house. When I moved here, I was shocked that most women sweep their houses daily and mop the floors three times a week. At first, that routine seemed kind of ridiculous to me. So, I made the most basic mistake warned about in Missionary 101: Judging instead of Listening. I didn’t ask anyone why they swept every day. I didn’t stop to remember that Tanzanians are experts at living in Tanzania. I just stubbornly clung to what I knew to be true of housekeeping in America and tried to apply it here. Read More

12 Key Statements on Human Sexuality

In this article Tim Challies draws attention to the report of the Presbyterian Church in America study committee on human sexuality and the Twelve Statements contained in the report. The report was released in May of this year ahead of the PCA's next General Assembly. Read More