Monday's Catch: The Lonely Crowd and More

The Lonely Crowd: Churches Dying Due to Friendlessness

In the 1950s, sociologist David Riesman coined the term “the lonely crowd,” in part to describe collectives of people who live according to common traditions and conforming values, but who barely know or like each other. I fear the church is in danger of becoming just such a lonely crowd. Read More

Why Do We hate Each Other So Much (5 Reasons Anger Is the New Epidemic)

Christians are not exempt from the trend toward anger, outrage, and division online. In fact, there are a good number of Christians who are fueling it. Read More

7 Kinds of People You Can't Afford to Keep in Leadership

Here’s the strange paradox of leadership: some of the people you think you can’t afford to lose are the very people you can’t afford to keep. So how do you know the difference? Read More

Would A Ten-Minute Sermon Work?

One parishioner said, "If a sermon were a practical, 10-minute exposition of scripture, I’d be happy." Would you be happy, Pastor? Read More

How to Get Your Worship to Flow

What’s one thing that can make or break your effectiveness in worship leading? Flow. Read More

Flow is not only important in a medley of songs but also in the worship service itself. The elements of a worship service should also flow from one element to the next. Those planning a worship service should not be afraid to use silence between the different elements of the service.

5 Steps to Reconnecting Your Church Through Groups

At the time of this writing, coronavirus cases are soaring around the United States, and many states are now stepping back in their reopening plans to hopefully flatten the curve again. Several churches had moved to in-person gatherings again, only to have to move back to online only after outbreaks in their communities. This will further force churches to re-examine discipleship paths and the role of groups in them. Now that we know small groups have to be the priority going forward, what do we do now? Read More

Be Careful Which Way You Lean

We sometimes wind up in a lifestyle we never intended to be in, habitually committing the same sin and scrambling to figure out how we wound up in the destructive cycle. For some of us, it’s anger. For others, it’s lust, pornography, or an illicit relationship. It could be gossip, overeating, occult involvement, or many other things. And Paul, in Galatians, helps us to answer the question, how’d I get to this point? It’s because we leaned toward sin. Read More