Parish Prayers

Parish Prayers, compiled and edited by Frank Colquhoun, is a classic. Colquhoun published a number of collections of prayers but Parish Prayers was his best collection. It contains some of the finest examples of the collect form of prayer not found in The Book of Common Prayer in its 1662 edition. A number of these collects come from other editions of the Prayer Book. While compiled for the Anglicans, the collection can also be used by non-Anglicans. While the prayers in the collection are in the traditional English of the older Prayer Books, they can easily be adapted for use in a service of public worship, which is in modern English. Parish Prayers is also a wonderful resource for those who wish to study the collect form of prayer and to write prayers using that form. Even worship leaders who normally pray extemporaneously in services of public worship may benefit from studying the collect prayer form. New Scriptorium has posted the entire text of Parish Prayers on its website.

What Every Pastor Needs To Know About Their Church Website

Did you know that your church website is the digital front door to your church?

To put it another way, your church website is one of the first impressions that your church leaves with your first-time visitors who are checking you out.

What first impression are you leaving?

Don’t think you aren’t because your website is leaving some kind of impression right now with a first time visitor. Every church website leaves an impression. Good, bad, bland, fun or welcoming. Keep reading

Also see
4 Keys to Creating an Irresistible Church in 2014
8 Reasons Your Easter Visitors Might Not Return
5 Tips for Writing to Your Easter Visitors

With Christmas behind us now is the time to start planning for Easter if you have not begun already.

Love Your LGBT Neighbor As Yourself [Video]

Ministry Grid has partnered with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to train church leaders how to deal with current cultural realities involving marriage, sex, and homosexuality. In this video, Glenn Stanton talks about how to create genuine friendships with the LBGT men and women in your communities. Watch now

Reforming Mercy Ministry: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Neighbor

Ted Rivera. Reforming Mercy Ministry: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Neighbor. Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014. 192 pp. $15.00.

Maybe your church is “big” on mercy ministries: weekly food pantry distributions for dozens of clients, successful winter coat drives for local elementary school kids, well-attended legal clinics, among several other initiatives. Everyone seems excited about those ministries, but something doesn’t feel right. For the most part, all of these ministries are run by paid church staff. Though most church members are happy to give financially to such ministries, they rarely come in touch with the people on the receiving side of their aid.

Or maybe your church doesn’t have anything along the lines of mercy ministry. Some members have complained that the church isn’t doing enough—or anything at all—to care for the needs of people in the surrounding community. Others like not having it, thinking that mercy ministry will set the church on an irreversible road to liberalism. Still more are eager to do something but don’t know where to start.

If your church is in a scenario anything like these, I commend Ted Rivera’s Reforming Mercy Ministry: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Neighbor. It will be a helpful resource for your leaders and members as they seek to biblically think through, or rethink, mercy ministry initiatives. Plus, it’s a brief and easy read. Keep reading

Here’s why your state may be expanding religious freedom protections this year

After a year of court rulings that strengthened and weakened religious freedom protections for individuals and businesses, debate over those protections is expected to shift to state capitols in 2015.

Lawmakers in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio have readied state-level versions of the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA. Other states may also join their ranks.

"We anticipate an uptick in state legislation this year regarding state RFRAs," said Jonathan Griffin, a policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver. "There's been greater attention paid to the topic this year in light of the (Supreme Court's) Hobby Lobby decision, and that would be my guess as to why."

Along with the Hobby Lobby ruling, which expanded religious freedom protections to business owners, state laws and federal court decisions legalizing same-sex marriage and cultural clashes over a variety of faith practices are also propelling a RFRA resurgence. Keep reading

Viewpoint: Homophobe - the New Infidel

It seems more and more I read about Christians being fired or ousted because of their beliefs. Their beliefs have not changed, but there's a new call that it's unconstitutional unless you aspire to a new belief system. This new belief system goes against what the Bible has said for thousands of years, that homosexual acts are sinful. Our judges have ruled multiple times that you must buy in to the new religion of the country and that 'Infidels' will be punished. There is no law passed by our lawmakers that has caused this, no lawmaker would touch it, but our judges have taken it upon themselves to enforce this unwritten religion. Our lawmakers have allowed this to happen and in the process have rendered themselves impotent.

This is a very powerful new religion, this system of beliefs. They have parades, they have loud masses, they take donations, they meet and praise in their victories. Pretty much the same as any other religion. But the big difference is that they have invaded our schools. No religion is supposed to be taught in schools and as you can see in the articles on this site, they invade at a very young age. Their beliefs are taught, enforced on our children. There is no room for deviance, there is no room to question, you must be a believer or you will be called out an INFIDEL and be punished. Where the 'world' has worked very hard to keep any mention of religion out of our schools, with an emphasis on Judeo-Christian beliefs, they have slipped in this new system of beliefs. For years they have tried different methods to get the masses to accept as normal what the Bible calls a sin and they have failed, but not utterly. Now they have the judges on their side, they have the schools, they have social media. Believe or face Jihad!

You may consider this radical, you may disagree, but if you really think about it, you will see there really is no difference except that this Jihad just destroys a way of life, not life itself. From losing your job, your business, your position in the community, your basic livelihood, they will attack any Infidel they can find. Keep reading

A Supreme Court Case to Watch

New York mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned on the promise of letting churches rent school space. Now he’s asking the Supreme Court to prohibit it.

When Bill de Blasio campaigned against Michael Bloomberg in 2013 to become mayor of New York City, he promised to reverse a highly contested city policy that prohibited churches from renting public schools for worship services. In response, religious voters helped de Blasio trounce his opposition with 73 percent of the vote.

But after de Blasio took office in January 2014, he didn’t make the change, even though it could be done executively. Keep reading

A Supreme Court ruling banning churches from renting school space would be a major setback for new church plants. It could be interpreted to include fire station community rooms, community centers, park shelters, and other public buildings that church plants use as meeting places.

Updated: Bishops suspend all Catholic masses in Niger as Charlie Hebdo protests continue

Protests triggered by the latest Charlie Hebdo magazine cover have led to Catholic masses and activities being cancelled throughout Niger.

The bishops of Niger have been forced to suspend activities at Catholic schools, health care facilities and charities, Catholic News Agency reports. Dozens of churches have been the subject of arson attacks following the publication of cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad in satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo. At least 10 people have been killed. Keep reading

Also see
New: Niger's Christians live in fear after deadly attacks
Masses suspended in Niger due to church burnings
Boko Haram's 'Twisted Logic' and Targeting of Muslims: What You Need to Know
ISIS Kills 13 Teens Over TV Soccer Game for Allegedly Violating Sharia Law
India: Bishops urge Narendra Modi to stop Hindu mass conversions of Christians

15 Church Trends for 2015 – Rainer on Leadership #092 [Podcast]

Trend prediction is both an art and a science. It is a science in the sense that I utilize the good objective research of credible research organizations like LifeWay Research and others. It is an art in that I depend on observations, anecdotal information, and ongoing interaction with church leaders and members.

At the beginning of every year, I attempt to present to you the major trends for congregations for the coming twelve months. I review my predictions from previous years to see how accurate I am. I have come to two conclusions. First, I am far from perfect in my predictions. Second, I do have a decent track record.

Some of my trends are called “tipping points.” Formally defined, a tipping point is the critical moment in an evolving situation that leads to a new and somewhat permanent reality. In simple terms, a tipping point here means that something has changed in our churches to the point that it appears to be permanent.

So this week, Jonathan and I cover my 15 trends for 2015. Keep reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:10 — 22.1MB)

Was It Necessary for Jesus to Die?

Was the sacrificial system of the Old Testament merely a misguided attempt to appease man's Creator? And when Jesus arrived on the scene, did His Father have any interest in His Son becoming a "sacrifice" for sins? Or was that concept simply an outdated approach which had no real bearing upon God's love and His acceptance of man?

If the death of Christ on the cross was not a sacrifice for sins, someone should have told the writers of the New Testament. Keep reading

Words and phrases in this article underlined with a double line are linked to ads.

How then, should we live?

The apostle Paul was a brilliant systematic theologian, but that was not his chief aim, it never is the chief aim of the best theologians.

The study of God is never an end in itself and though our colleges must be staffed by able theologians, the study of theology is never an end in itself, it must never be merely an academic discipline.

Paul was an ambitious church planter (Romans 15:20), his theological acumen served his church planting activity.

In his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, Calvin said: “How dangerous to the church is that knowledge which leads to debates…..disregards piety and tends to ostentation.”

The puritan, William Perkins, called theology, “the science of living blessedly forever”.

Now that I am back pastoring, I can see the great value of solid theology and the affect of its absence.

J I Packer said, “Doctrine is the map that guides us on our cross country journeying through the 1000 odd pages of the Bible, on the one hand, and the complexities of godly living, on the other.”

Defective theology will inevitably lead to defective Christian living.

There are three areas of systematics which require our careful attention – these truths often get lost in larger theological tomes, but they need to be taught thoroughly to our people.

I intend to write about each of them in my next three columns.

The first is the place of the law in the believer’s life, this bears on the relationship of old and new covenants. Keep reading

Four Things Influencers Should Know About Trust

When it comes to leadership and influence, we rarely talk about trust. When we do, it’s usually in terms of honesty and integrity. Questions like: “Can I trust you to honor your word?” or “Can you be trusted with finances?” usually come to mind. Those questions are important, but the truth is, trust is a far deeper issue, and when it comes to your team, employees, congregation, or followers, trust may be the single most important connection you can build. To achieve that connection, here’s four principles every leader and influencer should know about trust.... Keep reading

How Preachers Read the Bible for Themselves

"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21)

In his oft-cited work The Religious Life of Theological Students, B. B. Warfield begins,

A minister must be both learned and religious. It is not a matter of choosing between the two. He must study, but he must study as in the presence of God and not in a secular spirit. He must recognize the privilege of pursuing his studies in the environment where God and salvation from sin are the air he breathes. He must also take advantage of every opportunity for corporate worship. . . . Ministerial work without taking time to pray is a tragic mistake. The two must combine if the servant of God is to give a pure, clear, and strong message.

Thus Warfield addresses what is perhaps the pastor's single most pressing spiritual question: What is the connection between my ministerial duties and the practice of my faith? Keep reading

Is It Possible for Christians to Idolize the Bible?

A few months ago, I read the following in an article by an author who self-identifies as an evangelical: “While the Bible is an important and authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice, it isn’t the foundation or center of our faith- Jesus is… Studying Scripture is valuable, but nowhere near as valuable as cultivating a day to day relationship with the God incarnate.”

This author has a number of views that make him a bit of an outlier in the evangelical movement as it’s been traditionally defined. However, I’m finding that his view of Scripture is increasingly common. More and more, I hear sentiments within the Church like:

• “Many Christians are putting too much emphasis on the Bible instead of Christ and the Holy Spirit.”
• “The Trinity is not Father, Son, and Holy Scripture.”
• “Beware of making the Bible an idol.”

Hence the question: Is it possible for Christians to idolize the Bible? Keep reading

What to Do When We’re Prayerless

Prayerlessness is not fundamentally a discipline problem. At root it’s a faith problem. Keep reading

Anglicans Ablaze Thursday Special Edition: January 22, 2015

On this Thursday special edition of Anglicans Ablaze:

• The Spiritual State of the Union
• Who Is Responsible For Revival?
• 9 Key Trends in the UK Church
• The Local Church in the Twenty-First Century: Three Articles
• The Spiritually Healthy Pastor
• Issues in Church Leadership: Six Articles
• Preaching and Pulpit Ministry in the Twenty-first Century: Three Articles
• Training Up Children in the Way They Should Go: Four Articles
• Can Your Small Group Ministry Take These Four Next Steps?
• 30 Quick Tips for Social Media for Churches and Nonprofits
• Issues in Evangelism: Three Articles
• Book Review: On Guard
• A letter from GAFCON Primates
• John Sentamu: Hand-laying for traditionalist bishop is for 'prayer not politics'
• Churches now more accepting of gays and lesbians as members, less so as leaders
• Malaysia court dismisses Catholic appeal to use Allah

The Spiritual State of the Union

In this post Baptist pastor and Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd gives his assessment of the spiritual state of the United States.

This is the State of the Union season, where our president will address the nation, governors will address their respective states, and mayors will address their respective cities. They will unveil their dreams for today and hopes for tomorrow.

Questions worth asking

Who is addressing the spiritual state of our nation? Are we really trusting only in governmental powers and processes to heal our land?

I love America and believe each citizen needs to be involved in charting the future of our nation. The church has compartmentalized its faith from influencing our nation far too long, just as most of America’s leaders compartmentalize their faith from their politics. Today, our nation has become a product of this sad reality.

We need to return to the conviction that a faith worth believing is a faith worth dying for. Our faith cannot be checked at the door like a piece of luggage at an airport.

The time is now

The time is now for the church to rise up and address the spiritual state of our nation. With compassion, we need to tell it like it is. With hope, we need to share it like we believe it. With fervency, we need to pray like God alone is our hope.

The time is now for our nation to recognize that we cannot fix ourselves. The signs of our brokenness are glistening in our dark world.

The blatant destruction of the family, killing the unborn child, continuing racial tension, rebelling against authority, the ongoing reality of poverty, the rising threat of our security, clear attacks against religious liberty, and of all things, the arrogance to believe the highest court in our land can rule on what the Bible says is genuine marriage, testifies just how broken we really are. Keep reading

Photo: The Summit

Who Is Responsible For Revival?

Growing up, I remember the announcement every year in church: “Ladies, please sign up to bring food for next week’s revival services.” I loved that announcement. Why? Several reasons: Home-made fried chicken, sour dough bread, mashed potatoes, and CHOCOLATE PIE!!!

Revival: The very word has different meanings for different people. For some, it means week-long meetings in the Fall and Spring (with lots of fried chicken). For others it means gathering for services two or three times a day for intense worship and prayer.

The biblical concept of revival refers to an awakening in which the souls of believers are stirred toward greater affections for Christ. It is a time in which men draw close to God as God draws close to them (James 4:8) and the presence of God seems unusually strong (Psalm 16:11). Keep reading

Revival for me does not just mean tent meetings but the English Reformation, the Great Awakening, the Evangelical Revival, the Welsh Revivals, the East African Revival, and similar movings of the Holy Spirit. 

9 Key Trends in the UK Church

Earlier this month I had the great privilege of attending a gathering of church and movement leaders hosted by Terry Virgo, founder of Newfrontiers. This is the fourth year I have attended, and we met for 24 hours to share and pray. It has been a blessing to get to know the leaders of many of the major Restorationist and new church movements, and I have appreciated their warm welcome. I have learned much, and it is always encouraging to hear how God is at work in the UK and around the world.

There were a number of common themes that stood out to me as the 20 leaders present shared how the Lord was at work in their different constituencies, which together provide a snapshot of the challenges and opportunities facing the evangelical church today. Keep reading

Photo: probatio, via

The Local Church in the Twenty-First Century: Three Articles

Not Caring About Diversity is Not an Option

Trillia Newbell explores why many American churchgoers do not care about diversity.

We don’t need to grow in diversity—our church is fine just the way it is. At least that’s what the majority of churchgoers believe.

Segregation within the Church will remain as long as we are content with the status quo—which we are. According to the findings of a study conducted by LifeWay Research, 67 percent of American churchgoers believe that their church has done enough to become racially diverse. That mentality would be acceptable if the church in America resembled the picture of the Last Days, where every tribe and tongue is gathered to praise in unity…but we’re far from this picture today. Sunday morning remains the most segregated hours in America.

Where does such a disconnect come from? Could it be that those surveyed attend churches that are indeed already racially diverse? Or perhaps the view is that if a church is doing service projects they are achieving racial reconciliation. I’m unsure what motivated the opinions from this particular study but after spending a year speaking with various churches and people around the country, there are a few reoccurring themes I hear that could shine light on why our churches do indeed continue to be segregated. Keep reading

Expressing God’s Love in the Local Church

Scripture teaches us about ourselves, our condition, and our God. God’s love, of course, is a focal point of Scripture and a focal point of our stories of salvation. God’s love is aimed at the individual, yes, but also to the Body of Christ, comprised of his redeemed individuals. The local church is a centralized representative of this body, a body promised to conquer even the gates of Hell (Matt. 16:18).

There are perhaps innumerable ways to describe God’s love in relation to the local church, but here are four significant ways our churches can reflect God’s love properly to each other and the world. Keep reading

Becoming a Generous Church

Our goal is to have healthy churches! There are many descriptions, concepts, books, and trainings talking about what a healthy church looks like. There is “Simple,” “Purpose-Driven,” “Sticky,” Vertical,” “Emotionally Healthy,” and many more. All of these have great content and biblical directives but here is something else we need to ask ourselves, “Are we a generous church?” Isa. 9:6 says, “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Christmas is about giving!

What would happen if your church was known to be a giving church? What would it look like if you were known first and foremost for your generosity? If you really want to know the heart of a church take a look at how they spend their money. This is not about what individuals give to the church, but rather, what does a church do with what they have been given. Quite often most of the funds given to a church are spent on church members. When times are tough, and the budget becomes tight, the last expenditures to normally be reduced are those that keep the members the most comfortable. At the same time, all too often, the first ministries to be cut are those that are outwardly focused. Keep reading

The Spiritually Healthy Pastor

We will never turn the world upside down until we first allow Jesus to turn us inside out. Healthy churches are led by healthy pastors who love God with all of their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Keep reading

Also see
The Physically Healthy Pastor

Issues in Church Leadership: Six Articles

How to Replace Yourself: Why Every Leader (Even Young Leaders) Need a Succession Plan to be Successful—An Interview with William Vanderbloemen [Podcast]

Why on earth would you think about succession, especially if you’re a young leader?

Well, one of the hallmarks of great leadership is replacing yourself. Second, there is no success without a succession plan for any leadership role.

William Vandenbloemen explains why finding your replacement is an essential part of great leadership at all ages in all positions, and explains how to do it.Why on earth would you think about succession, especially if you’re a young leader?Why on earth would you think about succession, especially if you’re a young leader?

Whether you’re leading a small business, a large corporation, a church or a non-profit, replacing yourself and finding a successor are keys to any leader’s success.

To read the entire article and to hear the podcast, click here.

How to Lead a Staff Meeting Well — Rainer on Leadership #091 [Podcast]

Staff meetings can often turn into death by meeting. However, when led effectively, they are actually productivity by meeting. Today, we cover eight keys to leading a staff meeting well.

To read the entire article and to hear or download the podcast, click here.

Leadership Requires More than Self-Awareness

A wise and effective leader possesses more than self-awareness; he also has a keen awareness of the team. More than a sense of his/her unique gifting, he/she has a sense of the people on the team, their gifts and potential. Team-awareness enables the leader to leverage the gifts of the team, to hand over responsibility to others, and to utilize “roving leadership.” I first read about “roving leadership” in Max Depree’s book Leadership Is an Art, where he wrote:

No one person is the “expert” at everything. In many organizations there are two kinds of leaders—both hierarchical leaders and roving leaders. In special situations, the hierarchical leader is obliged to identify the roving leader, then to support and follow him or her, and also to exhibit the grace that enables the roving leader to lead.

Roving leadership means that the leader (on the org chart) asks another person to lead and then joins the rest of the team in following the leadership of the person tapped for the initiative or the responsibility. Leaders who enable a culture of roving leadership are.... Keep reading

10 Ways Winning Organizational Teams are Like Winning Athletic Teams

I live in basketball country. This area specializes in horses, bourbon and basketball. But, during a few months of the year, basketball seems to trump everything.

As a Baptist pastor, if I’m going to embrace the community, I had to embrace what the people love. So, of the three — I’ve chosen basketball.

(And, all God’s people said?)

(Seriously, though, everyone should take a ride through the horse farms of the bluegrass area and the science behind making bourbon alone is worth touring a distillery.)

Watching the University of Kentucky men and women’s basketball teams, however, always inspires some great thoughts for me on leadership. Keep reading

What Leading Error-Free Communicates

I sent an email to the church recently with the word “cease” instead of “seize”. My wife was the first to catch it. She always is — and it’s another reason she completes me well.

I quickly sent a correction email — because I know close-readers like my wife can’t get past one typo and read the intent of the entire message. But, before they could read the second email, my inbox was full of people letting me know about the mistake.

I understand that. Honestly, I’d have to be intentionally trying to edit something to catch that type of mistake in an email. And, I should have been more intentional about that email. I’m not wired to catch details, but, as one who studies personalities — and being married to a detail person, I can at least appreciate that a person is wired this way. (Which is why I sent the correction.)

But, I still hate making errors like that. I really do. Even though I’m not a detail-oriented person, I do strive for excellence. Some might say I have perfectionist tendencies. So, I want to be detail and error-free, as much as possible. And, I keep trying.

I realized though that I could beat myself up about the mistake, or I could learn from it and move forward. But, I couldn’t do both.

(Someone reading this needs to pause right here. That’s you’re biggest take away from this post. You need to learn from your mistake and move forward. It’s time.)

Plus, the experience was actually a good reminder of an important leadership principle.

This is true for detail-oriented people and non detail-oriented people. Leaders, you must know this principle — and you must know it for everyone you are trying to lead. Keep reading

How to bring down a church bully

Church bullies have always been part of the ecclesiastical landscape.

They had them in the first century, as evidenced by the tiny epistle of Third John. A brute named Diotrephes was ruling his congregation with a strong hand. The Evangelist John turned the spotlight on what the man was doing, which ordinarily is sufficient to arouse the congregation to unseat the man. John ended with a promise: “If I come, I will call attention to what he is doing.”

Don’t miss the understatement of that: “I will call attention to what he is doing.”

That will be quite enough. When the Beloved Apostle (for so was John known in the early church) stands before an adoring congregation and informs the membership what their so-called leader has been doing behind their backs, they will deal with him.

That has always been the Lord’s plan: Tell the church, expose the brute, expect God’s people to do the right thing. Keep reading

Preaching and Pulpit Ministry in the Twenty-first Century: Three Articles

15 Ways to Take Care of Guest Speakers

I am privileged to speak in dozens of churches each year. Most churches take good care of me, but some churches go the extra mile. When that happens, it’s fun to tell others about a congregation that is thoughtful and thorough in their approach toward guest speakers.

As your church considers guest speakers, here is a sample list of steps these churches have taken.... Keep reading

Six Observations about Speaking to Pastors Right Before They Preach

For most pastors, preaching is one of the most important facets of their ministries. It is that time when they get to expound on God’s Word. Much of their training has focused on preaching, and they often spend 15 to 20 hours preparing each sermon.

Pastors, with few exceptions, love their church members. They desire to serve their congregants well. They desire to be gracious and friendly to those who approach them. That is why most of them would be highly reticent to say what I am about to say.

Many times pastors get very distracted and even discouraged when someone speaks to them right before they preach. Let me elaborate in my usual fashion by making six observations. Keep reading

How Science Can Improve Your Sermon

Understanding the brain helps us preach more effectively. It was an odd sermon introduction. The guest preacher stood up to speak and told the congregation, "If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a classroom or a seminar. I'm standing here at the front, and you are all seated to listen. Many of you have pens and notebooks ready to take notes. But our purpose today is to worship God, not to teach a class."

As I glanced around me, I could see he was right. Aside from the drum set and instruments up front, the room's arrangement looked little different than a college classroom.

The preacher had a point; the purpose of a sermon is to do much more than impart information. Partnering with the Holy Spirit, it aims at transforming lives by bringing people closer to God. Yet that doesn't mean conveying information effectively isn't important. Knowledge is a crucial part of transformation. And recent research has yielded insights into how our brains receive information. For preachers these insights are especially important. They can enhance our teaching and help cultivate the soil onto which the seeds of God's Word fall each Sunday. Keep reading

Even in the space of ten minutes people will not give you their undivided attention. Sometimes they will be listening to what you are saying; sometimes their thoughts will be elsewhere. For this reason, it is important for a preacher to repeat salient points of the sermon a number of times, using slightly different wording each time. Someone in the congregation may not hear your the first time or the second time you repeat the point but he may hear you the third time or the fourth time. The exception is the congregant who has tuned you out altogether, has zoned out to another place, or is sleeping with his or her eyes open. 

Training Up Children in the Way They Should Go: Four Articles

5 Simple Ways to Teach Your Kids Theology

Teaching your kids can feel daunting. But teaching your kids theology can feel downright terrifying.

Some feel overwhelmed with time issues. They just don’t see how they can fit something else into their day. Others may not feel as if they have adequate theological training. They feel uncomfortable instructing their kids beyond, “Jesus loves you.”

How can you weave theological teaching into their daily lives, without necessarily setting them down for an in-depth family sermon (though there is nothing inherently wrong with that)? How can you impart good theology into the lives of your children, without possessing a theological degree (though hopefully there is nothing inherently wrong with that)?

You don’t need to feel like you’re trying out the latest parenting fad or complicated system. If you are like me, you’ll try it for a month or two and then give up because it didn’t feel natural.

Instead, here are five simple ways to teach your kids theology virtually every day.... Keep reading

Developing Godly Qualities in Our Children

What qualities does God want us to develop in our children? No need to guess. Scripture tells us specifically: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to have mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). These three requirements are a basis for evaluating our children’s character development.... Keep reading

10 Ideas for Raising Children to Become Generous Adults

I have had conflict most of my life between what I think I want and what I really need.

Most people share this conflict with me.

That conflict also appears in our children as well.

We don’t have to teach children to struggle with determining between wants and needs. It’s a natural response to life. And, if they need any help doing so — they can easily learn the struggle from us.

As parents we are the primary shapers of our children’s attitudes towards money, things, and desires. Our children will either be “givers” or “takers” in society and that will be greatly influenced by the life they live in our home.

How do we raise generous children?

How do we help our children (and ultimately ourselves) be people who genuinely enjoy living sacrificial lives — considering the interest of others — being givers rather than takers as the Bible commands us to do?

Here are 10 tips which we tried to practice in our own home. It has been amazing to watch our boys, now young adults on their own, having developed generous hearts towards others. They are far more generous than I was at their age.

And, let me be clear. The fact that they turned out that way is all grace. God has blessed us greatly. But, we have been intentional to live out Biblical principles — and we have learned that they work when applied “generously”. Keep reading

7 Reasons to Teach Our Children Church History

Ask my four children what their father loves and ranking high on the list after “Jesus, our mom, baseball, and the Georgia Bulldogs,” might just be “dead people.” Why? The fact that I teach church history notwithstanding, I think it is important that my children—beginning at a tender age—understand the richness of the faith I am commending to them from Scripture. (And yes, they know the hero of that book is back from the dead.)

Presuming they have been listening, my kids can tell you something about Luther, 95 Theses, and a church door in Wittenburg. (They even pronounce the “W” as a “V” because they think it sounds like an insect). They can tell you all about Calvin and his nasty confrontation with William Farel. They can tell you that William Carey is the father of modern missions (and they’ll likely remind you he was a Baptist). They can tell you that Spurgeon smoked an occasional stogie and that a man with the funny name of Athanasius won the day at a meeting called the Council of Nicaea (they’ll probably get the date right too—that’s AD 325).They know an important battle took place at a bridge called Milvian (or as my 6-year-old son calls it, "Melvin"). They have even learned that those folks who show up on our porch on select Saturdays with their Watchtower magazines in hand are modern-day Arians. I was 30 before I knew that much.

By no means should church history supplant teaching your family the Bible. Family worship and God’s Word must come first in your home. But the benefits of teaching them something about the key figures and movements from the rich heritage of the church are myriad. Here are seven reasons why we should teach our children church history. Keep reading

Can Your Small Group Ministry Take These Four Next Steps?

When you are a beginner, you do what beginners can do. Think about when a newborn turns over for the very first time. Or takes their first step. Or puts a phrase together.

Clearly, there are things that you do when you are a beginner.

And then there are things you can only do once you have mastered the basics and are ready for what’s next.

I think there are small group ministry steps like that. Keep reading

30 Quick Tips for Social Media for Churches and Nonprofits

God invented social media, so church, you ought to use it! Nonprofits who hope to change the world? You too! I’ve written plenty about the theory and philosophy behind using social media. In fact, I wrote a whole book about using social media to spread the gospel and I wrote it to lay a foundation.

Today, I’m shooting from the hip and offering some practical, do-able tips for using social media on the ground. These are based on my observations of what I’ve seen work, what I’ve seen done poorly, and what I believe is on the horizon. So.... Keep reading

Issues in Evangelism: Three Articles

Preach It

Some years ago, it was common to see young evangelicals sporting a peculiar fashion accessory: the WWJD bracelet. These bracelets—the initials woven therein standing for “What Would Jesus Do?”—served to remind the wearer to consider the example of Christ in all his daily activities.

For some, these bracelets likely also had a secondary function: evangelism. This was the case for a friend of mine who worked among many non-Christians. He told me one day that he wore the bracelet in order to elicit curiosity among his coworkers, in hopes that they would see it, along with his upstanding behavior, and ask him what the bracelet meant.

But what then? My friend did not want to rock the boat at his office by being verbally open about his faith. But at some point, the gospel must be preached, for the need of our neighbors is great. Let us look at three reasons why behavior and other externals cannot take the place of preaching the gospel. Keep reading

Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart

If there were a world record for the “number of times asking Jesus into your heart,” I’m pretty sure I would hold it. I’ve probably “prayed the prayer” more than five thousand times. Every time was sincere, but I was never quite sure I had gotten it right. Had I really been sorry enough for my sin that time around? Some wept rivers of tears when they got saved, but I hadn’t done that. Was I really sorry? Was that prayer a moment of total surrender? Did I really “get” grace?

So I would pray the sinner’s prayer again. And again. And again. And maybe get baptized again. Every student camp, every spring revival. Rinse and repeat.

I used to think I was alone in this, that I was just a neurotic oddball. But when I began to talk about this, I would have such a slew of people tell me they had the same experience that I concluded the problem was endemic. Countless people in our churches today are genuinely saved, but they just can’t seem to gain any assurance about their salvation.

The opposite is the case, too. Because of some childhood prayer, tens of thousands of people are absolutely certain of a salvation they do not possess. Keep reading

2 Big Reasons Evangelism Isn’t Working

One in five Americans don’t believe in a deity. Less than half of the population attends religious services on a regular basis.

People simply find our evangelism unbelievable.

Why? Keep reading

Book Review: On Guard

If I could mandate that at least one leader from every church had to read a single book, I don’t think there are too many I would choose ahead of On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church. It’s not that it is the best book I have ever read (though it is plenty good) or that it contains the deepest theology (though there is plenty of good doctrine within its pages). It’s that too many times the purpose and witness of the church has been tarnished by her failure to offer safety and protection to children. This book offers assistance where so many churches have failed. Keep reading

A letter from GAFCON Primates

A Consultation of GAFCON Primates and Bishops of Africa was held in Nairobi on 3rd & 4th December 2014 to consider a response to the ‘Transformation Through Friendship’ communiqué released from New York on 28th October, signed by five African Primates, including the Chairman of CAPA (the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa), Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the Untied States.

A letter was sent from the Nairobi meeting to Archbishop Ntahoturi, copied to the other African Primates and as no reply has been received, the letter is now being made public in order to avoid misunderstanding.

The New York Communiqué does not speak for the Anglican Provinces of Africa and it is a matter of very great regret that the ‘Continuing Indaba’ strategy has led to the division of African Anglicans.

The text of the Nairobi Consultation letter follows. Click here for a copy of the letter as sent and the New York Communiqué can be found at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/notice/episcopal-church-african-primates-bishops-issue-communique-transformation-through-friendship

The Archbishop of Rwanda was unable to attend the Nairobi Consultation or send representatives as the House of Bishops were meeting at the same time. Keep reading

Now if the same Primates would draw to the attention of the Anglican Church in North America's College of Bishops that it is leading the ACNA away from genuine Biblical Christianity and authentic historic Anglicanism and urge the College of Bishops to reconsider the direction in which it is taking that denomination. Otherwise, they, the GAFCON Primates, would have to revisit and reevaluate their recognition of the ACNA as a member of the Anglican Communion and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

John Sentamu: Hand-laying for traditionalist bishop is for 'prayer not politics'

The controversial arrangements surrounding the consecration of a traditionalist bishop are for "prayer not politics", the Archbishop of York has said today.

In a statement explaining why most bishops at the consecration at York Minster of Father Philip North will not lay hands on the candidate, Dr John Sentamu said: "It is in the nature of these arrangements, enshrined in the declaration and principles, that they involve accommodating within one Church people with convictions that vary widely. If this accommodation is to work it requires a degree of gracious restraint and accommodation on all sides." Keep reading

Also see
Consecration of traditionalist bishop set to highlight Church of England divisions

Churches now more accepting of gays and lesbians as members, less so as leaders

A report on a national survey churches finds churches have grown more accepting of gays and lesbians. Just under half of local churches would welcome gays and lesbians as members. Only one-in-four churches would allow gays and lesbians to assume positions of leadership.

The National Congregations Study is the most rigorous survey of local religious congregations in the United States. The NCS surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,300 local congregations. This the third wave of the NCS. A report by Mark Chaves (Duke University) and Shawna Anderson (NORC) includes key findings from the 2012 NCS, including the changing place of gays and lesbians in American churches since the last wave in 2006. Keep reading

On his blog The Exchange Ed Stetzer posted this introduction to the article:

Tobin Grant reports on the trends in churches relating to gays and lesbians. I'm a bit perplexed at how this question would be best asked (and I am not criticizing the way Mark Chaves asked it, because I can see several ways to ask it, but none are perfect). For example, I can imagine only a small percentage of churches would use "membership" in the same way that I would—as in a covenant community.

Also, I'd wonder how to identify practice and identification. Needless to say, this is a difficult question to frame, but there is clearly a shift in the direction toward the acceptance of gays and lesbians. Tobin Grant does a good job of explaining it here.

Malaysia court dismisses Catholic appeal to use Allah

Malaysia's Federal Court dismissed on Wednesday the Catholic Church's application to review a judgment that prevented a Christian publication from using the word Allah to refer to God, ending a legal battle that began in 2007.

The Church's bid was unanimously rejected because the threshold required for a review was not met, the judges said.

Conservative Muslim groups declared victory when the nation's top court last year upheld a ruling preventing usage of the word Allah in the Malay language section of the Church's weekly newspaper. Keep reading

Also see
Malaysia: Catholic newspaper not allowed to use 'Allah' to refer to God

As I observed in an earlier comment, religious pluralism and religious tolerance are not a part of the Muslim worldview. Conservative Muslim groups claim that the Christian use of the word "Allah" for God will lead Muslims astray. As has been pointed out in previous articles on this issue, Malaysian Christians have a long history of using the word "Allah" for God as it is a part of the language. Malaysian Christians could quite rightly argue that the use of a common word for God with Muslims could lead Christians astray. The real motive behind the claim of conservative Muslim groups is the desire to make trouble for Christians and to discourage the practice of the Christian faith in Malaysia. 

“Open Your Eyes, O Spaniards”: Cipriano de Valera—A Forgotten Spanish Protestant of the 16th-Century

The common consensus over several generations, if not centuries, has been that the Reformation of the sixteenth century entirely bypassed the nation of Spain. While there is no doubt as to its slow progress and quick demise, a Protestant movement did occur in Spain.1 One key figure was Cipriano de Valera (c.1532–1602), most known for his revision of the Spanish Bible that is still the dominant Spanish Protestant Bible in use today. While we have little knowledge of Valera’s personal life, we do gain a sense of the man through his writings. In all, there are about seven published works, which mostly include trans-lations of others’ work, original prefaces, and adaptations of various tracts. By examining two of his works—his tract on the papacy and the mass and his preface to the translation of Calvin’s Institutes—I will highlight this largely forgotten Spanish Protestant and draw attention to his evangelistic love for his countrymen. Keep reading

10 Principles to Get the Best From Volunteer Church Leaders

Volunteer leaders are the backbone of the Small Church.

In bigger churches, most or all of the first- and second-tier leaders are paid staff. (Namely, the pastoral staff and department heads). That’s a great thing. When you hire someone, it’s much easier to require certain tasks and enforce your expectations. After all, they have a financial stake in how well they perform as a church leader.

But Small Churches are led by volunteers. Volunteers who can quit at any time. And when they do quit, it doesn’t hurt them financially, it actually frees up more of their spare time. So we need to give them good reasons to stick around.

It’s one of many aspects that make pastoring the Small Church a unique challenge.

Of course, in many Small Churches, it can be tough to find anyone to step up and lead. If that’s your situation, you may want to check out my previous post, How to Delegate When There’s No One Around: Six Lessons I Learned the Hard Way, then come back here.

I’ve been in Small Church ministry for almost three decades – over 22 at my current church. In that time, I’ve learned a handful of great principles that help our church attract and keep the best group of volunteer leaders I’ve ever worked with.

Here are 10 of them.... Keep reading

25 Truths About Preacher

The Bible is the best place to learn about preaching. Other books on preaching can be good, of course. But whatever Scripture says on preaching is definitive. Its like drinking from the spring itself.

One portion of Holy writ that has much to say about preaching is Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Written “in the shadow of the scaffold”, it is notable that Paul should so relentlessly focus on Timothy’s preaching. In my recent studies of this letter, I unearthed 25 truths about preachers from 2 Timothy.

Today I will list these truths. From tomorrow, I’ll start some brief reflections on each of them. Keep reading

United Kingdom: Women keep the faith as majority of men say they do not believe in God

Muslims have the strongest faith in modern Britain while only one in six who identify with Anglicanism or other mainstream protestant churches are convinced of the existence of God

Women are almost two thirds more likely than men to believe in God, a major study of attitudes among middle aged Britons has found.

Atheism and agnosticism are now the majority creed among the male population but almost two thirds of women believe in Heaven or an afterlife, according to the study which has been tracking 9,000 people now in their early 40s for more than 25 years.

The findings also suggest that Muslims have by far the strongest faith in modern Britain, with Christians from smaller evangelical churches the only group coming close to the same levels of certainty.

By contrast only one in six members of the Church of England or the other main protestant denominations say they believe without doubt in God.

Just a third of Roman Catholics in the study said the same compared to 88 per cent of Muslims and 71 per cent of those categorised as evangelical Christians. Keep reading

Another way to look at these findings is that due to their conservatism and their tendency to separate themselves into enclaves and to resist integration into the mainstream of British society large segments of the UK's Muslim population has not experienced the effects of secularism as has the Christian community.  

Boko Haram claims responsibility for Baga massacre, saying 'The Lord told us to'

This map, courtesy of the Long War Journal, pinpoints locations Boko Haram has attacked in Nigeria since 2010.

The leader of Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the recent brutal massacre in Baga in northeast Nigeria and has threatened more violence, saying "We will not stop".

In a 35-minute video obtained by AFP news agency, a man purporting to be Abubakar Shekau boasts of the attack on 7 January which killed hundreds of people. Witnesses reported that as many as 2,000 people were killed when insurgents attacked the town in Borno state four days after overrunning a nearby military base, though the Nigerian government refutes this claim, putting the figure at just 150.

"We killed the people of Baga. We indeed killed them, as our Lord instructed us in His Book," Shekau said in his latest video.

"We will not stop. This is not much. You'll see." Keep reading

Also see
Nigerian Church leader: 'My people are being killed like animals and the whole world is just watching'
Nigerian Mother, Daughters Say Father Had His Throat Slashed by Boko Haram as They Fled Baga Massacre
Reports: Nigeria too unstable for election

What Should We Say?

“Brother, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Church discipline is both painful and awkward. How should we interact with those under discipline? What should we do when we meet such people while shopping for a birthday present, when we sit next to them at work, or when we see them getting mail from their mailbox? What should we say? Keep reading

Also see
Church Discipline

Keep This One Goal and You Will Meet All Your Goals

Here we are in mid-January. How are you goals for 2015 going? Have any of them already fallen off pace? Most people, unfortunately, do not keep their New Year’s resolutions. Why not?

There are lots of reasons, of course, but a primary problem is that they don’t have the one goal that enables them to meet the rest of their goals. Yes, if you can get this one thing down, you are much more likely to meet your goals this year.

What is this one goal? To transfer your goals into your schedule. Make the goal to sit down every week and set aside time to work on the rest of your goals, and then see what you are able to get done. Since how you spend your time determines what you accomplish, giving special attention to scheduling your time intentionally around your goals will greatly increase your odds of success. If you meet this one key goal, you will meet your other goals, too. Keep reading

Four Ways Stories Benefit Your Preaching

Everyone loves a good story. There is something about the characters, the tension, and the resolution of those elementary components of a good story. Jesus himself used stories more than any other tool to relate the Kingdom of Heaven to those who had ears to hear. From the perspective of the pulpit, you can see a unconscious shift in the body posture of the congregation when you say “Let me tell you a story.” The congregation leans forward slightly. They seem to relax.

Let me suggest a couple of benefits to your sermons that result from good storytelling. Keep reading

Also see
Preaching Skills: Five Phases of a Story

Nine Profits of Praying with Company

Prayer is one of the deepest joys of the Christian life. It is almost too good to be true that in Jesus we have the very ear of God. What an indescribable gift, that the God whose greatness is beyond comprehension actually stoops to listen to us, and is even more ready to hear us than we are to speak.

And the joys and benefits of prayer aren’t limited to our personal prayer lives. A shared joy is a doubled joy, and God means for us not only to pray in our closets, and “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) as we move through life in a spirit of dependence, but to pray with company.

Inestimable good happens when the regenerate rally with their fellows to come to their Father. It is past finding out all that God is doing when we pray together. Yet it helps to trace out some of the goodness, and whet our appetites with a few of the graces for which our prayer together is a means. Keep reading

Mummy Mask May Reveal the Oldest Fragment of the Gospel of Mark [Video]

A text found on papyrus used on a mummy mask may be the oldest copy of a gospel known to exist—a fragment of the Gospel of Mark that was written during the first century, before the year AD 90. Until now, the oldest surviving copies of the gospel texts date to the second century (the years AD 101 to 200). Keep reading

Also see
How Should We Respond to Reports That a Fragment of Mark Dates to the First Century?

Photo: Prof. Craig Evens

Duke vs. Franklin Graham: Which Christian Spaces Are Off-Limits to Muslim Worship?

Call-to-prayer controversy at university chapel prompts debate over sharing sacred space.

Duke University’s reversal of today’s plan to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer from its historic chapel tower has reinvigorated a debate over shared worship space.

The Durham, North Carolina-based school had authorized Muslim students to recite the three-minute chant from Duke Chapel on Friday, the weekly day of assembly in Islam, but rescinded the decision this week, following criticism and citing a “serious and credible security threat.”

Franklin Graham, whose ministries (Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) are headquartered in North Carolina, attacked the university’s decision and condemned the use of a Christian space by members of another faith.

“It’s wrong because it’s a different god," Graham said. "Using the bell tower, that signifies worship of Jesus Christ. Using (it) as a minaret is wrong.” Keep reading

While I can see different Christian denominations sharing a worship center, I must question the appropriateness of Muslims sharing with Christians a chapel that was dedicated to Christian worship. As Graham points out, Muslims and Christians do not pray to the same God. Some folks claim that they do on the basis that Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is an Abrahamiac religion. However, the Abraham of the Qur'an is not the Abraham of the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Bible. (The Isa of the Qur'an is also not the Jesus of the New Testament.) In some parts of the world Allah is also the word Christians use for God. The two religions, however, are quite different in their beliefs, particular in their understanding of the nature and character of God, the person of Jesus, revelation, and salvation. Wiki Islam in its article on Islam and the People of the Book draws attention to how the hadith literature interprets the al-Fatiha ‘The Opening,' a surah that faithful Muslims will recite at least 17 times a day as part of their daily prayers:

Qur'ān (القرآن) is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind. The best-known chapter of the Qur'an is al-Fatiha ‘The Opening’. This surah is recited as part of all the mandatory daily prayers and repeated within each prayer. A faithful Muslim who said all their prayers would recite this surah at least seventeen times a day, and over five thousand times a year.

The hadith literature make negative references to the Jews and Christians in connection with this surah. Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali incorporate this within their translation. Ayah 6-7 thus reads "Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians)."

It is remarkable that the daily prayers of every Muslim, part of the core of Islam, include a rejection of Christians and Jews as misguided and objects of Allah’s wrath.

While I am aware of a number of instances where liberal Christians have offered the use of their facilities to Muslims, I am not aware of any instances where even liberal Muslims have offered the use of a mosque to Christians. Muslims view their religion as superior to Christianity and they see in such offers on the part of liberal Christians tacit recognition of the superiority of Islam. Religious pluralism and tolerance is not a part of the Muslim worldview. The accommodation of Islam and its adherents, however, is seen as a part of the natural order of things. After all, Muslims in their perspective are the practitioners of the only true religion. Non-Muslims are infidels. Using the Duke chapel for Muslim prayers is in the same perspective putting the chapel to its rightful use--as a place of Muslim prayer.