The next time you sense a need for something new, before looking to other churches, perhaps look to your own, and become the lead innovator.
Worship and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
As a pastor you don’t have a choice about which service you attend – unless you have a youth pastor to send to that service with all the complainers – but your members make a decision about which service to attend if there is more than one offering. So how do they make that decision? In a recent podcast, Thom … Read More
What is God Doing in the World?
I am just back from the United Kingdom, where I was doing some work on next year’s International Congress on Preaching, which will be held August 8-10 in Cambridge, England. Learn more at www.icop2017.com. Working on this event reminds me that God is doing so much beyond the borders of the United States. Particularly in Africa, Asia and South America, millions … Read More
What’s in a Name?
What’s in a name? Apparently, quite a lot. In an article by John Leo, he noted the current propensity for euphemisms: finding preferred terminology for traditional words and descriptions. For example, opponents of the inheritance tax have really picked up political steam since they started calling it a “death tax.” Imagine how many more G.I. Joes are sold with the … Read More
Cultural Diversity and the Gospel
(Originally appeared in the October edition of the Baptist Courier as “Kingdom Focus: From All Tribes and Peoples and Languages.“) Growing up, I had the privilege of living in West Berlin, Germany during the Cold War (1981-1986). While in Berlin, my family attended Berlin Baptist Church, an international church whose members came from England, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia, Germany, … Read More
Plan Ahead
Before a worship service, plan ahead and fill your mind with reflections on God, so that when the service begins you are more inclined to pay attention.
Ministering to the Forgotten Former Seminarians
“Ninety Percent.” As a young aspiring minister-in-training, I remember hearing this number frequently—and annoyingly—as I packed my belongings and life and headed to seminary. According to well-meaning mentors, this oft-quoted number represented the percentage of seminarians no longer in full-time ministry after 10 years. They were the “drop-outs,” I was told; don’t be like them. For me, the number functioned … Read More
What Business is Your Church In?
Change is a reality. We can recognize and deal with it, or we can let it run over us. Kodak is a prime example. A success for many years, changing technology finally caught up with them. They thought they were in the film and camera business, when they should have recognized they were in the picture business. First came digitization, … Read More
Theology Matters… A New Poll Shows Why
A new LifeWay Research poll shows the need for biblically-grounded, theological education.