When Dr. Tom Rainer served as Dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Seminary in Louisville, he ran a consulting company that helped churches across America. In his consultations, he discovered that the overwhelming majority of the churches needed marked improvement in the area of assimilation. As a result, he began to teach about [...]
Yesterday, I shared part of an article from David Francis, LifeWay Director of Sunday School. In the article he takes a humorous approach to the topic of assimilation by talking about ways to make guests feel unwelcome. Instead of discussing ways to attract and keep guests, he lists ways to make guests want to leave the [...]
I recently read the an article from David Francis, LifeWay Director of Sunday School. In the article he took a reverse approach to the topic at hand. Instead of talking about ways to make guests feel welcome, he listed ways to make guests feel unwelcome and not return to the church. Of course, we should actually [...]
Every church should have top-notch greeters. I believe greeters should be in place before AND after the service. No doubt the first impression is crucial on a guest’s first visit, but the last impression is important too. That’s why it’s so important to have greeters at the doors and in the parking lots after the service [...]
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12 (NIV)
One of the latest songs from Casting Crowns entitled, East to West, continues to remind me why we should continually strive to live holy lives that are pleasing in the sight of God. The [...]
Today I began another year on planet earth. I reserve the right to be silent about my age, but I will say that I’ve been a Christian now for 34 years. I believe that birthdays should serve as times of celebration, but they should also cause us to reflect, refocus, revision, and regroup.
Reflect. As I [...]
When I was a young man in my twenties, I decided to take up running. I discovered that I not only loved the sport, but I was a halfway decent runner. I built up my endurance to the point that averaged about 40-50 miles of running each week. I was strikingly thin at 5′ 11″ [...]
When a child is lost and believed to be in danger in Kentucky, an alert notification goes out across the airwaves. Law enforcement officers, news media personnel and everyday citizens go into high gear to bring the one who is lost to safety. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, Kentucky Baptists will be focusing on a [...]
This evening I’m sitting in a great little espresso bar in Black Mountain, North Carolina called Perks. The next time you’re in town, stop by, give a shoutout to Peter (the owner), and have a coffee or smoothie in a really cool environment surrounded by the Black Mountain Range.
While ordering up a delicious hazlenut coffee, [...]
This week I am teaching at Ridgecrest National Conference Center as a part of LifeWay’s Discipleship Week. Pictured here is Dennis Rogers, Discipleship & Family Ministries’ Specialist from the Georgia Baptist Convention. This week, in the main discipleship session, we are taking a close look at a newly published LifeWay tool, Discipleship: Stepping-Stones to Developing your [...]