September 8, 2010 – 7:41 am
Evangelism or Discipleship? Which will your church be known for? I have heard the debate before…do we want an evangelistic church or a disciple making church? Which is more important; discipleship or evangelism and where should a church put their energy and focus? Are we to just go deep in discipleship where we are after “quality” [...]
Religion News Service reports that a new Gallup Poll found that Americans’ self-reported church attendance has increased slightly since 2008. When asked “How often do you attend church, synagogue, or mosque?” 43.1 percent of Americans in 2010 said they attended church “at least once a week” or “almost every week.” That’s up from 42.8 percent [...]
Many of us have been impacted by an old book written by a young brilliant German theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the book, The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer could have left Germany to teach in America and avoid what was happening in Germany in the 1930’s. He struggled with the decision. Ultimately he declined the teaching offer, [...]
In a recent conference, Reggie McNeal described three shifts needed for churches to move from program-driven to missional-driven. These are very insightful for all church leaders and for a strategy of disciple making. 1. Changing from internal ministry to an external focus: This isn’t an “either-or” situation, but a movement toward involvement outside the building. [...]
1. EVERYONE… Discipleship is a process that involves all Christians. We mistakenly think it is just for super Christians or those in ministry, but it is for all who follow Christ. We are all disciples who are at different stages of spiritual growth. As a matter of fact, you cannot follow Christ without being involved [...]
The English language comes with some very interesting combination of words. Here are some of my favorite oxymoron words, which are words that contradict each other but are used together to express our thoughts. Here are some examples: “Perfect mistake”…how can that be since all of my mistakes were a disaster? Have you ever bought [...]
As I write this, my wife and I are in a motel room waiting for our furniture to arrive at our new house in the morning. Our old house is not ours anymore and our new house just became ours a few hours ago. Actually the mortgage company says we can live in it for [...]
March 12, 2010 – 11:38 pm
Long before churches and corporations were creating vision or mission statements, Jesus gave the church His mission statement in Matthew 28:16-20. We are on mission to make disciples. God called a people out to Himself that he would use to bring lost people to Himself. 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a [...]
January 25, 2010 – 10:09 pm
Today there are more discipleship materials, books, DVD’s, resources, and strategies available than ever before. Some of these books help us see the state of discipleship in our culture; George Barna’s, Growing True Disciples and The Shape of Faith to Come by Brad Waggoner are two examples. Others are more focused on methods of discipleship [...]
January 17, 2010 – 9:59 pm
My favorite Christmas gift this year was an iPod shuffle given to me by my son. Tiny in size yet it can store 500 plus songs. It is a great companion as I jog; take a long walk, or just working around the house. I have loaded several CD’s that are my favorites. I guess [...]