Recently, I’ve developed a casual interest in a variety of television cooking shows. Ironically, I can’t cook much of anything–I specialize in eating. Oh, I can serve a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a decent pot of coffee, but that’s about it. I’m not sure why I…
This week I am meeting with the Southeast Discipleship Leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta. Jay Johnston, LifeWay’s Director of Evangelism and Discipleship, is meeting with us today. We are discussing how to help our churches become more effective in making disciples and producing spiritually mature followers of Christ.…
The last few days, Nelson Searcy has been answering assimilation questions on his blog, Church Leader Insights. These posts are a MUST READ if you are seeking to improve in the area of assimilation. Searcy’s posts include answers to the following questions: What do you say to get people to…
Robert Raikes is known to be the father of the Sunday School movement. He believed that education was an effective tool to battle moral decline and determined to develop an experimental school to test his theory. Initially, he was legally barred from developing the school until England passed the Enabling…
In his book, Concentric Circles of Concern, Dr. Oscar Thompson says that the most important word in the English language, apart from proper nouns, is the word “RELATIONSHIP”! I believe his statement is true in a number of areas related to the church. Evangelism. Although I am not opposed to…
I recently hosted Dr. Gary McIntosh at the Kentucky Baptist Convention building for a conference that discussed assimilation principles taken from his book, Beyond the First Visit. Fortunately, while he was here, Dr. McIntosh unveiled the findings of a recent national survey he conducted. I’m going to discuss some of the findings…
Two encounters are critical. First, the leader encounters God in His Word and is changed. Second, the leader guides the group to have a life-changing encounter.
In John 13:34-35, three times Jesus said, “Love one another.” Your group is the ideal place to practice and launch the kind of love for one another that shows the world that we are His disciples.