Why Churches Don’t Grow, Part 1

I am a student of church growth and church health and have benefited from the writings and research of Charles Arn. Recently he wrote an article called, “Why Churches Don’t Grow” for Building Church Leaders network. This short article is right on target. In this two-part series, we will look…

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Discipleship is Changing

The way churches view and conduct discipleship is changing. In the past we have seen discipleship primarily as offering a series of un-connected courses or doctrinal training. We assumed that a mature Christian was someone who really had Bible facts nailed down. Our mistake was assuming that a cognitive experience…

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Make Disciples Who Make Disciples…

Jim Putman is pastor of Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. His books, Church is a Team Sport and Real-Life Discipleship are excellent resources for those who lead discipleship in their churches. His church is serious about making disciples who make disciples who make disciples. It is in their…

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Like A Good Neighbor

Proverbs 22:1 says, A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. This verse relates to our personal reputations and character but also to our churches. Every church has a reputation in the community. Does your church have a good name?…

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Whatever Happened to Training?

I have worked with leaders for over three decades. Most of them were volunteers serving in some capacity in the church and others were staff people that I worked with or supervised. Many of my best friendships occurred because of those relationships. One of the things I observed is that…

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Leaders Have Vision

After spending all his funds in attempting to begin a video production career, the young man of twenty-two years of age had to decide where to go to escape the bill collectors. He decided to go to Hollywood where his brother was convalescing from a serious illness. So he spent…

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Speak His Name

Roland Allen tells about a veteran missionary who came up to him one day after he had delivered his sermon. The missionary introduced himself & said, “I was a medical missionary for many years in India. I served in a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with…

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Top Four Leader Character Qualities

A recent survey was published in a book by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner called, The Truth About Leadership. They asked each respondent to select seven characteristics out of twenty. These percentages represent respondents from six continents so it was a fairly large data base. Here are some…

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Ready, Aim, Fire

Growing up I loved to shoot bow and arrows. I would draw a target on a hay bale or a card board box and do my best to hit the bull’s eye I had drawn. To shoot without having a target was not much fun. The flip side of that…

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