Spiritual Maturity Study: Key Findings, Part 1

The Kentucky Baptist Convention partnered with Ed Stetzer and Scott McConnell from LifeWay Research to conduct a formal study of the spiritual maturity of Southern Baptists in Kentucky. During the same period, LifeWay Research also conducted a similar study that focused on the Protestant Laity in America. The findings from…

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Simple Church, Clarity – Part 2

Every ministry needs a blueprint. Providing a blueprint will bring clarity to the church’s ministry process. In this post, we will continue to look at the five essentials of clarity from the Broadman & Holman book, Simple Church, written by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. For more information on Simple Church,…

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Simple Church, Clarity – Part 1

In this series, we are looking at the Broadman & Holman book, Simple Church, written by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. In the book, the writers encourage churches to “return to God’s process for making disciples.” Their research indicated that the healthiest churches in America tend to have a simple process…

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Simple Church, Introduction

In their Broadman & Holman book, Simple Church, Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Resources, and Eric Geiger, Executive Pastor at Christ Fellowship, encourage churches to “return to God’s process for making disciples.” In their research, Rainer and Geiger discovered that the healthiest churches in America tended to have a…

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Every Christian Needs Basic Training

As you probably know by now, my son recently became a member of the United States Air Force (See Raw Worship, Father and Son, and Basic Training). During his military basic training, he learned so many things that are applicable to the Christian life. Most Christians and most churches can…

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Moving from Online to Onboard

In a recent post called Offer Multiple Connection Points, I discussed the important role that Sunday School and small groups play in connecting newcomers and new members to the church. I also recommended other ways to connect people since some will not become involved in Sunday School or small groups.…

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Surprising Church Trends

In his1995 Broadman & Holman book, Giant Awakenings,  Thom S. Rainer shared nine surprising trends he saw in the church world that could benefit the church. Let’s look at a couple of the trends here…. A movement towards prayer. Rainer believed that the trend towards prayer was the most important of…

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Putting Your Best Foot Forward

Yesterday, I spent the entire day in Lexington, Kentucky touring hotels for a future event I am planning. I visited the Griffith Gate Marriott Resort, Holiday Inn North, Embassy Suites, Crown Plaza (formerly known as The Campbell House Inn), and Hyatt Regency. Throughout the day, I observed the hotel staff members utilize many…

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Give Them A Place to Serve

Today, as I wrap up this series of posts, I will discuss the “G” in C.L.O.S.I.N.G. the Back Door. The “G” stands for Give Them A Place to Serve. See the links at the end of this post for the entire series. The series is designed to help churches with…

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