Do you have fear when you think about the future or confidence and hope? Many people I talk with today including church leaders look in despair toward the future. None of us can predict the future. Often someone will have a minute of fame by being on the news or…
Lots of bloggers including yours truly have written thousands of blogs on the issue of assimilation, which is how we keep the people we reach. How do we create a climate of hospitality that causes people to desire to come back after they visit? How do we get people really…
Aubrey Malphurs, in his book, Strategy 2000: Churches Making Disciples for the Next Millennium, discusses eight areas of what makes a genuine disciple. This list or any list depicting lifestyle and behaviors is an outward response of an inward commitment to Jesus as Lord. This is not a legalistic exercise…
One of the most obvious evidences of our walk with Christ is joy. The word joy appears 218 times in the Bible. Deep joy should be a constant quality in the life of a follower of Christ. Happiness is more dependent on your circumstances. Things go well at work or…
I read an interesting article last week by Bob Allen called, “Can Sunday School be saved?” The title of the article caught my attention for two reasons. One, I have been greatly impacted by Godly Sunday School teachers who loved me and made a huge difference in my life and two, if…
Here are a few thoughts on how discipleship is changing in the way churches approach it. Then Church Training (Discipleship Training) now “Disciple Making.” Then Sunday Night 6PM now Anytime. Then At Church now Anywhere. Then Curriculum Driven now Highly Relational. Then Large Group (over 10) now Small Group…
A new year is a good time to take a spiritual inventory. One great place to start is making sure you know what your spiritual gifts are. Ken Hemphill defines a spiritual gift as…“an individual manifestation of grace from the Father that enables you to serve Him and thus play…
I read an interesting yet disturbing article recently on intergeneration connections and the involvement of teens after they graduate from high school. The article was written by Kara Powell and it was called, “Faith that Sticks.” Studies suggest that approximately 40 to 50 percent of our students who are part of…
I recently met with a church that was having consistent baptisms but not experiencing net growth. They asked me to help them plan some strategies that would keep those they reached. About the same time I read Tom Rainer’s blog on “closing the back door.” How does a church keep…
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…
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.