“Making Disciples” is the church’s assignment given directly from the lips of Jesus in Matthew 28:19. It should always be on our minds and hearts as we lead our churches forward for the glory of Christ. Aubrey Malphurs is a prolific writer and professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He believes…
The Bully! Pulpit, a pop culture news blog, reports that rumors that Michael Jackson accepted Christ may have been false. Jackson, who died of cardiac arrest last week at the age of 50, was rumored by some to have become a Christian just weeks before his death. Mark Moring reported…
Bill Easum in his book “A Second Resurrection,” (Abingdon, 2007) lists eight steps to reverse spiritual decline in churches. He says that spiritual death doesn’t have to happen in the life of a church. Even in churches that seem to not have a chance at surviving there is still hope…
We are all looking for the key factors that reach people and keep them. There are no magic bullets but there are some key indicators. While serving as the pastor of one church, it seemed like every other person I met in the community said they use to be a…
In my last blog post we looked at four of Barna’s Eight Symptoms of declining churches. They were; Demographic Changes, Inadequate Leadership, Poor Management, and Old Blood. Here are the next four with a few brief comments. 5. Building Campaigns “From coast to coast, the roadside is littered with the…
It is not the newest book concerning church growth and health, but Barna’s book, Turn-Around Churches, still has lots of insightful material to help churches get back on track. In particular, his Eight Symptoms of declining churches is still relevant in any situation. We will look at the first four…
How do you grow your members from converts to disciples? We often think the whole process is automatic. People will find out for themselves how to grow in their faith. NOT! If we don’t have a discipleship process in place we are presuming that it will just happen. It’s as…
Today I began another year on planet earth. I reserve the right to be silent about my age, but I will say that I’ve been a Christian now for 34 years. I believe that birthdays should serve as times of celebration, but they should also cause us to reflect, refocus,…
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…
This morning I’m sitting in the lobby of the new Hampton Inn in Pikeville, Kentucky after leading an assimilation event last night in the area. As I type, I’m looking up the hill at the Pikeville College campus where I began my formal studies. I spent two semesters at the college…
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.