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What Are Christians Up To?
What are we striving for? What is our end-goal? When can we say alongside Jesus, “It is finished”? It’s no less than the evangelization of the entire world. What a daunting task! I look at my church–we’ve probably got 25-30 people in each location. Should this lofty concept be the goal of such a small,…
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The Biggest Danger For The Future of Methodists
As many of you know, I was a member of the North Alabama Conference (United Methodists) for 8 years by being a member of two of their churches during that time. During that time, I heard many sentiments expressed about the current struggles for Methodists. Methodists moaned that they were a minority in the land…
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Dealing With Congregation-Envy
I remember several years ago having a conversation with a youth pastor when I was helping out in his youth ministry. The church was in a very rural setting and had a van that would go out each week to pick kids up for youth group. Most of the kids who came to youth group…
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Do You Really Want To Have A Church Like Jesus’?
Top 10 reasons most pastors wouldn’t want to have a ministry like Jesus’: Reason #1: Jesus never developed a financially-sustainable ministry, and never received a salary. Reason #2: While He did enjoy a short stint in success, in the end, it all fell apart as quickly as it started. Reason #3: None of His hired…
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Why The Social Gospel Isn’t The Gospel
The Son of God didn’t need to come in order that people who are hungry could have food. There’s already plenty of food on earth, and people could be fed without Him having to leave His heavenly throne. He did, however, instruct us to feed the hungry. The Son of God didn’t need to come…
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The Difference Between Leadership And Spirituality
Most congregants in your typical local church remain largely ignorant of what goes on “behind the scenes” at their church. It’s not until they are thrust into some sort of lay leadership role that much of this stuff becomes apparent. Many people thrust in these roles are unable to cope with the things they see…
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How Churches Are All-Too-Often Run
Churches who have been around for awhile (say 30 or more years), tend to be run a certain way. The way I’ve often heard it said is, “Churches tend to be run like a business.” I hate the business model of church. Yet, in my experience, this isn’t really how these older churches are run.…
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What I Have Appreciated In Youth Ministry
I’m no longer a youth pastor, but I’ve been recently reflecting over my tenure in youth ministry. It hasn’t been all happy thoughts. In fact, much of it has been disappointing thoughts. I think being in youth ministry is one of the hardest areas of ministry, because you’re working with people who are usually not…
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A Better Illustration Of The Trinity
Perhaps you’ve heard attempts to explain the Trinity like I have. The egg illustration (shell, white, yolk) or water illustration (water, ice, steam) immediately come to my mind. The problem is, all these illustrations come up very short in explaining what Christians fully mean by the word “Trinity” when trying to explain God. The Trinity…
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When And Why Leaders Should Rejoice
I’ve written quite a bit about my frustrations with how church leaders view their ministries and whether they are successful or not. Yesterday, while at the bookstore, I saw a book I never heard of before, written a few years back by John Piper entitled, Brothers, We are Not Professionals: A Plea To Pastors. Not…