May 2016
I like working efficiently.
Every time I figure out a new way to work smarter, not harder, it’s like finding a $20 bill in an old coat.
Shortcuts, life hacks and time management tools are a great blessing, allowing me to get more done in less time, with a higher degree of ...
All my life I’ve heard preachers talk about a coming worldwide revival.
But it’s never happened.
There have been pockets of excitement. From the Jesus Movement of the 1970s to local spiritual outbreaks today. Along with controversy over their genuineness and effectiveness. ...
Church growth is an essential element in the Great Commission. But bigger churches are not.
This is not an anti-big-church rant. I love big churches. They're great. They're like padded seats, air conditioning and microphones. They can all be valuable tools, but they’re ...
Apparently the church is losing the culture wars.
We must be. My Facebook feed says so. And Facebook never lies, right?
Today it’s about bathrooms. Tomorrow it will be something else.
Each issue is presented as ‘The Most Important Issue of Our Time!’ Until the ...
It’s been four years since I've had writer's block.
No, that’s not right. I still get writer’s block.
It’s been four years since writer’s block has stopped me from writing.
Yes, that’s more like it.
Writer’s block has always been ...
The church I pastor has reached our capacity. Not our seating capacity. Our ministry capacity.
We can't do any more ministry than we are currently doing. Unless we change the way we do it.
Last Saturday I spent the day with our church's key leaders and we reached one simple ...
In 35 years of ministry, I've been asked a lot of questions.
Some are easy to answer, others leave me scratching my head.
I used to stress over the hard questions. Or give pat answers. Or take a stab at an answer and hope I’m right.
I don't do that anymore, since ...
Our church turned a corner this year.
About 15 months ago ago, we felt it. Something wasn’t quite right.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but my youth pastor verbalized it.
“Is it me, or is something off lately?” he wondered.
“It’s not just you,” ...
Jesus never told us to make bigger churches.
He told us to make disciples.
When disciples and disciple-makers get together, they create healthy churches.
But sometimes we put more energy into making churches bigger than making churches healthier. Usually because of an agenda that ...
Is it possible for a church to rely too heavily on technical excellence?
That was the crux of a recent conversation I had with an old friend.
“I left my small church because the worship, programs and preaching weren’t always great,” she told me. “But I ...
Small churches are here and we’re not going away.
We’re tired of being treated like a problem that needs to be fixed, or ignored as if we don’t exist.
If you write or speak on church leadership issues, I implore you to take note of this huge oversight, and start ...
Millennials are a mystery. Especially if you’re a Baby Boomer like me.
In the Boomer era it was not unusual for over one-third of the nation to be watching the same TV show. During the day, up to half the neighborhood listened to the same radio station on their drive home. ...
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