2019

Church Leadership
How Did Those 10-Year Vision Statements Turn Out For Everyone?
I don’t know what’s coming, but I know who does. And his vision is always 20/20.

How many of my fellow pastors are prepping their 20/20 vision statements right now, I wonder?

It reminds me of what happened in 2010. Back then, there were a whole lot of churches, ministries and individuals promoting their 10-year plans for their 2020 vision.

The idea of having ...

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Church Leadership
10 Principles To Get The Best From Volunteer Church Leaders
Leaders will attend and volunteer at churches where they are honored as people and where their hard work and leadership skills are recognized and valued.

Volunteer leaders are the backbone of the church.

This is true in churches of all sizes, but especially in small churches which may be led exclusively by volunteers.

After all, volunteers can quit at any time. And when they do, it actually frees up more of their spare time. So ...

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Church Growth
10 Questions More Important Than “What Was Your Sunday Attendance?”
Never let the excitement of higher attendance or the discouragement of lower attendance divert you from your church’s primary goal.

On any given Sunday, even the smallest, simplest church service juggles an amazing array of complex issues.

  • Set-up to tear-down
  • Relationships to administration
  • Spiritual to emotional
  • Planned events to unplanned interruptions
  • and more.

But too often we reduce the value of this beautiful, ...

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Church Methods Don’t Matter – Until We Do Them Wrong
We need to change our methods for the same reason I type using single spacing – because bad methods get in the way of the message.

The church won’t change the world by adopting new methods. We won’t even save the church that way.

What will change the world is a praying church. A loving church. A worshiping church. An outward-reaching church. A Jesus-centric church.

The Great Commandment and the ...

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Church & Culture
Christians Are Not Afraid Of New Evidence, We Seek It Out
We should seek truth wherever it may be found, because we serve the author of all truth.
Christians Are Not Afraid Of New Evidence, We Seek It Out
Image: CNN.com

Christianity has always been a faith in pursuit of the truth. Because of that, we’re not afraid of solid scientific research. In fact, we support it.

After all, our faith rests, not on a set of ideas or behaviors, but on a verifiable historical fact, the bodily resurrection ...

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Innovative Ministry
You’re Allowed To Care About One Thing Without Campaigning For Everything
Saying “no” to some good things so you can say "yes" to other good things is an essential step in being effective.

So you’ve found something you care about.

You’re involved. You feel like you’re making a difference.

Then you post about it on social media. Not to brag, just because that’s what you do with causes you care about.

Most of the responses are positive and uplifting, ...

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Innovative Ministry
“Get More People In The Room” Is Dead. Here’s What’s Replacing It
Size is no longer considered a sign of health by the average church member or spiritual seeker.

There are very few pastors who would say that bigger churches are inherently better than smaller churches. But most pastors believe it would be better if their church got bigger.

Not only do most pastors want their churches to get bigger, they believe it’s worth an extraordinary ...

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Innovative Ministry
Why “Learn With Me” Is So Much Better Than “Learn From Me”
Don’t just teach us what you know, teach us what you’re learning.

We’re all trying to understand the most essential elements of our existence.

Life, love, faith, family, church... and toilet paper rolls (under or over?)

No one has it all figured out.

This is why teachers need to start from an attitude of humility. Especially if we’re ...

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Christian Unity
6 Reasons “Don’t Take It Personally” Is Bad Ministry Advice
When you spend your ministry time with people you know and love, it has to be personal.

Don’t take it personally.”

That may be the worst piece of advice I’ve ever received about ministry. It fails on so many levels.

Here are six of them.

1. Jesus Took Ministry Very Personally

Can you imagine Jesus giving anyone that advice? “Take up your cross ...

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Small Church Ministry
Do You Serve In A Small Church? We See You, And You Matter
You may feel alone, but you're not. You're seen, loved and appreciated.

Today's article was written by Bernie Harding, the community pastor of Peel Elim Community Church, where her husband is the pastor. Peel is a town of 6,000 people on the Isle of Man. Bernie is responsible for running the community centre, kids church, some evangelism projects, ...

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Church & Culture
Invite People To Your Church, But Point Them To Jesus
Committing to Jesus and committing to the church, while interlinked, are not the same thing.

What’s happening with church attendance?

In just the last few weeks I’ve heard some of my fellow pastors say

  • “What is it with people lately? Does church just not matter anymore?”
  • “Is it just me, or do people in your church use the summer months as a get out of church card, too?”
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Innovative Ministry
How To Discover Your Ministry When Your Calling Isn’t What You Expected
If you can’t do the kind of ministry that’s expected of you, try the unexpected.

One of the first steps to figuring out what you do well is to find out what you don’t do well and cross it off your list.

That’s how I ended up being the “go-to small church guy”.

No matter how hard I tried, how much I learned, how often I prayed, or how ...

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Christian Unity
Why I'll Never Give Up On The Church
I can never give up on the church because I can never give up on people. And because Jesus never gave up on us.

When I hear about people leaving the church, my heart breaks.

Certainly, the church is messy. It’s broken. It’s in constant need of repentance, forgiveness, revitalization, renewal and reappraisal.

That’s how it is with families.

And, because the church truly ...

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Church & Culture
No, The Universe Doesn’t Care About Us – That’s Why We Need Jesus
The universe didn’t die for you. Jesus did. That makes all the difference.

The universe is trying to tell us something.”

Last night as I was watching TV, a character said that line so matter-of-factly that it almost rolled past me without notice. After all, I’ve heard people say that in person and in popular entertainment hundreds of times. ...

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Innovative Ministry
5 Tips To Reduce Misunderstandings In An Information-Soaked Culture
No one is a perfect communicator. Even if our facts are correct, the way we say them matters.

Never underestimate the possibility that someone will misunderstand what you’re saying.

That’s always been one of my guiding principles whenever I speak or write. And it’s becoming more important every day for anyone who wants to communicate accurately, clearly ...

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