Category: Church
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Celebrating Gospel-Centeredness
A good article by Trevin Wax illustrating the importance of, not only Gospel-centeredness but, Gospel Celebration. Wax asserts: “What you celebrate as a Church is just as important as what you believe.” I am not sure I fully agree with that statement, but I do see how what is celebrated practically shapes the church, and…
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Lord Save Us
I spent this morning watching the documentary, Lord Save Us From Your Followers. I was prompted by a note from a friend and, despite it not being on my agenda for the day, I was intrigued. Once again, I am not sure where I have been. This film came out over a year ago. Some…
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Is Church Growth a Biblical Expectation?
I was intrigued by the insights of Jay Childs in an article he wrote for Leadership Journal. The article, titled Church Growth vs. Church Seasons, focuses on the American fascination with large numbers. After telling some of his own story, Jay makes three primary observations: Our Situation is Not Unusual Non-Stop Numerical Growth is NOT…
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8 Qualities of Healthy Churches
Christian A. Schwarz, head of the Institute for Natural Church Development in Germany, conducted reportedly the most comprehensive church-growth study ever, drawn from more than one thousand churches in thirty-two countries. His study revealed eight qualities in healthy churches. 1. Empowering Leadership Leaders of growing churches … do not use lay workers as “helpers” in attaining their…
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Every Church Missional
Every church is called to be a “missional church”. The fact that we have turned the word mission into an adjective testifies to the American church’s frayed ecclesiology. A non-missional church is not a church in the first place, but in a culture largely devoid of theological vocabulary, this language has become necessary to remind…
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Mistaken Identity
Like many churches throughout the land, our church is entering into a season of officer nominations. As a presbyterian congregation, specifically, we are inviting the members of our congregation to submit the names of fellow church members who they believe fit the Biblical requirements, found in Titus & 1 Timothy 3, for the offices of Elder…
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95 Theses for the American Church
Just as Martin Luther offered some suggestions for the Church of his time in Germany, Jared Wilson has some ideas for us to consider. On his blog: The Gospel-Driven Church, Jared has posted 95 Theses for the American Church. Theses 1-19 – Discipleship Theses 20-38 – Community Theses 39-57 – The Church Theses 58-76 – The Pastorate …
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The Calling of the Church
The calling of the church in every culture is to be mission. That is, the work of the church is not to be an agent or servant of the culture. The churches’ business is not to maintain freedom or to promote wealth or to help a political party or to serve as the moral guide…
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To Be Or Not To Be Missional
Dave Harvey is an expert church planter and an astute observer of trends in church leadership. At the Spring 2007 Leadership Conference of Sovereign Grace Ministries Harvey assessed the strengths and weakness of the missional movement in an address titled Watch Your Mission: To Be or Not to Be Missional. One observation Harvey offers is that…
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10 Dumbest Things Christians Do
There is a book out there with the title: The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do. I feel compelled to pick up a book with a title like that. I want to see how many of these 10 dumb things I am guilty of doing. I don’t know if the list the author, Mark Atteberry, compiled is right…
