Category: Ministry
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Practical Difference Makers
One of the vows folks are required to affirm if they are to become a member of our church – or a member of any church in the PCA, for that matter – is: Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of you ability? This seems simple enough.…
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Ah!! You Just Said a BAD Word!
Tony Campolo is famous – or infamous – for a statement made at a Christian college chapel service: “The United Nations reports that over ten thousand people starve to death each day, and most of you don’t give a SH%T. However, what is even more tragic is that most of you are more concerned about…
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Taking Pieces of Heaven to Place of Hell On Earth
Jesus says: “I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not stand up…” –Matthew 16.18 First it is important to remind ourselves that in this challenge Jesus is calling his church to take an Offensive stike, not a Defensive response. The church is to take the initiative, go, and storm the gates. This verse…
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Prophets, Priests, and Kings
An important concept to explore and implement in the ministry of the local church is the reflection of the Offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest, and King. This is known as Tri-Perspectivalism or Multi-Perspectivalism. I have written and spoken a little about this, but I am still far more a student than an expert when it comes…
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Being Sent
This past Sunday I offered a brief exposition of John 17.6-21 & John 20.21, explaining what it means to be “sent” into our community and world in the same way God the Father sent Jesus into our world. These texts demand that we understand, as John Stott says: “Our God is a missionary God.” They…
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Right People, Right Direction
There are two common maxims offered to pastors when entering a new ministry. Both are wise and true. But they are mutually exlusive: “Don’t change anything in the first year.” “If you don’t change anything in the first year, you will never be able to change anything later.” One way to resolve the tension is to…
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Putting a Bus Stop at Our Church
A generation ago it was not uncommon for a churches to have bus ministries. Volunteers would drive a bus to pick people up from around the community and shuttle them to and from the church. Jim Collins, in his best-selling book Good to Great, seems to suggest churches still need to get people on and off the…
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Deep Church & Ordinary Means
Unbeknownst to me when I posted earlier today, two of my long-time friends interviewed Jim Belcher, author of Deep Church, earlier this year for their podcast: Ordinary Means. In this interview Jim introduces and discusses his book with two guys, Matt Bohling & Shaun Nolan, who unhesitatingly identify themselves with the Traditional Church. Great discussion… To listen click: Deep Church.
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The Deep Church
At the suggestion of a friend, I recently read Jim Belcher’s Deep Church. I was not disappointed. This is thoughtful and thought-provoking book. The subtitle really captures the theme of this book: A Third Way. With all the discussions about “how” to do church, and the polemic approaches of the Traditionalists and the Emerging/Emergent, some of us…
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7 Reasons We Need Small Groups
Our church has begun a process to initiate Small Group ministry. Though I am familiar with the “whys” and the methods of small groups, I am by no measure an expert. Fortunately, we do have in our church others who a far more knowledgeable than I am about the implementation of this aspect of ministry. Still, the early going has been…
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7 Rules for Reconciliation
To live in community is to live with – at least – the potential for conflict. I have acted wrongly on too many occasions; I have wronged others; and I have been wronged by others. I find few things more emotionally taxing than living in conflict. But God calls us to live in community, where…
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Reflecting Jesus in Christ’s Church
If, as most Christians profess, Jesus is indeed the only Head of the Church, it seems reasonable that Christ’s Church should reflect His personality in it’s ministries and structure. One way that Jesus is reflected in the ministry of faithful churches has been the recovery of a balanced Word & Deed holistic ministry. By balanced…
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Keller on Being Salt & Light
Working through the Sermon on the Mount on Sunday mornings, a few weeks ago I preached from Matthew 5.13-16, the Salt & Light passage. What I explained to our congregation is that, after instrucitng us about what our attitude ought to be as citizens of the Kingdom, Jesus goes on to reveal the Influence he…
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9 Church Diseases
According to Peter Wagner: Healthy churches build an immune system to resist disease. It is much more advisable to prevent an illness than to contract one and then have to cure it. The following are the most common diseases that infect churches. By recognizing some of the symptoms my hope is that we will turn to…
