Fixing these errors may not bring numerical growth. There are plenty of healthy, missional, strategic small churches that have none of these issues, but still find that their greatest contribution to Christ and his church comes in a smaller package. Numerical growth is not the goal. Health is. Sometimes that health will produce numerical growth,... Continue Reading

“There are probably many things to say about this subject, but I have identified five reasons why I think this is such a struggle for Christians—and Christian leaders in particular. Additionally, I’d like to share several practices I believe the Lord has led me into to work against this tendency in my own heart, as... Continue Reading

“In the past three to four years, more and more Chinese ministers have started practicing expository preaching week after week. The consequences have been remarkable and encouraging: congregations engage more with worship because they can anticipate the passage that will be preached the coming Sunday; people see the beauty of scripture and the gospel, which... Continue Reading

“Accept a gift with unreasonable expectations. The most recent was the offer of a $10,000 gift if the church signed a document agreeing to keep fresh flowers on his grave in perpetuity. I assume he meant the request to be posthumous.”   “I need you to do a funeral for my cat.” Yes, that is... Continue Reading

“Some today have used the term Gospel Fluency to describe a similar work (see Jeff Vanderstelt’s Gospel Fluency). In short, ones who are fluent in the gospel have their mother tongue in the gospel. They see and hear the world through the gospel filter and demonstrate an ability to speak the gospel into the everyday... Continue Reading

One of the ways that we prepare ourselves is by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and not on our experiences. We have to guard our hearts from getting too excited about the highs and too discouraged by the lows. I have had some of the highest highs and lowest lows literally occur a day... Continue Reading

We seem more concerned with the amenities of our buildings than the God we have gathered to worship. Instead of thinking about the message of our buildings we focus on HD jumbotrons, a bigger parking lot, an organic coffee shop.   Your church building preaches a gospel whether you know it or not. It portrays... Continue Reading

The fact that one church might choose to organize its worship differently than another is not, in itself, evidence that the RPW has been broken or neglected. The RPW does not promote the idea that unless a principle institutes uniformity then it has failed as a principle. There are those who argue that unless there is,... Continue Reading

Even so-called seeker sensitive churches have discovered that theological depth appeals to lapsed Christians and non-believers. Last year, Ed Stetzer cited several examples of congregations (such as Oklahoma megachurch Life.Church) that shifted toward more rigorous teaching once they noticed interest from the unchurched: “In other words, those for whom sermons were being dumbed down aren’t dumb. They... Continue Reading

“Douthat adapts Pascal’s case to a more secular age by bracketing belief. For the sake of his argument, it doesn’t matter if there’s such a thing as heaven or hell. The benefits of religion are all right here on earth. Just go to church, meet people, celebrate the holidays, learn about morality, bury the dead,... Continue Reading