The 5 second rule is that you have roughly a 5 second period to perform an action before your mind will pull you out of it and stop you. The reason the mind stops you is because it naturally makes us take action for survival and comfort as a self defense mechanism.
How Do You Mesure Church Plant Success?
Every church planter eventually asks the same quiet question, usually late at night, usually after another attendance report. How do you actually measure church plant success? Is it numbers? Giving? Survival past year three? Or is it something harder to chart but far more faithful? Church planting lives in the tension between faithfulness and fruitfulness.…
Flirting WIth Temptation
Perhaps the most dangerous place on the church campus is the pastor’s counseling office. When the minister is shut up in a tight space with a vulnerable female who confides in him the most personal things of her life, often the two people do something completely natural and end up bonding emotionally. The bonding process…
20 Short Prayers
Frank Laubach, literacy pioneer and beloved brother in Christ, used to call short prayers “prayer arrows.” Short sentences sent heavenward to praise, give thanks, intercede or summon the Lord’s assistance have a potency all their own. The hypocrites think they will be heard for their “much speaking.” (Oh, I pray for two hours every morning. You…
What Kind of Preaching Works Best in a Church Plant’s First Year
The first year church plant experience is equal parts excitement, exhaustion, and holy uncertainty. Every Sunday feels like a new beginning, and every sermon carries weight beyond its word count. Preaching shapes the culture of a new congregation long before programs or ministries take root. That’s why the kind of preaching you offer in these…
