I've learned by experience there are two important questions every leader needs to ask. Recently, I’ve sat in several meetings or talked with different leaders, and the same situation has been repeating itself. Imagine this scenario. A team or church feels like they need to hire someone or add someone to the team, so they…
Friends, let me tell you: the struggle is real. We all go through challenges. Because you’ve chosen to step in, or move into, the position of a leader, you’re experiencing more struggle than the average person. Not only do you have the weight of your personal life on your shoulders, but you also have the…
Here are the funniest questions I received as a church planter: “When are you going to build a church?” I always thought, “Well, that’s what we are doing now meeting in this high school.” (Oh, you mean a building, but, of course, you’d agree the church is not the building, right? ) “Are you going to…
Church mergers are a hot topic. Is your church healthy but considering merging with another church? Are you a multisite church that is thinking about helping another church through a merger and adding a campus at the same time? Are you part of a struggling church that is looking at the potential of merging with another church in your community? …
A lot of energy and money can go into keeping a church on life support. But what if it would be better to let that church experience death with dignity so that it can have a lasting legacy? A dying church doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a failing church. Should you let a church die?…
If the apostle Paul was a city bylaw officer, then the book of Galatians is a “cease and desist” letter. This letter was Paul’s serious warning that the Galatians constructed “weak and worthless” (4:9) trappings around the gospel that were not merely oppressive (think ‘forced circumcision’ 6:12) but also dangerously unstable (1:6-7). The Galatians were…
My daughter saves her deepest theological questions for bedtime. She doesn’t give a rip about theology, but she cares deeply about delaying bedtime. If Daddy is foolish enough to take the bait on Who made God-type questions, she wins. Even though her greatest need is rest, she thinks her late-night allies are unsolvable religious questions. In…
Early in his faith, John Wimber, leader of the Vineyard Movement, once asked his pastor, “so, when do we do the stuff…like healing the sick and casting out demons?” He was inspired to action by the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. Yet, these same accounts also show Jesus prioritizing just being. Emulating Jesus’ life means…
How many churches did the Apostle Paul plant? Certainly someone somewhere has done research on this. I’m sure it’s a lot. By all accounts, and however much guestimating is involved, I think most everyone would agree on this: Paul was successful. He was a winner. Sure, he took a whole lot of trouble for his…
Opening disclosure. This post is going to seem negative, and I am far from a negative person. The glass is always over half full for me. I actually intend it to be positive if it encourages churches. Our transition 18 months ago to the Dallas area was difficult when it came to finding a church to…
