Category: Church Life
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Peacemaker or Peacekeeper? The Difference Is Everything
Almost every pastor knows this scenario. Two church members who haven’t spoken in months, sitting in the same room, both of them loving Jesus, both of them loving the church, and both of them absolutely certain the other one is in the wrong. It’s tempting, in a moment like that, to just smooth things over.…
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When You Get Mad at Your Pastor
It happens more often than we like to admit. The pastor says something in a sermon that rubs us the wrong way, makes a decision we don’t like, or makes a comment in casual conversation that comes across as less than pastoral. How do we respond? Too often, people get angry and react in unhelpful…
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The Preacher as Artist
The sermon is a work of art. That is not just a metaphor. It is a theological conviction about what preaching actually is and why we do it. What Preaching Is Not The sermon is not a motivational speech. Motivational speeches are energetic and inspiring and they have their place, but the pulpit is not…
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A Light for the Ones We Can’t See Yet
A lighthouse is a strange thing when you stop to think about it. Nobody builds one for the people who are already safe in the harbor. The folks standing on the shore with their feet on dry ground do not need a beam of light sweeping across the water. The lighthouse exists for the boat…
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Room for One More
There is an empty chair sitting on our platform at church right now. The first Sunday people saw it, I’m sure they were wondering why a single chair was parked up front with nobody in it. It was there to remind us about the building we are planning. We do need the reminder, because we…
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Drawing Near: What Our Church Is Doing for the Next 40 Days
Draw Near runs from April 26 through June 7, and it touches nearly every part of our church life.
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Church Growth or Church Health?
Is the church an organization or is it an organism? How we answer that question determines how we view “success” in the church. If it is only an organization, numerical growth is a valid expectation and means of evaluation. If, however, the church is a living organism, growth is not nearly as important as health.…
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6 Great Ways to Use Your Cell Phone in Church
You can use your cell phone in ways that will help you and your church grow!