Should Our Smaller Church Be Growing?

November 14, 2017

Many American Christians have this idea that if a church is big, it must be better. Not necessarily. Our obsession with “bigness” can be a reflection of American values, rather than biblical ones.

Too often we pull our cultural values into our grid for measuring church success. Size is not necessarily the best measurement for church health.

Is it OK for churches to be small sometimes? Absolutely. But before I give you three questions that can show if your small church is healthy, let me ask three questions that demonstrate when it is not OK for a church to stay small.

What does a small unhealthy church look like?

Is your church staying small even when the community around you is lost and growing?

There is really no excuse for this. Every church in America has un-churched or de-churched people in their neighborhood. Moreover, 584 unengaged, unreached people groups are estimated to be living in North America right now.

As the people of God, on mission with God, we are called to spread the good news and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20).

Scripture reminds us that we are called to water and plant while recognizing that the actual growth is God’s business (1 Cor. 3:6). Let’s make sure to not blame our lack of growth on God’s will, when often we are not planting and watering in the first place.

Is your church staying small because you refuse to engage the culture around you?

According to our research in Transformational Church, the healthiest churches are those who are actively seeking to understand and invest in their communities. Some churches have built a bubble around themselves as protection from the world.

Sadly, these churches refuse to acknowledge the deeper root of the world’s problems—sin—resides in their own hearts (Rom. 5:12), causing them to either implode or die out.

Hasn’t Jesus called us to be kingdom witnesses in a dark and broken world (Matt. 5:16)? How can we do that if we don’t engage those around us?

Is your church staying small because you love your fellowship, but not the lost?

Too many churches—whether there are 30 members or 3,000 members—are full of internally focused consumers primarily concerned about themselves.

We should seek to cultivate intimate fellowship and care for one another in the church family. However, we have to be intentional about reaching out to those around us with the good news of Jesus.

We need to strike a healthy balance between internal health and external reach. This means moving church members from customers to co-laborers by developing intentional strategies to train and launch people in missional living.

What does a small, healthy church look like?

Is your church staying small because you are in a small community, but are still faithfully engaging those around you?

For some churches that live and breathe in small rural towns, it is quite possible to remain faithful and never experience rapid growth. Digging deep roots in one place builds a legacy of gospel persistence.

Doesn’t Jesus compare the Kingdom of God to a tiny mustard seed or a small amount of yeast (Matt. 13:31-33)? Like those, a steadfast and faithful small church can have an impact beyond their appearance.

Remembering, again, the lesson of planting, watering and growing, we should be encouraged that our task is to share, persistently. Where there is little community growth, there may be little church growth, but that shouldn’t keep us from trying.

Is your church staying small because you gather in a transient community, but you are reaching new people?

Continue

Roy Moore: What Are Christians Willing to Overlook in Leaders?

Bob Ditmer

November 14, 2017

Battle lines appear to be forming in the church over Roy Moore, the Christian, former Alabama judge and Republican nominee for the United States Senate who has been accused of dating 14 year-olds when he was 30 and making unwanted sexual advances on some of them.

Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and no relation to Judge Moore, took to Twitter this week to slam evangelicals who are standing by the candidate in spite of the allegations.

It appears he has no shortage of targets. A new poll found nearly 40 percent of evangelical Christians in Alabama say they are now more likely to vote for Moore after multiple allegations that he molested children.

Perhaps it is the continuation of a trend discovered during last year’s presidential election when the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found white evangelicals are growing more accepting of a politician’s personal indiscretions.

POLITICS INVADING THE PULPIT

Is it a sign Christians are putting politics over the Gospel? Russell Moore seems to think so. He tweeted, “Christian, if you cannot say definitively, no matter what, that adults creeping on teenage girls is wrong do not tell me you stand against moral relativism.” In another tweet he wrote, “Evangelical Christians ought to be the most dogged opponents of sexual predation and violence in the universe. The Bible tells us so.”

Daniel Akin, the president of Southeast Baptist Theological Seminary and author of “A Theology for the Church” responded, “I for one am very grateful for the brave women coming out and speaking about sexual abuse. I am ashamed of men for acting like irresponsible animals. A real man will always treat a lady with respect.”

Christian speaker Beth Moore, also no relation to Roy Moore, entered into the conversation on her twitter feed writing, “Got 1 last thing to say this AM. I breathe by the power of the cross. I believe in complete forgiveness. Immeasurable grace. I’d be destroyed without it. Got no stones to throw. I also believe Matthew 3:8. There’s fruit of repentance. It shows up in a changed life & humble heart.”

She followed with another warning to Christians putting politics ahead of Christ tweeting, “It’s been a harrowing trip to Oz for many evangelicals this year, the curtain pulled back on the wizards of cause. We found a Bible all right, seemingly used instead of applied, leveraged instead of obeyed, cut and pasted piecemeal into a pledge of allegiance to serve the served.”

DO YOU BELIEVE JOSEPH OR POTIPHAR’S WIFE?

But for the others this is not a question about excusing sexual molestation, it’s about not rushing to judgment in an age when character assassination for political gain can be summed up in the question “Do you remember the Duke Lacrosse team?”

On that side of the aisle is Christian politician Paul Nehlen from Wisconsin. He responded to Russell Moore’s tweets asking, “May I ask you Dr. Moore, have you privately discussed with Kayla Moore (Roy Moore’s wife) as she stands by her husband or does your thirst for power prevent it?

Nehlen is joined by The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer, host of the group’s “Focal Point” radio program. In an editorial on the AFA website he wrote, “This sad story is yet another example of opponents of conservatives saying investigations must be pursued and verdicts must be rendered based on “the seriousness of the charge,” not based on the credibility of witnesses or actual evidence.”

Meanwhile, 53 pastors have signed a letter of support for the embattled candidate although some press accounts say not all of the signatories gave their permission to be added.

Civil wars are costly, hard to end and rarely are civilians spared. Let’s hope in this brewing battle truth and the Gospel escape unscathed.

If ESPN Ran Your Post-Sermon Press Conference

Jesse T. Jackson

November 14, 2017

Every pastor knows the feeling that hits first thing Monday morning. The sermon you spent an entire week preparing for and revising and nursing has come and gone. Perhaps you preached it more than once because you have multiple services. In any case, once Monday rolls along, you start asking yourself those same questions: Was it good enough? How did I do? Did they understand what I was saying? Was Jesus heard in my sermon?

Pastor Press Conference

John Crist’s video touches on this insecurity many pastors feel when it comes to their preaching. We are unsure whether the sermon was “good enough” that we look to other, insignificant things to justify its efficacy. This is precisely what Crist’s video pokes fun at.

Like all good comedy, there is a lesson to be gleaned from Crist’s parody. If preaching becomes more of a performance and is measured by how the audience reacts (an “Amen” here and a “Hands Raised” there or how many responses you get to the altar call or how many decisions were made to follow Christ), then it is a possibility you are attempting to overshadow the one you are preaching about.

Church leader, it is not about YOU when you preach, it is and should only be about Jesus. Every Bible-preaching pastor should measure their sermon by how much Jesus was proclaimed. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit. Don’t let the devil whisper in your ear. Every week, prepare to preach Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear it. There isn’t power in a performance, there is only power in the name of Jesus.

“My brothers and sisters, not many of you should be teachers. I say this because, as you know, we who teach will be judged more strictly than others.” – James 3:1

As you watch this less than two-minute video, ask yourself, “Do I obsess over these things after I get done preaching?”

4 Ways to Grow Your Church This Christmas

Kevin Lloyd

November 13, 2017

Elf is one of my favorite movies.

I laugh every time Buddy the Elf walks into that dark mailroom and, through a scared smile, says, “This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop! Except is smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.”

Buddy has a way of making the most out of any moment.

Christmas is here! It is a season filled with growth opportunities for your church. Here’s the good news: No one wants to hurt you and hopefully nothing in your life smells like mushrooms! While that is true, it is still up to you to make the most of this moment. Growth during Christmas doesn’t happen without creativity and effort.

4 Ways to Grow Your Church This Christmas

1. Create shareable content.

If church is interesting, people are interested. Quit desperately trying to get people to invite friends to attend church on Sunday and give people a way to share church with friends every other day. Create content that’s simple to share on social media, creates interest and makes someone think differently about church.

Record a four-episode podcast for each week in December with little known facts about the Christmas story, craft memorable statements to post on Instagram or Facebook, edit Sunday’s message down to the best two minutes to post on social media, or create unique video content. Christmas content is most shareable when it’s nostalgic, helpful, funny and high quality.

Video content like this is GREAT to share and show a glimpse of your church.

2. Talk “city”, not church.

People in your city want to go to a church during Christmas. Use December to widen the reach of your church by communicating in a way that assumes you are THE church of your city. This requires a shift in how you think and how you talk.

My church held a ribbon cutting for a completed expansion project on our facility; we promoted it as “The Biggest Fireworks Show in Augusta!” Attendance was double what we expected. When advertising your Christmas services, make them a “city-wide” event instead of just for your church. Rather than marketing Christmas Eve service at Life Church, market Christmas Eve in Augusta, hosted by Life Church. See the subtle difference? So will everyone else. Differentiate yourself and expand how people view your church.

3. Use email to excite people.

Churches underuse email out of fear of wearing people out. This is short-sighted and strategically misdirected. Lose the boring “weekly e-newsletter” that everyone will delete. Maximize email by creating campaigns around major seasons.

Six weeks ahead of Christmas begin an email campaign generating buzz with people. Three weeks out, send two emails a week. Don’t be mundane. This is a marketing campaign. Your emails better be well-written and your subject line needs to make me click open instead of delete. Ask your most interesting staff members to give you content ideas and your best writers to shape your words.

4. Give people resources to invite their friends.

Know what most people do with the invite cards they’re provided at church? Put them on their refrigerator. Instead of a stale card inviting someone to church, create a card inviting someone to a conversation or an action. A card saying “Come sit with me” opens the door to a more personal invite than one with a church logo, service times and a map.

The key to effective invite cards is to teach people how to use them. Create a video teaching people a few ways to make the most of the card and the invite. Keep this short video in their view. Email it, post it, play it during your countdown before service.

Christmas is a perfect season to experience growth. Hopefully these tools will help you take a different approach. Keep leading bravely. Merry Christmas!

This article originally appeared here.

4 GREAT Icebreaker Questions for BRAND-NEW Groups

Jim Egli

November 13, 2017

Last month I started two new groups—a men’s discipleship group and an advanced leadership training group. When I launch a new small group, class, or training group, I like to ask several icebreaker questions the first meeting as well as casting vision and outlining expectations for the group.

Asking a few icebreaker questions builds community, opening people up to one another and what God wants to do through the relationships in the group.

Here are the questions that I used in these two groups. In the men’s discipleship group, I asked a modification of the “Quaker Questions”:

Basic Icebreaker Questions

Where did you go to school for the first grade?
Who were you closest to when you were 10 years old?
What is something you are very good at?
When did God become more than a word to you?

Notice how the first two questions deal with the distant past, beginning with a question that reveals something significant about the person, yet it is very simple and non-threatening. Then things build to end with a very personal and deep question.

In the leadership training group, I start deeper right out of the shoot and ask:

Besides your coming to Christ, what have been two very formative events in your life?
What was one of the most important events in your life last year?
What is something you are looking forward to for the rest of this year?

These three questions guided people to share important history with one another, and then let them tell one another about recent events and current anticipations.

Both sets of questions were very effective. People enjoyed answering them and listening to what others had to share.

As with all icebreaker questions, we went in a circle responding to one question at a time. When everyone had answered that question, we moved to the next question.

Are you starting a new group? Do you have a few new people in an established group? Or, do you have an ongoing group where you want relationships to go deeper? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might want to consider asking several icebreaker questions in your next group meeting.

Whether you are starting a new group or looking for good icebreaker questions for an established group, we’ve posted hundreds of icebreakers at my other site, www.smallgroupicebreakers.com. You can sort by tags or look at questions categorized as light, deeper or deep.

What have you found to be great questions to ask in the first session of a new group?

Fake News and Youth Evangelism

Greg Stier

November 13, 2017

Accusations of fake news are everywhere these days. Thanks to the President’s Twitter-happy fingers, this term is now part of the American vernacular.

But long before there was “fake news” in politics there was fake news in Christianity. In the 19th century Samuel Snow gave his “Midnight Cry” and identified October 22, 1844, as the date of Christ’s return. When it didn’t happen his followers were greatly disillusioned.

Fake news!

The first Christian fake news I remember was in 1988 where there was a big rumor spreading in conservative Christian circles that Jesus would come back in 1988. Somebody even wrote a book called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture will happen in 1988.

I remember the nervousness I felt at the thought that “this could be the year.” Some people even sold their stuff and prepared for the rapture.

Fake news!

And the latest was September 23, 2017, yes, just weeks ago. Once again the Christian rumor mill was churning. Now the planets were supposedly aligned perfectly with a prophecy in Revelation 12. And that would be the day. And it all happened to be the same day as our national simulcast event for evangelism, Dare 2 Share Live.

Somebody asked me months ago, “Did you pick the date of Dare 2 Share Live to coincide with the rapture?” Nope (but it would have been pretty cool for thousands of teenagers to be raptured while out sharing the Gospel!).

Even my daughter asked me the week of Dare 2 Share Live, “Dad, some kids at school are saying that September 23 is the rapture. Is that true?” In true dad fashion I said, “Yes, and when the rapture happens you lose all of your clothes and rise awkwardly slow into the sky and eventually make it to the clouds where you’ll finally get your white robe. Until then you can share your faith while you are slowly rising. Awkward is awesome right?”

She was traumatized until I told her that I was kidding and that the rumor of the rapture happening on September 23 was fake news.

In Luke 17:23,24 Jesus said, “People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.“

Jesus is reminding us not to believe the fake news when it comes to his return. Instead, let’s live every day like it could be the day that Jesus returns. Let’s share our faith like there is no tomorrow. After all, that’s the point of prophecy.

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24:42

This article originally appeared here.

Church Shootings: Safety Measures Every Children’s Ministry Needs to Have in Place

Dale Hudson

November 13, 2017

Like you, I’ve been heartbroken while watching the news unfold about the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Yesterday, an armed man walked into the church and began firing, killing 26 people and injuring at least 20 more.

The victims included people from the ages of 18 months to 77 years old. Among those killed were eight relatives spanning three generations in a single family.

Shootings at churches are becoming more common. So common that authorities have created a National Church Shooting database. The database documents 139 shootings at churches between 1980 and 2005, with 185 people being killed, including 36 children.

Since 2005, there have been many other church shootings, including the 2015 shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, which killed nine people.

Like never before, now is the time for churches to take a hard look at their safety and security measures. In this article, we’ll specifically focus on safety measures that children’s ministries need to have in place.

Realize no one is immune to being attacked. This attack reminds us once again that an attack can happen at any time, at any place. As news reports are stating, the attack in Sutherland Springs is the last place you would expect something like this to happen. Don’t think your church is immune to being attacked. It can happen in small towns and big cities.

The truth is most churches are a very soft target. Think about it. Service times are known. Everyone is welcome. There are usually multiple entries. Few churches have security personnel or policies in place. Parking lots are not monitored. The reality is churches, which should be a safe place, free from violence, are now one of the most vulnerable places to be.

Have security personnel in place. Hire an armed security officer to be present in your children’s ministry area. The best scenario is to have an armed police officer there in full uniform. Don’t worry, parents and children will not freak out about this. They will welcome this. In fact, one of parents’ top concerns is their child being safe in a world of terrorism and violence. Having visible security in place will cause families to return to your church.

In addition to an armed security officer, you should enlist a volunteer safety and security team for your church. This team should not only monitor the children’s ministry area, but the entire church…starting in the parking lot. A shooter stopped in the parking lot will never make it inside to harm people.

I have friends who were present when a shooter begin firing in their church parking lot a few years ago in Colorado. The shooter killed a few people in the parking lot and was making his way toward the church building when a volunteer security guard shot him and prevented him from getting inside the building. This obviously saved many lives that day.

If your budget prevents you from hiring a uniformed security officer, then at a minimum, you should have a volunteer safety and security team in place. Again, the best plan is to have both present.

Ideally, the volunteer safety and security team should include individuals with medical and law enforcement training. Some of them should be licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Obviously you have to use wisdom in where you will place this team in your children’s area. I would not have any of this team inside the classrooms, but rather in key places in the hallway or entrance areas. The team must have a clear plan and know what to do in situations.

Limit access to the children’s ministry area. Only approved volunteers and parents with security tags should be allowed in the children’s areas. The children’s area should not be a part of the building where people can walk through unmonitored.

Lock down the children’s ministry area. Once service begins, you should lock down your children’s ministry areas. Lock down the children’s ministry hallway. Lock the classroom doors. This helps create layers of protection that can stop or hinder a shooter from reaching the children. People who arrive late are met at the locked door and walked to their room.

Train your team how to respond. Staff and volunteers should be trained to recognize signs of a person who is agitated, angry, intoxicated or showing aggressive or threatening body language. Have guidelines in place on how to approach and deny access to these individuals.

What if an active shooter gets inside the building? Staff and volunteers in the kids’ areas should be trained on what to do.

Procedures should be planned with the help of a professional. There are companies that can help you formulate your plan. I highly recommend Lion Heart International Service Group. My friend, Tim Miller, is the founder and CEO. Tim is a 30-year law enforcement and military professional. As a Secret Service Special Agent assigned to the Washington Field Office, he coordinated all aspects of security for the President, Vice-President and foreign heads of state on a regular basis.

Whether it’s asking your local authorities for help formulating a plan or consulting with a company like I mentioned above, make sure you formulate a well thought out plan and be prepared.

We live in a broken, sin drenched world. Tragedy and heartbreak comes at us through both natural disasters and the acts of depraved men. When will it end? When Jesus returns and makes all things right.

Until then we must be both “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” This means we are prepared to defend the precious children and families God has brought to us while sharing the love and hope found in Jesus with all who have not yet experienced His forgiveness and life-changing grace.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastors, Here’s a Novel Idea: Invite Newcomers to Lunch

Ed Stetzer

November 13, 2017

We’ve all heard the old adage about the revolving church door. People come in and, before we know what happened, they leave, never to return. But what if this didn’t have to be the case? How do we treat those visiting or relatively new to our churches in ways that make them know we are glad they came?

Although there are lots of ways to do this, I want to briefly look at one routine event: mealtimes. Meals are great ways to get to know people and extend hospitality.

Invite Newcomers to a Meal One-on-One

I know of a church of 300 that has a newcomers lunch every Sunday. Although this is a lot of work for maybe one or two families, it says to the congregation, “We value newcomers.” But what if your church is 100 people or less? And what if you have only seen one visiting family or individual every two weeks?

One good approach is to designate a leader in the church who will always invite newcomers out for a lunch (or dinner) with his or her family on the first or second Sunday that the newcomer visits. Even if the newcomer declines, it gives the leader the opportunity to lay the groundwork for inviting the newcomer later to a quarterly lunch.

Quarterly Lunches: Get Prepared

Beyond these one-on-one individual or family lunches, your church might do well to host quarterly newcomer lunches. Here, it is important to remember two things. First, invite a few people from your church who have the potential for greater involvement in the church and building friendships with the newcomers. Don’t just invite the overworked elder who doesn’t have space for any more commitments.

Remember, you are helping to build relationships. It doesn’t work to invite people who are too busy to build new friendships.

It is also good to look for those in your church who have a gift of hospitality. You want the newcomer to be invited into other peoples’ homes, and those with this gift would see this as a natural next step.

The second thing to consider in quarterly meetings is to personally call newcomers to make sure they know that you as the church leader are glad they are at the church. Although it takes time, a personal call from the leader of the church goes a long way.

When we plan a quarterly lunch, we should shoot for a 50/50 approach, balancing church members with newcomers. Your leaders who are invited should model a godly life and be capable of connecting with lots of people. Frankly, some who are leaders in our churches are skilled at things other than making conversation. Don’t invite them. Instead, invite the leaders who listen well, ask good conversational questions, and have a simple view of the gospel and the Christian life in general.

Quarterly Lunches: Plan the Event

Start with an icebreaker that doesn’t make newcomers feel embarrassed. I recall a pastor who asked each person to quote his or her favorite Bible verse as the icebreaker. Some newcomers could not name a single book of the Bible, let alone a memorized verse. Another person answered the Pledge of Allegiance. Avoid the awkward questions that put someone on the spot.

Next, enjoy some good food together. This is what Jesus did—he fellowshipped around food.

During this time, or afterwards, field as many questions as possible. If you are not good on your feet, find a leader who speaks well in random situations to field the questions that newcomers might have. Train the person to avoid questions that are overtly controversial so that he or she can focus on simple answers to basic questions.

Next, make a direct invitation to the next step at church. Perhaps it is a Christianity 101 class or a small group. Give the newcomers the opportunity to think about the offer and get back to you later or just show up at the class or group. Don’t put them on the spot.

Close the meeting in prayer, but invite everyone to stay around if they wish. During the prayer, name each newcomer by name, including the children. It is always a good idea to write down names and general information about everyone not just for the prayer time, but also for yourself as you move forward in the relationship.

This is just one way to help those new to the church to feel welcome. As the church that models Jesus, who opened his arms to all, we too are called to intentionally welcome all those who have made an effort to visit our churches. Our end goal is that they will see the loving arms of Jesus through our efforts and turn to him in faith.

This article originally appeared here.

What the Bible Really Says About Giving Thanks

Kristen Gilles

November 13, 2017

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. … Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under his care.” (Psalm 95:1-3; 6-7)

With the Thanksgiving holiday just a short time away, I thought it’d be good for us to look to the Psalms to remind us how and why we should give thanks and extol the Lord at ALL times. Psalm 95 above is a direct invitation that tells why we should give thanks and includes descriptions of how to come before God with thanksgiving.

And Psalm 34 (below) gives us a picture of gratitude-filled praise flowing out of a “poor man” resolved to extol the Lord at all times because of his assurance that God will deliver him from ALL his troubles. This Psalm goes on describing who God is and what He’s done and will do for His people. These are amazing truths to meditate upon—and they inspire in us the praise that God deserves.

Excuses for holding back praise and thanksgiving.

When it comes to Christians giving thanks and praise to God, none of us have an excuse to keep silent.

As I’ve been reflecting on Psalm 34 in recent weeks, I’ve been rightly challenged and heartily encouraged to keep my heart and mouth open in audible, continual praise and thanks to the Lord in the midst of the best and worst circumstances. When I forget God’s faithfulness to me in times past, I become sinfully ungrateful and self-absorbed in the present.

But when I call to mind every trouble I’ve been through, every moment spent suffering my broken heart, I cannot deny God’s faithfulness and nearness to me at all times.

Like the Psalmist David, every time I’ve sought and cried out to Him, He has answered and delivered me from all my fears. Further, since becoming a child of God and walking in the fear of the Lord, I have lacked nothing.

I have tasted and seen that the Lord IS good.
He is my sure refuge.
He has saved me when I was crushed in spirit.

If I truly believe God’s Word as I claim to, then this promise alone would sustain me and inspire thanks and praise to God at all times, in every trouble and trial I may have:

“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers Him from them all. … the Lord will rescue His servants; no one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.”

20 Apps and Gadgets That Make My Ministry Easier

Brian Jones

November 13, 2017

What’s your favorite ministry app? Here is a list of the technology that is currently making my ministry so much easier and enjoyable.

1. 15FIVE

The day we moved as a staff from paper reporting on our top priorities to using the 15FIVE app and desktop application it was like the dawn of a new era. This is a great ministry app. It’s hands down the easiest to use staff reporting application out there right now.

2. Bose 35 Headphones

These were really pricey, but these noise-cancelling headphones have revolutionized my ability to study remotely in Starbucks, etc. Since I believe one of the keys to getting better as a preacher is to consistently watch great preaching, and since the headphones sync via Bluetooth, this has opened a whole new world for me.

3. Captio

For those times when you just want to email yourself something. Captio is an app that allows you to input your email address. From then on emailing yourself is just one click of a button.

4. Square

We downsized this past summer and literally sold 2/3 of everything we owned. I signed up to get the Square credit card reader from their website and two days later had the ability to accept cards instead of just cash (which exponentially increased our revenues). I’d have this because some of you also sell books and resources.

5. Spotify

I was late to the party on this. Getting rid of iTunes and going exclusively with Spotify has been a game changer. Listening to the Discover Weekly function has helped me find a steady supply of new music for our services.

6. Grammarly

Why senior pastors still don’t use and require their staff members to use Grammarly as a ministry app is beyond me. Grammarly is web-based grammar-correcting software that is spectacular. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, gets emailed, placed on the website or printed in a brochure until it’s been run through Grammarly.

7. BBC, CNN, Fox and Bleacher Report News Apps

Each morning I quickly scan these four news apps to stay abreast of what is happening in our world from various perspectives.

8. MileIQ

Gone are the days of manually recording mileage for tax purposes. MileIQ auto-records my mileage via my iPhone and I simply go in monthly and make sure it is annotated appropriately.

9. YouTube “Watch Later” Button

Since I use an iPad Mini to watch videos (usually Netflix) on the elliptical four times a week, I’ve found it incredibly helpful to find something on YouTube and mark it as “Watch Later.” When I jump on the elliptical I click LIBRARY>WATCH LATER and then it will populate all the videos I’ve saved.

I’ve saved videos of some of my favorite scholars and authors—people like Ben Witherington, Ryan Holiday, Gary Vaynerchuck and Craig Keener—and have them ready to recall on my phone, laptop or iPad so I never waste dead time.

10. Apple iPhone, MacBook Pro, iMac and iPad Mini

I can’t tell you how many senior pastors I started coaching who (at the beginning at least) were using neanderthal PC technology. So I feel the need to make a plug for the rest of you still living in the darkness. Come into the light of this ministry app my friends.

What Do You Do With A Church Building That Has Witnessed Tragedy?

Bob Ditmer

November 13, 2017

One week after it became the site of the deadliest mass shooting in church history, the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, reopened to the public.

But its appearance was decidedly different than when a lone gunman entered the house of worship and sprayed the congregants with more than 450 bullets, killing 26.

Gone were the pews, replaced by 26 white chairs marking the locations where worshippers died. Each chair had a name inscribed on the backrest; and on the seat, a red rose.

Blood was scrubbed from the floor, walls, and ceiling and the surfaces whitewashed; a fitting metaphor for Christ’s sacrificial death on a cross and its effect on the heart of each believer.

An audio recording of Scripture readings by church staff played on a loudspeaker.

Melissa Jeltsen, writing for the Huffington Post described it perfectly, “The scene of an unspeakable crime had been transformed into a moving tribute to those who lost their lives.” Ultimately the church will be razed in favor of a new building.

Sadly, the question of what to do with a church building that has witnessed tragedy is one that too many congregations have had to ask.

DEFIANCE IN THE MIDST OF FEAR

Dallas Drake, a criminologist at the Center for Homicide Research in Minneapolis counts 147 church shootings from 2006-2016.

At Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, members came together for their regularly scheduled service just three days after a gunman killed a woman and injured seven others in late September.

Church leaders said they had to meet, to do otherwise would have felt like giving up.

Still, some changes are inevitable for the safety of the faithful. Joey Spann, the minister of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, told The Tennessean after the attack, “Churches, you don’t lock the doors. But we may have to. It’s sad.”

GENESIS 50:20 IN ACTION

The aftermath of the shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. wasn’t as much a change to a building, or a sense of safety among congregants but a desire to seek justice in the face of unabashed evil.

Nine people died in that onslaught. But in God’s hands intended evil becomes eventual good. The surviving victims offered forgiveness to the shooter in a demonstration of God’s grace. Politicians, journalists and a steady stream of tourists visited the church to begin a conversation on justice and to marvel at the forgiveness of those who lost loved ones. Could these be lessons that can help a deeply divided nation?

Perhaps Emanuel’s first female pastor, the Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark, has the best response to the question, “What do you do with a church building that has witnessed tragedy?”

In a YouTube video she said, “Last summer, our church suffered a great tragedy. But we never gave up our faith. We never gave up on God because God never gives up on us. Through it all, our church stands strong.”

Why Your Groups Failed to Launch

Allen White

November 12, 2017

Fall is a prime season to launch groups in churches across the country. In my consulting work, I am working with churches from Florida to Washington and Southern California to New York City. Among churches of various sizes and denominations, we are seeing some tremendous results. But, not every church hits a home run with their group launch. Here are some reasons why.

You picked the wrong topic.

Small groups are a great vehicle for people to grow spiritually. But, in order for people to grow in a group, they need to actually be in a group. If a church’s goal is to connect their congregation into groups, then a felt needs topic is very attractive. If you give people something they want to study, they will jump right in. If you offer something they “should” study, it may not go so well.

Let me go on the record: Healthy, balanced small groups cannot live by felt needs topics alone. But, kicking off groups usually doesn’t go well with series on evangelism, stewardship, fasting or other self-sacrificial studies. You need to establish your goal. If you want to increase the number of groups, then go felt needs. If you want to grow your people deeper, then offer these topics to your established groups.

You set the bar too high.

The more requirements for group leadership, the fewer leaders you will recruit. If you required all of your new leaders to be church members, complete a lengthy leadership training process, or graduate with their Master of Divinity, you certainly limited the number of groups you could launch this Fall.

Your level of acceptable risk will greatly determine the reward. If you invite people to do a study with their friends, then you are only limited to people with friends. If you increase the requirements, you lessen the impact.

If you choose to lower the bar next time, then lessen the risk by forming “unpublished” groups. If the groups don’t appear on your church’s website, group listing or bulletin, you are not implying any kind of official endorsement of the groups. If friends invite friends, you will form good, lasting groups, and if someone gets in a bad group, well, it was their friend’s group after all.

You focused on recruiting group members.

As a pastor, if the invitation is for potential group members, you may or may not actually start groups. You will certainly give yourself a lot of busy work trying to find enough leaders to accommodate the prospects or trying to place people in the right group. But, you’ve missed the mark and the point.

If you have a bunch of prospective group members, you might have a group. If you have a leader, you WILL have a group. In fact, the best way to get into a group is to start a group—you’re automatically in! When the focus is on recruiting leaders, you will greatly increase your number of groups. If your focus is on members, you will probably just end up with a mess.

You put too much distance between the invitation and the response.

When you or your senior pastor made the invitation for people to start a group, how and when did they respond?

If they were sent to the church website to register, they didn’t go.

If they were sent to the church lobby, they walked right by.

If they were invited to a meeting in the near future, they forgot.

If they had a sign up card in their hand during the service, bingo, they’re in!

If they were sent an email to remind them to sign up at church on Sunday, they forgot again.

If they were sent an email with a registration link, then they signed up.

The less distance between the invitation and the response, the greater the result.

You gave too many steps from “Yes” to starting the group.

If the pathway from the response to the group starting took too many steps, then you lost leaders at every phase.

If you recruited months in advance of your group launch, there were too many days before they started. Cold feet and good intentions didn’t get them there.

If you required a training class, a membership class, a pastoral interview, a group orientation, a group connection and a final debrief meeting, you lost, lost, lost, lost and lost new group leaders.

If you kept the steps to a minimum, based on your own acceptable level of risk, you kept far more than any of the above scenarios.

Your recruitment period was too short.

A few years ago, I was working with two churches of similar size who were launching groups on the same week. One church recruited 20 new leaders. The other recruited 60. The first church recruited leaders for one week. The second church recruited for three weeks in a row. Triple the recruiting equaled triple the result. You do the math.

Your senior pastor was not on board.

If your senior pastor was hesitant about your next series in any way, it hurt you. Half-hearted appeals and hit-or-miss invitations lead to lackluster results.

If your senior pastor didn’t make the invitation for leaders, that was a huge miss. The senior pastor will get three times the result of any other staff member. I’ve served as an associate pastor for 20 of my 24 years of ministry. As soon as I learned this, I never made the invitation again.

How do you get your senior pastor on board with the series you recommend? You don’t. If you want your group launch to succeed, you have to get on board with where your senior pastor wants to go. If you respect your senior pastor’s direction, you will see respectable results. If you try to pressure your senior pastor into a series that is not his idea, you are on your own (literally).

Last Sunday, I worshipped with a church who had never had small groups. Their senior pastor decided it was time. He cast vision for groups. He kept the response close to the invitation. He focused on recruiting leaders. He did it all right. Then, on Sunday afternoon, 360 new group leaders showed up for training (and they have two more weeks to recruit!).

Learn the lessons from your failed attempt. There is no shame in failure, but there is shame in not learning.

This article originally appeared here.

Are You a Church Planter or a Pirate?

Mark Dance

November 12, 2017

I assume the best of motives for pastors and lay-people who desire to plant a new campus or church without hurting other local churches. There are some inevitable mistakes every church planter or planting church will make, but some mis-steps have further reaching implications.

I have planted a church as well as helped others plant churches, and hope to encourage well-intentioned missionaries to learn from both my touchdowns and turnovers.

Here are three questions to ask yourself to help discern whether you are personally being a church planter or a church pirate.

Am I recruiting other church members privately?

You can assume that you will be seen as a pirate instead of a planter if you are meeting with prospective church members without their pastor’s knowledge. Half-heartedly telling members from other churches that you do not want them to leave their church to help you plant is manipulative. Ask the Lord to make clear your motives.

The people who leave their church to help you plant your church should be called by God, not recruited by you.

Be cautious about labeling members from other church families as “unchurched” just because they have been thinking about leaving their church. It is not unusual for members to consider leaving their church at some time or another, for one reason or another. Pirates bait moderately committed members away from their churches whether they intend to or not.

Am I intentionally avoiding other pastors?

A common mistake church planters make is avoiding other pastors in the area. Some of those pastors will have members who will visit and join your church—even if you have discouraged them. Avoidance will only delay the awkwardness that inevitably comes with sheep-swapping or stealing.

You can practice “double-honor” with other pastors by initiating coffee or a lunch weeks or months before you launch. Our churches and communities benefit greatly from healthy friendships among pastors.

Some of the local pastors may become insecure and unsupportive, regardless of whether you are planting or pirating. Love and respect them anyway. God will bless that.

Is our campus too close to a church I have previously served in?

Regardless of what you hope will happen, if you plant a church close to the campus of a church you have served in, several members from your old church will come to your new church for various reasons. Church planting trainers from ARC (Association of Related Churches) encourage a 30-mile radius, which seems reasonable to me.

Some will come to your church plant out of curiosity. Others will come out of love and loyalty to the leadership team. Some will come because they are mad at someone at their home church.

Church members will invariably jump off of the mother ship whether you recruited them or not—simply because you baited them by planting too close to your home base. Additionally, they will come from other churches in the community you have been serving in partnership with.

Not cool.

I don’t know of any church planter who intentionally seeks to grow at the expense of another church, but it happens way too often. My hope is that you will move forward with the humble discernment of a planter, instead of the swashbuckling swagger of a pirate.

This article originally appeared here.

5 Questions to Help Millennials Grow Into Leadership

Ron Edmondson

November 12, 2017

There will come a point in time in every Millennial’s career when we move from being primarily executioners to leading teams and managing others. Whether you’re a young pastor moving from a youth ministry role into a more administrative role, or you’re an account manager moving into a supervisor role, there will be a day when our primary responsibility shifts from doing the work ourselves to accomplishing the work through other people. However, as I’ve started making that transition in my own personal career, I’ve definitely learned the truth behind the idea that “everyone thinks leadership is easy until you become one.”

I’ve had to face some challenging questions for the first time…

How do I move from a “doer” role to a “manager” role? How do I change my mindset to effectively move from “hands on” role to one of directing and overseeing a team?

The short answer is…it’s not easy. The paradox I’m learning is that answering those questions begins by asking another set of questions.

The Higher You Go, the Harder It Is to Define “Success”

When we start our careers in more of an execution type of role, it’s easy to earn our stripes by what we can do. As we grow and get promoted, we start to get paid less for what we can do and more for what we know. The higher we go, the less defined our job description becomes. Our success depends on our ability to make other people feel powerful to get things done.

However, we still need something we can measure our work and effort by at the end of the day. That can be a challenge when our entire lives have been measured by meeting deadlines, cranking out projects. There’s definitely a mental shift that needs to take place.

5 Questions to Help Millennials Grow Into Leadership

How can Millennials know if we’re being successful as we make the transition from doers to leaders? Here are five questions we can use to measure our efforts to determine, “Did I do what a leader should have done today?”

Am I asking the right questions? Successful leadership isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about being able to find them by asking better questions.
Am I listening for the best answers? We all know what it’s like to work for “know it all leaders.” The only way to avoid this is by disciplining ourselves to listen to the ideas of others.
Am I taking time to think about our biggest problems and opportunities? This can feel weird, especially if we’ve been primarily in a “doer” role. It can feel lazy. However, this is an essential part of leadership. It’s the leader’s responsibility to look up and ask, “Are we even on the right road?”
Am I effectively communicating the plan to our team and setting expectations?Successful teams are built on clear communication and direction. If we don’t communicate the plan or set expectations, we force the team to make assumptions.
Am I stepping back to evaluate the strategy and observe the impact? Evaluation and experimentation are two words that are an essential part of leadership vocabulary. Are the things we’re doing working? Is our hypothesis right? Are the things we’re doing moving us closer toward achieving our goals? These are the types of questions leaders ask.

A Word of Encouragement Before You Step Into Leadership

Stepping into a leadership role for the first time isn’t easy. It’s a big shift from where we’ve been.

Do your best.
Be yourself.
Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

You’re not in leadership because you have all the answers; you’re in leadership because you’re going to help solve problems. My hope is that after a couple of years of doing it, leading others will feel as natural for us as putting our clothes on in the morning.

What questions do you ask to ensure you are becoming an effective leader?

This is a guest post from my son, Jeremy Chandler. Currently, Jeremy serves as a Marketing Manager at Pursuant, a fundraising agency serving the nation’s leading nonprofits, faith-based ministries and churches. He and his wife, Mary, live in Nashville, Tenn. If you’re in the area, he jumps at any opportunity to connect with people over coffee.

This article originally appeared here.

Walking Wounded: Children in Pain

Jennifer Hooks

November 12, 2017

Come with me, I’m fading underneath the lights.
Come with me, Come with me, Come with me now…
Can’t you see the signs? —Creed, “Signs”

Kids today are complex. They grow up faster than we imagine, and they face issues that were nonexistent—or at least more hidden—when we were children. And as children’s ministers, we often find ourselves trying to interpret what kids are really going through based on the signals they’re sending. Is Sarah struggling to make friends? Has Keisha’s father come home? Is Mark being held back in school this year? Is Vickie prepared for her family’s move? Is it possible that Peyton is being abused at home?

Traversing a child’s inner world requires attention, compassion, intuition and common sense. It’s a minefield-laden world we live in, and unfortunately, children are all too often the casualties. Part of our role as children’s ministers is to support families as they safeguard kids’ overall well-being—and there are many instances in which that well-being is threatened, ranging from abuse to self-confidence issues. How do we recognize the signs that a child is covering up a trauma, crisis or hurt?

We asked three experts for their advice. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and researcher Robert Coles, Christian clinical psychologist Dr. Gary Hackney, and Christian counselor Steve Rossi offer their insight into kids’ secret worlds.

Proceed With Caution

If we see kids for only one or two hours per week, is it really possible to assess whether a child is living through trauma or crisis? The answer is complex. The experts say yes—adults with limited contact with kids are often able to spot trouble through behavioral indicators and other signals kids send. But in the same instances, adults may misinterpret or miss these signs, so it’s necessary to proceed carefully. The best rule of thumb is to observe and interact with the child over a period of time—that way you can distinguish between a child who’s acting out because he didn’t get enough sleep the night before and one who’s dealing with internal trauma or stress. Use these observation tools.

Communicate – “Talk to the child,” says Coles, author of over 50 books, including The Moral Intelligence of Children (Random House). “There’s nothing like a good conversation. I wouldn’t advise getting into a lot of psychological gobbledygook…You see a child who’s ailing or hurting, you try to figure out what it’s about.” Coles also suggests checking with the parents or with other teachers and adults who know the child to gain clearer understanding. It’s also important to do a bit of self-assessment when you’re preparing to talk with a child. “Find out what it is about the child’s behavior that’s bothering you,” says Coles. “[Then] ask the child directly. Tell the child what’s on your mind in a friendly and direct way.”
Monitor – When a child’s behavior or appearance seems out of the ordinary, it’s important to monitor the change and try to assess how dramatic it is. A strong signal that a child is hurting comes in the form of an abrupt change that takes hold; for example, a child who’s normally outgoing and happy suddenly becomes withdrawn or cries inexplicably. “Any significant change in [a child’s] behavior,” says Rossi, can be a signal of something amiss. “But it’s got to be particular to that child. And every child is different,” he adds.

See the Signs

There are common indicators that a child is experiencing trauma of some kind. The key is to remember that what’s normal in one child may not be in another—so look for a consistent change in that particular child’s behavior. Here are signals that may indicate something is wrong.

Regression – Children (infants included) regress to earlier developmental stages when trauma occurs. Behaviors such as thumb sucking and soiling clothes may reappear.
Exaggerated Fears – “Fears come back that belong to a younger age,” says Rossi. For example, it’s not age-appropriate for a 10-year-old to suddenly fear loud noises.
Anxiety – Kids have startle reactions that are exaggerated and seem out of place. For example, a child might overreact to a distant ambulance siren.
Emotional Insecurity – Clinging, crying and difficulty separating from parents may signal that something’s amiss. Conversely, so may a reluctance to return to parents.
Withdrawal – This is more than shyness, so look for signs of children who were once social now pulling away from others. The child may “zone out,” seem distracted or be detached.
Extreme Emotions – Children may cover up a deeper issue with irritability, belligerence or excitability. The child may be overly aggressive or overly withdrawn. The child may cry for seemingly no reason.
Listlessness – The things that used to make the child happy no longer do.
Physical Complaints – A child frequently complains of a stomachache or headache, but there are no other signs of illness, such as fever, vomiting or diarrhea. On the other hand, you may observe bruises, injuries and other signs of physical abuse.
Verbalized Complaints – Older kids express fear, a sense of doom, nervousness and unhappiness.
Change in Habits – The child may not sleep or eat the same as before. Also, a child may neglect his appearance and seem to be disheveled or have poor hygiene.
Acting Out in a Sexually Inappropriate Manner – Hackney gives the example of a kindergarten-age girl who insisted on rolling on top of boys in her class during nap time and trying to kiss them.

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If You Don’t Care for the Poor, You Don’t Understand the Gospel

J.D. Greear

November 12, 2017

Karl Marx famously called Christianity the opiate of the people, but I think it’s actually the smelling salts. Because when you really understand God’s grace, you wake up to injustice, and you are moved by compassion. The reverse is true as well: When you are fail to care for the poor, it raises the question of whether or not you’ve actually ever believed the gospel, because you are unaware of your own pressing need for God’s merciful attention to you in your sin.

We Need to Care for the Poor

A failure to care for the poor shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel.

When the prophet Amos confronted the nation of Israel about their neglect and oppression of the poor, the excuses they gave may sound familiar to us today.

First, the Israelites said, “But we are God’s chosen people” (Amos 3:2). In other words, “We’re forgiven; we’re God’s favorites.” But God responded, “That makes your sin even worse! You not only knew me as lawgiver; you knew me as Father and Redeemer. To whom much is given, much will surely be required.”

Then they tried their second excuse: “Our religious zeal makes up for our moral shortcomings” (Amos 5:21). At this point in their history, Israel went to church all the time and put on a bunch of feasts. But God responded, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.”

We use the same excuses today when we fail to show a concern for the poor: “Well, thank God that he accepts us by grace!” or “We’re not perfect, just forgiven.”

But we can’t excuse ourselves with grace. If we’ve really been forgiven, we’ll be more passionate about caring for the poor and fighting injustice, not less. Forgiveness is not a license to avoid these things. It’s a catalyst to drive us deeper into these things.

Amos 6:1 says, “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion”—those who are playing through life when so many around them are suffering.

Charles Spurgeon identified three groups that are “at ease in Zion”:

The apathetic: They just don’t care. They are not cruel and vicious people; they just don’t think much about things that don’t affect them.
The self-indulgent: Maybe they care, but they love creature comforts too much to actually sacrifice anything for anyone else.
The procrastinators: These people know they are supposed to do good. But they’re slactivists—they care enough to retweet and repost things that matter, but they never really do anything about it.

We may not think we belong to any of these groups, but how many of us have failed to acknowledge the most desperate need of all that surrounds us? This is the greatest position of privilege all of us occupy: We know the gospel that has saved us from sin, death and hell. And yet there are people around the world who have never heard it. Don’t we owe the gospel to them? How could it not be unjust to keep it from them?

I wonder if God would look at us today and say, Woe to you who are at ease in the kingdom of God while so many perish! Would he look at all the attention we give to our worship services and say, I hate, I despise your church services. I take no delight in hearing your sermons. Though you offer me a moving experience of worship music, I won’t accept it. If we’re busier playing church than we are getting our hands dirty for the poor, that verdict is entirely possible.

The Apostle Paul said he was a debtor to people everywhere who never heard about Jesus (Romans 1:14). Why was he a debtor to a bunch of people he’d never even met?

Paul knew that he didn’t deserve to hear the gospel. He was not worthier or less of a sinner. It was a gift of grace. And with that gift of grace comes the obligation to share it with others.

What If Unbelievers Aren’t Miserable?

Mike Leake

November 10, 2017

We should never assume that unbelievers are miserable.

It was probably about 17 years ago that my mom called me in a panic. She had gotten my “suicide note” and was terrified. When I picked up the phone I was confused at how worked up she seemed to be and wondered why she was so passionately asking where I was and if I was alright.

I was confused because I hadn’t actually left a suicide note. It was a journal entry that I had penned a few months prior. I had photocopied this journal entry to share with a group of students about my past and how Jesus had redeemed me. I wanted them to see my frame of mind before Christ. But I had ignorantly left the master copy on our coffee table at home and my mom thought it was current.

If you know my testimony you’ve heard the many ways that Christ has redeemed me and is continuing to redeem me. (This is a decent summary here.) I was absolutely miserable as a lost person. But this isn’t true of every person who doesn’t know Jesus. And if I’m not careful I’ll end up sharing a truncated gospel that is founded in my own personal experience rather the Bible.

Don’t Make Assumptions About Unbelievers

Phil Moore says it well:

Most contemporary Gospel preaching assumes that unbelievers are dissatisfied with their lives and that they will respond to Jesus if we show them he is the answer to their unmet needs. If they are lonely, Jesus will be their friend. If they are afraid, he will be their shelter. If they feel guilty, he will be their forgiveness. If they feel empty, he will give their life meaning. The problem with this message is not that it is untrue—the Bible tells us that Jesus really is the answer to all these needs. The problem is that this is only part of the truth. Most unbelievers are not unhappy at all. (The Myth of the Unhappy Pagan)

If the only gospel we know how to share is “Jesus is the answer,” we are going to find it rather difficult to share the good news when our neighbor doesn’t have any questions. We’ll have to spend most of our time trying to deflate their tires and make them miserable so that we can show how Jesus is the solution to a problem they didn’t know they had. The Proverbs (and many other places in Scripture) do not present the unbeliever as necessarily miserable, depressed and grasping to fill an aching void. Instead we read of men “who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil” (Proverbs 2:14).

This is why so many of those who share the gospel in the New Testament do not start with a person’s psychological emptiness but rather with their guilt before a holy God. Consider how Paul shared the gospel in Acts 17. He didn’t say, “I see that you are very religious and therefore show a heart that is deeply searching to fill a void. Let me tell you how to fill that void.” I think we’ve taken a bit too much license in often supplying that last part. Instead he simply told them who God is and explained that they are accountable to Jesus whether they acknowledge it or not and they’d do well to repent and believe in him.

I’m convinced that one of the reasons we do not have a sense of urgency in sharing the gospel with our neighbors is because we don’t really believe they need it…at least not now. They seem to be getting along just fine without Christ—so why should we turn over the apple cart? And so we go about waiting for the wheels to fall off so we can share Christ. We are better equipped to share Christ in loss than we are in luxury. And so we bide our time waiting for the whirlwind to come, then we’ll have a gospel to share.

But what if the gospel isn’t to make happy people happier? Or even to make miserable people moderately happy? What if the gospel isn’t merely a means to meet our unmet needs? What if the good news of the gospel is so much more? What if it’s about being transferred from a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light? What if it isn’t about smiles and frowns but instead about life and death? Then I’ve got a gospel to share regardless of your emotional state.

And its message is unchanging.

God created you to enjoy God and extend His glory. You’ve rebelled and went about trying to find joy in other things and to extend your own glory. As such, you’ve robbed God of his glory and are guilty before Him. Jesus, God incarnate, perfectly fulfilled our mandate to enjoy God and extend His glory. His perfect record is graciously given to all those who are united to Him in repentance and faith. This means you either have the righteousness of Christ credited to your account or you have no righteousness. This is true whether your life is going amazing or it’s blowing up. Repent and believe in Christ today.

This article originally appeared here.

No, Christians Don’t Use Joseph and Mary to Explain Child Molesting Accusations

Ed Stetzer

November 10, 2017

There are times when Christians bow our heads in prayer and lament. When we see unbelievable tragedy and suffering, we find ourselves asking how much longer God will wait. This past week, I found myself calling out to God in this respect in the wake of the Texas church shooting, as I read more and more stories of faithful loved ones who lost their lives in a senseless act of violence.

There are other times, however, when we shake our heads in response to the sheer foolishness from those who claim to represent him.

Yes, this is again our reality, this time coming from a defender of Roy Moore.

Today, allegations of sexual assault against Moore broke in the Washington Post. This time, the allegations involved sexual advances against a 14-year-old girl.

Now, let me be clear. I know these are allegations and that everyone gets their day in court. I don’t write articles every time there is an allegation.

Yet, in this case, we need to clear something up.

Simply put, it is important to make clear that Christians don’t believe the message that is coming from some of Moore’s supporters. Actually, most of us find it really creepy.

The Allegations Against Roy Moore

Moore’s evangelical faith has been central in his senate campaign. It is, in part, what won him the primary over the establishment candidate. Since the primary, Moore has continued to campaign as the evangelical candidate while building political alliances with Steve Bannon and his compatriots.

Again, there will be a sizable collection of readers who will immediately shout back that these are just allegations that have not been proven. That candidate Moore deserves his day in court and the presumption of innocence.

And I agree. The court of public opinion in the age of outrage too often looks eerily similar to a lynch mob.

But in the midst of an avalanche of accusations against liberal Hollywood that we accept immediately as truth, let’s not brush aside an accusation against a religious right leader. We need to take allegations seriously on all sides of the political aisle.

Now, I’m not a supporter of Moore. I don’t follow Alabama politics, and he seems a bit of a sideshow to the current (much bigger) issues we face. But let’s be clear about one thing—his defenders are not helping at all.

Moore’s Defenders

In defending Moore, his supporters have now become the news and, as they do so, some are stunningly appealing to religious reasons.

Let’s go to the tape:

First, Alabama Marion County GOP chair David Hall told a reporter, “It was 40 years ago, I really don’t see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. She’s not saying that anything happened other than they kissed… It wouldn’t affect whether or not I’d vote for him.”

OK, really? Did he really just say that?

Let’s be clear, she is saying a lot more than that they kissed. But, seriously, a 32-year-old even kissing a 14-year-old is OK with you, David Hall?

Hint: it’s not.

But the most widely reported comment came from Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who told the Washington Examiner, “Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became the parents of Jesus… There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.”

So…after I got over my initial shock of this statement, I admittedly got angry.

If this is evangelicalism, I’m on the wrong team.

But it is not.

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How to Recover From the Emotional Exhaustion of Ministry

Rick Warren

November 9, 2017

When tragedies occur in communities or nations, pastors can wind up working tirelessly to comfort congregations looking for help, both physical and spiritual. Counselors call it compassion fatigue, and it affects anyone who works in human services of any kind, especially those deeply involved in soul care.

In American life, we’ve all been focused on the recovery effort that has followed the flooding and devastation from Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. Communities are coming together to aid one another in the recovery.

To pastors and ministry leaders who are in the middle of the work of comforting and consoling others, let me give you three pieces of advice.

1. Release Your Frustrations

Stress and exhaustion create all kinds of negative emotions in your life. They bring on anxiety, worry, fear, guilt, shame and depression. And the most common thing we ministers tend to do with our negative emotions is stuff them. We think we’re being better Christians if we never admit to our own fear, anger and depression.

But God created you as a human being with emotions, and he wants you to be real—to let them out by expressing them to him. If you don’t do that, they will eventually come out in other ways—perhaps inappropriate ways.

So tell God how you feel. The Bible says in Psalm 62:8b, “Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge”(NLT). That means just lay it all out. “God, here it is! Here’s how I feel, the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m stressed. I’m tired. I’m grieving. I’m angry.” Whatever you’re feeling, the Bible says to pour out your heart to God.

2. Receive Help From Others

We give so much in ministry that often it’s hard for us to receive from others, but if you’re going to survive the emotional strain of the heaviest seasons of ministry, you’re going to have to find some people who will support you. You need some people with whom you can let your hair down.

The temptation in moments of crisis and recovery is to isolate yourself. That’s a very big mistake.

When you are at your breaking point, you need people in your life. You need people who will give you strength, and most of all, who will give you perspective. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Encourage each other and give each other strength” (NIV).

3. Refocus on Christ

When you get under stress, your life gets out of focus. In fact, when you get under stress you start looking at your problem and you stop looking at Christ. You become very preoccupied with yourself, and all you can see is your pain. Your focus just gets narrower and narrower when you’re under stress.

What you need to do is get the focus off the problems and back on God. Think about Jonah—now there’s a guy literally swallowed by his problems!

But God says, when your problems swallow you up, refocus on him. Jonah finally learned this and he prayed, “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord” (Jonah 2:7a TLB).

The key here is to stop focusing on what you can’t do and start focusing on what God can do.

Are you at the breaking point today? Or maybe the stress level is rising in your life. Some of you say, “You have no idea what I’m going through right now!” I don’t know the pain in your heart, but God does. God is aware of the stress in your life, and God cares about the stress in your life. God can help you in the stress in your life—if you will take these steps…take it all to Jesus and say, “I put it in your hands.”

Jesus said it like this, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you” (Matthew 11:28-29 The Message).

This article originally appeared here.

Is Unity in a Diverse Church Even Possible?, Part 2

J.D. Greear

November 9, 2017

Trusting in Jesus does not remove our cultural distinctives; it just shows us that we are not ultimately defined by our cultures. We are defined first by who we are in Christ.

God created the rich beauties of culture, and he is not on a mission to erase them. But when we become Christians, he gives us an identity that goes beyond and deeper than any of our other cultural characteristics. Our new common identity gives us the power to move beyond any challenges to unity we face in the church.

“Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:13-16 ESV).

In saying that Christ has created “one, new man,” Paul is introducing a concept a lot of theologians call the concept of the “third race.”

Your first race is whatever you are (I am Caucasian). Your second race is whatever you are not (I am not Hispanic, African-American, etc.). Your third race is what you are in Christ. When you become a Christian, it’s not that your first race disappears; it’s that your third race becomes more formative than your first race.

My first race becomes insignificant enough to me that I can lay it aside when I need to, because it doesn’t ultimately define me.

Paul gives us a great example of this when he said he became like a Jew to the Jews and like those without the law (Gentiles) to win them to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:20). How does Paul “become a Jew” if he is a Jew? In Paul’s mind, his “Jewishness” was so light that he could take it on and off like a garment. If he needed to take it off to become something else for someone so that person would know Christ, he could do that.

This does not mean that his previous culture disappeared but that something greater started to define him. The Bible says in Galatians 3:28 that “there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus” (CSB).

In other words, the gospel gives us something that unites us greater than anything that divides us.

What if you find out someone shares your political convictions, and that makes you feel more at ease with him than when you find out he follows Jesus? That shows you the gospel has not gone deep enough in your heart. It ought to be that when I meet someone that loves Jesus, I feel a unity with that person that goes beyond any differences we might have. I can call someone “brother” or “sister” even as we talk about other things that we might disagree on.

The gospel also gives me the desire and power to replace my preferences for the way things are done in the church with what would best serve God’s kingdom. There’s a certain hypocrisy when we stand in church worshipping a Savior who gave up all his rights for us while we simultaneously insist that everyone else around us worship that Savior the way that we prefer. Can you think of a greater absurdity?

If we worship a Savior who laid down his preferences, of course we’ll lay down our preferences to see other people reached for the gospel.

Vertical relationship with God should lead to horizontal relationships with each other. When Paul went in to plant a church in a new city, he didn’t plant a church for the Jews on the north side of town and another for the Gentiles on the south. He planted one in the middle, where Jew and Gentile would come together and bring glory to Jesus.

The point is not that we have different-colored faces in the audience on the weekend like some kind of United Colors of Benetton display.

The point is that we want to know and love each other and show the world that the greatness of Christ far exceeds any of our cultural differences or preferences. And, through Jesus, we are “no longer strangers and aliens, but…fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 3:19-21).

This article originally appeared here.

Kids Need Jesus and These 4 Key Truths from the Bible

ChildrensMinistry.com - July 2, 2025

Kids need Jesus and these biblical truths. Encourage children to take heart because they can trust Jesus.

Joby Martin: What Happens When Pastors Finally Understand Grace

Jessica Mouser - January 8, 2025

Joby Martin joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to discuss what happens when a church leader has truly been run over by the “grace train" and understands the profound love and grace of God.

What does a small unhealthy church look like?

Is your church staying small even when the community around you is lost and growing?

Is your church staying small because you refuse to engage the culture around you?

Is your church staying small because you love your fellowship, but not the lost?

What does a small, healthy church look like?

Is your church staying small because you are in a small community, but are still faithfully engaging those around you?

Is your church staying small because you gather in a transient community, but you are reaching new people?

POLITICS INVADING THE PULPIT

DO YOU BELIEVE JOSEPH OR POTIPHAR’S WIFE?

Pastor Press Conference

4 Ways to Grow Your Church This Christmas

1. Create shareable content.

2. Talk “city”, not church.

3. Use email to excite people.

4. Give people resources to invite their friends.

Basic Icebreaker Questions

Invite Newcomers to a Meal One-on-One

Quarterly Lunches: Get Prepared

Quarterly Lunches: Plan the Event

Excuses for holding back praise and thanksgiving.

1. 15FIVE

2. Bose 35 Headphones

3. Captio

4. Square

5. Spotify

6. Grammarly

7. BBC, CNN, Fox and Bleacher Report News Apps

8. MileIQ

9. YouTube “Watch Later” Button

10. Apple iPhone, MacBook Pro, iMac and iPad Mini

DEFIANCE IN THE MIDST OF FEAR

GENESIS 50:20 IN ACTION

Am I recruiting other church members privately?

Am I intentionally avoiding other pastors?

Is our campus too close to a church I have previously served in?

The Higher You Go, the Harder It Is to Define “Success”

5 Questions to Help Millennials Grow Into Leadership

A Word of Encouragement Before You Step Into Leadership

Proceed With Caution

See the Signs

We Need to Care for the Poor

Don’t Make Assumptions About Unbelievers

The Allegations Against Roy Moore

Moore’s Defenders

1. Release Your Frustrations

2. Receive Help From Others

3. Refocus on Christ

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