The Justice of Community
Jesus the Son told His disciples, “The poor you will have with you always.” God the Father told Israel, “There will be no poor among...
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Jun 13, 20233 min read
Jesus, Miracles, & Serving
Servanthood is central to the work of the church simply because it was central to the work of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry included two types...
Jun 5, 20233 min read
The Missionary Position
Yeah, I’m sorry about that title. And I'm really sorry about that picture. But it did make you look. In our last post, I talked about...
May 30, 20233 min read
What Churches Will Survive?
Let me lay my cards on the table by stating a central belief I have about the local church: it must be outward-focused if it is to...
Apr 11, 20233 min read
How Do We Learn?
When I was pastoring, getting sick was disastrous…especially when it happened at the last minute and you’re speaking the next day in four...
Feb 14, 20233 min read
21st Century Foot Washing
Years ago when I was pastoring, we had a group of people who would go to a particular place where the homeless in Cincinnati would meet...
Nov 22, 20222 min read
What's Your Attitude Indicator?
So here’s an idea as we move into the Thanksgiving holiday… Paul’s short letter to the Philippian church underscored his belief that...
Oct 4, 20223 min read
Let's Talk About Church Consultants...
Yeah, I know, I know. It’s a tacky mashup of Pixar and Peanuts. But the point is: do we really need “church consultants”? I have to admit...
Sep 27, 20223 min read
Are Apologetics Dead?
Don’t get me wrong: apologetics are important. From the launch of the Church in Acts 2, Christians have proclaimed the uniqueness of...
Aug 16, 20223 min read
Ron Sider, Justice & Generosity
Recently I learned of Ron Sider’s death at 82 from sudden cardiac arrest. Fifteen years ago I had him speak at our church and took him...
Jun 27, 20222 min read
Part 2: How (and How Not!) to Recruit Volunteers
In our last post, we talked about some best practices for recruiting volunteers. With many churches operating with less people...
Jun 20, 20223 min read
How (and How Not!) to Recruit Volunteers
In our post-pandemic world of lower in-person church attendance (averaging about half of what it was pre-Covid), many are left with...
Jun 14, 20222 min read
How Big Is The Church?
Play along with me for a minute and let’s use our imagination. If a twenty-something artist named Michelangelo could create something as...
Apr 19, 20222 min read
Is Your Church Afraid of Change?
Over the years that we’ve worked with churches, it’s been our observation that of the four critical elements of healthy, effective...
Mar 23, 20222 min read
What's Your Leadership Perspective?
I recently came across a fascinating geographical factoid. The writer at The Acadian Ideal overlayed the Mediterranean Sea map on top of...
Jan 17, 20223 min read
The Danger of Moderation
I’m writing this on MLK Day. The non-violent protests for voting rights in the 1960’s, particularly in Alabama, had raised the ire of...
Dec 21, 20212 min read
The Incarnational Leader
Sometime back I got an email from a church describing their discipleship pathway. They were particularly focused on “skeptics”. The way...
Dec 7, 20212 min read
“Values, meet Strategy.”
In the early days of our church, founding pastor Steve Sjogren coined a simple phrase for people to use in basic “servant evangelism”...
Nov 23, 20212 min read
A Different Kind of Thanks/Giving
Here in the States we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. Forget the pilgrims and corn—let’s just talk about the concept of...
Aug 17, 20212 min read
Tidy Church Litter
The church has always struggled with the tension between evangelism and holiness. I have friends who say when it comes to evangelism,...
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