Faithful and Frozen Is Still Frozen
Scripture “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’” (Luke 15:31 NIV) The older brother served faithfully for years. He stayed when the younger son left. And he almost missed the celebration his own father was throwing. The...
How to Read Your Community Like a Missionary
When a missionary moves to a foreign country, they do not arrive on Monday and launch programs on Tuesday. They know better. The first task is to learn the place. They study the language, observe the customs, build relationships, listen for months, and pay careful...
Let’s Meet!
Ministry is better with people who get it. You know the feeling. You hit on something that is working, or you wrestle with something that is not, and you wish you had a few people in the room who understand exactly what you are working through. People who lead the way...
Mission Breaks the Script
Scripture “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23 NIV) Jesus crossed every line a respectable rabbi would have honored. He...
The Future Church Will Be Built Through Collaboration, Not Competition
In most communities, churches operate as quiet competitors. They would never say so out loud, and most leaders would be offended by the suggestion. But the behavior tells the truth. Congregations watch each other’s numbers, guard their best ideas, feel a flicker of...
Small Church. Bigger Mission
Your church doesn’t have to be large or mega to make a big impact in your community. One of the challenges facing smaller churches is figuring out how to reach new people with limited resources, smaller budgets, and fewer people. But bigger isn’t always better when it...
A Patch on a Tear Makes the Tear Worse
Scripture “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.” (Luke 5:36 NIV) Jesus warned His followers about surface fixes that hurt the very thing they...
Business as Mission: Recovering the Marketplace as a Mission Field
Ask the average churchgoer where ministry happens, and they will point to the church building. Ask them where their job fits into God’s mission, and many will go quiet. We have absorbed a quiet but corrosive assumption that real spiritual work happens at church and...
Old Skins Can’t Hold New Wine, and That’s Not a Flaw
Scripture “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.” (Mark 2:22a NIV) Jesus did not condemn old wineskins. He simply named what they could and could not hold. Some...