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Relationships Matter
A pastor challenged me recently on whether it was true that new churches tended to engage more unchurched people than did older, established churches. In a study published two months ago, in fact, nearly half of the people attending new churches were non-attenders in the past. What was the most common pathway into the church?…
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Marry Me!
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 Each year on December 30,…
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A Pastor’s Response to the Supreme Court Decision
Read at the conclusion of services at Wynne Baptist Church (Wynne, Arkansas) on Sunday morning June 28, 2015. I have been a follower of Jesus Christ for 37 years. My journey began when I learned from the Bible that I was a sinner who was hopelessly damaged by sin, that my natural desires and longings…
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The Toxin of Unforgiveness
What would you do if you knew your children were attending a school located over a toxic waste site? For parents of a group of middle school students in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this question is causing great anxiety and debate. In fact, the school board voted to move the students to other schools within the next…
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Kingdom Praying
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. — Matthew 6:10 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus included prayer as a priority topic for His disciples. Emphasizing that our most intimate interactions with God should be done secretly (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18), Jesus pauses to give shape and…
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The Problem-Solving Disciple
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. John 6:5-6 Philip was stunned. Jesus was asking where to get the food…
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What is the Great Commission?
Imagine that you are in a room with an Iranian Jew, a Pakistani Muslim, a Nigerian animist, a Tibetan monk, a Chicago-born African-American, and a businessman from Memphis. You are each in this room for your entire life, and you are the only Christian in the room. Who would you be most responsible to share…
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Leading Souls Means Winning the Heart
Do you know that the greatest challenge of leading at home or at church is to win the heart? With a position, you can lead a few people for awhile, but with a tender compassion for people, you can influence this generation and the next. This idea is rooted in the New Testament qualifications for…
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When the manna stops falling…
“Then the manna ceased . . .” Joshua 5:12 “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from…
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Glimpsing Revival: Khassia Hills, March 1905
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple… and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1, 4 Revival is not a calendared event in a church. It is not an evangelistic crusade, although evangelism…