The Super Bowl is history. As usual, the team that won the “time of possession” battle won the game – not by much, but they did win it. The Bible gives us plenty of excuses for using the language of military conquest and athletic competition. We are to endure hardship, to storm the gates of […]
Seven Helpful Hacks For Beleaguered Pastors
After sending you Seven Ways To Get On Offense last week, I sensed a need to get more specific and down to earth with my suggestions. Our big, challenging subject is the need for pastors to be able to transition from a reactive, back-on-your heels type of ministry, to doing the kind of proactive, intentional […]
Grace Doesn’t Indulge Sin
I’ve heard stories like these again and again: The obnoxious deacon literally poked his finger in the chest of the new pastor in the church foyer and told him – in no uncertain terms – what he could and could not do. The overbearing old accountant spoke harshly to the young financial secretary, telling her […]
Reversing The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis
Last week I wrote about Pipelines, Pathways And The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis. It wasn’t about computer chips, potato chips, toilet tissue or gasoline, it was about the lack of new attendees, and much more importantly, new converts to Christ, coming in our church doors. This paragraph was the heart of the post: Even in […]
Pipelines, Pathways And The Church’s Supply Chain Crisis
Everybody knows that we have a supply chain problem in America in 2022. It’s irritating. It’s frustrating. And it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what the problem is. All I know for sure is that there are a lot of items “missing” when I go to the store. After twenty-two months of the […]
The Pastor As A “Player’s Coach”
I’ve really been enjoying football lately. The fact that I’m from Wisconsin probably has something to do with this, but I promise that I won’t say anything more about that. But Sunday evening, a couple of broadcasters were singing the praises of Matt LaFleur as a “player’s coach.” They went on to describe a player’s […]
Wanted: The Pastoral Flight Simulator
An old friend and I were having one of those conversations that old friends (or married couples) repeat regularly: Brian: “It’s so hard to be a young pastor! There are so many landmines, so many ways to get in trouble!” Old Friend: “The young guys have all the energy; the old guys have the wisdom […]
The Three Keys To An Effective Church Revitalization
Most evangelical congregations in America need some degree of revitalization in that they are on the downside of the church lifecycle. This means that there was a time in the past (near or distant) during which the congregation was more effective than it is currently, at making devoted, growing, followers of Jesus out of the […]
Nickels And Noses: Better Ways To Measure Church Effectiveness
Are we really getting anywhere? Are we actually making disciples, or just going through the motions, doing what we’ve always done while getting what we’ve always gotten? These are hard but important questions for church leaders to ask. I’m assuming that you agree with me that the church’s #1 “job,” its mission, is to make […]
Welcoming Our Post-Apocalyptic Guests
I concede that my title might be a bit wonky, but there’s method in my madness. Everybody knows that most churches lost people by way of the COVID shut down. Some folks decided that if it’s okay to just “watch church” on a screen at home during the shutdown, it should be okay to continue […]
Elders And Congregationalism: Seven Ways To Make It Work
As a seminary student I was taught that there were three types of local church governance (“ways in which decisions are made,” is a good way to explain it): Episcopalian – From the Greek word, episcopos (An overseer or manager as in Acts 20:28). This is church government from the top down, as in the […]
Giving Thanks For The Future
The last year and a half has been a challenging time for most of us. I don’t think I’m going to get any argument there. And I’m not going to tell you to be thankful. But I am going to depart a tad from my usual “helping churches thrive” theme and give you some good […]
Slaying The Big Fat Anxiety Elephant
Some of you know that I’m big on slaying elephants. Elephants in the room, that is. You can read my “old” post on the subject here. “Elephants in the room” are subjects that many people are thinking about, distracted by or troubled by, but nobody’s talking about. They disturb and derail our thoughts, making it […]
The Church Health Vs. Church Planting Beauty Contest
I hate the word but I’m going to use it anyway. The word is “sexy” and I’m employing it because it’s the best word I can think of to communicate an important concept: Church planting work is sexy; church health work is not sexy. It’s not that those of us who are passionate about church […]
Prepping Your Church For The Next Pandemic, Part Two
Our disasters are not without their value if they help us to get ready for the next “go round.” I didn’t have flight insurance. They canceled my flight because they didn’t have enough passengers. I lost my money and had to drive to a more distant airport. Next time, I’ll be ready. Last week I […]
Prepping Your Church For The Next Pandemic
Something strange is happening in our basements. The world has become so weird and scary that a lot of people who hate buying groceries – and formerly laughed at the crazy doomsday peppers – are beginning to squirrel away food in their basements. It goes without saying that the COVID pandemic and all that it […]
Even Larger Churches Can Offer The Welcome Of God
(Your Church Can Be Irresistible, Part Three) “People today are not looking for friendly churches, they’re looking for FRIENDS in churches.” Anonymous I’ve been writing about how church members can make their congregations irresistible – very attractive – by offering the welcome of God. Click here for Your Church Can Be Irresistible and Your Church Can […]
Your Church Can Be Irresistible, Part Two
“I have yet to meet the church member who didn’t think that their church was the friendliest congregation in town.” Howard Hendricks “People today are not looking for friendly churches, they’re looking for FRIENDS in churches.” Anonymous Last week I wrote about how church members can make their congregations irresistible by offering their fellow attendees the […]
Heaven Help Our Church! Study Guide
For a free copy of the Heaven Help Our Church! Study Guide, created to be used with my book, Heaven Help Our Church!, send me an email and I will email you the document. Find me at www.churchwhisperer@gmail.com
Your Church Can Be Irresistible
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” What the World Needs Now Is Love, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, 1965 America is stressed to the max. You don’t need me to flesh this out for you; you’re seeing it and experiencing it every […]
The Case For “Face To Face”
“…media means middle; it’s from the Latin for middle. When you put a device in the middle, between people, you distance us from one another, and this is actually the power of media. The more I can control the mediating channel, the less you really know about me.” Andy Crouch, Partner for Theology and Culture […]
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