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An old friend who is a keen student of Church history has been telling me for thirty years that “The only hope for the American Church is persecution.” I fear that he’s right, and as much as I’d love to see a vibrant Church in my country, I can’t say that I’m embracing persecution. But […]

Having the right expectations really matters.  Just think about the expectations with which you entered into: High School College Marriage Your spouse’s extended family Your first full-time job Many American Christians are reeling right now because of their expectations.  They thought that the unusual (from a historical perspective) conditions which we had in America for […]

Many church leaders are telling us that there isn’t going to be a return to “normal” any time soon, or ever.  Even if your “good old days” were in 2019 (instead of 1955), the 2019 version of “church as usual” isn’t coming back. Even churches which weren’t even slightly interested in experiencing revitalization are facing […]

“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in […]

“The secret of the Christian life is a series of new beginnings” George Sweeting In my home area of northwestern Wisconsin there is a village which is prospering and attractive.  It’s not my home-town, I’m sorry to say, it’s ten miles up the road.  Back during my adolescent years, my village was prospering and the […]

I think we all know what senior-itis is: the arrogance/impatience/excitement of the high school senior who feels like she’s: (a) an adult, trapped in a child’s existence (b) so much smarter than her parents (c) a college student on the inside who is suffering terribly by having to attend high school and live with her […]

I’m seeing a lot of internet traffic these days on the subject of the Post-COVID Church: the way evangelical Christianity is going to look, in America, after the pandemic is over.  I appreciate every attempt I’ve seen and heard to make sense of this crazy year and to predict the future. I don’t have a […]

God brought me on a journey so I could meet Joe Humrichous (pronounced: HUM rick house). The physical journey was an uneventful trip to northeast Indiana. The spiritual journey was more exciting.  I had just finished writing, A Really Great Church! in which I sought to point my readers to the sufficiency of Christ for […]

The following is a sermon which I’ve preached in many churches.  I turned it into this article for the Spring, 2021 edition of Revitalizer magazine. Like most couples who’ve been married for a long time, Donna and I are very much alike in some ways and yet still very different in other ways.  On our […]

These are difficult days for my pastor friends!  I keep hearing about anger and division over: COVID prevention strategies, President Biden’s election, charges of voter fraud, threats to civil liberties, local church political involvement, etc.  Pastors are taking it on the chin like never before. While there’s little a pastor can do about any of […]

Here’s the bad news…   65-90% of American Protestant churches are plateaued or declining in attendance. 1% of America’s Protestant congregations close their doors each year. The average congregation of about 75 in Sunday attendance wins less than one adult unbeliever to Christ per year. Most churches believe that they can keep doing the same […]

“Why don’t you love me like you used to do? How come you treat me like a worn-out shoe?” Hank Williams Here’s a phenomenon I’ve seen a number of times.  If you’re an experienced leader, I’m sure that you’ve seen it too. An older, generally respected, long-time leader of an organization recruits or hires a […]