With help from Pastors Mark Phillips, Scott Ehle and George King “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly, and revere your God. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:32 “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as […]
Churches And Politics: Rethinking The Issue, Part One
For a number of years, I’ve urged pastors and churches to stay out of politics. While writing for a mega-blog, I tried twice to write posts about this subject. The editors were so concerned about staying away from politics that they wouldn’t print my posts about staying out of politics! (A bit extreme, I thought.) […]
Churches And Politics: Rethinking The Issue, Part Two
Perhaps you’ve noticed that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for pastors and churches to simply “stay out of politics.” As our nation strays farther and farther from a Judeo-Christian world view, an increasing number of Biblical-moral-ethical issues have become societal and even political issues. Our church members are grappling with these developments all week long, and […]
Churches And Politics: Rethinking The Issue, Part Three
The following is my third post in a series, through which I’m seeking to offer church leaders and congregations, some hands-on help with the thorny issue of churches and political involvement. I’m hoping that church leaders will study my propositions, debate the details, and come up with their own, unity-enhancing position papers for their congregations. […]
Churches And Politics: Part Four: Realistic Expectations
This is my fourth in what will be a series of five posts, through which I’m seeking to offer congregations some hands-on help with the thorny issue of churches and political involvement. I’m hoping that church leaders will study my propositions, debate the details, and come up with their own, unity-enhancing resolutions for their congregations. […]
Churches And Politics: Part Five – Working with God (And Some Proposed Resolutions)
Here at the end of 2022, I’m hearing the pain in the voices of news-following American Christians as they plaintively ask, “Where is God in all this? I want to see God working again!” It’s no coincidence that my friends are sounding a lot like the prophet Habakkuk. The seventh century BC prophet was deeply […]
Thriving In The Midst Of Chaos
Last week I tackled the ominous question of whether or not America is being judged by God, right now. I gave you ten ways in which this might be happening here at the beginning of 2023. I know. This is serious stuff. So serious that, I’m sorry to say, many churches just won’t “go there.” […]
Thriving In The Midst Of Chaos, Part Two
Two weeks ago we took on the question of whether or not America is being judged by God. I gave my readers ten ways in which this might be happening here at the beginning of 2023 and asked them to reach their own conclusions. Last week I followed that up with some thoughts about thriving […]
How Your Church Can Get A Great Preacher
Most church-going people want their congregation to have a great preacher. Good for them. Why would we want anything less? The wrong way to make this happen is to get rid of your current preacher and go find one who is already great. There are all sorts of problems with this approach which we won’t […]
Solo Pastors: Here Are The Rest Of Those Ways To Keep Your Church From Killing You
I wasn’t trying to be sensational last week when I wrote about how churches with solo pastors often “kill” their pastors, in the sense of rendering them unable to continue effectively in local church ministry. I wasn’t trying to be confusing either, but it would have been better if I had clarified that I was […]
Why Some Churches Choose To Die
I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing when I got the news, or even who it was who shared it with me. But when I heard that the church that I’d helped to start in the 1970’s had closed its doors it saddened me greatly. At only twenty-two years old, I […]
The Revitalization Playbook: The Possibility Of Revitalization
The need for church revitalization – we used to call it, “church turnaround” – is all-too evident. BC, that is, “before Covid,” we typically heard that sixty-five to ninety percent of American protestant churches were plateaued or in decline, at least as far as their Sunday morning attendance numbers. In our post-Covid era, those numbers […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #1 – Help Your Church To Face The Facts
The human capacity for self-delusion is amazing, isn’t it? People who “can’t carry a tune in a bucket” enter singing competitions. Some of us try to squeeze into shirts or pants that are several sizes too small. Couples without carpentry skills take on remodeling projects that would make the best You Tube DIY-ers give up […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #2 – Help Your Church To Take Responsibility For Its Condition
Two weeks ago I began sharing a revitalization playbook. It’s not a step-by-step manual for church renewal, for I don’t believe that creating a universally applicable revitalization plan is possible. But it is going to be a playbook, like that of a football team which has a couple dozen plays it has practiced extensively. And […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Play #3 – Persuade Your Congregation To Pray For Revitalization
I know full well that I just used two, sometimes scary, words in that title. The word “persuade” means that I’m going to be talking about leadership, and leadership is challenging for many of us pastors. The word “pray” zeros in on one of the hardest aspects of the Christian life for many believers. The […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Give Your Congregation A Simple Dream Of A Revived Church
I used the word “dream” in my title instead of the more popular, “vision” because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not talking about anything grandiose here: You know: 20 thousand people, 40 acres of land, etc. I’m talking about something which is far more accessible than that: A dream for […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Bold, Serious Preaching
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” II Timothy 4:2 “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, Circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem…” F/Jeremiah 4:3,4 Six weeks ago, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Missional Realignment
It’s that time of year again. At least here in the Midwest, it’s pothole season. And for drivers, potholes mean front end alignments. Churches need periodic realignment as well. They just naturally get all bent out of shape. Among other problems, they tend to forget what their mission was. Missional realignment is often needed to […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Build A Unified Leadership Team
You can’t do this yourself. David had his mighty men (I Chronicles 11). Jesus chose twelve men, “…that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons…” (f/Mark 3:13-15). I’m assuming, for the moment, that you are a pastor. If you’re not, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Build A Supportive Coalition
Last week I wrote about building a unified leadership team as an important step in seeing a heaven-sent revitalization of your church. If you are the pastor (or lead pastor) in a congregation which is on the downside of the church lifecycle, you’re going to need a cooperative – if not an enthusiastic – board/council/consistory/session, […]
The Revitalization Playbook: Address Your People Problems
In some congregations it’s just one person: one controlling Diotrephes (III John 12), one harmful Alexander (II Timothy 4:14), one willful, rude, thoughtless bully, somebody who wants to be a big fish in a small pond. In other churches, it’s one family which thinks that First Church is their own personal piece of property, like […]
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