Achan: The Troubler of Israel (and maybe your congregation too!)
We might be tempted to view Achan’s theft as a misdemeanor. God saw it as a capital crime.
The Four Personas of Most Church Drama
If you have been in church leadership for more than ten minutes, you have experienced church drama. It can start by simply repositioning the flags or flowers on the platform.
Self-Reliance vs. God-Dependence in Churches
Human initiative and “business experience” dressed up as Divine guidance has waylaid many a church. It is a danger every ministry faces.
The Willful Spirit
“For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed . . .” (Titus 1:7).
Church Discipline in an Age of Empathy
In our ministry’s work to heal churches in pain, we often enter congregations that have suffered from a lack of church discipline. I want to explore one of the reasons: an overdeveloped sense of empathy.
The Ten Commandments of Culture (and how they can influence your church)
We are bombarded daily by what I call “The Ten Commandments of Culture.” What are these dogmas and how might they influence your ministry?
When Pastors Weep
Maybe you are a pastor, and you are weeping (or have wept) over your current situation. If so, you grieve in good company:
What is Corporate Sin and is my Church Guilty?
Sin disrupts and destroys whatever it touches. However, there are some sins which cause God’s blessing on a ministry to get disconnected.
Nightmare in Nashville
The cycle of national pain has escalated since Columbine. How do we make sense of such shattering and fracturing events?
Rumors of Revival: Why it is Time to Get Our House in Order
The Church is like a bride that has lost her beauty. She still has a certain attractiveness though, like a girl who has suffered bells-palsy but whose beauty still shines through her eyes.
Church Revitalization – The “Old-Fashioned” Way
We should not think that repentance alone will always quell ingrained sin patterns, especially when they are deeply rooted and a part of a church’s “culture.”
More Lessons From Churches in Pain
Don’t let worms spoil your ministry. By keeping your church worm-free, you will become better fishers of men!
Lessons from Churches in Pain
Assess your ministry context to see if any of these four causes of ministry pain are impacting your spiritual work and worship.
The Spiritual Gift of Doubt
Someone with the gift of discernment inserts an element of “doubt” about how things appear on the surface.
Strange Providence: Pondering Sovereign Coincidences in Church Life
Commonly mistaken for coincidence or chance, we don’t always recognize the Divine significance behind so-called “coincidences” in church life.
Church Cover-Ups and The Insidious Danger of Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy, plainly stated, is activity geared to look better than we are and to hide reality where we fall short.
Jenga Churches: Many Ministries Are Playing a Dangerous Game
The hidden fractures in many churches have become visible fissures. Can churches regain their stability in such an unstable situation?
When Churches Eat Their Own*
A divisive doctrinal controversy gained a foothold in a previously placid congregation. Sides were chosen. The bulk of the church divided. Confusion hung in the air.
How Does a Church “Fall”?
Like Eutychus falling out the window while Paul preached, church falls can leave a ministry flat on its back, the Spirit completely quenched, unless Jesus does a miracle of healing.
Ministry Meltdowns: Revisiting Paul and Barnabas’ Dispute over John Mark
As damaging as all the ministry schisms are in modern day churches, they do not compare to the potential damage done on the early Church by the dissension between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark