Does God Discipline Entire Congregations—and Could Yours Be One?
I think most believers would agree that God disciplined the congregation of Israel in the Old Testament. But does God discipline entire congregations of believers?
Identifying Abnormal Churches
While we may not have a scanning machine to help us see what’s going on within a church’s “body,” we can apply a radiologist’s “eye” to give us a clearer picture of a church’s health.
The Unseen Challenge Every Church Faces
Right now, an unperceived force threatens to control the identity of your ministry. It has the power to shape your congregation to its liking, just as the mighty Niagara River carves a gorge below its falls.
Rebuilding Broken Trust with Your Congregation
Out of the ashes of Joshua’s failure to seek the Lord, we discover how to rebuild trust with an angry and upset congregation.
Living with Leaven
What Churches Can Learn from Bedikat Chametz:
Have you ever heard of a church that performs annual spiritual house cleaning? I mean a church that deals with its sin, corporately, on a regular basis. Me neither.
Dealing with Overly Opinionated Church Members
In our work with churches, I have come to recognize that churches become unhealthy when they tolerate overly opinionated people, especially in leadership. (Well, that’s my opinion anyway! 😊)
Jeeps, Tools, and Churches God Can Use
For a church to become one of God’s favorite tools, it must exhibit both the activities and the spirit of the Jerusalem Church.
Perturbed by Paris?
When the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics depicted Jesus Christ and the disciples as drag queens, the whole world took notice. But what if the depiction was a wake-up call for the Church?
Ministry Transformation Story
This is the story of how one church experienced a ministry transformation and burned their mortgage 18 years ahead of schedule!
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 Corporate Church
The Corporate Church traces God’s relationship with Israel and how it shapes His relationship with the Church. The implications will change the way you think about and do church.
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.
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.
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.