Church Growth
Stop Compromising: 5 Ways to Reduce Conflict in Your Church
Conflict can ruin almost anyone’s day. And sometimes in ruin’s an entire organization’s mission. Church leaders should deal with conflict well, but as a general rule, we don’t. And because of it, we live with unnecessary conflict every day. While…
How To Reach Unchurched People Who Don’t Think They Need God
A few years ago, I read a survey that made me literally sit up straight as I took notice. The number of people in Canada (my country) who profess “no religion” is now at 24%, up from 16.5% a decade…
9 Signs Your Church Is Ready to Reach Unchurched People
Almost every church I know says they want to reach unchurched people. But few are actually doing it. Part of the problem stems from the fact that many churches don’t really understand unchurched people (here’s a post on 15 characteristics…
How to Talk About Christian Morality in a Post-Christian World
My last post on why Christians should let non-Christians off the moral hook seems to have sparked a lot of interest. It also raises a lot of questions. If we let non-Christians off the hook morally, (as I suggest), do…
How to Get Off the Emotional Roller Coaster of Ministry
You probably think only the way to get off the emotional roller coaster of ministry is to quit. It’s not. In fact, I don’t recommend it. You don’t have to abandon your calling, even though we live in an age…
How to Kickstart your Devotional Life
If you’re like me, you’re already thinking about how to make the new year better than the current year. Been thinking about that for a while actually. In fact, I’m using this week of holidays to get a few things…
The Casualty of Christmas
This post is for all of us who ‘work’ in ministry. It’s for all of us who are on staff, for elders and for volunteers who work so hard that they might as well pay you. It’s Christmas, and…
I Wish God….
I need your help. I know you’ve thought about this. Doesn’t matter how strong your faith is, you wish some things were different. In fact, you wish God were different. I’m writing a message series for the summer (or fall) of…
Why I Dislike Easter (and Good Friday and Christmas)
So we get ready to celebrate the greatest moment in human history (Easter), and I’m worked up about it. It’s not that I dislike Good Friday, Easter and Christmas themselves. I love what they’re about. But as a lead pastor,…
Is Christianity Becoming Extinct?
This study profiled by CNN last week suggests religion might be extinct in Canada within 100 years. More and more people are affiliating themselves with the category called “unaffiliated”, which I think is the technical term for ‘no thanks’ when…
Five Questions about Confession
Confession is a lost art. Blame? Not so much. I find that there’s a link between how well I confess and how often I blame others and justify myself. Avoiding confession allows me to think the fault lies with someone…
The Greatest Threat to your Dependence on God
I twittered about something a few days ago and it generated more of a reaction than I anticipated. This is simply what the tweet said: The greatest threat to your dependence on God is your current success. Most of us…