Spiritual Growth
CNLP 197: Mark Clark and Carey Nieuwhof on How to Preach in a Way that Reaches Unchurched People and Maintains Biblical Integrity
Mark Clark and Carey talk about their different approaches to preaching, how to reach unchurched people and how to preach to churched and unchurched people with Biblical integrity. Plus, Carey and Mark share some of their favourite insights from their brand new course, The Art of Better Preaching. Welcome to Episode 197 of the podcast. Listen…
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Some Simple Practices That Will Make Your Preaching Better
If you preach with any regularity, you know the pressure that comes with staring at a blank screen with a deadline approaching. And if you communicate regularly within the context of the local church, like I do, you quickly discover that Sundays come around whether you’re ready or not. I get asked regularly what I…
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CNLP 196: Bryan Carter on What Makes for Successful Succession, Navigating 300% Church Growth and The Racial Divide in America
Bryan Carter was 29 years old when he was asked to be the successor to a pastor who founded the church 28 years earlier. Much to everyone’s surprise, including Bryan’s, the transition went extremely well. Concord Church has tripled in size under his leadership, and Bryan shares why. He also talks about the racial divide…
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CCLP 020: Danielle Strickland on Becoming a Great Communicator, Knowing When It’s Time to Move On and Being a Rebel At Heart
In many eyes (including mine), Danielle Strickland is one of the best communicators of our generation, and she’s Canadian. Danielle talks about how she discovered she was a communicator, walks us through her preparation process for speaking and preaching, and talks about how being a teenage rebel prepared her to serve in an established church…
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5 Rather Surprising Findings About Growing and Declining Churches
Today’s post is written by my friend, Tony Morgan, Founder of The UnStuck Group. Carey recently shared 5 attitude differences he sees in the leaders of growing vs. declining churches. He hit the nail on the head. My team at The Unstuck Group and I are on the ground serving in 100s of churches of all…
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6 Things That Make Ministry Harder Than It Was A Decade Ago
Ever feel like ministry is harder than it was a decade ago? You’re not alone. I am an eternal optimist when it comes to the church, but I agree that ministry is more challenging than it’s ever been. Understanding why is key to figuring out what to do and how to respond. You may or may not like…
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5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Preach Other People’s Sermons
These are interesting times for communicators and preachers. Never have we had access to so many other people’s messages. And never have we felt more pressure in delivering our own. Almost monthly I hear of pastors (most of whom will never make the headlines) who are losing their job because of plagiarism—using someone else’s content…
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7 Signs Your Church Is (Finally) Reaching Unchurched People
So as a church leader you have a desire to reach new people with the good news of Jesus. But how do you know your church is really finally (truly) reaching the unchurched? First, you can (and should) use data to find out whether you are attracting transfer growth or truly unchurched people. Your welcome…
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Why Pretty Much Every Church Leader Needs Marriage Counselling
This is a guest post by my executive assistant, Sarah Piercy who, in addition to working with me for the last 9 years, is a wife and young mom. She wrote this piece for her own blog, and, well, it was too compelling not to share it with you here. I think so many of us can use…
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A False Spiritual Maturity Test For Christians…and a Better One
One of the frequent criticisms I hear of churches that are trying to reach people who don’t attend church is that they fail to produce ‘disciples’. Honestly, this is a criticism that, off and on, has been levied at our ministry for years. And it bothers me. On a recent speaking tour, I heard it again and…
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