Meet Jim. He’s the average nice guy . . . good provider, loving husband, faithful church member, caring father. After work one day his wife of 20 years asks him to run to Safeway to pick up a gallon of milk. He replies, “Sure, honey. Be glad to.” Little did he expect, however, that this

I like to read, though I don’t read as much as I should. I’ll probably read 20 or so books a year and after a few days or weeks, much of what I read doesn’t do much for me. Not this book, though. Deep Church thoughtfully and gracefully written by Jim Belcher, is one that

I get a weekly email from a guy named Mac Anderson, founder of Simple Truths (www.simpletruths.com). In a recent one, he wrote this story that he heard from someone else. I’ve heard variations of it before, but it’s worth repeating. Here’s what he wrote as he retold the story. The older I get, the more

Drew Carey hosted a TV show called Whose Line is it Anyway that ran for several years until 2006. You can still see re-runs on cable. The show, based on what is called ‘short-form’ improv, included four characters, most memorable being Wayne Brady. They would take suggestions from the audience and would create characters, scenes,

At a recent church leadership conference, I heard an author criticize those who believe in propositional truth. This speaker built a straw man and then tore it down with arrogance and a dismissive spirit. He even made a comment something like, “Those who teach and believe this stuff are misguided, misplaced, and downright wrong.” He

I just had a great conversation in the doctoral seminar I’m attending at Trinity Seminary. Dr. Bill Donahue, Willow Creek’s guru on small groups is teaching the seminar. We talked about whether or not real community can happen through social media (facebook, twitter, etc). He didn’t have an answer, but here are some thoughts that

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3860015&w=425&h=350&fv=] more about “5 Ministry Killers book video“, posted with vodpod

I recommend Church Leaders Intelligence Report. It’s a great distillation of current news and leadership tips. It’s free. Outreach publishes it and here’s the link where you can get it. http://www.sermoncentral.com/clir_subscribe_capture_email.asp Here’s a sample of what you get (from the Nov. 3 edition) When Things Speed Up, Leaders Should Slow Down Leadership development consultant Brad

This morning in my quiet time I reflected over the past two Sunday services in our church. For some reason attendance was down compared to last year. The flu has hit and I’m sure that accounts for some absences. But, I’ve struggled with discouragement wondering what we could do differently to encourage people to attend.

Have you ever been prompted by God to do something, but ignored it? Recently I almost did. Cancer struck the father of my small group leader’s wife last year. He had responded well to treatment until a couple months ago when the cancer began to spread. With little hope that more treatment would help, his