In our church there is a young girl in middle school; we’ll call her Y. Y has been coming to church since she was very young and has been involved where she can. As Y approaches entering high school next Spring, she recently expressed to her mother that she would stop attending church once she entered high school, saying, "I don't think I believe in God anymore." Well, you can imagine how heartbreaking this news was to her mother. In faith, her mother asked us to pray for direction and that God would work in Y’s heart. And we committed Y to the Lord in prayer. Soon it came time for church camp. Y was invited, but...{addthis off}
It was John Maxwell who brought to my attention the fact that experience is not the best teacher. Otherwise, everybody would be getting better and more mature as they grow older. Rather, "evaluated experience" is the best teacher. Evaluated experience is the experience that is reflected upon and where lessons are learned and growth in maturity follows. As I have taken time to reflect on my own life’s experiences, certain discipleship lessons have come to the surface. One that has consistently occurred is what is called the little / big principle, and is mentioned four times in the parables of Jesus... {addthis off}
The Church in Japan faces a crisis. And Japan’s pastors and church leaders are stepping up to face it head-on.
I spent December quietly at home with the intention of getting much needed perspective on the next season of my life. I was aware of the danger of drift on one hand, and of indiscriminately maintaining the status quo on the other hand. In the process, the key word that surfaced for me was the word INTENTIONAL. Being intentional was a reminder for...
From the time I left the business world to enter full time ministry, I had a conviction that to grow a church I needed to focus on growing leaders who would grow the church. Or as Paul Scanlon has said, "To grow a big church, focus on growing big people.
This led me to a very important question, "Who is the person Jesus uses?" For I wanted to be a...