The gap between what Americans say they believe and what they do is great and growing. The same is true of Christians. Values don't always translate into actions.
A group of Christian leaders known for their skill in discipling, and headed by Texan Bob Buford, is developing a tool, the Christian Life Profile, to assess the spiritual maturity of a church's attenders and aid the pastor in leading the ...
A man who joined our fellowship came out of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Three
months after his conversion, his daughter died. Then the woman he had been
dating broke off their relationship.
If that weren't enough, his business collapsed; it's now half of what it
used to be.
Today, this man comes to three weekend services. He can't seem to get enough
of God. He's not ready for significant leadership ...
ARTICLE Letting the Laity Pastor The best measure of a church is how many people walk out to be the royal priesthood on Monday. Bruce Larson
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I had a chance to meet Donald Peterson just before he retired as chairman of Ford Motor Company. He'd been chairman when Ford ebbed to its lowest point economically and also when the company had turned around and reached its apex. "How do you account for what happened?" I asked him. "Was it robots, mechanization?"
"No," he said, "it was two less tangible things. First, we redefined our goal. We said ...
ARTICLE Risking Lay Ministry An essential step in preparing people to minister is to encourage them to be willing to take big risks. Bruce Larson
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Every pastor I know affirms the priesthood of all believers and that every Christian is called to ministry, including the one of providing pastoral care for one another. But most also admit there's a big gap between the actual and desired level of lay ministry.
One reason for this, I believe, is that releasing people to minister involves risks, both for pastor and people. For the pastor, it means giving ...
ARTICLE Helping People Care for One Another The first step in helping people move into ministry is to remind them that they are part of a royal priesthood. Bruce Larson
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Over a decade ago, I visited an exciting church in the inner city of Chicago. While most Sunday sermons in that neighborhood echoed through half-empty auditoriums, the sermons of this church's pastor reached overflow crowds Sunday after Sunday. Obviously, it was an unusual church. People weren't just dropping their money in the plate and then putting their feet up while the pastor did all the work. ...
Talk with any senior pastor or search committee in America who hires support staff, and one of their most challenging positions to fill is in the area of worship leadership. The unfolding reformation of worship in our nation is creating unprecedented opportunities in worship ministry for qualified leaders, yet frustration over finding them is at an all-time high.
Here are five planning practices that can prevent worship from falling into dullness and routine:
Find the focal point. I prefer to center worship on a theme. Sometimes the theme is supplied by the season: Advent or Lent or Easter or Thanksgiving. Other times a special emphasis like Missions Month or Family Sunday suggests a worship theme. The sermon topic is a natural focal point. If the topic happens to be God's faithfulness, or the love of God, or God's sovereignty, it is not difficult to blend the hymns, anthem, and spoken word with the sermon.
Here are five, frequent, presenting symptoms in a church that often point to a more serious disease:
1. Inordinate self-interest. Most new churches are open to newcomers and then weaken into self-interest.
2. Negative self-image. Complaining about the church's health may not seem bad, but the negative discussion rarely leads to positive, practical action for improvement.
Printer view of these results
