As a nineteen year old college student who was serving as children/youth pastor at a small rural church, I was fortunate to have a pastor who helped me grow in my faith and my calling to ministry. Sam and I would spend hours together each week talking ministry, discussing church needs, visiting hospitals and just … Continue reading Theology Lesson on a Country Road

There are certain words in the English language that cause certain reactions and responses even at the mere thought. Evangelism is one of those words inside of Evangelicalism. Through the years, evangelism has been an activity reserved for the Special Forces of the church, for those who have a special gifting that the rest of … Continue reading Evangelism Through the Local Church

In the previous post, we sought to understand the challenge of being multicultural in the local church by understanding the different generations and some basic distinctions among them. In this post, we will try to understand the challenges for local churches to be healthy, multi-generational churches. For too long, churches have been satisfied with having … Continue reading Generational Silos in the Church

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because … Continue reading All in the Family

Cultural anthropology is the branch of anthropology concerned with the study of human societies and cultures and their development. What does this mean for the local church? Churches must know and understand their ministry context in order to be effective at intersecting the lives of the people with the gospel and love of Jesus. All … Continue reading Students of Our Culture

In Part 1, I posited that missions partnerships are the best avenue for the long term fulfillment of the Great Commission. Here we will consider the criteria for healthy missions partnerships. What criteria should a local church consider for determining which partnerships she should and should not engage? Theological Theology matters. A church's doctrine should be … Continue reading Missions Partnerships: Part 2

Missions is a buzzword in most local churches. The first church I pastored viewed missions as something they gave financially to support others doing the missions. For instance, missions offerings were the end-all, be-all for missions because that was how one's commitment to missions was measured. When I started talking about a mission team going … Continue reading Missions Partnerships: Part 1

Reaction time is a measure of how quickly someone can respond to a certain stimulus. Athletes want quick reaction times to the snap of football, the speed of a pitch or the firing of the starter's gun. Leaders are often gauged by their reaction time to the stimuli in their field of expertise. Pastors want … Continue reading 24 Hour Rule

Ministry has been defined for too long by programs and activities. A quick survey of a handful of church and parachurch ministry websites and we find a litany of programs, dates, times and links to sign up for this and that. Programs, events and activities are not evil. Yet, they can be distractions from the … Continue reading Relationships Matter

In the Summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a significant event happened in track and field. It was the men’s 4x100 relay. This was one of the best relay teams the United States had ever sent to an Olympic games. Four men who had trained for the previous four years to prepare for this one race. … Continue reading Generation Next