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

The new Passion Worship album, Follow You Anywhere, is incredible! I have not been able to stop listening to it. My playlist is in "arrested" mode. More accurately, my heart is in "arrested" mode. While the entire album is good, the two songs below are exceptional and have wrecked me for the past week.

There is likely no word that strikes fear in the heart of the church than change. The basic definition of change is to make or become different. The core idea at the heart biblical salvation and sanctification is change. Change should always be connected to the mission and vision of the organization. Change for the … Continue reading Change that Matters

You never really know someone until you live with them or work with them. Everyone has a story. Relationships are at the heart of the gospel. A holy God relating to sinful people and people relating to one another. Relationships are the vertical and horizontal applications of the cross. Relationships are the vehicle through which … Continue reading Everyone Has a Story

There is no denying that the modern day church is not exerting the influence on community that we once did. There is no arguing, that as Followers of Jesus, we desire to see people come to saving faith in Christ. Rightfully so, the local church should be concerned about the declining metric of baptisms.  In … Continue reading Awaken a Sleeping Giant