Great Faith

As I’ve been thinking and recording my prayer list for 2019 (in the Every Nation prayer and fasting devotional guide), I find myself in a common dilemma: how ambitious should I make my prayer list?

Do I pray for abundant provision, or do I pray for daily bread and wisdom to steward it well?

More Church Planting Is Needed

Among the best ways for us to reach people with the gospel is personal evangelism and church planting. Even with all the changes in culture this remains our best option for reaching unbelievers.

Church planting efforts need focus. A scattershot approach will not be the most effective.

Here are five things we are going to need to increase church planting capacity.

Kingdom Thinking and Church Planting

The person, work and ways of Jesus should determine our purpose and mission in the world, and then our mission to follow him should drive us to discover different approaches of being the church.

Bottom line: We must start with Jesus!

How to be angry like Jesus

The best way to know the difference between good and bad anger is to follow the example of Christ. The Apostle Paul seems to summarize Jesus’ approach to anger in his confusing instructions in Ephesians 4:26: “Be angry and do not sin.” That verse may seem odd, but it perfectly depicts Jesus. Yes, Jesus got angry, but he was always sinless.

Jesus shows us three right ways to be angry:

The Seven Traits of a Healthy Church Leader

I am encouraged.

I am really hopeful.

I see more signs of healthy church leaders today than I have seen at any point in my 30 years of ministry. This trend portends well for the future health of our congregations. Healthy church leaders will lead churches to greater health.

Should the church be more inclusive or exclusive?

One of the biggest challenges that Christians face today is reconciling the seemingly exclusive claims of Jesus with the postmodern cultural value of inclusivity.

Whether you are at a Starbucks or a law firm, a university campus or a preschool, inclusivity is what everyone seems to be striving for. It’s written in value statements. It’s expressed in public memos (sometimes after an employee Twitter gaff). And perhaps most importantly, it’s simply assumed to be an inherent good by most people in society.

Loving the Lost

It’s fascinating that a lot of Christians don’t seem to like non-Christians, often referred to as the lost or the unchurched. Often we want to keep away from messy people - perhaps missing the obvious that we are messy as well.