Congregation
Whatever it takes, right? I mean, anything that gets people in church is okay, right? Because, after all, everybody needs to hear the gospel, so the ends justifies the means, right? Maybe not. What are the ethics of outreach and when do we cross the line from compassion to conniving?
Congregation
I'm reading Forces For Good: Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits by Leslie Crutchfield and Heather Grant. The authors studied hundreds of successful nonprofits and distilled these six practices of the best ones: 1. Advocate and serve. High-impact nonprofits do both -- serve through programs and advocate for systemic
Creativity
Outreach magazine is working on its "Innovation" issue. In the past Outreach has focused on innovative churches. But this year they're focusing on the innovations themselves, and Outreach would like your input. Click here to go to Tony Morgan's blog and give Outreach your
Congregation
Debbie and I have learned a lot about growing vegetables this year. We learned that mulch under your raised beds acts like a big sponge and makes the beds too wet. But, we also learned when you remove the mulch and create drainage that the beds return to a productive,
Congregation
Outreach magazine publishes an issue each year featuring the most innovative churches in America. These churches aren't just big ones either, and the editors are looking for small churches that do things in an innovative way. What makes the difference in an innovative church and everybody else? These
Creativity
You can catch me on a webinar tomorrow, Thursday, 2 PM ET/11 AM PT, where I'll preview my NOC2008 workshop, Small Churches Make Good Neighbors. I'll be on with Mark DeYmaz, author of Building A Healthy Multi-Ethic Church. I'm looking forward to what
Creativity
Okay, the truth is out. Physicist Michio Kaku says, "Occasionally, physicists like to scare the pants off people." I am not making this up. So, the big joke for today is the Large Hadron Collider, which many feel will create black holes and suck the entire earth into
bless the world
Tom Sine's latest book, The New Conspirators, celebrates the increasing diversity in the church. Sine's book continues the theme of his classic book, The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, published in 1981. Sine was a 'red-letter Christian' before the official group existed, and in this hopeful
Creativity
Are sermons dying? I don't mean is your preaching killing people, but are sermons themselves going the way of the dodo bird -- headed for extinction? Worship in most evangelical churches, and that includes many small churches, still resembles evangelical worship in 19th century churches -- singing, prayer,
Congregation
I have a thing about books. I like them. A lot. And like many preachers, I have dozens -- actually, hundreds -- of books. Most of which I have read -- except the reference books, of course. (I consider any book longer than 200 pages to be a reference book.
Congregation
"It will be worth what we're spending if only one person gets saved." That comment came from a deacon when I was serving a previous church. He was referring to an expensive project we were undertaking. I nodded in agreement because his sentiment seemed so right.
Congregation
We had a long and intense discussion in a committee meeting tonight at our church. The subject: how can we reach more families and children? My challenge to the group was to lead the church to make a commitment as a congregation to the "what" -- reaching families