I’ve had a bit more time, lately, to read. I’ve enjoyed re-reading Paul’s writings in the New Testament. I’ve not been reading to get great sermons, or incredible, new insights. No, I have been reading Paul’s letters for me. I’ve been asking the Holy Spirit to minister, personally, to me, whatever He would want to say to my soul. I could…
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In their 2017 book “When Everything Is Missions”, authors Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters argue that by calling everything we do “missions,” we distort what missions actually is, with the end result being missional drift. Hence the phrase, “when everything is missions, nothing is missions”. They are certainly not the only ones to sound this…
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I would like to remind church treasurers, pastors, and board members about a very helpful resource available to assist churches with financial management and stewardship. The Finance Manual for Church Treasurers and Pastors is a comprehensive guide written for an audience without formal accounting training. It is intended to be a how-to manual providing basics for preparing budgets and…
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One of the joys of ministry, for me and perhaps for you, is that while there are many “normal things” in ministry, there are also many unforeseen things that are not always bad! It seems to me that variety and fresh challenges go hand in hand with local church ministry. That is also true serving you…
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There are several different kinds of strategies that people use to plant churches. There is the Seed model in which a solo church planter lands in his “field” and gets to work. This parachute drop-style of planting can be fruitful, but it often takes longer and has a lower rate of success. Then there is…
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A scam is a scheme that tricks people into giving away money or personal information. Scammers often use deception and fear to manipulate people into acting against their own best interests. Scammers may contact potential victims by phone, text, email, social media, or through e-commerce. They may offer an attractive deal or false information while pretending to be…
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As one year closes and another opens, I generally take some time to reflect on a number of areas of life and ministry. This year, one of the topics that has been most on my mind is disciple making. In the course of prayer, contemplation, and reading, I stumbled back upon a now ten-year-old document…
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One of the tragic losses for someone who claims the Name of Christ but who willfully doesn’t go to church is the loss of community in the Body of Christ. I get it that church life can be messy — it’s been that way since the beginning! Ananias and Sapphire in Acts 5 apparently wanted to be recognized as…
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During January, I received several questions related to church giving. Even though most churches have most likely signed, sealed, and delivered 2024 giving statements I thought it might still be helpful to publish some of these questions while they are fresh on the mind, and since many of these issues will surface throughout the year…
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Recently, I stumbled upon a blog post that was dedicated to wrestling with the realities that missions has on families. While I’m not usually in the habit of reposting blogs in their entirety, I was struck by its simplicity and valuable reminder. And so, after hearing similar positive feedback from some of our RMD IWs,…
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