At least once a year your church will find itself hosting one or more International Workers (IWs) for anywhere from three days to a week. What’s the best way to steward these times? That answer will vary from church to church, but below are a handful of thoughts and ideas that have been gathered over…
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I spent most of my school-age years living in a small dryland farming community. Consequently, I worked for a farmer who was part of our church. He was a good farmer and a great man who worked hard and smart to steward his farm well. He put in long hours to prepare the soil, cared…
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This past week as I was leaving the house to run some errands, I rounded a corner one block from our house and thought, “Did I close the garage door?” While it was tempting to assume that I did and just keep driving, I just couldn’t shake the thought of my tools sitting there with an…
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Jesus gave us the commandment to make disciples of all peoples and consequently the Church (including your church) has been pursuing that goal ever since. Therefore, it’s helpful for us to be able to step back and ask the question, “How are we doing?” While there are a number of different lenses through which we…
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Well, it’s now mid-February, which means that a large percentage of the new gym members who signed up January 1st have stopped going and are getting ready to cancel their memberships. While this is typically a bit of a joke among gym regulars, I find it a bit sad. Everyone one of those new members signed…
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At the end of a calendar year it’s easy to forget important church administrative tasks because, well, they only happen once a year. Here is a quick list of the most common items* that every church will need to ensure are handled as they move into 2021. W2s. All church employees, including pastors, should receive a W2. Because…
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Do you know someone who begins a book by reading the last chapter first? For me, that ruins the excitement of the story as it’s meant to unfold. But for some things in life, it is better to begin at the end. Example: Discipleship. Although we all want to make disciples, many times we don’t…
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I often think of Psalm 20 as the Church Planting Psalm. I think it’s such a great picture of what we would want a sending church to say to a plant team that’s stepping out in faith. Here are the first few verses: May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the…
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Some time ago on a mission trip to the Copper Canyon of north-central Mexico, I met an old man named Condalario. As a young man he had lost part of his arm in a mining accident. He got by doing odd jobs, lived in a cave, wore sandals made from old car tires, and nearly…
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