In the past couple of weeks I spoke with two different people about what youth are looking for in churches today. Both of them said something that I would not have expected them to say. They both said that youth…

For the past few weeks I have been looking at the need to face reality in our churches. Until a church is willing to face the brutal facts of its reality, it will never move from where it is to…

At the heart of the Great Commission in Matthew is a command. There are four actions mentioned in the Commission (going, making disciples, baptizing and teaching) but only one of those is a command. When I am teaching on this…

Before I enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry program at Acadia Divinity College, I asked Dr. Andrew MacRae, who was in charge of the program, if I could do my thesis around the broad subject of the small church in…

I read an excellent blog entry this past week entitled 5 Lies Pastors Are Tempted To Tell – And How To Resist Them. If that title doesn’t catch your attention, I don’t know what will. It is an excellent read…

For much of my childhood, my parents owned a seventy-five acre property that bordered on a lake. About seventy of those acres were bush. Those acres were part of a much larger bush that extended for seventy-five miles if one…

Our theology shapes our actions. For that reason it is vital that we get our theology right. When it comes to working with children it is especially important. I grew up in a setting in which theological issues were simple.…

In last week’s blog entry I tried to answer the question as to whether a small church can effectively minister to its youth. This week I want to tackle the same question in regard to children. Can a small church…

A comment was made to me this past week that I have heard on numerous occasions before and every time that I hear it I want to correct the person who said it to me. For the past three weeks…

“Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family like on Dec. 7th, 2008 Ron baptized me.” “Thank you for baptizing me and being nice and friendly.” “Thank you, Ron, for baptizing me.” “I want to also thank…