I have two questions that I love to ask people in small church settings. The first has to do with the strength of their church. Always I get the same answer back. The strength of the small church is relationships.…
Attracting Young Families
Last week I addressed the question that I am asked more than any other: How large is a small church? This week I want to address the second mostly commonly asked question: How can a small church consisting mostly of…
Finding The Right Wall
“He spent his life climbing the ladder of success only to find when he got to the top that it was leaning against the wrong wall.” I don’t know when or where I first read the above quote but I…
True Community In A Small Church
As I do most days I went for a walk this morning on the track that surrounds the ice surface at the local community center. It was a little busier than usual this morning with about twenty people walking. What…
The Power of Fear: The Fear of Failure
In 1941 Ted Williams, a man whom many consider the greatest hitter in the history of baseball, hit .406. That is the highest batting average in the past seventy-five years. No one has even come close in all that time…
The Power of Fear: The Fear of Theological Uncertainty
In my book Reality Check For The Church I have a section devoted to the fear of theological uncertainty. Much of this blog entry comes directly out of that book. I believe that this is a problem that can be…
The Power of Fear: The Fear of Hurting People
My goal in life is to convince churches that their greatest challenge is to turn people attending their churches into four-directional Christians. At this point you may be asking: “What is a four-directional Christian?” For a detailed description you can…
The Power of Fear: The Fear of Change
Perhaps nothing is so destructive in a small-church setting as paralysis brought on by a fear of change. My mother had many wonderful qualities that helped to shape my life in positive ways. For that I will be eternally grateful.…
The Power of Fear
As a young man, only twenty-one years of age, my wife and I spent two years in Colombia as part of a church planting team. There were a number of disadvantages involved in living in another country but one of…
A Prophetic Voice From The Past
I’m not a big fan of devotional books. I’m talking about the ones that have a verse for each day along with a short paragraph relating to the verse, followed by a short prayer at the end. I’m not suggesting…