I can vividly recall one of my first tests in school. It was a new school year, and my second grade teacher was returning the first quiz. I looked at my paper and smiled. I was pleased because I had gotten half the questions right for a grade of 50%. Getting one out of every two was pretty good. I played little league, so I knew that I was batting .500. I felt real smart Excitement filled me as I went home to show my parents. After I handed them my paper, their expressions led me to believe that Read more [...]

Ed Stetzer and company at the North American Mission Board recently unveiled some research that shows why some church plants experience higher rates of growth than others. Below is a summary of the ten factors revealed in this research that proved to be the most successful in helping a church plant grow: Location: Schools prove to be excellent locations for church plants for two three big reasons – visibility, space, and low cost. Ministry: In general, the best way to reach new families is reaching Read more [...]

First and foremost, before reading my blog please take a moment to say a prayer for those affected by the Virginia Tech shootings. Erin, my wife, once dog sat for a week. It was while we were engaged, and I thought that I would be a good fiancé and help her out one afternoon while she was caring for these animals. So I took a pizza and a movie over to the house since we couldn’t go on a date that night. “Need any help, Honey?” “Yes, could you give the dogs a treat while I’m cleaning Read more [...]

There is a club out there that I have no desire to join. In fact, very few I would say truly want to be a part of this club. But those of us who attend semi-scaries seminaries can fall onto its membership roll all too easily. This club’s motto: the gospel is for advanced thinkers only. The only entrance prerequisite: arrogance. The trap of arrogance lurks around many churches. I too struggle with taking pride in what I know about the Bible. The passionate pursuit of spiritual knowledge can make Read more [...]

Every church has its fair share of members who spread the grass-is-greener syndrome. They are usually in the vocal minority, and they usually like to argue about non-essential matters, such as whether the bulletins need to be tri-fold or bi-fold. They also have a propensity to “drop out” as soon as their needs aren’t being met at their church. LifeWay Research recently conducted a study on why this group of people play church hopscotch. LifeWay dubs them church switchers. Not surprisingly, Read more [...]