by Sam Rainer | Jul 29, 2018 | Uncategorized
In a lot of churches, deacons get a bad rap. If they do too much, then people believe they’re trying to take over the church. If they do too little, then people call them lazy. Just about every pastor has a bad deacon story. Indeed, I’ve got a couple myself... 
by Sam Rainer | Jul 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
The call to shepherd a church is a call to shepherd the community. When God led me to West Bradenton, He not only gave me a responsibility for pastoring a church but also a responsibility to serve our community. Churches are not islands in the community, set up... 
by Sam Rainer | Jul 1, 2018 | Uncategorized
He’s older now. Retired, but not done. He doesn’t move quickly, and his hearing is not great. For thirty years he shepherded our church. Now he leads a Life Group. We call him “Brother Bob.” All of Bradenton calls him that. He’s a passionate evangelist for... 
by Sam Rainer | Jun 17, 2018 | Uncategorized
“Some churches just need to die.” I’ve heard some variation of this quote several times. It’s false. Certain congregations may indeed die but not because they need to die. If God can save any person, then He can save any church. I believe any church, no matter... 
by Sam Rainer | Jun 3, 2018 | Uncategorized
For far too long, we’ve been wrong. We were wrong about slavery. We were wrong about Civil Rights. Now many of us are wrong about the #MeToo movement. The Southern Baptist Convention has been wrong about horrifying sins. Obvious sins. Massive sins affecting...
