I believe strongly that our enemy loves to wreak havoc in the community by “flipping” relationships on their heads. This happens in the Garden of Eden, of course, when Adam stands passively by, abdicating his leadership responsibilities, leaving Eve to make the crucial decision alone. This happens still today. After all, what generation hasn’t complained about children rejecting the authority of their parents? In fact, at this point in history, with our unfortunate commitment to…
It has become common practice these days to rail against overwork in pastoral ministry. Undoubtedly this springs from a well-meaning reaction against bygone days of workaholism, when pastors would serve the church to the neglect of their families—and often their own spiritual, emotional, and physical health. Nevertheless, as is often the case with reactive movements, the pendulum seems to have swung too far. In just the past few weeks even, I have seen three…
The last in a three-part series on measurable growth in the church—and whether it matters.  God does care about numbers. That much is clear from the book of the Acts—and makes sense considering that each number represents a person receiving grace, being regenerated in Christ. At the same time, some of the numbers that bring us elation (and even pride) receive more attention than they merit. Attendance, while necessary as we strive to bring…
The second in a three-part series on measurable growth in the church—and whether it matters. Yesterday we saw that God does care about numbers. He inspires the historian Luke to devote too much time to the unstoppable numerical growth of the primitive church to think otherwise. However, we do not want to be simplistic in our affirmative answer. We would do well to ask not only if God cares about numbers, but also what…
The first in a three-part series on measurable growth in the church—and whether it matters. The simplest answer to the question “Does God care about numbers?” would be to point to the God-breathed book Numbers within his holy Word. Now, this might seem a reductionist, disingenuous attempt to answer a complicated question—especially since God did not entitle the book. Still, the book was given its title for a reason: there are a lot of…
Kevin DeYoung recently listed ten distinctions between vibrant, robust churches and their squishy evangelical counterparts. It is worth reading the whole article and carefully reflecting on the ten distinctions he delineates. For pastors and church leaders, it would be valuable to evaluate our ministry in the light of these considerations. I wish to add another distinction to the list: decentralization. I would contend that a vibrant, robust church will move unstoppably outward from the…
The charge of favoritism arises inevitably whenever real disciple-making happens. Disciple-makers recognize that, as humans, we cannot build into everyone we know equally. This is ministerial humility. We are not God; we haven’t the ubiquity to be able to be all things to all people in our sphere of influence. And so choices must be made. We must choose to devote ourselves to some—a student or member of the youth group, a friend or co-worker—to…
One day on the shores of the River Jordan, the incarnate Son of God passes by his older cousin. Though Jesus has walked this path the past two days, John the Baptist still marvels at his presence: “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36, NIV). Two of his disciples hear him say this, and rightly turn to follow after the Christ. And so we come to the inauspicious beginning of the Church, that holy…
In Acts 6:1-7, we read of a strange moment in church history. Some in the church have begun to complain (this is nothing new under the sun) because a certain group, it seems, has been privileged over another. They bring their complaints to the Twelve. And here is where it gets interesting. Rather than mediate the dispute, offer counseling, throw a pot-luck dinner, the apostles send the complainers away—because they have more important matters…