Avoiding Ditches In my religious tradition (churches of Christ) we have had an uneasiness with the Holy Spirit. As with most areas of doctrine, when

Avoiding Ditches In my religious tradition (churches of Christ) we have had an uneasiness with the Holy Spirit. As with most areas of doctrine, when
How do we help our children’s faith become their own? Luke Dockery shares about his Youth In Family Ministry model as a deliberate way to
I was thrilled to have a conversation with Bob Turner about books and trends in Christian publications. Bob serves as the Library Director at the Harding
Note: This post is part of the 2018 blog tour What Are You Seeking? Hosea. A testimony to God’s steadfast lovingkindness towards Israel and Judah.
If there is anything that bothers me, it’s that I feel like I never have enough time to read. As I started compiling a list
Emeott, Bill. What About Kids Ministry? Practical Answers to Questions About Kids Ministry. Nashville: B&H Books, 2018. One Sentence Summary: A collection of mini-essays by
Having spent a lot of time studying the Enneagram over the last few months, I wanted to share a lot of my favorite resources in
Note: This post is part of the What Are You Seeking series. First Things First A long time ago, our friend Augustine talked about disordered
Note: This post is part of the 2018 Blog Tour: What Are You Seeking. What am I Seeking when I Study the Old Testament? The short
4th Place Disappointment In 2016, following an extended period of injuries, setbacks and a lengthy recovery, Kara Goucher attempted her comeback for the U.S. Olympic
Note: This post is part of the 2018 blog tour: What Are You Seeking? As soon as I heard the theme for this year’s blog
For this Research Spotlight, I had a rich conversation with Dr. Jason Bybee about discipleship. Discipleship is so much more than making converts. Through Scripture and
Note: This post is part of the blog tour series: What Are You Seeking? God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many
Not Employees Volunteers aren’t employees. When you’re leading in a church setting, there isn’t a single person involved who doesn’t have the real option of
Note: This post is part of the 2018 Blog Tour: What Are You Seeking? “You are what you love.” That’s the title of a book
The Enneagram The Enneagram is a personality system which groups people into Nine Types, partially based on their behaviors, but even more so based on
Note: This post is part of the 2018 Blog Tour: What Are You Seeking. Several weeks ago I was having a conversation with someone about
“It was in the last place I looked.” One of my least favorite expressions follows an anxious search for keys, wallets, and phones. Having scoured
For this Fall, some ministry friends reached out to me about a blog tour. I’m honored to participate. I’ll be sharing one post of my
The Shepherding Metaphor A good shepherd cares about his sheep. When we talk about leadership, we would do well to stay close to that imagery.
These days, talking about important subjects online is a lot like walking through a minefield. Matt Dabbs provides tools to help us with online conversations–and
What does it look like when you put Appreciative Inquiry into action? I’ve made lots of posts the last few months about Appreciative Inquiry, and
Ministry isn’t the only vocation where productivity, organization, and efficiency are important. Here are a few things I use to help me accomplish as much
CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO-ONLY PODCAST In this Research Spotlight, I am excited to share a conversation I had with Kevin Burr. Kevin is a Ph.D.
In the video, I walk through: Basic info about short-term missions and their rapidly growing popularity Brief information about the missional church movement, and why
When I was preparing to preach about the parables of Jesus, I came across John Dominic Crossan’s book, The Dark Interval: Toward a Theology of Story. The
I’ve enjoyed posting about the assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry. In this video, I explain how I utilized this method at the Old Hickory Church of
I’ve been making posts about Appreciative Inquiry, an effective method for studying an existing group of people and discerning how to implement positive change in
Churches are too cautious. People who won’t change can’t grow, because growth cannot occur without something being done differently than it was before. Churches that won’t
I’ve been sharing reflections on the different assumptions of a group evaluation method called Appreciative Inquiry. One assumption that seems especially obvious is that in
When Genesis describes God creating the universe, God is speaking the world into existence. “Let there be…” In the beginning was “the Word”, John tells
My family went for a period of about 2-3 months when we played Scrabble all the time. Many evenings when homework was done, we would
People are like plants. We grow best when we are close to what gives us life. When it comes to sunlight, the scientific term is heliotropic.
Differences matter, and it is important to value them. For smaller churches trying to grow, one way they undermine themselves is by insisting on uniformity.
Appreciative Inquiry assumes that people have an easier time moving into the future when they can bring parts of the past with them. Another slightly
Don’t be too hard on older folks. They’ve seen and been through a lot. It isn’t uncommon to hear someone throw the older generation under
You can’t really know you love God until you feel like he’s wounded you. That’s my understanding, anyway. There is a significance to the name
Working with people is much different than working with test tubes. A scientist can work with substances in specific amounts in controlled environments. He or
If I ever make it to Greece, one of the places I most want to go is to the Monasteries of Meteora. This is a
Robert Cialdani’s book Pre-Suasion (2016) contains a staggering amount of evidence that a person’s focus shapes their reality. I would argue that this is the underlying
Most life paths are best traveled in moderation. There are two sides of any road into which one can tumble by means of “too much”
One of the core assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry is that in every organization, some things work well. An unfortunate aspect of leadership is that it
John Maxwell has stated correctly that change is inevitable, but growth is optional. No one in the world is safe from the effects of change.
I don’t think too many people in the spotlight these days will have to worry about anyone accusing them of being rational. With the news
Why is it that we as human beings are so determined to have idols? It surprised me what an active interest I took in the
Everyone has plenty of opinions on what it means to raise up a child in the way that he or she should go. But when
If you could go back to the first century, to Joppa, there on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, perhaps you could find a woman
I’m ready to stop talking about Millennials. I couldn’t even tell you how long it’s lasted, but for years now, every week, I see at
Fundamentally, the church should be a community of people in whom the Spirit of Christ is alive and well. Where the Spirit of Christ is
Where there is upgrowth, something noticeable has happened. To speak of the upgrowth of national trends or economics is to speak of something readily observable