Imagine if you woke up one day and everyone you saw was walking backward, and every car was driving backward. The insane ridiculousness of this thought is hard to imagine. What a mess! Accidents would be piling up while people tripped around you. Why are we so focused on moving backward? Yet, in so many... Continue Reading →
Stuck in the Urgent, Sacrificing the Future
As an avid sports fan, I always enjoy it when each sport approaches draft season. Draft season is a time when professional teams assess which young players they can add to their roster to improve their team. Athleticism, talent, attitude, work ethic, and sports IQ are measured and evaluated. Throughout the process, there is one... Continue Reading →
Five Reasons Every Church Should Love Their Community
If you drive down the street in just about any town, you are sure to see a church or two or thirty. As you pass each of these buildings marked by stained glass, steeples reaching up to the sky, and a sign out front with Sunday service times, you wonder to yourself, "I wonder who... Continue Reading →
The Plague of Control in the Rural Church
Control is the kryptonite that destroys rural churches. I know this is true in every church, but it holds deeper roots in the rural church. Why? In small towns, the elders and church leaders are the same people who serve as mayor, substitute teacher, and football coach. Every area of life is intertwined and must... Continue Reading →
7 Preaching Trends Needed in 2022 More Than Ever
1. Unity around mission is a must. Each day, a new issue divides the world we live in: politics, race, masks, vaccines, regulations, lifestyle choices, and more. Neighbors are at odds. Friends aren’t talking, and then everyone shows up at church. Now more than ever, the echoes of Jesus’ prayer for unity need to reverberate... Continue Reading →