Jesus’ Question and Assessing Church Culture
Church culture and church leadership culture is not always healthy. I am sure that is no surprise to you. Jesus’ question in John 5:6 (“Do you want to get well?”) is so important for our church leadership to answer in the affirmative if we are ever going to turn the corner and get healthy. Take […]
Embracing the Priesthood of All Believers
If we would stop pointing this verse at others and start pointing it at ourselves we would all be living on mission. How exciting! It is about participation, not sitting and absorbing what others do.
Codependent Churches – a Major Barrier to Change
People who grow up with an alcoholic parent know there is a problem but no one is allowed to talk about it. The elephant is in the room but no one can name it. Everyone dances around it. When visitors come by we have tremendous pressure to make the unhealthy things look healthy and put […]
The Discipleship Dilemma – What is Your, “Yes, first let me?”
In Matthew 8 Jesus has conversations with a few people who are trying to follow him but run into issues. Here is how that conversation ends in Matthew 8:21-22, “Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their […]
10 Shifts for the Future in Churches of Christ
I don’t know if you have noticed this or not but most churches are in decline. Not only that, most churches are getting older. The demographics are shifting with less and less young people in our churches. We also see this reflected in many of our lectureships. What is our gut reaction to this? For […]
Time for Some Encouragement – God Never Quit Making Disciples
Even if we stop, God keeps going. We see this in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah thinks he is the “only one left” (19:14) and God lets him in on a secret, ” Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” […]
The Hard Truth About Our Difficulty Moving Forward on Discipleship
Do we have the will to make the changes that are necessary to change the culture of our churches? In my heart of hearts I want to see our churches be part of a movement. I caught this bug when I was a kid and I heard we are the church we find in Acts. […]
Video: Applying the Bible Study Method to the Parable of the Sower
I took the outline I gave in the last video and used the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13 to show how it would work on a specific text. I have found this approach quite helpful. We need to be in the word. I often hear people talk about how they don’t have time […]
One Generation to Normalize Discipleship
Discipleship is the most biblical thing many in Churches of Christ won’t have anything to do with. It just isn’t normal. I have asked class after class, individual after individual, if they have ever been intentionally discipled. The resounding answer from the adults I have been around is, “No.” One or two might say a […]
Is the Great Commission for Us Today?
It is hard to believe but there are some people who really believe we don’t have to make disciples today. I think there are several reasons for that: 1 – We haven’t focused on making disciples in the past and we really enjoy and are comfortable with the conversations we already know. 2 – Discipleship […]