Obedience to Christ
We are not saved by works but obedience matters a great deal! Sometimes we get hung up on the importance of obedience because we look at it from a “what is required for salvation” standpoint. But that is like looking at your marriage saying “What is the minimum requirement to get married and stay married.” […]
Do You Have a Sense of Urgency?
For too long, I have operated without a sense of urgency. The mission and message of Jesus are urgent. Jesus accomplished his mission in just three years. A lot can happen in three years but we need a sense of urgency. I don’t think urgency can be taught…it must be caught. So I might as […]
Make This Shift – Disciple to Conversion Not Convert To Disciple
Many Bible studies work through scriptures to convince someone to agree Jesus is Lord, the Son of God and commit their lives to Him. That often means we feel the burden is on us to present things correctly, be convincing, etc…and what is more we have no idea how to transition from this approach to […]
Time to Sound the Alarm! We Have a Discipleship Crisis in the American Church
This crisis is on two fronts. 1 – Failing to Mature Existing Disciples: How does a disciple mature? How do they go from milk to solid food (1 Cor 3:1-2)? I believe our assumptions of what creates a mature disciple are faulty and left untested, therefore, they perpetuate without question. If you think attendance and […]
Have We Given Up Studying the Bible With People?
What do you think about someone when you hear they have Bible studies with people? Does it make them seem like a super Christian? Maybe they sound like a saint? What if that was just an ordinary thing to do? What if being a saint was just another word for being a Christian, because that […]
Why Are We In Decline? What Appears to Be a Math Problem is Actually a Spiritual Problem
Imagine the AAA Widget Company. AAA Widget was started 80 years ago by an energetic team of entrepreneurs. They had a vision and they executed the vision for 50 years with excellence. The problem today is that they haven’t added a new customer in the last 30 years. The only way to add customers is […]
This is When the Church Grows
The church grows when God’s people become more concerned about the fate of the lost than they are concerned about the comfort of the saved. If we love our traditions more than the salvation of the lost, we will fail to reach them. If we think our goal is perfect worship, we will fail to […]
What Will Our Generation Look Back on And Regret?
Sometimes I wonder what I will look back at in 10 or 20 or even 30 years and regret in regard to Christianity and church. Here is the main thing I think we are going to look at and shake our heads at our past selves – we couldn’t get outside ourselves, outside our comfort […]
Can We Start A Discipling Movement In Churches of Christ?
[As soon as I posted this I realized I was off on the wrong foot. If it is a movement, we won’t start it but we would have to embrace it. And I believe God is moving us in the direction of discipleship and discipling in line with the Great Commission (which Barna tells us […]
“Preach the Gospel at all Times…”
“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” – Francis of Assisi In a world where Christians used words more than deeds this was a needed pendulum swing. As the pendulum swings to the other end and Christians rarely use words in public faith proclamation, instead hope that a life well lived will […]