The Two Key Things Your Bible Study Might Be Missing
When you look at movements that happen around the world there are two things that inevitably get paired with Bible study. The two things are obedience to what you read (are you living it, not just learning it) and sharing with others what you are learning so that they can benefit from it as well. […]
Five Tricks Satan Uses To Trap You
Here they are: 1 – Division. Satan loves to sow seeds of doubt that lead to division. He does this because a divided kingdom will not stand and will be ineffectual (Mark 3:25). 2 – Categories. Satan will put you in a category. He will give you a label. This label becomes you meta-narrative or […]
An Advent Scripture List That Works With Kids
Our house church (Backyard Church) walks through advent each year with two scripture lists. The first list is for the teens and adults. The second list are readings from “The Jesus Storybook Bible“. If you are looking for a list to walk through advent, then I hope you will download this simple list that can […]
Thankfulness Requires Remembering
We are at my mom’s house. She is going to sell it after living here for 30 years. This is, most likely, our last holiday in the house. As I walked through the rooms, I noticed my grandparents’ old kitchen table in one of the rooms with their old kitchen chairs. I sat in those […]
Why the Change?
Over the last few years I have been praying for God to help me with making disciples. He has come through over and over again. It has left me convicted that I need to share what I am learning along the way. There are lots of people who want to start but don’t know what […]
Revolution of Ordinaries?
The work that needs to be done to advance the kingdom is going to take a lot more than the current people on paid staff to get it done. That means we need to equip and educate everyone else…the “everyday Christians” to advance the kingdom. It turns out God has an amazing track record using […]
I Didn’t Say It Would Be Easy
In the last article on how anyone could plant a church I want to make one thing clear. There is a big difference between saying something is simple and saying something is easy. I didn’t say it would be easy. I did say it should be simple. There are simple things that are really hard […]
Can Anyone Plant a Church?
It wasn’t until the last 70 years that church planting became a professional enterprise. In the book of Acts, the apostles were “unskilled and ordinary” (Acts 4:13). Their qualifications didn’t come from being degreed at an accredited institution of “higher learning.” Their qualification came from learning from the one who came from “on high.” I […]
When Church Becomes a Brand
When a church becomes a brand it no longer operates or identifies as a church. Churches aren’t brands…but some haven’t gotten the memo. Brands are divisive by design. They want to stand out…to demonstrate that they have better quality than the next brand. Brands are defended by lawsuits with great care that no one copies […]
Ten Quick Lessons I Have Learned About Discipleship
After having been blessed to sit at the feet of some amazing disciple makers over the last several years, here is a quick list of some things that I have learned that I would like to pass on to you. 1 – Your approach must be simple. Complicated won’t stick. 2 – Your approach should […]