Search Results for: church

How do you make disciples? I love asking pastors that question. Not long ago, I sat around a conference table with several pastors, professors, and denominational leaders. We were all there to talk about discipleship. When the question was asked about how disciples are made, the thoughts were pretty vague and varied. Most said that…

The church with a severe case of “ethnicitus” I’ll never forget sitting behind my desk staring at the report in front of me. It was my first time to be a lead pastor. I had come to this church from a growing suburban church in Texas that had plenty of leaders and resources, and now I…

Cultivating relationships with unchurched people is paramount in our calling to be disciples that make disciples. For my wife and me, the task of engaging relationally with unchurched people can at times seem daunting, draining, and discouraging. At these times, we often reflect on what it was like to be unchurched ourselves, and the profound impact…

My good brother and mentor, B.J. Weber, led New York Fellowship for over 40 years, discipling men from all walks of life – from Wall Street barons to homeless people barely surviving. He was always saying, “We as the church, Christ’s body in the world, have to be an attraction for the gospel before promoting the…

A number of years ago Willow Creek posted the results of their massive internal research – the Reveal study. It showed that the approach that had been the panacea of approaches to church – the program-based attractional church model, was severely flawed. The promise was that building attractive programs to draw people to attending the…

Most church staff have been trained for ministry with a single formula that is guaranteed to create pain and ultimately fail. My training included a process of assured destruction only to see it play out. Then I’d rinse and repeat it over and over again. What is this magic formula? Just this: When we have…

If I invite someone over to my house they typically come to the front door. That door represents the entry way into my home – the primary path that a first-time visitor will usually take. In the same way that homes need entry ways, churches need “doors.” Churches need places where new people can enter….

Churches have reputations! Some have a reputation for being the “teaching” church, some for being the “praying” church, and others have a reputation for being the “worship” or “fellowship” church. Every church has a reputation, and the hope is that all churches would have a reputation for being disciple making churches. Think about it. If…