Search Results for: church

Jim Thomas (Director of Training with The Bonhoeffer Project, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Georgia, educator, and all-around good guy) wrote an excellent article in this series called The Death of Pride. All the accolades piled here are to test Jim’s character. We all know that … Pride is at the root…

Culture is a river. Think about it, both cultures and rivers move towards a specific destination. Whether it’s intentional or not, both impact everything in their path. Both automatically move everything in the same direction. And both are constantly change course in a way that expedites the ultimate aim . The similarities between rivers and cultures don’t end there….

A ministry team needs to be comprised of people who are faithfully making disciples using your preferred tools. Not everyone whom you disciple will reproduce in others. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is reality. Growing the seed of God’s Word In Matthew 13, Jesus told us this would be the case. In the…

There are plenty of churches that say they have a discipleship plan, but what most of them actually have is an education plan. The word “discipleship” is used in a lot of different ways in churches. It is amazing how many definitions we come up with for discipleship. In reality, the only meaningful definition of a disciple is the…

This summer, we’re partnering with Barna Group, a leading Christian research organization, to explore timeless principles around manhood. In this article, we’re exploring men and relationships, and why it’s always a good idea for men to do life with other men. We have an epidemic in our nation, and I’m not talking about COVID. This…

We are called by God to be disciples of Jesus. And the core mission of the church is to make disciples. So the most fundamental question is, “What is a Disciple of Jesus?” At Discipleship.org we recommend the following simple answer: A disciple of Jesus is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus,…

In 2017 on a return flight from Orlando back to Ohio, I sat quietly contemplating one main question posed at the Exponential conference I had just attended. And that question was, “What if when Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself, he meant your actual neighbor?” I’m certain there were many other great ideas and points…

In May 1971, a Texas newspaper featured an article titled “What They’re Saying” that quoted Frank Outlaw, president of the successful supermarket chain BI-Lo: “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” It…

Becky and her husband had been looking for a church home. They stopped going to church during Covid and their combined anxiety and her history of addiction made them leery of being judged by church people. They knew Jesus and knew they needed to be in church, but it was hard to start over at…

If you were to ask a few of your friends, “What is a biblical worldview?”, what thoughts and emotions might be awakened within them and emerge across their tongue? My experience tells me that if these friends were an accurate cross-section of today’s western culture, some might respond with painful words like judgmental, arrogant, narrow-minded,…

We have a man in our church that is a chef…like 5-Star chef! He happened to be in my Life Group a few years ago and for our Christmas party he volunteered to cook a meal for our entire Life Group, kids included. The amount of food and the quality of the spread was unreal!…

Let me take a moment to share one of the most embarrassing moments of my entire life. I have changed some of the names in the story to protect the innocent. I have kept my name in the story, even though I would love to change it. The year was 2002, and I was settling…