“Words can kill. Words can kill churches because they often have deadly actions behind them. As we begin this new year, please allow me to share six statements that I have heard from church members whose churches have died.” Read Thom Rainer’s, “Six Statements That Can Kill a Church.”
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In his blog, 7 Ingredients for Caring for the Sick, Rick Warren urges us not to procrastinate or make excuses when caring for the sick, “The Christian approach to pain, suffering, and sickness is compassion, mercy, tenderness, and caring. Matthew records, When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for
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I’m going to say something that might be obvious to you. It’s something that needs to be said repeatedly. And it’s something we should never forget but I’m afraid that sometimes we do. We need God. When it comes to building a healthy church, we need God. When it comes
In my ongoing reading and research of church revitalization and church turn around, there are five ideas that I keep bumping into. Be committed to regular, ongoing prayer. First off, church revitalization or health is God’s work. It is a spiritual exercise more than it’s a programmatic series of
5 Healthy Church Attitudes Read More
“On November 6, 2010, I tweeted the most regrettable tweet of my mediocre social media career. In anticipation of the holiday season, I decided to weigh in on hospitality. The tweet was a flawless blend of selective memory and self-righteousness, designed to heap condemnation on the heads of my followers
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“Jesus gave His people a clear mission—to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). For this reason, a local church exists to make disciples. C.S. Lewis challenged: The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that,
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Dennis Camplin recently sent me a link to Karl Vaters’ article, “Why Don’t Small Churches Grow? (Actually, They Do),” and I thought it would be a good Church Health share. “The presumption that small churches don’t grow is false. Small churches do grow. Some grow numerically. Most grow spiritually. Many grow
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It’s that time of year when many of us start thinking about what’s next. We review where we are and consider where we want to be. Then we plan out the changes we need to make in order to get there. We call them New Year’s Resolutions. As we
A Bunch of Healthy Questions Read More
As we wrap up 2016 and look ahead to the new year, I want to share four important thoughts with you. 1) One another. “One another” shows up over and over again in the Scriptures. It is often used in the context of how Christ followers are to live together.
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The last in this series from Karl Vater’s, Expanding the Sweet Spot for a Healthy Church Turnaround, focuses on knowing and expanding the zone where the hearts of the pastor and congregation meet up with God’s heart is essential for a successful church turnaround.
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