A Change of Inputs (recovering evangelism while there is still time)

Churches are in a decaying orbit; we have to change our inputs.

2023 Crazy Gospel Math

I sometimes get the opportunity to help pastors and congregations think about growth.  Almost all churches desire to grow, they just don’t know where to start. Here is a formula I use.  Take your sanctuary capacity; multiply it by .75 and double it.  That is your target.  I see a lot of churches in USAmerica that

Hell-fire and Salvation

I was saved when I was seven.  We were holding a revival at Oak Wood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas and I walked down the aisle during the invitation; somewhere between the fortieth and forty-first verse of “Just as I Am.”  At that altar I repented of my dastardly ways, prayed to receive Christ

Bricolage, COVID-19 and the Future of the Church (Part I)

Bricolage has become a wide term that was previously and more narrowly applied in the architectural, building and design trades.  The big idea is this; you often don’t have access or can’t afford the materials you wish you had to design or build something.  Bricolage is the creative use of materials already on hand to

The Story of Us (Creation)

Text: Genesis 2: 26-31   I just returned from Israel.  I was asked several times how this pilgrimage continues to impact me after traveling to the Holy Land so many times.  I responded that on each trip I become more spiritually “rooted.”  Rooted in the way that keeps you healthy, nourished and vital.  Rooted in

Does Your Church Want a Future? (then “get” this!)

History will look upon the years that spanned our lifetimes and declare them to be a period of seismic cultural shift.  In the same way the Gutenberg Press changed the world in 1439, the advent of the personal computer and the internet has changed the world again.  We live in a time when the Norman

Know What You are Going to Do! (2020 Edition) #UMCrapstorm

  I have played competitive softball since I was fourteen years old at every imaginable level.  Up to a handful of years ago, I played over a hundred games each season and now in my late fifties, I still play twenty or thirty.  For much of that time I was a shortstop.  The shortstop is

The Lost Art of Renegotiation

  The Lost Art of Renegotiation A long-term relationship with a church is little different than a long-term relationship with a spouse, friend or an employer.  There are ups and downs.  How healthy people navigate long-term relationships is fairly standardized.  Such navigation has become a lost art.   Here is how the process works in

Preaching the Bible (all of it)

A major failure of modern orthodox Christianity has been an unwillingness to preach and teach the whole of the Bible.  I am as guilty as anyone.  We play the hits over and over but we don’t play the whole album.  As a result, most of the content of the Bible goes unaddressed and unexplored in

Telling the Truth (About Jesus)

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you