Loading ...Matthew | February 29, 2008
Recently, I was talking with a friend of mine who resigned from a large congregation in the church. Resigned was the nice way of stating that he was pushed out of the congregation. Resigning is the nice way of choosing the time to leave instead of being forced to leave in the future. [...]
Matthew | February 27, 2008
This book counters the prevailing mindset of blaming others in today’s culture. Most people have witnessed when churches do poorly, whatever is judged to be poor, typically this is a decline in numbers or contribution, there is a mindset to look for the problem or person to blame. Often the mentality is to [...]
Matthew | February 26, 2008
The pulpit is a place of respect. As a spokesman for God, one must be aware of the perceived message flowing from behind the wooden stand. Unfortunately, from my experiences I have seen some misuse of the pulpit, and I have misused the pulpit in the past. Being given the right to [...]
Matthew | February 25, 2008
This book is a flowing narrative of the classic story of conflict in a congregation over change. The author writes a fictional account through personal experiences of being a minister for over forty years. The story resonates with reality. There are power struggles, control issues, dropouts, and healing, forgiveness, and unity. [...]
Matthew | February 24, 2008
This morning I will be starting a three piece series on the story of God. The lessons will focus on the foreshadowing of the Old Testament with the Light revealing the truth behind the scenes. In the “Divine Embrace” the book explored the idea that spiritual development comes from connecting to the story [...]
Matthew | February 22, 2008
Last night Charity told me that Gabrielle said her first prayer. Charity has been asking her to pray for a little while, and each time Gabrielle did not want to pray. But yesterday she decided to give prayer a chance. Here is the prayer that she prayed. “Jesus, why don’t you [...]
Matthew | February 21, 2008
This week I was at the Nashville Predator’s game. Charity and I went as a date, more for me than for her. As a true hockey fan, the heckle from the crowd is an art form. A well thought of and researched understanding of the put-down is a great hockey tradition. [...]
Matthew | February 19, 2008
In the desire to be relevant and up-to-date in reaching out to the community, a minister can teach about the outdated methods of the past by pointing out their diminishing effectiveness. The young upstart minister following some of the new styles for outreach will discourage door knocking and personal studies in the home as [...]
Matthew | February 18, 2008
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Matthew | February 17, 2008
Preaching is a powerful event in the life of the congregation. The attitude, topics, and presentation from the pulpit has an everlasting impact on the congregation. A negative pulpit has negative affects on the congregation. Years ago Ira North wrote a short book on church growth. The book was called “Balance” [...]
