Organic things go bad. Fruit grows old, vegetables go rotten, and meat will decay. When it comes to organic church groups, the principle is the same. Organic church can go bad, too. I’ve been mauling over this for sometime now and because my blog gets a good deal of traffic on my Simpler Church category posts, I thought the time has arrived for me to make mention of this. I don’t expect every organic church … Continue reading →
There is encouragement for you in the account of Jesus speaking with Peter as recorded in John 21:15-19. Peter was discouraged, he felt defeated, and not exactly engaged in the mission that he had previously responded to when the Lord called him. The focal point of this narrative is in John 21:17 when Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” I point this out because you have likely been there, too. As a small church … Continue reading →
I have had at least three conversations in the past two weeks with individuals who have told me that when their church goes back to regular in-person worship services, they will not. All three of these people were from different congregations representing Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, and Nondenominational but all three cited a similar reason as to why they are not planning on returning their church. All three agreed that they are happy watching their pastor’s … Continue reading →
The church I serve as pastor, CrossHope Chapel, does not have an official sign on the dotted line type of local membership. You can’t sign anything that says you want to be a member of CrossHope Chapel or you can’t sign any commitment to be a member of CrossHope Chapel. One becomes a member of CrossHope Chapel by being a member of the larger universal body of Christ, by being in Christ in faith and … Continue reading →
The COVID-19 crises is changing the ways we do life in America, and it is yet to be seen how much of those normal ways of doing life will return. I suspect a good deal of what was normal a few months ago will come back, but I also suspect a lot will not. I also suspect that it won’t return to feeling the same. I am not convinced that on the other side of … Continue reading →
The coronavirus is challenging many of the ways we do life in America. Some businesses are discovering that employees can work from home, families are adjusting to actually spending more time together, and church members are realizing that a weekly formal program may not be as necessary to their personal spiritual growth as they once thought. I am guessing that a lot of us are really missing weekly fellowship with like-minded believers in Christ. I … Continue reading →
In 2006 I was working at a local hospital as a chaplain and taken back by a high number of patients who could express and articulate their personal belief in Jesus Christ and convictions in biblical doctrines, yet who also had no involvement and fellowship in any church congregation. Many of these same individuals also shared stories with me of their experiences with area churches that told of similar accounts of not being able to … Continue reading →
I belong to a Facebook group of some 4000 small church pastors, and recently someone asked what “What would be your advice to a new pastor?” The first thought that came to my mind was “Study, study, study.” Then as I thought it over further, a slew of things came to mind, so here they are… • Study God’s Word, memorize God’s promises, and make your preferred Bible your personal friend by marking it up … Continue reading →
If we were to meet over coffee to talk about your hopes to plant a church, I would begin by asking you if you have developed a theology of pastoral ministry. A theology of pastoral ministry isn’t much different than having a theology of God or a theology of the return of Christ or any other conviction of biblical beliefs. Having a clear understanding of what you believe God wants from you as a pastor … Continue reading →
Don’t start a house church because you want to be in charge. That’s not a good reason. Worse yet, you can not sustain a house church if you just want to be the boss. My personal opinion is that it is perhaps the one really bad reason to want to start a house church. I happen to think that starting a house church because you disagree with your current church or minister are not actually … Continue reading →
There was once a time while I was serving as a hospital chaplain that my family and I attended a new and growing Baptist church. We loved the fellowship, the church, the vision for growth, but there was one thing that use to drive me nuts…the pastor would often say “Why do you get so excited about your favorite sports team on Saturday but you can’t express yourself in worship in Sunday?” That statement, and … Continue reading →
Francis Chan has the left the mega church world and is now focused on ministry through his We Are Church house church network. I happen to like Francis Chan and I have a greater respect for his voice when it comes to advocating for simpler and smaller church groups and communities. Here is a video clip that I like and that I think is challenging to the traditional church leader…
Continue reading →That’s what Francis Chan called it, but I would disagree with calling today’s consumerism church gatherings as out right evil, and I also think Francis Chan didn’t mean it as harshly as he said. Evil is something with an intention to deliberately harm, and I’m guessing Francis Chan meant to stress the “harm” done by a consumerism church, not that the leadership of said churches intend to deliberately harm their congregations. I’ve shared the video … Continue reading →
A few weeks ago I posted on 2 Corinthians & God’s Word and got into a bit of a rant on my observations on the waywardness of today’s church with a trend away from preaching from the Bible. You can read about that at https://www.crosshopechapel.org/2-corinthians-gods-word/. Sunday I shared about a comment in our pastors’ Facebook Group from a new minister who attended his first city ministerial association meeting made up of pastors from various churches and … Continue reading →
