When Heather miscarried her first pregnancy, people around us told us that we were grieving. Obviously, we both knew that was the case from the sadness we were experiencing. Being told we were grieving was like having a handful of pieces for an 1,000 piece puzzle. Certainly, it was a good start, but it was…
The Grand Illusion
Most of us tend to live under the illusion that God wouldn't intentionally lead us into such pain [of loss] —especially multiple times. We can't make any sense of why the people and things we love must literally and figuratively experience the finality of death...If we embrace these losses for the severe mercies they are,…
What Every Church Vision Statement Gets Wrong
I have read a lot of church "vision statements" over the years. I came to the realization recently that every single one (including ones I have written!) gets something very important wrong. Many church vision statement go something like this: "NAME OF CHURCH desires to impact the world for Christ's kingdom. We will preach the…
The Overcounseled
Many people with intense problems have been overcounseled, with little evidence of growth and benefit resulting from it. Instead, what is needed is to build faith by saturating the mind with the gospel of grace, so that lives can be built on the presupposition of Christ's atonement and His present availability as a living, loving…
How do medium-sized churches grow?
Keller lays out key five areas that churches need to pay attention to in order to grow: 1) ministry options; 2) staff; 3) decision-making; 4) assimilation; and 5) role of the pastor. To move from a smaller church to a medium-sized church, churches need to have bring all 5 of those areas to an "A+"…
What Does It Feel Like to be in a Medium-Sized Church (250-400)?
A church that is "medium-sized" (250-400) begins to function and feel like this... People don't know everyone. There are too many people attending now for everyone in the congregation to know everyone else. The congregation begins to affiliate most closely by ministry, group, or class. Leadership represents different constituencies. There will now be more ministers…
What Happens When a Church Grows?
Tim Keller wrote an influential article on what changes happen to churches when they grow called "Leadership and Size Dynamics." As a church grows larger (whether that's growing from 20 people to 50 or 200 to 500) things begins to change: Things become more complex. As an organization grows larger, it becomes more complex. You…
The Holy Spirit in Galatians
While many Christians view the book of Galatians as a profound exposition of justification by faith, Galatians also has many important things to say about the Holy Spirit. According to Paul's teaching on the Spirit in Galatians, the Holy Spirit can be thought of as God's powerful presence which brings new spiritual life and empowers…
2023 in Books
Future Church by Will Mancini (January - 2 out of 5 stars) Plays Well with Others by Eric Barker (January - 3 out of 5 stars) Emotionally Healthy Leader by Pete Scazzero (March - 5 out of 5 stars) * Re-read Replenish by Lance Witt (March - 4 out of 5 stars) *Re-read Second Thoughts:…
Reducing Overload
We all have max obligations that we can take on. What happens when we get overloaded and go above what we can do? Notes from Cal Newport’s show, 279. We have a capacity to accomplish a certain amount of things, what Newport calls "max obligations." When we go over the number of max obligations, we feel…
Raising Lazarus 