December 11, 2017
decided

What One Question Can Move Your Meetings From “We Met – We Talked” To “We Met – We Decided!”?

Tired of meetings that don’t end in “We have decided…?” Read more… (shared with kind permission from Bob Tiede ) How often are you in meetings that have a topic(s) but no clear purpose that you are aware of? You Meet – You Talk – then the meeting ends and as you walk out the door, you scratch your head and ask yourself, “Was anything decided?”  Frustrating, isn’t it?  Did you know that you can change this?  You can!  Just by asking “One Simple Question!” But first: How would you score your “Current Meeting Effectiveness” for the meetings you lead? How […]
December 4, 2017
sermon

What Makes A Good Sermon?

The podcast “What Makes A Good Sermon?” shared with kind permission from the Table podcast. In this episode, Drs. Darrell L. Bock and Abe Kuruvilla discuss what makes a good sermon, focusing on preparation, sermon structure, and application. Excerpt from transcript below: Darrell Bock Welcome to The Table, we discuss issues of God and culture. I’m Darrell Bock, executive director for cultural engagement at the Hendricks Center of Dallas Theological Seminary, and my guest today is Abe Kuruvilla, who is professor of preaching here at Dallas Theological Seminary. He gets to listen to lots and lots and lots of sermons. […]
December 4, 2017
thriving

MARRIAGE AND MINISTRY: KEEPING IT IN CHECK to KEEP IT INTACT, PART II

By Donna Tan In Part I, I made mention of three things to check in order to keep our marriages intact amidst the pile of ministry commitments. Check Ourselves Check Our Team Check Our Purpose Here are three other areas you’d want to also keep in check. They are going to help you in your ministry. Let’s continue. Check Your Support Base Other than your family, you also have a support base. If you don’t have one yet, then strongly consider! Your support base is composed of people who recognize and respect your relationship with God, and your relationship with […]
November 20, 2017

Change Will Do You Good: How to Manage It

Someone once said that the only thing that never changes is change itself.  It seems that everything is changing all the time.  Just when you get into a routine, something changes that causes us to alter our plans and schedules.  Change is inevitable. And the wise leader and manager anticipates change and adapts to it.  Failure to adapt to change in our culture, our environment, or our ministries, will inevitably cause us to lose momentum. Staying the same while the world around us changes may give us peace and some level of comfort, but it will also leave us behind.  […]
November 15, 2017
meeting

4 Ideas for More Engaging Church Staff Meetings

Please note: Article by Aaron Burr originally appeared on Breeze.  Reposting with kind permission from Breeze. What is the one thing that church employees complain about the most? Meetings.   Credit: The Office That’s right. People hate meetings. Why? Because they are boring and keep us from getting our work done. You know what? Let’s get rid of meetings! Down with all meetings! Ok, that probably won’t work. Actually, the truth is I don’t hate meetings. (Gasp!) Well, I hate bad meetings but I actually enjoy good meetings. Our Tuesday morning team meeting is the highlight of my week. It wasn’t […]
November 3, 2017
Langham

Biblical Preaching in Europe and Beyond! (Introducing New Preaching App)

We rejoice in the good news that through the prayerful efforts of Langham, pastoral training is taking place in 70 countries and growing! Even in pockets of the world that pose a hurdle to the Gospel like Spain, Austria and Turkey, a hunger is spreading among pastors for training. A deeper understanding of how to preach biblically is taking root and yielding a fresh crop of trained pastors with vision to impart the training they received. We were able to interview Rev. M, the Europe and Caribbean Director, to learn more. Read full interview below and then, further below, read […]
October 31, 2017
mission

Refocusing on Evangelism: Prescription for Missional Astigmatism Part II by Dr. Ramesh Richard

The Power of the Gospel Since people move from the lost side of “God’s and-yet bridge” to the right side, the power of the gospel to change a life is the result of salvation. Their biblical status, and even their existential situation, is changed in the exchange. For example, “guilty” is not only a divine verdict but also a personal feeling. When unbelievers embrace the gospel, both the theological verdict and personal feeling of guilt are changed to “forgiven.” Yes, they are theologically forgiven by God, but they also sense being forgiven by God. “To us who are being saved […]
October 30, 2017
mission

Refocusing on Evangelism: Prescription for Missional Astigmatism Part I by Dr. Ramesh Richard

Please note: this article appeared originally in the Missio Nexxus publication, an organization attempting to return the North American missions community to the basics of evangelism, discipleship and church planting at its 100th anniversary year. The Christian Faith experiences weakness, even rapid waning when evangelism is lost in the heart, mind, and activity of its adherents. Christianity on both sides of the North Atlantic arc provides empirical proof of evangelistic neglect leading to missional collapse, and dare I remark, civilizational decline. First, then a confession, and then some convictions for your personal and agency considerations toward spiritual and organizational restructure.[1] “Uncorrected […]