Many say that contact evangelism and context evangelism is beyond their comfort zone. They prefer to keep their evangelism in the realm of talking with friends. But friendship evangelism also has its challenges. Often, the friendship has grown and developed, sometimes for years, and the topic of spiritual things has never percolated to the surface.... Continue Reading

“The temptation as a church and as a church leader is to hoard people, especially good people, especially if you are situated in an area without a regular influx of newcomers. It is immensely costly to give away your people to other ministries and other churches. It feels painful and costly and can make something... Continue Reading

“Many of these women were well-educated, especially by the standard of their time. They read theology books, especially the Bible, and anything they could get their hands on from the reformers. Their inner circles of friends were part of long and frequent Bible studies.”   All too often, the textbooks focus solely on the men... Continue Reading

For all of his evangelistic preaching, Spurgeon refused to separate the call to the gospel with the call to be accountable to a local church. Spurgeon once stated, “I would rather give up my pastorate than admit any man to the Church who was not obedient to his Lord’s command; and such a course would... Continue Reading

My church has around 120 members currently, which technically puts it in the midsize category. It still feels like a small church to me, though, as I have attended much larger churches in the past. Here are twelve reasons I love my “smaller” church.   While it may seem as if large churches with lots... Continue Reading

With our mindset of big crowds = success, and many converts = the Holy Spirit doing work, it is easy to look at these two Bill’s as one being a failure and the other being successful. Most of the Evangelical Church wrongly believes that you are not being blessed in ministry unless you have a... Continue Reading

Before going into what the Bible says about these categories, I want to acknowledge that there are a number of “common grace” preferences that we may come to appreciate about various pastors. Some men may have an extra dose of a particular category. Certainly, you can think of one who exudes more warmth. Perhaps you... Continue Reading

The church has had to face controversies over doctrines as central and essential as the full deity and humanity of Christ, the nature of the Trinity, justification by faith alone, and the truthfulness of Scripture. Had those controversies been avoided, the gospel and the authority of Scripture would have been forfeited. These controversies were over... Continue Reading

The “exegetical sermon” totally misses the congregation. Some preaching that claims to be expositional is rejected as boring and irrelevant . . . and rightly so! One could just as well be reading from an exegetical commentary. Everything that is said is true to the passage, but it’s not really preaching; it is merely a... Continue Reading

I need God’s Word to challenge all aspects of my life, including my generosity and my relationship with money. You think preaching on money will drive me away. It’s not true. I understand the difference between manipulation and Christ-centered preaching on stewardship. Don’t preach on money because you need more money in the offering plate.... Continue Reading