“This widow lived on a fixed income. But this proud woman did not let anyone know she didn’t have money for real food. Her physical ailments made matters worse. My dad’s church began to care for her. Members took turns picking her up, checking on her, and making sure she had something to eat.”  ... Continue Reading

What is the purpose of singing in corporate worship? It is to express truth, reach emotions, or instruct? Is it to get people ready for the sermon? Is it an entryway for people to get comfortable who would otherwise be uneasy in church? Is the singing for the benefit of God or the congregation or... Continue Reading

I think the swing has done great good: American Christianity has indeed suffered under man-centered readings of the Bible which offer all law and no gospel, all duty and no delight, all rules and no relationship. And yet the ease with which I just tossed off those three slogans points to the pendulum problem: any... Continue Reading

The trend of realignment among mainline churches can be seen in the formation of ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (2012), the North American Lutheran Church (2010), and the Anglican Church of North America (2009). Both ECO and NALC were formed from networks of ministers and churches that had decided that renewal from within... Continue Reading

Members of stable churches want the focus to be on their preferences. They want church “the way it’s always been.” They are more concerned about getting their way with music style, room temperature, and precise starting time of worship services. In their latter years, they are able to sing, “I did it my way” rather... Continue Reading

Am I saying that preachers should never write blogs, articles, and books? No. After all, I write posts, articles, and books. As a teacher I am required to write. It is part of the call I have from the church. It is an expectation of my employer. I got started blogging only because my church... Continue Reading

I don’t have space for a full-on analysis of this style, its benefits, its grounding, or how much it actually connects to Biblical narrative, or even Evangelical testimonials. I just want to make two or three points about what it seems to do to our ability to talk to one another in a dispute.  ... Continue Reading

So what can we do to help protect ourselves, our families, and the people in our churches from the burden of discouragement, the loneliness of isolation, and the difficult side effects of a sacrificial ministry? Although there may be many ways to answer this question, I have found one to be particularly helpful in my... Continue Reading

“There was just no question among [The Orchard’s] leaders that this was right move for us,” said Collier. “Our departure was not about the homosexuality issue per se, but about the general church’s inability to deal with it. Unfortunately, its failure became an enormous distraction to the kingdom work our congregation is called to do.”  ... Continue Reading

Today: Emphasis on congregational singing. Ten years ago: Emphasis on performance singing. Healthy churches are seeing an awakening of congregational singing today. Ten years ago, contemporary churches emphasized the performance of the praise team and band, while traditional churches emphasized the performance of the choir and soloists.   Change or die. Such has been the... Continue Reading