Books

Avoid the ‘Fixing Trap’

Jesus didn’t come to fix us from afar. He came to walk with us.

How the Church Can Take the Lead in Suicide Prevention

"The church is for the broken. A church without the broken is a broken church."

How to Overcome Betrayal Trauma in Ministry

With their friends’ departures, pastors have had to recalibrate the very real cost of spiritual intimacy in doing life together.

A Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church Growth Story

Karen Smith credits much of that growth to how well the longtime members have welcomed new, younger members to Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church growth. Both groups have proven they're willing to compromise and adapt.

An Ordinary Life of Worship

The routes we walkrhythms of embodied presence and prayerful listening to the small world outside our front door help me to notice the small, and not-so-small, shifts in our season of life, integrating into an ordinary life of worship.

Tamara Hill Murphy

When we seek God, we discover that—through the invitations of Jesus—God’s love sought and found us first.

Rise and Lead

Do not settle for longing for the past or even managing what is now. Instead, rise and lead.

Who’s Following You? Howard Hendricks Discipleship

Howard Hendricks was good at emphasizing the simplicity of the message he wanted to express. Jeanne, his wife, relates that he said all he wanted to do was teach the Bible to men who lacked understanding. This essence of Howard Hendricks discipleship is key to understanding his approach.

The Recency Effect on Perspective

The recency effect on perspective can cloud our view of God's work in our lives and the church, making short-term struggles seem like the whole picture. The way out of this unhelpful state for me is to step back and form a larger perspective of God's work in my life and the church. Unfortunately, what takes place in the short term is not always a clear picture of God's activity.

Broken City, Broken World: Reflecting God’s Multiethnic Church Wisdom

According to the apostle Paul, a richly varied church that’s united in Christ reflects the richly varied wisdom of our God. To cultivate multiethnic, multigenerational, and multi-socioeconomic cultures in our churches is to declare to the world the riches of God’s multiethnic church wisdom in Christ.

A Beautiful Partnership—A Multicultural Church Merger

Las Americas couldn’t afford to buy the facility and First Baptist couldn’t afford to keep it, but it didn’t take long to see a merger was in order.