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At the end of worship, the pastor gave the benediction and encouraged everyone to go serve the Lord. But truthfully, at the end of the annual meeting, most everyone want

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Do your knees knock, does your blood pressure go up, and does intestinal flu set in with the concept of telling an unbeliever about Jesus Christ? You can relax—it

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What Do We Do With the Kids? Youth ministry is often a challenge for churches. You may call it Senior High Ministry, Student Ministry, or Youth Group. It’s an imp

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Who goes to Bible class at your church? Usually, only about 5% of those in worship attendance. But some churches are seeing upwards of 95%. What do you think is the difference?

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The church in western society, in many instances, has severely suffered from drift. This is not new.

Keywords: , culture, dna, drift, judgement, missional, prophets  |   0 comments

Becoming an effective Great Commission church is not rocket science. But it does require becoming a cultural architect of New Testament strategy that influences transformational change through discipling.

Keywords: culture, discipleship, effective, insight, ministry, missional, program, stories, story telling  |   0 comments

The pastor was obviously discouraged. I have seen this so often before. The church got information, but didn’t know what to do with it. They never really got to the issue behind the issue. I was wondering how to politely tell them about a better strategy without making it sound like a “sales job?”

Keywords: change, culture, discouraged, effective, kairos, leadership, pastor, program, survey, transformation  |   0 comments

Nine out of 10 new businesses fail. However, 99.5% of franchises succeed. The church provides worship venues off-campus, with infinite possibilities of styles. Worship ...

Keywords: culture, great commission, outreach  |   0 comments

What do these time-saving devices have in common: PDA’s, laptop computers, cell phones, electronic banking, fast-food restaurants, e-mail, and microwave ovens? The

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The Johnsons have worked for years to encourage their unchurched neighbors, John and Sally, to try their church. They have not been churchgoers since they got married.

Keywords: culture, new members  |   0 comments

What frustrates you about church? Fred, Jim, Bill, and John met in the church parking lot. “I called the church office the other day,” John said, &...

Keywords: , church growth, membership, outreach  |   0 comments

Pastor Bob has developed a 20-hour evangelism course to help members share their faith. They will learn an outline, several Bible passages, and practice how to deal with...

Keywords: outreach, purpose, relationships  |   0 comments

This year’s Willow Creek Leadership Summit seems to me to be one of the best ever. No surprise that Bill Hybels wondered out loud how anybody would even rate the be

Keywords: leadership, mission, spiritual formation  |   0 comments

“The Willow Creek Summit Rocked in 2011.” That is what my team unanimously reports. Significant inspiration came from speaker Steven Furtick who began his tal

Keywords: faith, leadership, mission  |   0 comments

For the past four years, I have felt like a “bad news magnet.” We keep getting calls from pastors and church leaders who are stressed out, burned out, and, fo

Keywords: great commission, leadership, missional church  |   0 comments

Thank you, Cory Booker, for your challenge to stand up. Most of my time is spent consulting churches. I couldn’t help but see the parallel between what you face i

Keywords: leadership  |   0 comments

The Willow Creek Leadership Summit provides value to my leaders every year. We wouldn’t miss it! The presenters stretch our thinking and connect the dots for mini

Keywords: leadership, ministry, mission  |   0 comments

Is the congregational meeting your favorite time at church? Probably not! Most people find church government frustrating, discouraging, depressing, or boring. Often, ....

Keywords: church government, decisions, leadership  |   0 comments

Willow Bill Hybels always seems to have good leadership thoughts when you listen to him. Rarely have I ever heard him say something that didn’t ring true for take-

Keywords: action, goals, leadership, ministry, mission  |   0 comments

# 1 Build on what God is blessing in your worship and music ministry. Before starting something totally different be sure to consider how the additional service fits i

Keywords: , ministry, music, worship  |   0 comments

One of the core principles we firmly believe in for truly affecting ministry to take place is that leaders are first and formost learners. Here's a great opportunity for

Keywords: christian conference, leadership, missional conference, missional teaching  |   0 comments

God's CBA: You are blessed to be a blessing

Keywords: cba, nfl, serving god  |   0 comments

What mental roadblocks do these pastors have in common? • Pastor Bob has been working for a long time, developing a campaign that teaches about the church i

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Change is a challenge for many churches. It seems like nobody wants to change. Pastors and leaders, who come to recognize that the church is not as effective as it coul

Keywords: change, christianity, culture, leadership, mission  |   0 comments

Time Magazine reports more than two-thirds of the country see the past decade as a period of decline for the U.S. God now has our attention!

Keywords: awakening, church doctor ministries, holy discontent, revival, the future is now, time magazine  |   0 comments

At this very moment, all around the country small group leaders are getting tense about the next meeting with their group. There is a better way.

Keywords: coaching, community, leadership, small groups  |   0 comments

When consulting a church, one of my favorite interviews is with 5-8 high school youth. I learn so much about a generation I increasingly respect. At the end of the...

Keywords: listening, mission, missionary  |   0 comments

The meeting ended about a half hour later than scheduled. But that didn’t stop Tom from grabbing Jim in the parking lot.

Keywords: love, relationships  |   0 comments

Occasionally groups need to very deliberately celebrate community in a feast.

Keywords: celebration, community, small groups  |   0 comments

Could your church grow significantly in several spiritual categories – in six months? Measurable growth of those involved in Bible study, those who would give....

Keywords: , send north america  |   0 comments