Tag Archives: Church

The Prayer Meeting

How much time does your church spend in prayer together?  Before the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, the apostles and many others spent the better portion of ten days in prayer (Acts 1:12-14).  Sadly, few churches focus on corporate prayer.  Sure, we have all sorts of prayer methods and calls to prayer, but we stillContinue reading “The Prayer Meeting”

Why Christian Baptist? Four Reasons.

Last year I wrote a couple of posts about the Christian Baptist Association (What is Christian Baptist? here & here).  This is the association of churches that I have my ordination through and pastor.  There was a time when I was a member of another group of Churches in the local area, but, the Lord ledContinue reading “Why Christian Baptist? Four Reasons.”

God’s design of the Church

Regardless of whether you are called to pastoral ministry or itinerant (evangelistic travel), it is important that you understand the Biblical foundation and design of the church. The ministry of the church is astoundingly vital to every believer. For those that are homebound, there must be a ministry to show them the compassion of Jesus.Continue reading “God’s design of the Church”

Why do we lack discernment?

When Jesus was asked to speak about the end times, one of the signs He gave was the deception of God’s people (Mt. 24:24).  Other passages warn us of false prophets (2 Thess. 2:3; 2 Tim. 4:1, 3-42 Pet. 2:2, 12-13), Satan (2 Thess. 2:9-12), and personal deception (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 6:6-8).  How doesContinue reading “Why do we lack discernment?”

SOM: Blessed are the Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” – Matthew 5:9 It is estimated that there has been a little over 260 years of peace in all of recorded history.  While there are many causes for conflict, we still desire to have peaceful resolutions.  Now, we find Jesus referring toContinue reading “SOM: Blessed are the Peacemakers”

Church Health: Functional Health

Measuring a Church’s Functional Health Chances are great that your church is suffering from what is called Pareto principle. This principle is a “commonly noted observation that 20 percent of the people in a church do 80 percent of the work” (Thumma, 2011, p. xxi). This principle is so prevalent in cultures globally almost regardlessContinue reading “Church Health: Functional Health”

Church Health: Spiritual Health

Measuring a Church’s Spiritual Health One the hardest things for a church to acknowledge is that they may not be spiritual healthy. It may be even harder to identify what truly makes a church spiritual healthy or unhealthy. This is due to the fact that many traditions have emphasized different aspects and expressions of spiritualContinue reading “Church Health: Spiritual Health”

Church Health: Relational Health

Measuring a Church’s Relational Health “We are a friendly church.” This is a statement that has been used by most churches. The reality is that while some churches have appeared friendly during “meet and greet” times, they have no effort made towards integration and fellowship. A church with a warm greeting may still have a coldContinue reading “Church Health: Relational Health”

Church Health: Missional Health

Measuring a Church’s Missional Health The first point of business is to define what exactly is missional health. To do this we will break down the ideas between the two words, missional, and health. One of the first ideas that comes our mind when using the word missional is its likeness to missionary. A missionalContinue reading “Church Health: Missional Health”