Posts from December 2016
Church Health vs. Church Growth
Healthy churches will grow. Unhealthy churches can grow as well. Healthy bodies will grow taller and stronger. Unhealthy bodies will grow wider around the waste and weaker. Healthy cells multiply and divide. Cancer cells multiply and divide. This is very important to remember in church revitalization. The goal is a healthy church not church growth. The healthy church will grow in time, and the growth will be God glorifying and sustainable. A church may grow like a cancer cell, but…
Church Revitalization
In recent years the emphasis on church planting has been accompanied by a growing emphasis on church renewal. For the last twelve years, I have been part of two different church revitalizations. I am planning on discussing this process at length from start to finish. My prayer is that it will encourage each believer in Christ to help strengthen their local church so that it can be all that God has called it to be. What is meant by church…
The Emergence of Calvinism within the SBC
Quit Blaming John Piper for Calvinism: Why the resurgence of Calvinism in the SBC is the result of Adrian Rogers, Paige Patterson, Jerry Vines, and the other leaders of the Conservative Resurgence It would appear that there is a growing number of young Calvinists within various denominations but particularly the Southern Baptist Convention. This has encouraged some but alarmed others. Numerous voices have come out bemoaning this fact or rejoicing in this fact. I do not think that there is…
Not Making a Decision is Making a Decision
I once asked a man if he would follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. He stared at the ground and did not answer. Eventually his answer came, “I am not going to say, ‘No.’” However, he would never say, “Yes,” nor did he follow Christ’s teachings. I have many similar conversations over the years. People know what God requires of them, yet they will not do it. They keep delaying and putting off what they know they should do. However,…