In Acts 9, we read the story of Saul’s conversion and the beginning of his ministry. It was a rocky start as the church was suspicious of his trustworthiness. Once the church accepted him, it saw additional growth because of what God was doing through Saul. Acts 9:31 describes how the church began to mature […]
I like using the terms faithfulness and fruitfulness to describe the progress congregations are to make. It allows leaders to focus on disciple-making as the primary work rather than events designed to simply assemble crowds. Recently, my
Each year, millions of Christians are violently persecuted for their faith and thousands are martyred for the cause of Christ. Every year, churches from around the world observe the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted
Somewhere along the way, someone designated the second Sunday of October as “Clergy Appreciation Day.” Eventually, it became known as “Pastor Appreciation Day.” Now, in some places you’ll read about all of October being observed
As I write this post, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention is holding one its regular meetings. Men and women from across all of our state conventions make up the EC. Ordained ministers
Over the last few weeks, two of the most influential churches in America’s history have made headlines. But for very different reasons. At Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area, after the departure of founding
