'Church & Community' Tagged Posts

'Church & Community' Tagged Posts

How We Use Our Statement of Faith

Churches have historically used confessions or statements of faith in order to summarize and clearly identify what they believe. Many historical confessions have been preserved, and are used by churches to this day. Instead of adopting an historical confession, we have chosen to use the following summary of biblical doctrine, entitled Holding Fast the Word of Life, as our statement of beliefs. Listed below are several important things you should understand about the purpose of our statement of faith, and…

Starting Churches with No Money

I don’t want to presume that I know how you ought to start a church, but I’m increasingly less than satisfied with the kind of approach to church starting that takes loads of start-up money. Often U.S. church planters spend a year or two raising funds for the launch of their new church. Here are the reasons I think this is often (though not always) unwise. I don’t want to labor to prove my points, as if there is no…

Why Not Skip Church Meetings?

More evangelicals skip church meetings than attend them. That’s a fact . . . an embarrassing one. One leader claims even the FBI could not find many of them. Some churches have decided to take action to recover the inactive only to find that their church rolls were filled with people who never intend to come again, moved to other states, or died. I once removed 700 people from a church when I first became its pastor—people who simply did…

The Kind of Group Prayer Participant You DON’T Want to Be

My first opportunity to pray in a group came when some of my fellow high school students and I were standing in a circle, holding hands. The leader told us we could either pray or squeeze the hand of the person next to us. I was a squeezer that day. Since then, I have enjoyed praying and hearing others pray hundreds, if not thousands, of times in both planned and impromptu settings. However, I have learned through my mistakes and…

For Better Conversations

Good conversation went fugitive with the invasion of electronic media. Yet you long for it, and so do those in your circle of acquaintances. Believers in Christ ought to be excellent at it. Even our non-believing friends ought to leave us saying, “That was the best conversation I’ve had for months.” There is an art to develop in conversation, granted, but we should be committed to the process. In my view, it is attainable by any of us. Hint: Self…

Thinking Biblically and Strategically About Inter-Church Relationships

I am focused in this article on “inter-church” relationships, not “intra-church” relationships. There is a significant difference. An online dictionary (www.dictionary.com) gives this information: “Inter– is a common prefix that means between or among groups,” whereas “intra– is a prefix which means within or inside one group.” So the content to follow is not about relationships within a single church (intra-), but relationships between multiple churches (inter-).  My church is part of a fellowship of churches that meets annually for…

Book Tribalism

A tribe was exposed to the Bible for the first time in its own language. For fifteen to twenty years, this was all they had. If there were questions about practices or beliefs, the Bible alone was studied by the elders until a clear view emerged. The people memorized it, read it aloud to each other, enjoyed its language and encouragement, and heeded its rebukes and challenges. They taught the Bible to their families and in their church as if…

When Pastors Aren’t Able to Pastor

The church is medium-sized in attendance, yet, on paper the membership roll is even larger. Its solo pastor is a frustrated man. There are some good days, and certainly some fine people who encourage him, but he’s frustrated because the job God called him to do just cannot be done. He has many people to tend to, numbers of which are missing, and even those who are present are more than any average man could possibly care for—that is, really care for. So,…

When Ball Becomes Baal

It’s rare to see kids playing sports in the neighborhood anymore. We’re now organized and “professionalized”—including uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, endless trips to the field, competitive coaches, equally competitive parents, and the after-season tournaments designed to give parents “bleacher bottom.” In addition, you’ve got to pay to play—and when you’ve paid that much, you’ll be sure to play. It is also fun, and it can be instructive. I love to watch my kids play sports. In fact, they need to play—some.…

The Foibles and Fallibility of Christian Leaders

The inconsistencies, unattended weaknesses, eccentricities, normalizations of subtle sinful habits, relational neglectfulness or awkwardness, sometimes grating quirks, phases of tiredness and even laziness, and susceptibility to pride — just to begin the list — illustrate what kinds of things can be found in almost every Christian leader at one time or another. They should remind us that we are all treated mercifully by God and cannot claim that any leadership position or recognition is fully “deserved” but strategically assigned by…

Will My Child Be Saved?

We are all concerned for our children and grandchildren. This message at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel in 2019 may help. https://www.mbts.edu/2019/03/chapel-with-rev-jim-eliff

3 Reasons to Prefer a Paper Bible Over a Digital Bible at a Church Meeting

Technology is sometimes incredibly useful. For example, we can have video calls with missionaries almost anywhere in the world. This blessing was not possible until fairly recent technological developments. We should be grateful. But technology is not valuable in every circumstance. I’m thinking particularly about the use of Bible apps. Sure, it’s convenient to utilize a digital Bible in numerous settings like when reading (or listening) just before you fall asleep at night, or when you unexpectedly want to look…

Evangelism: What it IS and IS NOT

Evangelism. Some churches have seminars and workshops about it. There are Christian organizations devoted to doing it and training people in it. Evangelists are supposed to be peculiarly gifted in it. All believers should care about it. Many Christians are intimidated by it. But with all that said, what is evangelism?  Depending on our religious background, previous church life, and personal experiences, we carry ideas (for better or worse) of what we think evangelism is and what it should involve.…

7 Questions for Purposeful Conversation with Believers

We’ve got to move dialogue with believers beyond a superficial level if we are going to really know and encourage one another. But where do we even start? Here are seven questions you might ask. They might be useful in a variety of settings, such as when you have someone (or a family) over for supper, when spending time at the park, when you’re on a long car ride together, or during a fellowship meal with your church. 1. When…

The Way to Grow a Church Numerically

The early church grew in numbers. “ . . . there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (2:47). “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (5:14). “ . . . and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem…” (6:7) “ . . . (the church) multiplied” (9:31). Thinking about increased numbers is acceptable if…