In the blockbuster movie Avengers: Infinity War, earth’s superheroes find themselves in the unfamiliar and uncomfortable position of being on the losing end of the battle. For years, they’ve enjoyed celebrity status as the protectors of the universe until an other-worldly foe, Thanos, forcefully challenges their position. In many ways, this serves as a metaphor for the […]
Tag: Church Planting
Why Church Planting best fulfills the Great Commission
THE GREAT COMMISSION “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have […]
3 Types of Leadership
There are three main types of organizational leadership. Today, I’m talking about these three types of leadership in the context of the church, but I could as just as well be talking about any organization.
When it comes to leadership in the church, there are three primary questions we need to ask:
- Who chooses the leaders? The pastor(s)? Elders? Board?
- What makes someone a leader? Talent? Skill? Giftedness? Calling? The fact that they have a pulse?
- How should leaders lead? In other words, what should be their driving engine? How should they make decisions and lead others in that way?
The answers to these three questions form the foundation of the three types of leadership. However, what churches often don’t recognize is that the book of Acts in the New Testament of the Bible shows how the coming of the Holy Spirit changes the answers to all of these questions.
5 Types of Relationships between a Church and its City
Picture this scene: King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has attacked Jerusalem, defeated it, and taken captives back to Babylon to work as slaves. Now you have to understand that Jews thought that this could never happen. Jerusalem was God’s holy city where His temple and king resided. Babylon was the epitome of evil. As unthinkable as it is for us to imagine, say, Iraq conquering America and taking the vast majority of Americans back to the Middle East as slaves; that’s at least as unlikely as the nation of Judah thought about this happening. There’s just no way. But it did happen.
So now what?
Continue reading “5 Types of Relationships between a Church and its City”
4 Ways Churches become UNSTOPPABLE
Jesus promised that His Church would be unstoppable.
“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18, NLT)
Unfortunately, in many cases it seems the church has been stopped. In my previous post, I shared “3 Ways Churches Stop Themselves.”
One of the primary issues is that we’ve taken church to be a noun when it’s supposed to be a verb.
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20, NLT)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are given one simple task: GO! That’s it. Two letters: G-O! And we can say whatever we want about what that means and what it looks like, but one thing is for sure – GO is a verb.
Francis Chan points out the disconnect for many Christians:
“Simon says, ‘Pat your head’ and we pat our heads. Jesus says, ‘Go therefore and make disciples,’ we memorize that verse.”
How can churches become the truly unstoppable force and presence that Jesus promised?
HERE ARE 4 WAYS CHURCHES BECOME UNSTOPPABLE
3 Ways Churches Stop Themselves
Jesus promised that His Church would be unstoppable.
“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18, NLT)
From the outset,
the Church has always been God’s Plan A for advancing His Kingdom Reign here on earth.
There is no Plan B.
But, somewhere, somehow something has gone horribly wrong. This Church that Jesus Christ said would be unstoppable has been largely rendered irrelevant and ineffective in the Western world. It appears, at least at times and in certain places that the powers of hell have prevailed and this once unstoppable force in the world has become stoppable.
Truthfully, however, Satan hasn’t stopped the Church. Christians have!
HERE ARE THREE WAYS CHURCHES STOP THEMSELVES Continue reading “3 Ways Churches Stop Themselves”
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