“Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living!" (2 Peter 3:11 LB)

Your commitments can develop you, or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you’re committed to, and I’ll tell you what you’ll be in 20 years.

It is at this very point of commitment that most people miss God’s purpose for their lives. Many are afraid to commit to anything, so they just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, and that leads to frustration and mediocrity. Others make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and they end up disappointed and bitter.

12:00PM EST 1/9/2013

Ever heard of David Hogg? He taught Sunday school in Blantyre, Scotland, in the early 1800s. In the small church where he taught boys year after year, Hogg certainly had opportunities to question his significance. But his faithfulness and the Word of God ignited a love for the people of Africa in one of his students David Livingstone, who became arguably the greatest missionary to Africa in the 19th century, opening that continent to the gospel.

In the small church or those of us who are pastors of smaller churches, it can be easy to question the significance and impact we are having in our churches and communities compared with larger or more publicly recognized churches. Yet according to the Hartford Religious Institute, 61 percent of all Protestants attend churches with 499 or fewer weekly worshipers. That means the majority of Christians in America are being discipled and cared for in much-needed smaller and midsize churches, led by regular guys like us.

4:00PM EDT 11/2/2012

Are you equipping those in your church to be fully functioning ministers?

10:49AM EDT 4/20/2009

God often has a different plan for churches becoming ‘mega’

9:13AM EST 2/13/2009

Gaining new believers is great, but it’s only half of the matter

 

9:03AM EST 2/13/2009

But are you focusing on the right factors to reach those around you?
8:00PM EDT 10/31/2008

Significant churches believe their message is worth hearing.
6:00AM EDT 9/1/2008

U.S. churches define success by size. It's time to break the mold.

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1:00AM EDT 7/1/2008

How one church consultant helps congregations prepare for transition
7:00PM EST 2/29/2008

65 million Americans living in rural areas may never step into a megachurch. How are average-sized congregations making a big difference in small-town USA?
1:00AM EDT 5/1/2006

Why Nigerian church-planters are succeeding where other have failed-and what we learn from their methods.
12:00AM EST 1/1/2006

From a Bible study to a megachurch in 15 years, this Asian pastor shares his church-growth secret: make disciples.
12:00AM EST 1/7/2004

Rule No. 1 in church expansion: Think in terms of getting 'unstuck,' rather than just getting bigger.
1:00AM EDT 7/1/2003

We run to conferences, flock to seminars and scour bookstores, looking to the church-growth gurus for the latest secrets that will teach us how to maximize our ministries. But the real key has a whole lot less to do with us and a whole lot more to do with Him.
1:00AM EDT 9/1/2002

Intercessors are vital to the life of a congregation. But the pastor and prayer group must work together and avoid the pitfalls that can kill effective ministry.
7:00PM EST 2/29/2000