Zach Zehnder's Blog, page 4
August 7, 2024
Why is Advent Trending Up While Christianity is Trending Down?
Pastors and church leaders, if you are not planning to implement a daily Advent practice at your church, your people will practice Advent somewhere else. In fact, they already are. This is a significant opportunity that we cannot afford to miss. In light of that, we’d love to partner with your church for a powerful 25-Day Advent experience called Red Letter Advent.
Advent calendars have been making a significant impact in recent years, with a staggering 1738% increase in page views for beauty advent calendars in November 2023 over just 45 days. In 2022, beauty calendars accounted for 31% of all advent calendar sales, surpassing the popularity of traditional Christmas greeting cards. This trend is not limited to beauty products, as other categories, such as beer, wine, jewelry, Lego, and hair products, have also seen a surge in popularity.
As a church, have we seized this unique opportunity to guide our congregation’s understanding of Advent amidst the growing fascination with advent calendars? We must ensure our people comprehend the true essence of Advent, not just its surface-level appeal.
Even though the average person may not be able to define Advent, it’s attracting customers by the truckloads. One of the reasons is the routine. Each day, a surprise awaits as we countdown to Christmas. It’s not a complex concept to grasp, and it’s surface-level stuff. A 25-day numbered box with perforated-edge windows to open each day and some trinkets inside is pretty simple to figure out. Things don’t have to be complicated to be catchy. But what if we could show them the depth of meaning and the essential part that Advent plays in all our lives? Not to complicate Advent, but it’s still a simple message, after all.
“For unto us a child is born. Unto us a Son is given.”
But let’s give Advent some grip, some stickiness. Let’s make it more than just a ten-second activity. The real meaning and intent of Advent will provide people with some real hope behind the hype.
People Want (And Need) A Challenge!Last month, Barna shared results from a survey asking people what their most meaningful church experience was. They overwhelmingly answered that the day-to-day mentoring and studying the practice of following Jesus meant the most.
While many pastors hope people will remember the carefully crafted sermons they spent weeks crafting or the beautiful music they rehearsed for hours and hours, Barna shows us that service and discipleship are the two most meaningful acts for a Christian. You know what that means? It means people want (and need) to be challenged to actually walk out the faith they claim to have.
Your most devoted people are looking for mentoring in discipleship, and a clear path of celebrating and practicing Advent can provide that opportunity.
It’s been proven that people’s habits are more open to change during Christmas. So,
1) if the idea of Advent is trending in our culture,
2) if people are more likely to adopt a new habit during the holidays,
3) and if discipleship is what 70% of your faithful church attendees are looking for,
It only makes sense that you go all in on celebrating Advent.
6 Steps to Planning AdventWhile it may seem early to plan for Advent in August, the Christmas season is closer than we think. Starting early will help us avoid the stress of last-minute planning and ensure a successful Advent season. We have six straightforward steps to kickstart your planning process.
1. PrayWithout getting too preachy, Christmas belongs to Jesus. It’s not just his day; it’s his season. So before I begin planning “my” Christmas, spend time asking Jesus how I, my family, and our church can be a part of HIS Christmas. Things suddenly become much clearer and simpler when I look at Christmas that way!
2. Pick a ThemeSure, the plan and theme are around the birth of Jesus and how it changes everything. But, how do you say this in a new way for this current year you are in? Sometimes, because of the busyness of the pastor’s job, picking a theme for Advent can get your leftovers. It sure has for me in the past. So, after praying, settle on a theme for the year. And, if you need help with a theme, this is why we created Red Letter Advent: 25 Days of Unboxing Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.
3. Gather Your TeamI don’t care what size church you have, whether you are on a team ministry of 50+ people or a solo pastor, it may just be you and your secretary, or your wife, or a couple of teen interns who help you out on Sunday morning…but Advent takes a team. You need other people to help you serve. And they need it, too! Being by making a list. Then, contact each person with a specific request. Don’t just ask them to serve on a team or committee; be specific about what you need them to do. And don’t feel like you need to pitch an easy ask. Remember: the faithful want to be challenged!
4. Share the PlanLeading up to Christmas, note what dates the four Sundays of Advent are and any other Advent-related midweek opportunities at your church. Once you have a clear plan, create graphics indicating where/when you want your people to show up or be involved. Print them off and share them in your bulletins or printed pieces. Also, include your Advent plan in your email communication to the congregation and post it on your church’s website and social media pages.
5. Do Your Reading and ResearchIf you have a theme picked, begin your reading. This can be the part that takes months. If you don’t have time (many pastors don’t) consider teaming up with our newest project Red Letter Advent. Not only will you have the theme already picked out, but you’ve got the research already started, as well as so many other FREE resources that you can use for midweek or small group opportunities, kids curriculum for Sunday mornings, graphics that pop, etc. And it’ll even help you with the next step!
6. Write Your SermonsLastly, get your sermons written out early. You may change them later, and that’s totally acceptable. But the more you prepare ahead of time, the better you will feel! I found in the past that writing Advent sermons was the most time-consuming of all sermons to write. Maybe it was because of the busyness of the church and family calendar or because it was too similar a theme each year. Still, I had a difficult time feeling like my material was fresh. Again, this is a significant reason that we created Red Letter Advent for you.
Whether you choose to team with our newest project or not, I pray that this Advent celebration can be truly powerful for your church. I hope that the fascination with Advent continues to grow, but even more importantly, that you and your people will indeed receive the gifts Jesus gives you in His birthday month.
You must order your books now to join the Red Letter Advent Launch Group for 2024. We can only guarantee they are available this Advent if you purchase them now. You can find more info about our Red Letter Advent Launch Group and purchase your materials here. Also, if you’d like to see an 80-page sample of this work, you can go here.
Finally, if you’d like to hear more about the project, join us for the FREE webinar by clicking the image below or here.
Blessings!
The post Why is Advent Trending Up While Christianity is Trending Down? appeared first on Red Letter Living.
July 8, 2024
Behind the Christmas Scene: The True Cost of Peace
*The following is a devotional taken from our upcoming daily devotional book Red Letter Advent, available to order Summer of 2024. For church leaders who are interested in using this for Advent 2024, join the interest list by clicking here.
Busted Bulbs, Busted HopesMy family had awesome Christmas traditions that I remember growing up, but hanging Christmas lights wasn’t one of them. So, when I had my kids, I was determined that we would hang Christmas lights. The first year my wife and our two sons moved to Florida, I had no excuses. It was time! The only extra cost to my endeavor was $50 for the string lights. That was a small price for a house that would light up the neighborhood.
After hours of blood, sweat, and maybe even a tear or two, six strings of lights stretched across the front of the house. I had done it. When night fell, it was time for the grand reveal. My wife and two kids counted down, Griswold-style, and BANG! All the lights turned on!
It was a modest display of simple string lights on our gutters, but to me, it looked amazing. (We even have documentation, that’s our Florida house all lit up in the picture at the top of this page!)I knew all the hard work that had gone into it, and I was so proud. That’s when everything changed.
Ten seconds into our oohs and aahs, it went pitch black. I was so confused. What happened?! Allison said we probably blew a fuse, so I went to the store, brought home a few fuses, and tried again. Everyone ran back outside for my second reveal. Drumroll, please! I plugged them in, and ten seconds later, the fuse blew. After multiple trips to the store and receipts piling up on the kitchen counter, we still had no shining lights.
A neighbor suggested I needed the correct GFCI box or something like that, so I brought out an electrician. That was another bill to pay. My plan to hang six simple string lights on an afternoon and not spend a ton was backfiring. Plus, I was starting to get jealous. When I compared my lights to other homes on my street with dozens of perfectly hung and lit strings, they made my feeble attempts even more pitiful. I began wondering what was wrong with me. Why was I so bad at this?
We were now out $400 for six little strings of lights that turned on only half the time. And even when they turned on, they wouldn’t last the whole night before blowing a fuse again. What started as a minor expense slowly ate away at our Christmas budget. The cost was too high, and I was mad.
The Grand DisplayThe Zehnder home never got its grand display that year. My wife and sons took over in the coming years, and now we have a beautifully lit home every year. While I still admire the Christmas lights every evening as I pull into the garage, I can’t help but carry a little grudge about the whole thing. I couldn’t get those lights to work and wasted so much time and money trying to do so.
As you gaze upon Christmas lights this year, remember that you are looking at someone’s final scene. You see the end result but miss the hard work and time it took.
When Christmas lights work correctly, they are a peaceful sight. They bring hope that even in darkness, light can still shine through. In Nebraska, where I now live, the sun sets before 5 p.m. in December, and we don’t get too much sun. The lights can distract us from the otherwise pretty gloomy darkness.
As humans, we like looking at the final scenes. You may plan to drive around with your family this holiday and look at the lights. It’s a fun tradition! But every final scene comes with a cost.
A Fake Christmas SceneSpeaking of scenes, most of us love the nativity scene, where baby Jesus is lying in a manger, all cute and snuggly. We’ll sing about it like this:
The cattle are lowing
The poor baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
no crying He makes
So, the cows are just gently mooing, and the baby awakes and is not crying? When has a baby ever woken up and not cried? Nothing is cute about how the world’s Savior was brought into this life. The unrealistic Hallmark-like scene might make you feel good, but it’s likely not accurate and it came at a very high cost. There was a far greater rescue story behind this whole thing than a non-crying baby and a mooing cow.
Herod was about to issue a decree to kill every baby boy under the age of two.The risk of being born to a mother out of wedlock was disastrous for a family’s reputation.Traveling away from your home in the last month of your pregnancy was dangerous to the mother and was a risk for the baby.Mary and Joseph were poor, young, and inexperienced parents. Putting the fate of the world in their hands was a massive risk.The cost of sending Jesus to Bethlehem was incredibly high.
The Real Christmas CostChristmas morning was God’s plan to bring everlasting peace to the world. And yet, it too was just a scene amid the grand story. Despite this significant risk and high cost, Jesus would survive this scene. He grew in wisdom, stature, and favor. Jesus opened blind eyes. He caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak. He taught with authority unlike any who had ever gone before him. He was respected and followed by many. Riding in on a donkey, the crowd celebrated him as the king. But then Jesus said,
“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42).
Jesus could see what the crowd couldn’t that day. He knew that to get to the final scene of ultimate peace, it would require another scene—a scene of complete brutality and the death of his body on the cross. The crowd was so focused on what was before them that they missed out on God’s bigger plan to bring peace to the world.
Jesus went from the scene of lying in a wooden box at his birth to stretching his hands on a wooden cross, dying for sins he never committed. This scene wasn’t pretty either. There weren’t any lights, sparkling snow, or smiling inflatable animals. It was a dirty, bloody mess. People averted their eyes and ran in the opposite direction. The cost of this scene was more incredible than anything you can ever imagine. It was a cost only one could pay, and that was Jesus.
To reach the final scene, where you and I live peacefully with God forever, someone must pay the cost. Jesus paid that cost in full. In the end, when he rose from the dead, there were no false alarms, fuses failing, or burnt bulbs. Instead, there was a light that broke through the darkness.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
Jesus, the pure light of the world, was shining bright for all to see again.
Jesus paid for peace in full.
Unbox your peace today.
If you liked today’s devotional and want to join the interest list for Red Letter Advent, available for presale mid July 2024, and ready to be used for Advent 2024, just click here.
The post Behind the Christmas Scene: The True Cost of Peace appeared first on Red Letter Living.
July 3, 2024
Is Grace Really Free? The Price Jesus Paid So You Could Live in Freedom
I have heard the phrase “free grace” used by pastors and theologians. I understand that we do not do anything to receive God’s grace, and I believe in the worth of this grace: how priceless it is and beyond anything I could ever afford. But I get tripped up a bit when we combine them. Maybe it’s because I can be a total sucker for “free.”
Deals like BOGO entice me to think that I get a free item when I buy something, but the cost of both is factored into the one price. And even though I only needed one thing, I would walk out with two for the sake of a good deal. I don’t know about you, but I get bombarded by offers to get 10% off in exchange for my email. And do I use them? You bet I do! It’s like wasting money if you don’t. (I think there’s a meme about “girl math”!)
While I may think I am getting “free money,” what I am actually doing is paying for that discount with my information. Now, the company can email me promotions, track my purchases, and entice me with new products.
Everything has a cost, and often we don’t even realize what that cost is. Famed American salesman Billy Mays was a direct-response advertising salesman. He said, “The best things in life are free – and $19.95.”
Now, being a bit wiser and…older…I have become cynical of the “free” stuff. I reject samples, decline offers, and avoid salesmen. I just don’t trust companies anymore. I feel they all want to make the sale or take my money. They don’t want me to have what’s good for me, let alone for free.
So, as a Christian, it’s easy for me to think of God’s grace like the FREE DEALS that come into my inbox every day. I get cynical about this so-called “free grace.” Nothing’s free, so why is grace the exception?
Can we really call grace free and priceless at the same time?
Or does the idea that it is free to cheapen the gift?
Shake Your Tail FeathersWhen I came across the popular acronym TANSTAAFL, it stuck with me.
TANSTAAFL is used among physicists to explain that you can’t get something from nothing (Laws of Thermodynamics). It stands for the technical and scientific phrase, There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
One way biologists use TANSTAAFL is to describe animal features. The peacock is an excellent example of TANSTAAFL. There’s a biological cost to the peacock’s tail feathers. Sure, they are beautiful and showy and will attract a female, called a peahen. However, the tail feathers come with a cost that reduces the peacock’s survival rate. Here are some of its disadvantages.
The tail reduces maneuverability. Peacocks can only get around slowly. The tail makes the bird more noticeable to predators. It’s hard to miss that fan of plumes!Growing and maintaining that appendage imposes a considerable energy cost on the peacock’s body. Instead of using its energy for hunting, sleeping, or protection, it has to spend a lot of time growing and keeping its tail.Maybe we should change the phrase to “there ain’t no such thing as a free tail!” If a tail comes with a cost to a peacock, then how can we claim total forgiveness and grace costs nothing?
The CostGrace isn’t free at all; it costs Jesus everything. This cost was more than just the cross. From the moment his single-celled organism multiplied in Mary’s womb, Jesus began his descent. He humbled himself, becoming the basic building block of the world, to save sinners.
I don’t think it took until Easter morning for Satan to realize he had been defeated.
The entire cosmos should have collapsed when Jesus took that last breath and the sky darkened. The world cannot hold together without God’s love. And yet, the world kept spinning, hearts kept beating, and life kept on.
That was the moment Satan knew his plan wouldn’t succeed, that God’s power would overcome. Satan had to sit on that splinter and feel nothing but dread from Friday until Sunday. He knew it was coming; it was only a matter of when. But even knowing it would happen did not mean Satan understood it. That kind of love was unfathomable for him.
With his death, Jesus earned the right to make his love unlimited.
Unlimited LoveBecause God made that priceless payment, he gets to decide how to give that grace. The Bible makes it very clear that grace is unlimited.
God’s love is unlimited. His sacrifice is unlimited.The reach of his grace is unlimited.First, God’s unlimited love and grace in and of himself. Because God is triune, three-in-one, love existed before humanity. Remember, Jesus was around way before he came as a baby. Genesis uses a plural article (Elohim) for the first mention of God. “In the beginning created Elohim the heavens...” (Genesis 1:1 ).The plural article doesn’t mean there are multiple gods. There is only one God. But all three persons of the trinity were present at creation. They had always existed, exchanging love with one another. So, God didn’t need to wait for us to have love already in existence. Love has always been and always will be. Jesus talks about this togetherness in John 14:20,“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Second, Jesus Christ was God’s unlimited gift to the world. It was already incredible that he humbled himself as a baby. There is no way the enemy could have predicted Jesus’s death. God did not limit his gift but sacrificed himself on the cross. No other religion on earth has God coming to earth and humiliating himself by taking on all the sins of others. They have gods that give good gifts or gods that can do mighty acts of power. But they wouldn’t go so far as to die. 1 John 2:2 says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In the last invitation found in the Bible, our Lord opens the door as wide as he can by saying,
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev 22:17). His grace is for any and all. Not one person excluded.
The Bible says Jesus died for every person. God’s gift is unlimited and free for us, but that doesn’t mean it was for nothing. That grace cost Jesus everything.
It’s costly grace that’s free for me.
I’ll happily fall for that offer every time.
The post Is Grace Really Free? The Price Jesus Paid So You Could Live in Freedom appeared first on Red Letter Living.
June 9, 2024
Unlocking Growth: Strategies for Churches to Thrive in a Changing Culture
2500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change.” While change may be inevitable, how we deal with the changes in this world can be drastically different. A challenge we face in church leadership is how do we bring the unchanging life-giving message of Jesus to a world that will never stop changing.
When I think of someone on the frontlines of helping churches navigate change, I think of Bill Woolsey. He’s the founder and leader of FiveTwo. In today’s blog, Bill will discuss one of the four changing cultural trends that churches must pay attention to. For further discussion on this and three other cultural trends, I invite you to join us for a FREE webinar where I’ll interview Bill Woolsey on June 20th. It’s called Church Growth in 2024: Mastering the Four Biggest Cultural Trends.
Without further ado, here are Bill’s words.
Decades of change in just 4 yearsDepending on the expert you talk to, our society experienced anywhere from 30-60 years of change during and coming out of the pandemic.
If you’re a pastor or leader within your congregation, my guess is you’re nodding your head. Emphatically even.
And you’ve probably been experiencing this first-hand for a while now. Maybe in the form of fewer worshipers, fewer volunteers, fewer dollars and less certainty.
As our culture continues to change rapidly, it might feel easier to hold your course (especially given budget, time, people constraints). But Jesus calls us to remain accountable for what’s happening in our communities. He does not intend for your church to ignore these changes.
We believe your church can grow, even in our rapidly changing culture.
But we also know navigating the dramatically shifting culture feels overwhelming. And you probably have one hundred questions. How do we stay relevant within our community? Where will the resources come from? Where do I even start? Just to name a few.
That’s why FiveTwo helps churches use entrepreneurship to grow by walking your entire congregation through a proven, 2-year process.
Since 2015, our one-of-a-kind training has equipped a variety of churches to pivot to the changes around them in ways that re-engage their community with the gospel. When this happens, churches thrive.
Through our listening and learnings, we’ve put together a free, comprehensive guide on what we consider the top cultural trends churches should be paying attention to. The churches we’re working with that align their congregation and ministries through the lens of these trends are thriving.
I encourage you to use this resource with your team to help determine where your congregation stands in the midst of all these changes.
Our prayer is that, by pivoting your congregation and ministry in response to these trends, you’ll re-engage your community, create tremendous impact, and experience lasting growth.
Let’s cover one of the biggest trends that everyone loves to hate.
Consumerism Brings ChangesConsumerism has radically shifted people’s (including yours) expectations about all areas of their life.
A consumer culture means the customer is at the center, and he or she is making the decisions, deciding what is and is not important. And if you’ve ever found yourself making decisions based upon your family’s needs, what’s good for your schedule, what you like or don’t like, then you, my friend, are a consumer. Are you an Amazon Prime member? Yup? Consumer.
One of the largest areas impacted by our consumer-driven culture is education.
Education has shifted from mass production to mass customization. Our consumer-driven culture demands choices for our education systems.
And the pandemic only accelerated this trend.
Since 2020, public school enrollment has dropped by 15%. Charter school enrollment is up by 36%, school choice by 25%, private schools by 22%, and micro school enrollment has increased by 50%.
In the 90s homeschooled students were few and far between. Now? Pretty much mainstream.
Have you thought about how your church can take advantage of this trend? With a small pivot, could your church be your community’s intersection of education and faith?
We’ve worked with churches who are stepping up in meaningful ways, offering advice, resources, and a place to belong for families exploring all the new education alternatives.
In our consumer culture, convenience is king. Churches have a special opportunity right now to create convenience while also providing support for families deciding which educational path is right for them.
Is your church tuning into what families need and want given all that’s changed?
Trinity’s No School Fun DayChurches like Trinity Galewood just outside Chicago are doing this really well.
Last September, Trinity launched their No School Fun Day program that provides elementary and junior high students with a safe, engaging place to go when the school is closed.
Not only do the students look forward to No School Fun Day, Trinity’s congregation members, from college students to the retired, are excited to show up to serve.
From site leader, Eric Hawley:
“November was the biggest success. We had 46 kids show up and 19 volunteers.
Every week, kids from the school will ask me, “Is the church open today??” and “When’s the next No School Fun Day?” How cool is that? They want to get to the church. And that’s what they call it. They call it ‘The Church’.
They know the pattern. They want a place to hang out. And I think a big part of it is they’re looking for a space to belong, and the church is providing that.”
“My daughter wakes up early to get here! It starts the same time as school, and she’s always late to school!”
Many of these families have not been to church since COVID. In our rapidly changing culture, No School Fun Day is a way for the community to experience the love of Jesus while also being a stepping stone back into church.
The ShiftIn our consumer-driven culture, how convenient are you making it for people to get to Jesus? In a culture where Sunday morning worship is no longer a priority, how are you shifting your ministries so your neighbors can meet Jesus where they live?
Recognizing and responding to a changing culture doesn’t mean you’re selling out.
When your church is mobilized outside of its walls, communities are cared for and God’s kingdom grows.
We want your church to be there for your community for years to come. It’s what Jesus wants too.
As our culture continues to shift, what if we thought of every day as a new opportunity to bring resilience and sustainability to your church? How great would that shift be?
To read about the other trends your church should pay attention to – Post-Christian Reality, Mental and Physical Health, and Women Driving Spiritual Decisions – download our resource at fivetwo.com today.
Get Involved with FiveTwoIn our rapidly changing culture, FiveTwo’s proven Strategic Growth Process, gives congregations what they need to launch ministries like the No School Fun Day. Ministries that meet the needs of a changing society, while also bringing them closer to the gospel.
Our certified catalysts walk with churches for two years, ensuring that people and ministries are aligned for growth.
Catch Bill Woolsey from FiveTwo on the Red Letter Living webinar on June 20, 2024. He’ll be talking about Four Cultural Trends Thriving Churches Address and sharing case studies of real ministry leaders successfully navigating these four trends.
Don’t miss out, register now.
The post Unlocking Growth: Strategies for Churches to Thrive in a Changing Culture appeared first on Red Letter Living.
May 13, 2024
077: Bill Woolsey on the Pitfalls of Entrepreneurship, Clarifying Your Calling, and How to Overcome Fear and the Scarcity Mindset
With decades of experience starting and leading ministries, churches, and networks, Bill Woolsey now invests his life in men and women who want to reach people for Jesus in new, creative ways. In 2009, he led the launch of FiveTwo, a network that helps men and women grow their God-given dreams into ministries and businesses that last. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.
Today’s episode partner is FiveTwo. The FiveTwo team has grown healthy churches for over thirty years. They understand how to grow churches in a rapidly changing culture without burning out staff and lay leaders.
Every major church denomination in the U.S. has experienced a decline since the 1960s, a trend the pandemic didn’t initiate but rather accelerated. What are we, as people who love the local church, to do about this reality?
FiveTwo has spent the last four years identifying the four key cultural trends thriving churches address. And they’ve helped countless churches actually address these trends and THRIVE. They’ve put all their learnings along with case studies into a free resource which you can download at fivetwo.com today. Discover how well your congregation is managing these forces and what you can do to grow.
Also, don’t miss my FREE webinar with Bill Woolsey, Founder and President of FiveTwo. We’ll discuss those four trends in detail and discuss how churches can use these trends to grow their churches. Click here or the image below to register.
Red Letter Disciple Podcast: Episode 20 Bill Woolsey on the #1 Reason Why Ventures Fail
Red Letter Disciple Podcast: Episode 32 Jessie Cruickshank on Brain Science and Discipleship
Key insights from the episode: If you have Jesus, you have more than enough. – Bill Woolsey
When you’re starting new things, money is the biggest fear. – Bill Woolsey
Obedience often precedes Jesus’s miracles. – Bill Woolsey
We have to understand that faith steps include failure. – Bill Woolsey
Fear of losing personal well-being and security keeps people from thinking big. – Bill Woolsey
Fail fast but not fatally. – Bill Woolsey
The line between pastor and boss can be very challenging. – Bill Woolsey
12-14% of the US population are entrepreneurial in their field. – Bill Woolsey
Entrepreneurs don’t have to love risk, but they need to know how to mitigate risk. – Bill Woolsey
You can only spend a dollar once. – Bill Woolsey
Bill Woolsey’s Challenge: Discern what group of people or organization you’re passionate about and do one small thing you could do to help them.
Are you following Jesus?Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
Watch the entire season for free:We’ll be uploading every episode of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here.
The post 077: Bill Woolsey on the Pitfalls of Entrepreneurship, Clarifying Your Calling, and How to Overcome Fear and the Scarcity Mindset appeared first on Red Letter Living.
May 6, 2024
076: Les Beauchamp on Escaping Mormonism, Why He Got a Tattoo Sleeve in His 50s, and How He Overcame an Affair with His Church
Les Beauchamp served as the Lead Pastor of Lifegate Church for three decades and is now the pastor of leadership development. He’s a passionate Jesus follower who has worked diligently in the city of Omaha over the past couple of decades to see more people come to Jesus. Through his past with Mormonism, he realized that Christianity is the only answer. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.
Today’s episode partner is FiveTwo. The FiveTwo team has grown healthy churches for over thirty years. They understand how to grow churches in a rapidly changing culture without burning out staff and lay leaders.
Every major church denomination in the U.S. has experienced a decline since the 1960s, a trend the pandemic didn’t initiate but rather accelerated. What are we, as people who love the local church, to do about this reality?
FiveTwo has spent the last four years identifying the four key cultural trends thriving churches address. And they’ve helped countless churches actually address these trends and THRIVE. They’ve put all their learnings along with case studies into a free resource which you can download at fivetwo.com today. Discover how well your congregation is managing these forces and what you can do to grow.
Also, don’t miss my FREE webinar with Bill Woolsey, Founder and President of FiveTwo. We’ll discuss those four trends in detail and discuss how churches can use these trends to grow their churches. Click here or the image below to register.
Brand New: Living as God’s New Creation by Les Beauchamp
Marriage on the Rock by Jimmy Evans
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
Key insights from the episode: Most people who get married are woefully unprepared to get married. – Les Beauchamp
Marriage is the promise of a future love. – Les Beauchamp
Love is a choice. – Les Beauchamp
When you get married, you are saying no to your singleness. – Les Beauchamp
Take three minutes to show your spouse you love them. – Les Beauchamp
No matter how you feel or what happens, never give up on your marriage. – Les Beauchamp
A lot of people equate God with the church, and he is not the church. – Les Beauchamp
God has given us the gift of Sabbath to declare, “God, I know you’ve got it.” – Les Beauchamp
The church does not have a good theology of suffering. – Les Beauchamp
We believe that if you suffer, it’s because you sin. – Les Beauchamp
Les Beauchamp’s Challenge: Download the Lectio365 app.
Are you following Jesus?Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
Watch the entire season for free:We’ll be uploading every episode of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here.
The post 076: Les Beauchamp on Escaping Mormonism, Why He Got a Tattoo Sleeve in His 50s, and How He Overcame an Affair with His Church appeared first on Red Letter Living.
May 1, 2024
The 3 Reasons We Aren’t Seeing Discipleship Results in American Churches Today
I’ve said it many times. The number one problem we are facing in American churches is we’ve gotten really talented at creating believers but struggled to produce followers, or disciples of Jesus. When I think of someone who is truly Jesus-centered and helping churches develop a real discipleship program to match their church culture, one of the very first people I think of is Greg Finke, the founder and leader of Dwelling 1:14. In this blog today, Greg will discuss three reasons why churches aren’t seeing the discipleship results they envision (and hope) would happen.
As you read, I hope you are stirred to action and plug in more with Greg Finke, and the work at Dwelling 1:14. And, for further study, sign up for our FREE webinar where I’ll interview Pastor Greg Finke on April May 16th. It’s called “Walking with Jesus: Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives in Your Community.”
Without further ado, here are his words.
Why aren’t we seeing the results we envision?
It may be frustrating, but it is also most certainly true: our churches are perfectly calibrated for the results we are currently getting in mission, discipleship, and multiplication. We envision our people reaching their neighbors and seeing them come to faith. We envision our people making disciples who are making disciples who are… (you get the idea).
But even after investing all that preaching, and visioning, and programming, and money, and volunteer hours – what are the results we are actually seeing?
In the gospels, in the book of Acts, and in many places across the globe today, wherever followers of Jesus are living, redemptive movements are breaking out. In other words, those followers live in such a way that more and more people around them are experiencing and hearing the Good News of God. However, in North America, despite having Jesus-followers in every community, we aren’t seeing those kinds of results in a majority of our churches.
Pastors and congregational leaders envision such results but they are not seeing such results.
Dwelling 1:14 has come alongside hundreds of congregations and thousands of leaders over the last dozen years, and in our experience, there are three common culprits that are responsible. I will briefly introduce all three in this article and then invite you to dig deeper with Zach Zehnder and me during our webinar on May 16, “Walking with Jesus: Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives in Your Community.”
The good news is that in the gospels Jesus has already shown us the fixes which will result in redemptive movements breaking out in our communities, too.
Why aren’t we seeing the results we envision?
Three reasons and how to fix them:1) Leaders do not understand what it looks like to pursue the mission of God in daily life. And, not surprisingly, neither do the people in their congregations.
What does it look like for a person to join Jesus on His mission as a daily lifestyle?
The training, experience, and expertise of most professional church workers is in gathering people around God’s word at church (worship, study, ministry, etc.). Likewise, the experience of the people being gathered is in the “being gathered.” The people are discipled to gather, listen, sing, discuss, believe, and then head home until they gather again the next time.
Unfortunately, in the meantime, day after day, all those Jesus-followers are having very little impact on the people around them wherever they live, work, or go to school. People who badly need what the Jesus-followers have are left unaffected… year after year. As a result, a congregation full of Jesus-followers could be in a community for decades and no one is the community is better off because of it.
The good news is that there is a simple fix. Start asking: If I were watching someone who has been trained to pursue the mission of God with Jesus, what would that lifestyle look like?
Of course, the Scriptures already describe this lifestyle.
John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples [that you have been trained by Me], if you love one another.”
Ephesians 5:2, “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.”
What does a lifestyle of mission look like to a person watching? It looks like a lifestyle of love. It looks like someone intentionally watching for opportunities to love the people around them in such a way that those people know they have been loved. When hundreds of Jesus-followers are living such a life, the community is transformed – not after decades, but after months.
If, as leaders, we take up such a lifestyle of love in our own neighborhoods – and if we, therefore, become more experienced and skilled at it – then we can show our people how to do the same.
More about this on May 16.
2) Leaders (and their congregations) think scholarship is discipleship. It is not.
Unfortunately, for a very long time now, leaders have thought discipleship is accomplished through the accumulation of scholarship. We think that if we have preached and/or taught God’s Word to our people, we have discipled them in God’s Word. Turns out, Jesus’ way of discipleship is more than knowing correct answers about Him. Discipleship is being trained to follow His ways for the good of others in everyday life. This is why Jesus says, “Come, follow Me.” He told His trainees His teachings but then He showed them how to put His teachings into practice by how He lived.
The result of Jesus’ discipleship process was the multiplication of redemptive movements wherever His trainees went. The result of our discipleship process is more disappointing. After years of being discipled by us, our people may be confident theologians, but they remain untrained and inexperienced in what to do with that theology for the good of their neighborhoods.
Think of it this way: when leaders disciple their people in the teachings of Jesus, what is everyone’s expectation as they head back home? That the teachings will be understood and believed (no thought is given to what they may actually do with it to bless others). However, what is the expectation of Jesus? That it will be understood, believed, AND put into practice for the good of others.
In the gospels, when Jesus uses an action verb, yes, He wants us to understand it and believe it. But using action verbs mean He wants us to take action. Someone nearby needs us (the Jesus-followers) to put into action what He has given us to do. Understanding and believing what Jesus gives us to do doesn’t bless our neighbors. Our understanding, believing, AND putting it into practice does. When hundreds of Jesus-followers are sent home to put the teaching they understand and believe into practice, the community is transformed – not after decades, but after months.
The reality is that a person will never change someone else by what they believe. They will only change someone else by putting what they believe into action.
The good news is that there is a simple fix. We can turn scholarship (which we are really good at) back into discipleship (which our people and our communities really need) by asking this important question: Now what?
When preparing a Biblical message or teaching, we can follow this simple outline:
· Know what? What facts does the text communicate?
· So what? What does this mean for us?
· Now what? Now that we understand and believe this word from God, what will we do with it?
The question, “Now what,” turns scholarship (I know the right answers about Jesus) into discipleship (I am gaining experience and skill in applying the ways of Jesus in daily life).
More about this on May 16.
3) Leaders overlook and underestimate the importance of relationship in discipleship.
If leaders want to start seeing the results they envision for their congregations regarding mission, discipleship, and multiplication, they will need to rediscover and prioritize the essential role of relationship.
To see our people join Jesus on His mission as a daily lifestyle, they will need to be discipled in HOW to join Jesus. To see our people begin discipling others, they will need to be discipled in HOW to disciple others. And to see our people be the epicenter of redemptive movements (multiplication) in their neighborhoods, they will need to be discipled in HOW to multiply redemptive movements in their neighborhoods.
For that to happen, our people need more from their leaders than what we are giving them. We are settling for TELLING them how to do these things. That strategy is perfectly calibrated to get the results we are currently getting. We can TELL them how, but they need someone to SHOW them how.
The good news is that there is a simple fix. As leaders, our first priority can be to create a plan where people have a relationship with someone who models this lifestyle for them and then mentors them as they begin gaining their own experience and skill in living it.
Of course, we have already seen this in the Scriptures. We just overlooked and underestimated its importance.
Hebrews 13:7, “Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
Philippians 3:17, “Join with others in following my example, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
What could a discipleship plan look like that prioritizes relationship and sees the results we envision?
Join Zach Zehnder and me during our webinar on May 16, “Walking with Jesus: Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives in Your Community” to get the full picture. It’s simpler than you think and a lot more fun!
Greg Finke is the leader of Dwelling114.org. If you need help launching more effective mission, discipleship, and multiplication strategies in your congregation, Greg can help. He would love to serve you in three ways:
1. Books and video curricula which you can use to help your people clarify and simplify what a life of mission and discipleship looks like. Store — Dwelling 1:14
2. Onsite or online training experiences that help your people craft simple, concrete plans for joining Jesus on His mission and then mentor them as they learn to implement their plan. 18-Month Missional Lifestyle Training Process — Dwelling 1:14
3. First-Step Retreats which provide you and your team the opportunity to identify a strategy for introducing mission and discipleship into your congregation. Retreats are held at the Finke’s beautiful, historic headquarters in St. Paul, MN. Next-Step Retreats — Dwelling 1:14
The post The 3 Reasons We Aren’t Seeing Discipleship Results in American Churches Today appeared first on Red Letter Living.
April 29, 2024
075: Greg Finke on Family Discipleship, How to Live As A Missionary, and How Jesus Messes with Him
Greg Finke spent 22 years growing churches in Michigan and Texas before he founded Dwelling 1:14 in 2011. Since then, Greg Finke and Dwelling 1:14 have helped thousands of people live more like Jesus. He’s the author of the books “Joining Jesus on His Mission” and “Joining Jesus As a Family.” He’s here to help us today become greater disciples of Jesus. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Dwelling 1:14. Led by Pastor Greg Finke, Dwelling 1:14 is a discipleship organization that comes alongside pastors and leaders to help them intentionally disciple their people. Greg has worked with hundreds of churches and tens of thousands of people. He has developed a year-long training process that helps your church produce greater disciples in their everyday lives. He’s an experienced practitioner and mentor, and he’s ready to help your church. You can contact him and learn more about this year-long process here.
Additionally, on May 16th, from Noon-1 PM Central, I’ll be hosting Greg Finke for a church leaders webinar called Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives. You can register for free by clicking here or the image below.
Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary by Greg Finke
Joining Jesus—Show Me How: How to Disciple Everyday Missionaries by Greg Finke
Missional Year-Long Training Process for Churches
Key insights from the episode: How has Jesus been messing with you lately? – Rev. Greg Finke
Being a disciple of Jesus starts with Jesus. – Rev. Greg Finke
Discipleship is about training. – Rev. Greg Finke
If I’m full of myself, God can love me, but he can’t do much through me. – Rev. Greg Finke
You can’t go back to the beginning, but you can change the end of the story. – Rev. Greg Finke
Love doesn’t work every single time, but it’s the only thing that works. – Greg Finke
I never had a dinner without a sinner because I am a sinner. – Zach Zehnder
Discipleship is not scholarship; it’s all about relationships. – Greg Finke
Greg Finke’s Challenge: How can you be a reason something good happens to someone in your life?
Are you following Jesus?Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
Watch the entire season for free:We’ll be uploading every episode of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here.
The post 075: Greg Finke on Family Discipleship, How to Live As A Missionary, and How Jesus Messes with Him appeared first on Red Letter Living.
Miles Davis and God’s Redemption: Turning Wrongs into Rights
In November 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day. What made jazz popular was its ability to break out of traditional “music rules” and use unexpected notes or elements in its structure.
Famous musician Miles Davis was called a ‘one-take’ musician. He would intentionally not give his band members the songs they would perform until the day. He wanted their performance to be spontaneous and have intentional mistakes. He loved live-sounding music that had an unpolished quality to it. Even when recording an album, unlike other musicians who worked to try to make it sound perfect, he wanted it to sound rough around the edges. He was ok with mistakes.
Because jazz music allows mistakes, famous jazz musicians had recovery strategies to use when things went inevitably off track and all required repetition. In jazz music, repetition gives the audience a sense of security or emphasizes a moment or line. Repetition was the safety net that allowed artists the freedom to try new things.
1) They could repeat the phrase and emphasize the mistake.
2) They could repeat the phrase with the correct notes.
3) They could turn the mistake into a cycled pattern and resolve it.
Listen to Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz record by Miles Davis. What repetition can you hear? Can you catch any “fixed mistakes”?
How The Bible Is Like Music
Mistakes and off-beat sounds in jazz are balanced with gentle, rhythmic, and smooth sounds like a single instrument playing the same notes. This is called repetition. In the Bible, you will often see the same message repeated to emphasize something or to give the reader a sense of security. If the author has something very important to say, they will often write it more than once.
There is repetition all over the Bible. For example, Genesis 1 and 2 repeat the story of God creating the world. The Ten Commandments are written twice, in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. You will also find repetition in the Psalms, which are poetry. Look up Psalm 136. How many times is the phrase ‘His love endures forever’ repeated? *see bottom for the answer
The last book found in the Old Testament is Malachi. While Malachi is only 55 verses, it has much to tell us about God’s plan for the Israelites and His plan for you. Malachi uses repetition to emphasize the most important parts. A repeated message helps you discover what is most important.
Read Malachi 1:10-14 below.
10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. Malachi 1:10-14
In this passage, God is unhappy that the people do not respect Him with their offerings. The people were bringing lame, sick, and stolen animals for the offering even though God told them it had to be an unblemished male animal that was healthy. God was frustrated with their second-rate offering and their poor attitudes. Some of these words seem harsh. God doesn’t leave us guessing when we are missing the mark.
But even as He offers correction, He has another message for the people. Reread the scripture. What phrase or words are repeated three times?
The phrase repeated three times is ‘My name will be great among the nations.’
At first, this can seem like a strange thing to say. Why is God repeating that over and over? What do other nations have to do with the sacrifices that the Israelites bring? What message is God getting across to the Israelites?
God shares His main purpose for all He does with and through the Israelites. From the beginning of their nation, when God told Abraham he would have many descendants and his family would be great (the Israelites), it was never just about them. It was always about all nations. Read what God promised Abram:
The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s family. Go to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
God wanted the Israelites to be a nation that would bring God’s love and salvation to the rest of the world. He planned to save the whole world through them. That message was started in Genesis, continued in Malachi, and still stands true today. It never changed, no matter what happens.
God repeated the phrase, ‘My name will be great among the nations’ for a reason. He didn’t want the Israelites to be separated from others and only care about themselves at the expense of others. God wanted His people to be a part of making His name known, making him great to ALL NATIONS so that He could bless and help them.
Other nations believed their offerings were made to earn favor. They had to keep their gods happy, so they offered many sacrifices. The Israelites’ sacrifices weren’t about making Him happy or appeasing Him. They were about getting close to Him.
God wanted to dwell with His people, but to love all people of the world, he had to deal with their sins. God could remove their sin through the right sacrifices and live with them. God knew that the animals would not be enough. Those sacrifices were only signposts pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice.
Jesus would be born 300 years later. He would serve the world, bringing His message through the Israelites that He offered all people salvation. In Malachi, the sacrifices weren’t to separate them from other people but to bring them close to others.
From Mistakes To Music
In an article in Open Culture, musician Herbie Handcock describes what it was like to work with Miles Davis. While playing with David, Hancock hit a very obvious wrong cord. “Miles paused for a second,” he says, “and then he played some notes that made my chord right… Miles was able to turn something that was wrong into something that was right.”
“What I realize now is that Miles didn’t hear it as a mistake. He heard it as something that happened. As an event. And so that was part of the reality of what was happening at that moment. And he dealt with it…. Since he didn’t hear it as a mistake, he thought it was his responsibility to find something that fit.”
Let’s be clear: God sees our sin as sin. This isn’t Bob Ross calling mistakes “happy accidents.” There is nothing cute or happy about our sin. Sin separates us from God, and He can no longer be around us. God was direct to the Israelites and us about our sins, but He didn’t leave us to fix our problems. As Miles Davis did for Herbie Handcock, God corrected our mistakes. Jesus took your sin on the cross and died in your place. He rose and defeated death once and for all so you can, like God said, make His name great in all the nations.
Mistakes will happen in jazz; mistakes will also happen in life. Approaching our trials the way Miles Davis approached mistakes in jazz music will give you the boldness to hand your sins to God. God doesn’t give up on his plan. Over and over, through a constant cycle of faithfulness, He gives humanity the opportunity to serve Him and then be rescued by Him when they fail. The repeated message of the cross is new every morning.
Miles Davis said, “My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.”
You have an opportunity every day to create a joyful noise in honor of your Lord, mistakes and all!
Challenge:
“There’s no such thing as mistakes, only opportunities.” – Miles Davis
Turn your mistakes into opportunities to share the goodness of God’s redemption plan in your life. One of the challenges in Red Letter Challenge is to record your story and share it at www.redletterstory.com. It is a way to take your story and go to all nations, just as God always planned for you.
If you are not ready for that, simply write your story down. Putting words down on paper helps prepare you for when you can share your story.
*The phrase ‘his love endures forever is repeated 26 times in Psalm 136.
The post Miles Davis and God’s Redemption: Turning Wrongs into Rights appeared first on Red Letter Living.
April 22, 2024
074: Gregory Baumer on How God Taught Him Generosity at Harvard, Plus the One Question Every Disciple Should Ask about Money
While taking a course at Harvard Divinity School, Greg Baumer’s world was turned upside-down. He discovered that when it comes to money, God wants something for us, not from us. Since that time, Greg has become convinced that God offers a unique joy to those who choose to live generously. As he explored the words of Jesus around generosity, he believes every disciple of Jesus should ask the question, “How much do I need to keep?”
Today’s episode is brought to you by Dwelling 1:14. Led by Pastor Greg Finke, Dwelling 1:14 is a discipleship organization that comes alongside pastors and leaders to help them intentionally disciple their people. Greg has worked with hundreds of churches and tens of thousands of people. He has developed a year-long training process that helps your church produce greater disciples in their everyday lives. He’s an experienced practitioner and mentor, and he’s ready to help your church. You can contact him and learn more about this year-long process here.
Additionally, on May 16th, from Noon-1PM Central, I’ll be hosting Greg Finke for a church leaders webinar called Creating a Discipleship Plan for Your Church that Transforms Lives. You can register for free by clicking here or the image below.
True Riches by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines
God and Money by Gregory Baumer and John Cortines
The Bible Project Story: God and Money
FREE Red Letter Spiritual Gift Quiz: spiritualgifts.me
Key insights from the episode:
Key insights from the episode:
The point is, do I believe all I have belongs to God? – Greg Baumer
In a culture where our most pervasive sin is materialism, we’ve lowered the bar on what good stewardship looks like. – Greg Baumer
The question every disciple of Jesus should ask: “How much of God’s money do I need to keep for myself? – Greg Baumer
The best teaching on generosity is not on what we should do but rather on what [God] has done. – Greg Baumer
Almost all of Jesus’s teachings on money are warnings. – Greg Baumer
Most elder board members at church are wealthy people. – Greg Baumer
It’s critical that we, as Christ’s followers, understand why God asks us to give. If we don’t know why, the tactics don’t matter. – Greg Baumer
The three most frequent causes Jesus said to give money to are 1) to the poor, 2) to spread the gospel, and 3) to build the local church. – Greg Baumer
Greg Baumer’s Challenge: Give generously according to the cause God has uniquely designed for you.
Are you following Jesus?Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
Watch the entire season for free:We’ll be uploading every episode of The Red Letter Disciple on our YouTube Channel. If you aren’t subscribed already, you can do so here.
The post 074: Gregory Baumer on How God Taught Him Generosity at Harvard, Plus the One Question Every Disciple Should Ask about Money appeared first on Red Letter Living.
