Notable Voices and the Week in Review: July 22, 2017
Ten Roadblocks to Church Revitalization
What to Do When You Work for a Bad Leader – Rainer on Leadership #346
Seven Reasons Why Some Churches Should Consider Being Acquired
10 Outreach Ideas for Your Church This Fall
Six Evangelism Killers in a Church – Rainer on Leadership #347
10 Short Steps to Long Tenure — Craig Thompson
In addition to having a church filled with people to “get it” and want to see me thrive as their pastor, I’ve picked up on a couple of disciplines that have helped to sustain me. Perhaps you can benefit from putting the same disciplines into practice in your own life and ministry.
3 Common Ways Leaders Miscommunicate — Eric Geiger
Great leaders are always great communicators, but not always great speakers. Great leaders may not excel with a microphone, but they are able to communicate what is valued and what direction is being taken. Communication and leadership are intertwined and deeply connected. When leaders fumble in execution, culture formation, or rallying a team, the fumble is often in communication. Leadership mistakes are often synonymous with communication mistakes. Execution problems are often synonymous with lapses in communication. Here are three major communication struggles leaders should seek to avoid:
4 Ways to Multiply the Impact of Your VBS — Beth Howe
Vacation Bible School is often one of the most intense weeks in the life of a church. For many churches, it is the largest outreach event of the year. But if VBS ends for your church as soon as everything is cleaned up for next Sunday’s service, you’re missing out on a world of potential. No children’s minister wants to spend loads of money and countless hours preparing and leading VBS only to see everything go back to normal the next week. Churches need a follow-up plan. I’ve seen four follow-up methods multiply the benefits of VBS well beyond one short week in the summer.
5 Common Myths About Mobile Giving — Dean Sweetman
Myths can be based on some semblance of truth or have roots based in truth, but at the end of the day, a myth is still a false belief or idea. With that in mind, we thought we’d turn the light on a few myths that we hear commonly when it comes to mobile giving. Sound good? Ok, on with it…
The 5 C’s of Preaching — Jared Wilson
What are the basic elements of biblical preaching? How do you know you’re preaching a Christian sermon and not simply giving a religious or spiritual lecture? While I think gospel-centered expository proclamation is the best approach to fulfilling the biblical call to preach, this exercise could probably use some more filling out. And since preachers like alliteration and lists, I thought I might suggest a checklist reflecting what I propose to be the irreducible complexity of true Christian preaching. Next time you’re preparing a sermon, maybe keep these questions in mind. Or, after the next time you preach, share this list with your fellow elders or another team of trusted advisers and ask them to apply the questions to your delivered message.
4 Essentials for Spiritual Maturity — R. Kent Hughes
When the New Testament addresses spiritual maturity, it uses the common Greek word teleios, which means “perfect” or “complete.” When it is applied to Christian growth, it indicates spiritual maturity in contrast to childlike immaturity as, for example, in this command from Paul: “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature (teleioi).” (1 Cor. 14:20; see also Heb.5:13–6:1). Sometimes it indicates perfection, as in Jesus’ summary command in the Sermon on the Mount: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matt.5:48). Spiritually, it always references solid, biblically informed understanding and conduct in Christ—spiritual adulthood.
