The attic light is on now. We can see the dust. We can name the junk. We can even haul it out in black trash bags and stack it neatly on the curb. But if the foundation is cracked, you can repaint every room and still wake up one morning with a door that won’t close. That was the gift of The Light in the Attic  series—God’s Word turning on the switch so we could finally see what had been hiding in the rafters of the house we inherited. We found the “blueprint” again. We remem

Seven of Seven We have walked through the five-step cycle of renewal: Remind, Review, Refocus, Refine, and Reform.  It is a powerful pathway. But if we stop here—if we rely solely on our ability to execute these steps—we are in danger of repeating one of the most tragic failures in biblical history. The story of King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23) is the ultimate case study in the limits of human willpower. Josiah was the perfect reformer. He didn't just suggest change; he enforced i

The Six of Seven "You can win the war but lose the peace." Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr offered this warning to the Allied Forces after World War II. He knew that if the victors didn’t plan for a just and stable post-war world, conflict would inevitably return. His warning was a reminder of the failures of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919; the Allies technically "won" World War I, but they created conditions that led directly to the rise of Hitler and the devastation of WWII.

The Fifth of Seven He had no choice. To remain faithful to Yahweh, King Josiah was compelled to make the agonizing, unpopular decision to set the people of God right. He knew a fundamental truth: knowing the right thing must lead to doing the right thing—even when it is painful. And make no mistake: purging is always painful. With the covenant renewed and priorities refocused on God's Word, the next step in our journey of renewal is inevitable and intense: to Refine. This is

The Fourth of Seven When you look at yourself honestly and see the gap between where you should be and the place you now find yourself, you have a decision to make. You can look away and pretend everything is fine or you can decide to do something about it.  King Josiah looked into the mirror of God’s Word, he grieved the gap. But after grief there should be purposeful action. The third step in the renewal cycle is to Refocus . We must let God’s Word set our direction. No mat

The Third of Seven Never skip step one: Remind . It isn't enough to simply know who we are. We have to tell ourselves that story every day, and pass it on to the generation behind us. Identity can't just be a concept in our heads; it must live in our souls. Only when we are grounded are we ready for the second—and hardest—step: Review . We have to look our reality in the face. When the high priest’s secretary reads the newly discovered Book of the Law to King Josiah, his rea

THE SECOND OF SEVEN It’s not easy to look honestly at ourselves. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things we’ll ever do. True self-examination can be painful because it forces us to face uncomfortable truths — to see what we’ve become. And often, what we see is someone we don’t like, someone we never meant to be. So instead, we hide behind the image we project, believing our own carefully crafted propaganda. Yet, remember this. We are not the sum of our actions. It's not decid

THE FIRST OF SEVEN This is the first of a seven part blog series focused on church renewal. I believe I have some wisdom on this subject. I've served on staff of one church and been a pastor of three other churches for 22 years. In the pastorate, two of the churches were new and grew rapidly and prospered. The other church was a legacy church that had been losing a 100 people in attendance a year for seven years in a row (yes, -700 in seven years). Reminds me of the lean year

The tunnel was pitch black. The water rushing over my legs was ice cold. Our team of four crouched through the narrow space while holding...

You can believe the good news about the kingdom of God. You can trust in the king of this newly opened-to-us kingdom. Read more.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or...

The return of Jesus Christ is part of the sixth essential element of the Gospel of the Kingdom. “Don’t let your heart be troubled....

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV) “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into...

“As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all...

The first essential element of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the understanding and acceptance that we are all accountable to God.

Isn’t the Gospel of Jesus Christ the same as the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? The answer is "yes" and "no". Read more.

In the Fall of 1621, about 150 English settlers and Wampanoag natives in Plymouth, Massachusetts celebrated what we call Thanksgiving....

One day, the ministers’ kids in your church will be adults. What will they say when they reflect on their time at your church?

I have gained perspectives of ministry from several angles, and the need for ministers to be affirmed is great, but what about their wives?

God has been calling people to follow him from the beginning. But what does “calling” mean?

Are you ready to make a change? Is God calling you to something different? Here are seven tips for getting started.

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do; but it won’t take you anywhere.” – Unknown. “Don’t worry about...

“For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—...

It’s commonly agreed, in most contexts that the traditional ways of doing church no longer work.

Some might say that all I’m doing is providing some sort of moralistic therapeutic deism instead of Christianity.

Moving into the future successfully often involves doing things we did during a crisis that we would like to put down, but should.

There was a period of time in our church’s life where we had to stop doing some things that had been a staple for the church.

Popular culture pictures the Christmas season as a Hallmark movie. We could call it “The Hallmark Effect.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not...

The biblical character Joshua is a great example of an effective leader. Here are eight ways to grow as a leader in reflection on his life.

I discovered a practical principle from Scripture which the Apostle Paul used for determining where he was going next, what he was to do...

To help you in showing appreciation to your minister, I have concocted a quick and easy example guide to help you.

The ripple effect for evangelism is about the continual movement out through the church systematically emphasizing evangelism.

When a believer volunteers, they are giving an offering of themselves to God and God promises to reward them.

Church and ministry leaders have a perennial struggle in finding and keeping good volunteers. Let’s face it, without volunteers the...

The great power of the church is its faith and faith increases through prayer. Here are the 10 ways to promote prayer in your church.

We need to be aware and diligent in managing our self-talking, self-limiting, and self-judging. Know about your inner critic.

A few years ago I made a career transition from being a pastor to being a regional church planting director. I moved from direct ministry...

“No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what...

In this article, I want to give you five things that you can do that will encourage more baptisms and make these baptisms spiritual markers.