It is funny how God prepares you for life. I remember my last year at graduate school. It was before my first call to serve Berea in...

Stacey Kramer offers a moving, personal, 3-minute parable that shows how an unwanted experience — frightening, traumatic, costly — can...

Christmas Devotion 2017 Opening Hymn: O Tannenbaum O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter. Du grünst nicht nur zur...

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when...

The Fear Factor in Church Planting As we begin this journey to launch a church multiplication movement, it would be irresponsible not to...

How do we improve in the face of complexity? Atul Gawande has studied this question with a surgeon’s precision. He shares what he’s found...

The Week Ahead: The video post for Monday is focused on the power of coaching.  I have been coaching ministry leaders for over ten years...

Several years ago, I tried to start a grassroots movement in my church body to help churches multiply new churches to better reach new...

There’s something amazing growing in the city of Detroit: healthy, accessible, delicious, fresh food. In a spirited talk, fearless farmer...

The Week Ahead: St. Nicholas, otherwise known as Santa Claus, has been abolished by Roman Catholic officials with one majestic sweep of...

Looking back in time I remember vividly embarking on my professional career.  Newly armed from all the training to debate theology with...

A manger at night with bright glowing lights. 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his...

When artist Damon Davis went to join the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after police killed Michael Brown in 2014, he found not only...

The Week Ahead and in review. Danger Inside! Could it be that we should put a sign on the doors of our churches: Danger Inside!? Then the...

After spending nearly fifteen years working is high-density urban areas the shift to rural America was a culture shock.  In the city,...

Empty tomb with three crosses on a hillside. There are some chapters in the Bible that have no rival for the level of importance they...

The role of the leader is not to do it all but instead to prepare others to participate in the ministry.  Every leader goes through three...

The combined market capitalization of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google is now equivalent to the GDP of India. How did these four...

The Week Ahead: As we move into the Christmas season, we shift our focus from Thanksgiving to joy.  Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis about...

This post is a summary of a presentation I gave at a teacher’s conference in the fall of 2017. The presentation was on what do...