Category: Blog
How to Begin with a New Discipleship Group
By Josh Patrick: This is the third part of a series on starting a discipleship group. To access previous blogs in this series, click here. We sat down with preacher and author Josh Patrick and asked him some basic questions about how Jesus made disciples. Here’s what he told us. […]
Innovate:NOW! Radical Generosity Recap
By John Poitevent: Our April Innovate:NOW! gathering focused on Radical Generosity. Church leaders from around the country gained valuable insight from stewardship experts and learned from the real-life experiences of pastors who have seen breakthroughs in giving. We received so much great feedback from Chris Willard’s opening talk on Creating a Culture […]
Why Busy Leaders Make Bad Leaders
by Carey Nieuwhof: Ask a lot of people how they are, and they’ll shoot you a single word answer: Busy. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that’s a pet peeve of mine. I hate it when people tell me they’re busy. What does that really accomplish in the first place? Nothing. How […]
How to Choose Persons For a Discipleship Group
by Bobby Harrington: This is the second part of a series on starting a discipleship group. To access previous blogs in this series, click here. We sat down with preacher and author Josh Patrick and asked him some basic questions about how Jesus made disciples. Here’s what he told us. […]
3 Components That Come Together in an Effective Sermon
by Brandon A. Cox: There are certain elements that must be included in every single sermon you ever preach. They are non-negotiable. To put it another way, every sermon you preach has three key components. Understanding them and helping them to play well together is half the battle of preaching […]
Unleashing Disciple-Makers
By Dhati Lewis: Unleashing Disciple-Makers When I was six, my dad told me, “Son, you have a God-given talent.” I just finished my first football game and had a good game. For better or worse, those words shaped my identity for years. I doubt he knew how significant they were. […]
Making Our Church the Same Age as Our Neighborhood
By Lee Kricher: Our church needed to make a tough decision. In the fall of 2003, I became Senior Pastor of Amplify Church, an evangelical church in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. Weekend attendance had been in steady decline for several years and was hovering around 200 people. We were on […]
Newsletter — May 2017
Church Planter Assessment Church Plant Equipment Thoughts My mom used to say, “Son, don’t be penny smart and dollar stupid.” Most church planters don’t have very deep pockets and are tempted to save a penny whenever they can. However, saving money on certain purchases will cost church planters in the […]
Horizontal Hostility: What Is It, Why Is It Killing the Church, and How to Fix It
by Rich Birch: Horizontal hostility is a sociological phenomenon used to describe infighting or factionalism within a minority movement. Rather than banding together, subgroups snipe and fight with each other. It’s that weird thing that happens in small subcultures – when outsiders look in, they can’t believe the groups fighting […]
Why Discipleship is the Core
by Bobby Harrington: Pastors and church planters have many tasks. We teach, preach, encourage, counsel, give pastoral advice, and generally build up the church. It is easy to get overwhelmed. We need clarity and focus. Thankfully, the Bible gives us those things. Our core job is to make disciples. The […]