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Sometimes, people become too dependent on one or more leaders among the church. Sometimes people expect leaders to do specific tasks or answer certain types of questions. This kind of dependency is not healthy for the leaders or for others. In his post “Raising Up Leaders in House Church,” Keith at “subversive1” offers some good advice when this is happening. Keith’s post is actually ...

We disagree. It’s a fact of life. If you spend time with someone else, you will find something that you disagree with them about. For too long, the church has allowed disagreements that are not gospel related to separate brothers and sisters in Christ from one another. In his prayer in John 17, Jesus said that the world would know that the Father sent him because of our unity. I wonder what our disunity tell...

This morning, I was minding my own business when I ran across a new post by Dave Black. Once again, in a few sentences, he directly expresses something that I’ve been trying to express for months – maybe years. In my previous post, I wrote that life in Christ together as the church is not about being perfect. Instead, it’s about continually changing and maturing as we seek Christ together. Dave&#...

Last week, I read a great story by Chad at “Captain’s Blog.” The post is called “The Forgiveness and Reconciliation Train.” I don’t want to say too much about this story. It’s filled with heartache and pain, and forgiveness and love. Plus, it’s a story about giving up something that’s important in order to care for and demonstrate the love of God to someone els...

I recently ran across a blog written by someone named “Little Miss Blogger.” The blog is called “Shawnee Home Church,” and the “Our Story” and “About Home Church” tabs offer some great information about this group of believers. For this post, I want to point you to an article on that blog called “When Kids Do House Church…” To be honest, I get very ...

(Please don’t get tripped by the title of this post. This post is not about the use of titles like “pastor.” I don’t like titles either, but many among the church use them. And, in the post below, one of the people uses that title…) Joe (JR) at “More than Cake” wrote an excellent post recently called “Paparazzi Pastors Leading a Celebrity Church.” In his post, ...

Have you ever looked back at your life (perhaps to the recent past) and realized that you missed an opportunity that God had given you to serve someone? Unfortunately, that happens to me often. Many times, I try to justify the missed opportunity, but in reality it is just that: a missed opportunity. I thought about many of those missed opportunities when I read a post by Bobby at “Deconstructing Neverland...

Most of you know that I’m currently in a PhD program. Actually, I’m in the last stage of that program: writing my dissertation. My PhD mentor is Dave Black. For those who are considering entering a PhD program, I must caution you to consider who you choose as your PhD mentor very carefully. That person will (probably) have a great influence on your life. Hopefully, your mentor will influence you academ...

Dan at “Cerulean Sanctum” has been writing some very good posts lately. His latest is no exception: “The Spirit-Led Church Is the Only Real Church.” It seems like Dan makes two points in this post. First, he’s saying that it’s possible to do certain activities without the involvement of the Holy Spirit. Second, he’s saying that a “real church” (as demonstrated ...

When it comes to sermons, people (especially preachers) tend to apply alot of “God-language” to them. But, in reality, all of the language about the centrality of Scripture or the work of the Holy Spirit through both preparation and delivery are not specific to sermons or lectures. The same is true of other types of speaking/teaching. But, there is one thing that surveys and tests have consistently sho...