Josh was one of the most zealous workers we'd seen at church, but I realized he was three steps beyond "weary in well doing" when I read his letter: "My walk with the Lord is nonexistent. I've allowed the pressure of church work to crowd out time with God. Now it seems impossible to get back in touch with him. We've also gotten seriously into debt, and I've been trying to do "ministry" while working ...
Lord, is having a staff a blessing? Or is it just a giant albatross around my neck? Should I fire them all?
I sat alone one night in a diner in East Orange, New Jersey, and prayed those silent but seeking questions. The staff of our combined church/community center had grown from three to twelve in just over two years, and I was now responsible for a whole new area of ministrymotivating and managing ...
Many leaders of smaller movements and organizations try to make all the decisions themselves, and under certain circumstances this approach works well. But such leaders almost always crash and burn as the organization grows; or alternatively, the organization itself collapses when the original leader ages or becomes ill or dies.
Even in small organizations there are compelling reasons why a leader ...
On Pentecost last year, 850 gathered for worship beneath an enormous yellow-and-white tent on a church lawn in Falls Church, Virginia. Folding chairs were arranged in roughly the same configuration as pews in a planned sanctuary to be built on that site.
It was Celebration Sunday at The Falls Church (Episcopal), and for the first time in recent memory, the whole congregation worshiped as one. The co-chairs ...
Whether standing tall, bowing low or falling on your face before the Lord, God deserves our honor and respect; and when we say "amen" to his will, amazing things happen.
This month, as we continue our study of how we worship, we're going to look at Nehemiah 8:6 and see what we can learn from the revival that took place there among the people of Israel as they began to worship.
The king asked, "Well, how can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, " If it please Your Majesty and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried." Nehemiah 2:4-5
An important leader in our church told me that his work schedule had stretched him to the limit and he didn't know what to do about his church commitments. ...