Category: CHURCH & MINISTRY
A Woman of the City, Who Was a Sinner
I once spoke to a woman who thought that she did not need forgiveness from God. Her justification was that she did not do all the bad things other people were always doing. She didn’t use foul language, she didn’t get drunk every weekend, and she...
A Tale of Two Cindys
A few years ago, two women began attending the same local church at roughly the same time. Although these women didn’t know each other, they shared striking similarities. Both came from abusive backgrounds, both were substance abusers, both were unmarried but living in sexual immorality, and...
What If Churches Started Churches?
I’ve been in some churches that should not take the advice I’m about to give. They are much too weak, or sinful, or distorted in their beliefs and practices to be in the business of starting anything. It would be better for them to concentrate on...
What Do You Do With Immorality?
When the apostle Paul heard that there was immorality in the Corinthian church, he was shocked. The brand of immorality was of such a kind that the sensibilities of the pagan world would even be offended—”a man has his father’s wife”. But his amazement was mostly...
Wearing Your Own Jersey and Being Unlike Mike in the Body of Christ
“Compared to the talented people in my church, I’m worthless. Maybe I should just stay home. They don’t really need me.” Have you ever thought like that? In a church culture that highlights certain gifts (like speaking) above all others, such feelings are common. Paul uses...
What to Ask Myself Before I Teach the Bible
The results of our teaching are entirely God’s business. But it is our business to be as prepared as possible. This not only means that we must know our subject, but that we must be spiritually-minded and intentional. The following are questions to ask yourself before...
What Should We Do At Sunday’s Meeting?
I love a good sermon, don’t you? But if the sermon is biblical and helpful at the church’s main weekly meeting (typically Sunday), does that make the gathering a success? Not necessarily. It’s possible that we have emphasized the sermon so much at the church’s main...
What if You Were Preston’s Teacher?
His Sunday school teacher just might have driven him to crime. When seven-year-old Preston Scarbrough woke up early one Sunday morning in July 2009, he just didn’t want to go to church. He slipped out of the house while his family slept, got in the car...
When Your Church is Not the Biggest in Town
These are days of “largeness” and, admittedly, I have bought into the hype. Let me explain: Normally when my wife and I go out on a date, we eat at a restaurant, but there are certain eateries that I refuse to frequent. Why? Because their servings...
The Theology of Coloring
I learned how to teach Sunday school from the women who taught me as a child. We’d go to class, sing a few songs, repeat a memory verse, listen to a Bible story with a moralistic application and then get out the big box of broken,...
