April 11, 2010
Megachurches: A Year in Review
Kent Fillinger reviews 2009 megachurch and emerging megachurch data, highlighting attendance growth, senior minister trends, worship venues, multisite ministry, finances, and staffing pressures.
Series: Featured
April 11, 2010
Megachurches: The First 100 Days
Gene Appel’s early leadership at Eastside Christian Church helped spark renewed vision, compassion outreach, baptisms, and 39 percent worship attendance growth in 2009.
April 4, 2010
When God Prompts
When God Prompts His People Ahead of Need After Northside Christian Church raised money for clean water in Haiti, the devastating January earthquake revealed how timely that effort had been. George Ross reflects on the prompting of God’s Spirit and the comfort of knowing God sees needs before they are spoken. Northside Christian Church’s One Less Gift effort raised more than $62,000 for clean water in Haiti. The church’s chosen mission was already connected to Haiti before the earthquake struck. Ross points to Scripture to show how God often prepares his people ahead of future needs. By George Ross As
April 4, 2010
Living Simply Isn”t So Simple
Jim Herbst reflects on the messy, humbling work of pursuing financial simplicity, discovering that faithful steps toward generosity and contentment can still make life healthier.
The Fasting Track: Sixteen Great Reasons to Fast
Victor M. Parachin offers 16 reasons fasting remains a meaningful spiritual discipline, connecting prayer, compassion, self-denial, generosity, and renewal with the example of Scripture and Christian history.
April 4, 2010
Good Friday: On Being Human
John E. Wasem reflects on Jesus’ words “I’m thirsty,” showing how the cross reveals Christ’s full humanity, deep suffering, and compassionate identification with human need.
March 28, 2010
Brave a New Ethical World
Mark S. Krause considers medical marijuana, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and the need for Christians to face emerging ethical questions with biblical wisdom rather than slogans.
March 28, 2010
The Blessings of Scarcity
By Stephen Bond I meet for lunch every month with four other senior pastors who serve in my community. I”m surprised by the openness of each pastor in sharing the unique hurdles and challenges his church faces. But one challenge we”ve all wrestled with in the past two years is finances. The economic downturn has affected our churches in different degrees””but we”ve all felt the crunch. In our state, Nevada, unemployment hovers near 13 percent. When people don”t have jobs, it often means they don”t have money to support their local church. This inevitably affects the financial resources churches have
Building Bonds Between Elders and Ministers (Part 2)
By Bob Russell In 1965, Butch Dabney served as chairman of the pulpit committee for the newly established Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. A few months before I was asked to preach a trial sermon, Butch approached the president of Cincinnati Bible Seminary and asked for the names of young preachers who had the potential to grow with the church. Butch said, “We want to hire a young man and we”re going to make him successful.” That phrase describes the attitude elders should have toward their preacher: one of their primary functions is to help make the preacher successful.
March 21, 2010
Building Bonds Between Elders and Ministers (Part 1)
Mark A. Taylor reflects on discouragement, brokenness, and the hope Christians have because Jesus promised both trouble in this world and victory beyond it.
March 21, 2010
Ask Yourself Some Questions Before You Fire
Ken Swatman offers pastors and church leaders a careful process for evaluating staff concerns before making the difficult decision to terminate a ministry employee.
March 21, 2010
When You Feel Like Giving Up, Giving In, or Getting Out
Rick Grover offers honest encouragement for ministers facing discouragement, reminding leaders to remember their call, keep their eyes on the goal, and stop trying to serve alone.
Christian Colleges, 2009-10 (chart)
View the 2010 Christian College Chart with attendance and faculty figures, income and expenditures, contact information, and more for 35 affiliated colleges.
March 14, 2010
Here”s What”s Happening at Our Christian Colleges
Colleges and seminaries associated with Christian churches and churches of Christ share updates on leadership transitions, new programs, campus projects, missions, online learning, and ministry training.
March 14, 2010
Friendship Matters
Kelly Kastens reflects on why spiritual friendship matters, especially for Christian leaders who need trusted companions marked by honesty, vulnerability, prayer, and a shared desire to become more like Christ.
March 7, 2010
Balancing Grace and Truth with Homosexuals
Darrel Rowland profiles Kent Paris, founder of Nehemiah Ministries, and his call for churches to respond to homosexuality with grace, truth, humility, and pastoral care.
March 7, 2010
How to Help
Darrel Rowland considers how churches can respond before crisis comes, helping leaders face hidden same-sex struggles with honesty, accountability, and Christlike care.
March 7, 2010
Searching for Causes of Homosexuality
Kent Paris offers a historical and pastoral overview of homosexuality, counseling, family dynamics, and ministry care, arguing that church leaders should understand the complexity behind same-gender struggles.
March 7, 2010
Our Ministry to Gays and Lesbians
James C. Donovan reflects on the pastoral challenge of ministering to gays and lesbians while holding biblical convictions about sexuality, church fellowship, grace, truth, and unity.
March 7, 2010
God Intends Church Growth
By Stephen Bond “I will build my church . . .” (Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18) God intends church growth. We know this because there are still people who have not yet embraced God”s grace through faith in Christ. Those people face the specter of eternal separation from the Heavenly Father. Jesus came to seek and to save these lost people. This is not the only message Jesus brings, but it is one of the most important. At the age of 21, I opened the Bible for the first time and discovered a world of truth I had never known.
