June 30, 2026
Think Discipleship
A reflection on Real Life Ministries, small groups, and how intentional leaders, relational environments, and reproducible processes can move people from spectators to mature disciple-makers.
Articles for tag: Spiritual Maturity
November 6, 2025
Ministry Is About Relationships
At The Solomon Foundation, we believe that ministry is all about relationships. We invest in them with both individuals and with churches. We have no desire to be your bank; we want to be your ministry partner.
November 5, 2025
For the One: A Call to Radical Alignment
The Great Commission isn't a random utterance of Jesus. It's the marching orders for the church that still stand today, including you and your church.
November 5, 2025
Taking the Gospel Back to Post-Christian Europe
What if the next great move of God isn’t coming from Europe but is going back to it? At ONE&ALL Church in Southern California, we’re preparing to send hundreds of young adults to replant the gospel in the very lands that once sent it to us.
10 Reasons to Send a Student to Christian College for a Year
David Fincher writes, "I have met innumerable donors, volunteers, lifelong ministers, and other Christian leaders who have this in common: They attended a Christian college planning to stay only for a year, and the experience changed their lives for the better. . . . Here are 10 reasons for encouraging your loved one to commit to attending a Christian institution for at least one year."
November 8, 2021
Nov. 14 | Discovery
What warnings does the writer give to people who remain in their spiritual immaturity and don’t grow up?
November 1, 2020
Blame the Leaders? (Nov. 8 Lesson Application)
This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Nov. 8, 2020: Appoint Godly Leaders (Titus 1:5-11) ________ By David Faust In an episode of the TV comedy The Office, regional manager Michael Scott makes his priorities clear. He tells his boss from the Dunder Mifflin corporate office, “I want the credit without any of the blame.” Blameless appears twice in Paul’s description of godly elders (Titus 1:6-7). If being blameless requires moral perfection and flawless decision-making, no one qualifies except Jesus. Noah was “blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God,” yet he had some less-than-stellar moments
September 22, 2020
5 Lessons from a Flea
By Megan Rawlings The Black Death was caused by bacterium and was initially spread by fleas. Starting in Asia (most likely), it spread to Eurasia and North Africa in the mid-1300s, and eventually the plague killed up to one-quarter of the world’s population in about four years. At least 100 million people died. And to think, it was spread by a pest barely visible to the eye. I will spare you the details, but the symptoms of this virus were devastating, and death usually occurred only weeks, sometimes days, after the first symptoms. It was not uncommon for the ill
Children’s Ministry Reexamined
By Rick Willis “I can’t do that. . . . I’m oriented to leading adults.” The children’s ministry coordinator at Southern Heights Christian Church in Lebanon, Missouri, was recruiting volunteers for a new rotational program on Sunday mornings, and he had challenged me—a man in his 60s—to get involved with the 2- to 5-year-olds. The concept was new to us: one hour of continuous activity broken down into 15-minute segments (or stations), with kids rotating from a lesson, to crafts, to snacks, and to music. Two people would lead the children from room to room, with volunteers at each station
October 7, 2019
Lesson for Oct. 13, 2019: Persevere Through Growth (2 Peter 1:3-11)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 11 (weeks 41-44; October 13—November 3, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ________ Lesson Aim: Add to your faith so that you grow and do not fall. ________ By Mark Scott Chuck Swindoll wrote a book entitled Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. Sometimes the Christian life seems that way. But, even if that is the case, the believer is one step closer to
July 22, 2019
Lesson for July 28, 2019: Enough! (Colossians 2:9-15, 20-23)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 8 (weeks 29-31; July 21–August 11, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ________ Lesson Aim: Praise the Lord because Jesus has freed us from our sin-slavery and given us new life. _______ By Mark Scott Some believers simply grow old in Jesus instead of growing up in Jesus. The epistles are intended to help us grow up in Christ. They function as the biblical
July 1, 2019
Lesson for July 7, 2019: Speak Up by Being Different (Philippians 3:7-21)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 5 (weeks 25-28; June 23–July 14, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Speak up by living with Christ’s values. ______ By Mark Scott In many ways, believers are similar to unbelievers. Both are made in God’s image and therefore have dignity and worth. Both are fallen due to sin and therefore have need of redemption. But they are also very different.
May 20, 2019
Changing the Scorecards
What statistics really count in the church? Baptisms? Attendance? Or something much more vital? By Jim Putman I have been in many meetings over the years with so-called âbig dogsâ in the American Christian world . . . and I have left these gatherings feeling very dissatisfied. These meetings often sound spiritual and may even come from good hearts, but they often leave me feeling like something big was missed. The purpose of meeting usually is good: How do we win people to Jesus? Most everyone acknowledges our culture is falling apart, that many Americans are leaving the faith and
January 29, 2019
The ‘Package Deal’: How to Choose a New Church Leader and His Wife
By Melissa Brandes After many months, the search committee finally zeroes in on their top choice for pastor. The formal interview goes very well. He seems a perfect fit. “Trial sermon” Sunday arrives. He preaches a solid biblical message with a great application. Later that afternoon, church leaders’ spouses take the potential pastor’s wife out for coffee while the men go boating on a lake. That evening, an elder asks his wife about the candidate’s spouse, but she hesitates. “She’s interesting,” the elder’s wife finally says, but not enthusiastically. “I guess she’s pleasant enough. Honestly I just don’t know her
January 3, 2019
How to Deal Effectively with Difficult People
By David Roadcup How we react to difficult people and their behavior is a test of how well we’ve implemented Scripture’s relational principles. The Word tells us how to respond when difficult situations present themselves. Effective leaders follow the teachings of patience, forbearance, self-control, careful thought, and action. When called upon to deal with a difficult person, our patience and forbearance will be strengthened as we do the right thing in dealing with those who need help. Dealing with difficult people is always a stretching experience. As James 1:2-4 instructs us, difficult situations, especially those prompted by difficult people, prompt
SPOTLIGHT: Mosaic Christian Church, Elkridge, Maryland
“Spiritual maturity is baptizing a friend.” By Justin Horey Ask most any person at Mosaic Christian Church in Elkridge, Maryland, “What is the most important thing at Mosaic,” and there’s a good chance they will tell you, “It’s when we baptize someone.” MCC is just nine years old (the church will celebrate its 10th anniversary this fall). In that brief time, Mosaic has baptized more than 500 new believers. Church planter and lead pastor Carl Kuhl said the reason is simple: “At Mosaic, a ‘win’ is baptism.” For the past few years, Kuhl and his staff have set a
May 12, 2017
A Picture of the Future
By Randy Gariss A sage wryly commented, “All predictions are difficult to make, but especially those about the future.” He is right, of course, but can you imagine the empowerment if we were able to accurately see the future? For example, what if the junior high teen, distraught over his gangly appearance, could only get a glimpse of the composed, mature young adult he would someday be? Wouldn”t that picture diffuse much worthless worry? Or consider the impact a peek into the future could have on the young couple working through that first rough year of marriage””each of them going
January 24, 2016
Protecting Your PK
By Angela Sanders I am a minister”s wife. I have the scars to prove it, but my children don”t. Not because they didn”t see. Not because they didn”t hear. Not because we lied to them. We didn”t. Hunter and Hope came through an enemy attack on their family by church members with their optimism, faith, and desire to serve the body intact. This was possible only because a few who had successfully waded through the murky waters of vocational ministry ahead of us were selfless enough to take us by the hand and teach us to survive and thrive””and maintain
December 30, 2015
Meditating on Love: December 30
By Becky Ahlberg Wednesday, December 30 Read 1 Corinthians 13 through the lens of Christmas. Verses 1-3 can sum up much of our problem with the whole Christmas season: it is filled with busyness and observances that are often void of “the real meaning of Christmas.” Why? Because they “do not have love.” How many gifts did you give out of obligation? How many parties did you attend because it wouldn”t look good to miss them? I hope you were able to do plenty of things that were filled with love. That is what keeps the season overflowing with love
August 29, 2015
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
By Michael C. Mack “Pete, I”m leaving the church.” “I sat still, too stunned to respond,” says Pete Scazzero, founder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York, and author of several books, including The Emotionally Healthy Church. “When a church member says, “˜I”m leaving the church,”” Scazzero continues, “most pastors don”t feel very good. But when your wife of nine years says it, your world is turned upside down.” Scazzero says while he was a successful senior minister by external measures, he was emotionally immature, “a workaholic for God and failing at home as a husband and father.”
