A tsunami of debris engulfed the city blocks surrounding the World Trade Center.  Just prior to this wave of debris, smoke rose in the New York City skyline as both towers were struck by hijacked commercial airliners on September 11, 2001.  Thousands attempted to escape the chaos of the enflamed buildings and surrounding area.  While... Continue Reading →

As a kid I waffled back and forth between wanting to be Superman or Spiderman.  Often my childhood home was bombarded by notorious villains that could only be defeated by either my man-of-steel strength or my spider-like agility and web-slinging ability.  After all, who does not want to be strong like steel, fast like lightning,... Continue Reading →

While the days may be uncertain for us, they are not uncertain for God.  As the Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1).  Because God is our very present help in trouble, “we will not fear, though the earth should change” or the shock of our... Continue Reading →

In 1925, Southern Baptists began the Cooperative Program to unite our resources for the furthering of the gospel.  Southern Baptist churches give a portion of their offerings to the Cooperative Program to fund both state and national convention work.  Over the years, thousands of missionaries have been deployed all around the world for gospel advancement;... Continue Reading →

Your church wants to partner well with missionaries and perhaps even knows with whom and where you will partner.  But how does a church go about enlisting people to go on short-term mission efforts?  Is it best to just open up the mission effort to any and all who want to go?  Are there some... Continue Reading →

Do we need to plant more churches or strengthen existing churches today? In other words, what should be the focus of our churches: plant new churches or revitalize/strengthen current churches? Healthy church formation is not about choosing between these two as if they are opposing options. (A church meets in a small building in South... Continue Reading →

“They had turned inward,” the pastor said with regret.  As I gathered with a group of pastors, AMSs, and church leaders from around Kentucky in Cincinnati recently to hear about ways their churches and associations can partner in the Queen City, one pastor in Cincinnati shared an all-too common story about his church.  When he... Continue Reading →

The time has finally arrived. The long drought is almost over.  Fall is just around the corner.  In fact, you can almost feel it in the air as the temperature and humidity have dropped in recent days.  No, I am not referring to the arrival of pumpkin spice latte or even pumpkin bread or pumpkin... Continue Reading →

The day of Stephen’s death was the day that a “great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1).  As the first known martyr of the Christian church, God used the “blood of martyrs as the seed for the church” (Tertullian).  As persecution spread, so too, did the early church and the gospel with... Continue Reading →

From time to time as I help churches develop their missions strategy that inevitably should involve church planting, the question is asked: "Do we need more new churches or for our existing churches to become healthier? The answer is simple. Yes! We need both. While I have written about the need for church planting, I... Continue Reading →