God With Us

Last week I began to address the definition and purpose of values and why describing the values that shape your church is so important.  Values are the shared convictions a church holds to; they are the common heartbeat of a congregation that inform and drive the motivation for its missional and ministry activities. When describing…

Last week I attended the Midwest Leadership Conference in Springfield, IL with a few of our pastors. Like many conferences you go to, there are a few key statements you take away. One was, “Growing churches dream dreams, stagnant churches solve problems.” It is a good reminder that focus determines direction. What we set our…

This week is the fourth of four articles on the mission we share as an association which is: to be a network of churches who partner together for the gospel to reach the northland and the nations.  We accomplish this by pursuing four objectives: Equipping Leaders, Empowering Churches, Engaging Partnerships and fourth – Expanding the Kingdom. …

We all have heard of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient) that measure our intellectual acumen and ability to relate well to others. As important as these things can be, Jesus had another quotient he said was an identification mark of his disciples, that is, our love quotient.  In John 13:34-35 he said, “I…

Healthy Foundations – Prayer This week I share the sixth of nine targets for healthy churches – Prayer. The three targets under the category of Healthy Foundations are Gospel, Scripture, and Prayer. From the church’s beginning they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to prayer (Acts 2:42). As the disciples followed Jesus, they took…

I recently have been learning and teaching on the idea of resilience, i.e., the ability and strength to bounce back.  In life and in ministry we often experience the body slams of trouble and tribulation.  Jesus told us we would face these experiences but adds, “But take heart I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  …