Articles
Understanding Church Decline Trends
The changes in the church have been so rapid that the latest reports are obsolete almost as soon as they have been published, but the overall trends are clear and striking. Church Decline Trends and the Rise of the “Nones” In 1945, 75 percent of American adults were...
Overcoming Decision-Making Cripplers
CSS Hunley was a submarine used in the 1800s. (Yes, you read that correctly!) It was named after its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley (ironically, he died in the test dives). The submarine became famous not only for being the first submarine in history to attack a...
The Art of Conversation
As Southerners, being sociable is in our DNA. As a southern girl, I was taught the art of conversation from an early age. As a southern grandmother, I’m serious about passing along what I’ve learned to our grandchildren. Why the Art of Conversation Matters A yearly...
All Occasions Invite His Mercies
Years ago, a friend of mine led a conversational ESL class for immigrant women in her town. She covered all the things you need to know to get established in a foreign culture. Registering kids for school, medical care, routes. How to grocery shop and cook with...
Walking With Jesus Through the Wilderness and Into Grace
Forty years ago on an early afternoon in October while driving on a North Carolina interstate, I turned to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. This past October, almost to the day 40 years later, I found myself driving that same NC highway. And in a very clear touch from...
Faith-Based Fit: What Every Business Should Know Before Targeting Churches
Marketing to churches can be a smart and rewarding move—but only if your product truly belongs in the faith-based space. The church market isn’t just another vertical to target with the same message you’ve used elsewhere. It’s a unique community built on trust,...
Becoming Pillars in the Church Through Suffering and Support
Will You Be a Pillar? A week after I preached my Platforms to Pillars sermon in London, I was leaving a speaking event, feeling exhausted after a brutal season of conflict, betrayal, and discouragement. On this trip, I had the privilege of catching up with other...
Freedom from the Pressure to Perform in Ministry
Have You Felt That Insidious Pressure to Perform? A poor man plodded toward home, bent under a heavy sack of potatoes. A wagon drew up beside him. “Climb aboard,” the driver said. The man climbed into the wagon, dragging his burden with him. He sat but continued to...
Are You Listening?
God created humans with one mouth and two ears. You might say it is a visual reminder that listening is more important than talking (although lips are generally easier to notice than ears!). This is an area I need to work on. I have this very annoying habit of...
Embracing ‘God Speed’ in a Fast-Paced World
Back in the 1970s, a Japanese theologian named Kosuke Koyama wrote a book called Three Mile an Hour God. In it, he draws out the idea that maybe the speed at which God moves is the speed at which he designed us to move. You see, a human being walks at three miles an...
In Awe of a God Who Moves
God can move anywhere into any space. Clean, unclean, secular, sacred, professional, social, and everywhere in between. There is no place that is immune to the presence of God moving through his people. God transforms mundane places into holy places. Chariots, upper...
Hegseth, RFK Jr., Rubio Join Bondi’s Christian Task Force
BREAKING 🚨 Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr, Marco Rubio and others join Pam Bondi announcing a Christian Task Force to ERADICTAE Anti Christian Bias ❤️ I am in tears. Christ is KING 🙏 pic.twitter.com/OIpftOw2Bt— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) April 22, 2025
The Meaning Behind the Torn Veil of Jesus
It’s Holy Week, the last days leading to Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Familiar moments this week include raising palm branches on Palm Sunday, washing feet on Maundy Thursday, entering a time of silence and sadness on Good Friday, and...
How to See the Face of God Today
Augustine once described the Scriptures as “the face of God for now,” and he urged us to “gaze intently into it.” What did he mean? You and I were each made to see the face of God, and every Christian heart longs to be able someday to look into the face of love...
How to Experience the Best Lent Ever
Lent often approaches us like a challenge to take on a Christianized form of New Year’s Resolutions, like it’s inviting us to a heroic stint of self-denial. But is that what Lent is about? Understanding the True Purpose of the Best Lent Ever I don’t think so. First of...
Creative Destruction: A Path to Church Renewal
Creative destruction is an act of dying so something new might emerge (Joshua Hayden, Creative Destruction: Towards a Theology of Institutions, 6). But how do we know what needs to die? Understanding Creative Destruction in the Life of the Church Central to our faith...
Embracing Childlike Faith in a Grown-Up World
If you’ve ever visited a playground to watch the sheer delight of children at play you might have observed the reality that a child’s joy isn’t centered on striving. Childlike joy flows from being present to the moment and simply receiving what is being given: a push...
Leading with God’s Timing
If we move fast enough and go hard enough, we just might reach the ridiculous goals we’ve set for ourselves. But just as New Coke didn’t win by getting out there fast and Jesus didn’t try to get there first, we won’t win with speed or haste if we are not anchored in...
The Power of Stewarding Resources Well
You have been given many wonderful resources—a spiritual health, mental health, physical health, meaningful work, financial resources, relationships, and more—all of which you are supposed to manage and steward. That process of taking control of your resources is what...
God’s Love Brings Hope in Pain
I am convinced that the greatest way to pour hope into your hurting heart is to sink deep into the love of God and to know—really know—the height, width, and depth of God’s tender love for you. When God’s love fills and overwhelms you, you know you are not alone and...
