Church Matters
The Unraveling of Ministry as a Profession

The Unraveling of Ministry as a Profession

Ministry Challenges There is a place for visionary leaders and wise guides in both very large and very small communities. But the bifurcation of congregational sizes creates a world in which a small number of ministers have great autonomy, financial security, and even...

Missional Redevelopment: Transforming Church Properties

Missional Redevelopment: Transforming Church Properties

Steeples were designed to point to God. The concept of architecture reflecting theology and meaning is a relic from antiquity. The architectural elements of a classic church building are part of a centuries-old word picture summed up in the word “church.” “Church”...

Faith in the Midst of Doubt: A Pastor’s Journey

Faith in the Midst of Doubt: A Pastor’s Journey

“If you take my son, we’re done!” Drew screamed as he sobbed into the steering wheel of his car in the hospital parking lot. Drew had just come from the neonatal intensive care unit, where his son, Linden, lay in his mother’s arms. Linden had been born prematurely and...

Redefining Ministry Success: A Biblical Perspective

Redefining Ministry Success: A Biblical Perspective

I was devastated when one of my seminary students, a pastor of fifty-plus years, said, “I feel like neither my life nor my ministry has made any difference.” This thoughtful, kind, and intelligent man believed his efforts had been all for naught. Yet he had served his...

Discover Your Unique Prayer Style

Discover Your Unique Prayer Style

When I stepped down from the platform, a lady approached me. I knew what she was going to say. I had just finished an enthusiastic and biblical rationale for prayerwalking as an intercessory practice for our communities. I greeted her, and then she said it. “Janet, I...

Laboring with Purpose: A Pastor’s Insight into Faith at Work

Laboring with Purpose: A Pastor’s Insight into Faith at Work

WORK IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY many of us have for fulfilling the calling of Christ and his command to love our neighbors as ourselves. Reflect on that statement. What if every Christ-follower really believed that? Building sewage systems, creating businesses,...

Unlock Spiritual Growth: Embrace Bible Memorization

Unlock Spiritual Growth: Embrace Bible Memorization

Most Churches Ignore this Important Spiritual Discipline It felt like any other Sunday when pastor Levi Lusko stood in front of his congregation and asked them to turn in their Bibles to the book of James. While the sound of pages being flipped filled the auditorium,...

The Power of Prayer in Ministry

The Power of Prayer in Ministry

We have been in the ministry, David for more than 30 years, Maxie for more than 60. In every church we have served, the assumption was that if an area was growing then we should do more of it! Add another worship service! Expand the Sunday school! Do another Outreach...

Encountering God’s Love in Near-Death Experiences

Encountering God’s Love in Near-Death Experiences

Never in history, until now, have we been able to hear from so many people around the world brought back from clinical death. I believe NDEs are God’s gift to our globally connected world—widespread evidence of God’s reality and his great love for people of all...

Healing Hearts with Pet Therapy

Healing Hearts with Pet Therapy

As the founder of Canines for Christ, an international therapy dog organization with over 1,200 Spirit-filled volunteers, I have personally made thousands of visits with my therapy dogs over the years. I have seen the profound impact that therapy dogs have on people’s...

The Unraveling of Ministry as a Profession

The Unraveling of Ministry as a Profession

Ministry Challenges There is a place for visionary leaders and wise guides in both very large and very small communities. But the bifurcation of congregational sizes creates a world in which a small number of ministers have great autonomy, financial security, and even...

Missional Redevelopment: Transforming Church Properties

Missional Redevelopment: Transforming Church Properties

Steeples were designed to point to God. The concept of architecture reflecting theology and meaning is a relic from antiquity. The architectural elements of a classic church building are part of a centuries-old word picture summed up in the word “church.” “Church”...

Faith in the Midst of Doubt: A Pastor’s Journey

Faith in the Midst of Doubt: A Pastor’s Journey

“If you take my son, we’re done!” Drew screamed as he sobbed into the steering wheel of his car in the hospital parking lot. Drew had just come from the neonatal intensive care unit, where his son, Linden, lay in his mother’s arms. Linden had been born prematurely and...

Redefining Ministry Success: A Biblical Perspective

Redefining Ministry Success: A Biblical Perspective

I was devastated when one of my seminary students, a pastor of fifty-plus years, said, “I feel like neither my life nor my ministry has made any difference.” This thoughtful, kind, and intelligent man believed his efforts had been all for naught. Yet he had served his...

Discover Your Unique Prayer Style

Discover Your Unique Prayer Style

When I stepped down from the platform, a lady approached me. I knew what she was going to say. I had just finished an enthusiastic and biblical rationale for prayerwalking as an intercessory practice for our communities. I greeted her, and then she said it. “Janet, I...

Laboring with Purpose: A Pastor’s Insight into Faith at Work

Laboring with Purpose: A Pastor’s Insight into Faith at Work

WORK IS THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY many of us have for fulfilling the calling of Christ and his command to love our neighbors as ourselves. Reflect on that statement. What if every Christ-follower really believed that? Building sewage systems, creating businesses,...

Unlock Spiritual Growth: Embrace Bible Memorization

Unlock Spiritual Growth: Embrace Bible Memorization

Most Churches Ignore this Important Spiritual Discipline It felt like any other Sunday when pastor Levi Lusko stood in front of his congregation and asked them to turn in their Bibles to the book of James. While the sound of pages being flipped filled the auditorium,...

The Power of Prayer in Ministry

The Power of Prayer in Ministry

We have been in the ministry, David for more than 30 years, Maxie for more than 60. In every church we have served, the assumption was that if an area was growing then we should do more of it! Add another worship service! Expand the Sunday school! Do another Outreach...

Encountering God’s Love in Near-Death Experiences

Encountering God’s Love in Near-Death Experiences

Never in history, until now, have we been able to hear from so many people around the world brought back from clinical death. I believe NDEs are God’s gift to our globally connected world—widespread evidence of God’s reality and his great love for people of all...

Healing Hearts with Pet Therapy

Healing Hearts with Pet Therapy

As the founder of Canines for Christ, an international therapy dog organization with over 1,200 Spirit-filled volunteers, I have personally made thousands of visits with my therapy dogs over the years. I have seen the profound impact that therapy dogs have on people’s...

Helping Your Small Group Thrive

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