Jan 28, 2019 | Church Matters, Pastor's Life, Perspectives
I’ve yet to meet a pastor who wants 2019 to be labeled by their church as the “Year Of Blah.” Yet you know the struggle it can be for our congregants to attend regularly, or–especially–to engage. I’ve noticed something significant among churches I’ve worked with this...
Jan 25, 2019 | Personal Development, Perspectives
“If we had more prayer and less selfishness, our world would be much better.” A person I have known and respected for many years wrote that simple sentence to me in an email the other day, and for some reason it really resonated with me: More prayer and less...
Jan 23, 2019 | Personal Development, Perspectives
What would you do if you knew you only had six months to live? That question confronted me during a recent close brush with death. A blood clot had formed in my lungs. I filled a tiny red notebook provided by the hospital with thoughts on how to leave nothing...
Jan 22, 2019 | Perspectives, Podcast, Refreshment
At Canaan we are trying to live into our tagline “the church where love makes the difference,” which we have found to be a very dangerous statement. Christians often tell people we love them before we have ever lived with, listened to, or learned from...
Jan 21, 2019 | Perspectives
Most people believe in an afterlife. And in most cases, this belief involves a good place and a bad place. If you’re a good person, and you embrace the right beliefs, you go to the good place. If you’re not, and you don’t, you go to the bad place. Seems simple enough....
Jan 14, 2019 | Family, Perspectives, Podcast
It’s no surprise that students need to spend daily time alone with God. And its also no surprise that a student’s relationship with God can improve if they would just spend some time cultivating that relationship through reading the bible and praying....
Jan 11, 2019 | Family, Perspectives, Podcast
You’ve heard it said many times before. You’ve likely even said it to yourself. “Don’t sacrifice your family for your ministry.” You know it’s true, but you continue to struggle with the implementation. It’s not just about the preaching and teaching, but...
Jan 11, 2019 | Personal Development
Jesus Christ is the essence of true beauty. When God created the earth, He created it by, in, and through His Son, the Lord Jesus (Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2–3). For this reason, the universe is brimming with beauty and elegance. For this reason, everything...
Jan 8, 2019 | Perspectives
The American church has, in practice, converted some principles away from their original meaning. Particularly, it seems the ideal of volunteering has replaced true giving. To make my point, let’s convert a few well-known verses to how they’re being played out in...
