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6 Keys to Power Up Your Message With Video

You can move—or distract—your audience with video. The motion picture can help you drive home a point, or drive aimlessly into oblivion. I’ve seen churches make good use of video, and not so good use. I’ve watched the searing story of a faith-filled church member who was dying from a terminal illness. And I’ve sat [...]

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Odd Things Christians Say

Peculiar people. The apostle Peter used that term to address his people. After a couple thousand years, I guess we’re still peculiar. But I’m just not convinced that everything we do to differentiate ourselves from the rest of society really helps the cause. Some of our peculiarity comes from the jargon we love to use [...]

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How to Waken Comatose Listeners

The 30-minute lecture (a.k.a. sermon) anesthetizes the audience every week. As I reported in my last post, most people remember very little of the typical sermon after a few days. Few show any life change as a result of the oratory. Yet preachers keep following the same old protocol week after week. A pastor friend [...]

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Your Last Sermon: Memorable or Forgettable?

What was the point of the last sermon you heard? Over the years, I’ve interviewed church-goers on Wednesdays. I asked them what they remember from the previous weekend’s sermons. Their answers are pretty similar. I’ve seen little difference in their responses due to parishioner demographics, or church size. You can see what they said. Watch this brief [...]

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Are You Deep Enough?

“Your ministry (teaching, preaching, Bible studies, curriculum, small group, etc.) isn’t deep enough.” It’s a critique I hear from time to time. Not usually from participants. But from onlooking ministry leaders. I’ve wondered, what do they mean by “deep”? When I’ve probed, “deep” seems to mean dense information, lots of historical detail, many Bible verses, [...]

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Outsiders

Church Fugitives: In Their Own Words

This week in America, most people won’t step foot in a church. What are they thinking? I mean, really. What are they thinking? Where are they and why aren’t they in church? I’ve heard a lot of church leaders and members opine about these people and try to speak on their behalf. Then it dawned [...]

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Old-ways

Why Your Church Fights Change

For years people have told me the church is one of the most change-averse entities on the planet. Ministry people sometimes leave in frustration when their congregations beat down any proposed change. And lay people often flee from churches when they tire of the pastoral staff’s intransigence. It doesn’t seem to matter if the change [...]

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The Creativity Creed

I love creativity. And today’s church needs all the creativity we can muster. But for some, creativity has become a frilly idol. It has degenerated into a form of exhibitionism, elitism and cosmetic distraction. Ministry celebrities promote their creative philosophies and practices in conferences, books and speeches. “The church should be the most creative entity [...]

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Yank Out the Pews

The physical environment of your church says more about your ministry than you may realize. Smart people in the business world recognize the importance of “place.” Apple gets it. Starbucks get it. And McDonald’s is currently going through a billion-dollar makeover to attract and keep more customers. They’re nixing the garish colors, the steel seats [...]

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The Church’s Vanishing Young Adults

Where are the young adults? Well, they’re not in church. Today’s 18- to 29-year-olds are less inclined to attend church than earlier generations at this stage of life. But their views of the existence of God, life after death, and prayer closely resemble previous generations, according to the Pew Forum and other researchers. “Church is [...]

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