Unhealthy egos have a way of choking a ministry. They inevitably turn attention toward the minister–and away from the message, away from the Body, and away from God. But unhealthy egos don’t always recognize they’re unhealthy. So, here’s a handy pocket guide to detect a toxic ego. You know your ego is out of control [...]

Larry loved teenagers. Everyone thought he was the perfect pick as the church’s youth minister. But he bombed. What happened? I remember when he came to town. He soon gathered a group of kids who connected with his personality. He spent lots of time with them, planned a full schedule of youth ministry events, and [...]

This week I listened to people who left their churches and never went back. I didn’t like their stories, for a couple of reasons. First, it was painful to hear of their wounds. Their reasons for leaving varied widely, from mistreatment to malfeasance to neglect. Then, it was agonizing to hear how none of them [...]

What do you do when your volunteers perform poorly? Many church leaders fumble when they see problems with volunteers. Some say or do things that injure volunteers. Most simply grit their teeth and do nothing. And the ministry suffers. Here are some volunteer-nurturing practices we’ve used successfully at <a href=”http://discover.lifetreecafe.com/”>Lifetree Cafe</a> locations across the country: [...]

”We are idiots. We are hypocrites,” said the prodigal pastor who rose to the heights of Christian stardom before scandal led to his banishment. Ted Haggard’s recent comments describe his view of today’s church in America. I interviewed him for an upcoming episode on temptation. He revealed some fascinating stories from his firsthand experience with [...]

Where do you go for ministry inspiration? Many people attend ministry events featuring seasoned ministry professionals. That’s fine, I guess. But I think it’s also one reason why the church in America is stuck. These keynote speakers—famous pastors, authors, theologians—are insiders. They’ve been marinated in the church as we know it. They know church routines—from [...]

During my lifetime, something strange and unsettling has infected the American church. It’s killing us. In some ways this thing is the flip side of the human weakness I addressed in the last blogpost–fear. But this other one is more unseemly. It is pride. For some, church ministry has turned from servanthood and tending the [...]

While our world aches to know God, many of our church leaders nitpick minutia. Only a small percentage of Americans claim a deep and transforming faith—a genuine relationship with God. The rest are missing out on the transformative friendship that Jesus offers. That relationship, that friendship, is not complicated. Jesus came to this earth with [...]

Most people don’t go to church. It just doesn’t fit them. But some people do attend church services regularly. How are these two groups different? That’s what we’ve been discussing in this series. So far, I’ve mentioned that church goers tend to be Audience-oriented and they embrace Anonymity. Now for the next descriptor that starts [...]

Have you ever noticed a common thread in sermon illustrations about encountering non-Christians? I just returned from a ministry conference. Headline speakers included high-profile preachers. And once again, I heard the familiar sermon illustrations. They begin with, “I wound up sitting next to this person on the airplane.” The stories invariably continue with confessions that [...]