10 Foolish Obstacles to the Foolishness of Preaching
God chose the foolishness of Gospel preaching to save them that believe (1 Cor. 1:21). The Gospel message is foolishness to the world. But so is the Gospel medium – preaching. Who in their right mind would choose a regular 30-45 minute monologue from one sinful man to many sinful hearers to communicate the most important message in the world?
God would and did.
And he did it knowing that this method of communication would upset many people and cause them to find many foolish reasons for not listening.
6 things that make your craveable as a church leader
- Make your words appetizing.
- Don’t be easily offended.
- Be open to others’ ideas. When someone suggests things that are different than yours, you should welcome them, not criticize or become defensive, rather praise them for their creativity.
- Never gossip or speak ill of others.
- Look for opportunities to be generous!
- Don’t be high maintenance!
What Your Silence Tells Others
For extroverts, finding silence during a week is very important even though silence is not their natural leaning. For introverts, finding silence is easy since they prefer less stimulation on any given day.
For both groups, silence speaks volumes. It tells others any number of things about them and how they approach work. It also is subjectively interpreted by those around the leader.
So communal worship is about coming together in order to worship. It is coming together to continue worshiping. It is to come together to share in the death of Jesus in communion. It is to praise God. It is to be inspired and motivated to leave worshiping.
Christians do not come to worship, or leave worship. We are worship.
The Miracle Model of Youth Ministry
The core of what we do cannot be the thrill. Crosses aren’t very thrilling and neither is washing feet. What is more, I am sure Jesus would have much rather thrilled the crowd by calling a legion of angels instead of having soldiers pound nails into his hands. Needless to say, this type of ministry undermines what discipleship is all about and leaves teens woefully unprepared for life in the real world.
5 Things Every Daughter Needs to Hear From Her Dad
- You are beautiful and you are loved.
- Your mother is beautiful and she is loved.
- You belong to God and were created for his glory.
- You are forgiven.
- You are accepted.
40 Great Church Websites of 2013
Maybe God wants your website to be simple yet effective. Maybe you need to try something radical that’s never been done before. Maybe you don’t need a website. The point is if you have any leading from the Holy Spirit, obey it even if the experts call you crazy.
At the same time, it helps to get ideas and inspiration from what others are doing in the Kingdom. To aid in this part of the process, here are 40 great church websites worth checking out in 2013.
‘Harry Potter’ Is Getting New Covers
Kibuishi said he designed the covers thinking, “If I were the author of the books—and they were like my own children—how would I want them to be seen years from now?” Well, judging by the first cover Scholastic has released, he’d want them to be seen with significantly more Hagrid than the original cover has.