Most pastors agree on what spiritual health looks like. Christians should grow in holiness, love God’s Word, participate in the life of the church, give generously, serve faithfully, share the gospel, and invest in one another. The difficulty is not defining the goal, but ordering the life of the church so that members actually pursue […]

Polity can play a significant role in disciple making in the local church. Church polity—or simply the way a church is structured—can either hinder or motivate disciple making. Some traditions and denominations have a set structure they follow not only locally but also regionally, statewide, or nationally. In some faith traditions, a general council or […]

Searching Google for “the silent killer” reveals that high blood pressure is the most common answer. High blood pressure is a silent killer because it can go undetected and untreated, eventually leading to other health complications and hastening death. The CDC reports it as a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the two leading […]

A Calling You Can Blink Past I’m not sure I’ll ever stop asking where I’m meant to go or what purpose I’m called to serve. Over the years, I’ve learned it’s best to view a calling as content-specific rather than location-specific. For me, it’s never been about the age group I teach, the city I […]

Discipleship is both taught and caught. We need faithful teachers who open the Scriptures for us and living examples who show us what it looks like to follow Jesus. In Philippians 3:17, Paul exhorts the church, “Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example […]

I once stumbled upon an old well that was about 30 feet from an old farmhouse and 100 feet from a creek bottom. It seemed about 20 feet deep and 10 feet wide with brick walls and a brick opening. At the time, it had about two feet of crystal-clear water in the bottom, but […]

Your teenager has a secret life. It’s not all bad. Secret crushes, prayers, wishes, hopes, and ambitions are all normal for young people with optimism about the future and an appropriate desire to become their own person. However, some secrets should be revealed, not concealed. They may have secret insecurities, like questioning their salvation. They […]

If it’s true, and it is, that the first shall be last and the last first, there are going to be a lot of moms who wind up first in the ultimate line. My suspicion is that they’re going to have some fairly heavy crowns to cast before their Lord.

How can you love Jesus when you don’t see Him? How can you have a “personal relationship” with someone who is not physically present? When I was younger, I would pray that God would give me a dream where I was a disciple with Jesus. I wanted, just for a night, to be able to […]