Commentaries Archives

My First Mercy Medical Trip

I didn’t always like the food. I wasn’t always clean or comfortable. One of my team members snored. But you know what? It was okay. It was better than okay—it was fantastic.

Wounds, Scars and Bloody Death in the City: A Good Friday Reflection

- Her first day as our deaconess fieldworker, she rushed to the HUD facility on our campus to come to the aid of an elderly woman who slipped in the…

Early in any stage of revitalization, reorganization, reinvigoration or whatever you want to call it, it is easy to have that sense of excitement. There is urgency in your work and little victories seem like great triumphs. And then, time wears on.

Missing Easter

It is easy to unintentionally miss celebrating Easter in the midst of our busyness. Fortunately for us, God’s grace and mercy never miss us.

7 Leadership Lessons Learned as Gathering Media Director

Organizational and team leadership lessons learned during the 2013 Gathering planning cycle

Being the Remnant Church: Take Your Stand in the Land

Membership, financial resources, and influence are in decline, even steep decline, in many congregations. Now fewer people with fewer resources and less influence remain to do what the larger, more prosperous, and more favored church failed to do ...

The Blessing of Interns Part II: 7 tips for using a vicar or intern in youth ministry

7 tips for using a vicar or intern to work in your youth ministry setting.

The Leadership Disconnect

What would happen if we intentionally planned out our congregation’s work and set about raising up those leaders which God has placed in our midst? Imagine the possibilities!

A Church Planting Movement

It may sound cliche, or like a sales job, but does the church need a church planting movement?

The Blessings of Interns: 5 reminders for congregations receiving a vicar or intern this summer

We pray for God’s blessings upon this next season of learning for the many interns heading out to serve and offer these tips and reminders.

Being the Remnant Church: Embrace God’s Purpose for the Remnant

The purpose of the Remnant Church is to bear witness of Jesus in our world so that others would come to faith just as we have. God's purpose in doing this through a remnant is that we would give Him the honor, praise, and glory that is due Him.

Being the Remnant Church: “Don’t Go to Egypt”

Being the Remnant Church is a call to the Cross ... Our Savior's urgent plea for His Remnant Church -- for our sake as well as for the sake of those who are perishing around us -- is "Don't go to Egypt."

ALMA Conference Devotion, Jan. 30, 2015, “Loving the Unloveable of the World”

“…spur one another on toward love and good deeds...” we are told by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. Stirring someone on to serve in good deeds is a noble task and can be achieved by the Law. But to the love the unloveable, that can only come from Christ's love for you, and is motivated by the Gospel. And it is only by a living, active faith, in love, that a good deed can truly be called good.