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Don’t get me wrong: apologetics are important. From the launch of the Church in Acts 2, Christians have proclaimed the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and why He deserves our attention. In Peter’s breathtaking speech to his fellow Jews in Acts 2 following the otherworldly outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he appeals to recent events that everyone was aware of: “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through hi

People can abuse power in a non-profit organization or on a church board, around a dinner table or in a street gang. Or in a marriage. Face it: power is that mouth-watering addiction to being in charge. Power is abusive when it slips into control. The greatest picture we have of power used correctly is God Himself: He created beings with free will who could choose to love and obey Him or not. Try to imagine the Chief of New York City’s Finest standing by, with all his availab

Let’s start with the obvious: Churchplanting is not for the fainthearted. You’re welcome. If you’re in ministry, whether just starting or a long-suffering veteran, you’ve heard the stories: the bright, blazing success stories where the graph shoots high and to the right…and the blighted burnouts that didn’t quite make it to the fabled two-year mark. If you’re caught somewhere in that spectrum, you know the emotional toll that continuum creates. When my wife and I stumbled int

The Integrity value is one of four key elements we’ve identified as being absolutely essential for the health and effectiveness of any church or organization. The Integrity (or “Earth”) element is particularly relevant in the areas of your church that have become “emergent.” By “emergent,” we’re not referring to the movement of self-described postmodern, post-evangelical churches, but rather using the term drawn more narrowly from the social sciences and the study of group be