-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
George Lucas’ Star Wars, Episode VII movie (Disney) has set record sales. You probably saw the movie. The Snowden men all gathered over Christmas and saw it. And it certainly got me wondering if science fiction does more than entertain. A research project published in Science refuted thinking that literary fiction was a waste of … Continue reading
Experiences bring more joy than things you own. Family vacations, mission trips, Christian concerts, and, yes, lively discussion in a Bible study over time become more precious than things you own. My wife and I tackled a major downsizing this past month. We conducted an estate sale and jettisoned sofas, a bedroom suit, at least four entire shelves of … Continue reading
A contrast in missionary work was recently brought to my attention. A missionary-sending group we’ll call Agency A in one year trained their 4,000 missionaries who trained another 21,000 workers who went out and began 14,000 churches. In other words, 4,000 got 14,000 churches started. In the same year with roughly the same number of … Continue reading
Nik Ripken is a 30-year missionary veteran and author of The Insanity of God and The Insanity of Obedience. It was a pleasure hosting Nik and his wife Ruth for a 3-day conference called Servants in the Crucible. Some 55 of us gathered in Springfield, Mo. He often slipped into Bible Storying mode and much of … Continue reading
The Orality Movement has brought serious change for evangelism, discipleship, and leader training. Even church planting and missions has changed, creating new roles, and ministries — like mine! Churches connect with me all the time asking how to bring change without (a) getting them fired and (b) to make disciple-makers. The last TruthSticks Training was … Continue reading
The email said, “Mark, we’d like you to address this topic: ‘Are We Training Our Pastors Wrong?’” Now, there’s a good way to alienate yourself from godly men you have served alongside for several decades! At least I was able to add, “Or How Can We Train Pastors More Effectively?” (The link goes to the … Continue reading
A farmer spent years teaching his son how to plow, plant, and harvest. Through years the farmer grew old. By 1947, the man was a grandfather and his son now had a boy of his own. Together, the two men watched the son plow by himself for the first time. By the middle of the … Continue reading
After interviewing five men from Central Asia in refugee camps, I asked them what would attract them to actually listen to Bible stories on the radio. After suggesting five or six options, I asked, “Would you listen to conversion testimonies from Muslims, even Muslim religious leaders?” Their eyes grew wide. One asked through an interpreter, … Continue reading
In Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury depicted book-burning as a way to control the masses. The government in that dystopian future wanted to stamp out dissenting voices. In their place, people were given access to “parlor walls,” which were giant flatscreen televisions airing sappy entertainment and sports. Even Bibles were discarded in the trash or … Continue reading
Church members need to be discipled in church planting. Jesus trained His disciples by sending out the Twelve and then the 70 in pairs (Matthew 9, Luke 10). When He gave the Great Commission, they were ready (Matthew 28:18-20). Why not make disciples who can be used of God in church planting? Now, when I … Continue reading
TruthSticks 