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At a pastor’s conference recently, I was assigned Orality in Preaching. What I didn’t know is that I would be following a preaching professor. Okay, he was the keynote and I led a breakout, but I still had 15 eager pastors attending my session. The interesting thing to me was that the preaching professor didn’t … 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
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
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
We’ll call them Brian and Victoria Samples. They are followers of Jesus, born-again, and church shoppers. Following the tried-and-true method of how to select a new church passed down from their parents, the young couple sits through several worship services, boldly leave their toddler in childcare, and pray about their fit with that church. Now, … Continue reading
David Garrison, author of Church Planting Movements, introduced me to WIGtake. It was a phrase being kicked around by missions strategists. The WIGtake question is “What’s It Gonna take to reach a people group with the Gospel?” Prayerfully ask the WIGtake question needed to spiritually transform lives and bring spiritual awakening to your community. A strategy is … Continue reading
Standing around with pastors during a break at an associational pastor’s conference, one pastor lamented that his church had stopped growing. When I asked why, he said that his building could only hold so many people. When I asked him why a little thing like drywall would prohibit growth, it was like scales fell off … Continue reading
My mother’s favorite story is about a little girl who needed new shoes, but foolishly spent her money on a beautiful purple jar. One day she opened the jar and dropped it on the floor. All the purple water spilled out and she was left not only with a useless jar, but shoes that hurt … Continue reading
Priorities help you rifle into the heart of the evilness called clutter. Busyness is the noise of life. And trust me that noise can be deafening. There’s a phrase that I’ve learned in a Bible study: Look for where God is at work and join Him. Maybe you know it, too. Some manage to raise … Continue reading
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