Tag: ministry

The Ministry of Listening

As Christians, we are all taught to talk. Evangelism is one of the first skills we learn, even as young children: say this, say that, memorize the Romans Road, learn to share. But we learn listening less or not at all, and the more time passes the more I become convinced that listening is just as vital a part of ministry and loving others. [Click title to read more.]

7 Things Seekers Want To See On Your Church Website

My husband and I have recently started church-hunting. As a part of that process, we - like so many others of our generation - turned to the Internet first. We used Google maps to identify the churches nearby, and then to narrow down the prospects we started visiting websites: some good, some bad, some incomprehensible. In light of that, I thought it might be useful to offer up a list of things I, and most seekers (believers or otherwise), might be searching for when we find your church on the web. [Click title to read more.]

Bringing Biblical Hospitality Into The Present Day

Outside the church, we have to handle hospitality on our own. Believers still open their hearts and homes to people, but more likely than not we already know those people, and like them. We entertain, but entertaining doesn't always mean we're "loving strangers." Most of us won't come into direct contact with weary travelers crossing the land and looking for a place to stay. So what does hospitality look like in the modern age?

Focusing on Ourselves

What Jesus demonstrates here to the disciples is that it isn't our job to police the world in His name. If others are glorifying Christ - if others are doing good works in His name - Jesus' response is "Don't stop them." Don't hold people back. Don't intervene. Even if you think you can do it better. Even if you don't get it. Even if it's irritating. [Click title to read more.]

The Forgotten Children

There are girls I think of often. One was my best friend as a child.  In the third grade, we cut holes into trash bags and then put them on so we could be black horses, and pranced around in the yard neighing and pretending uncooked spaghetti was hay.  She visited me all the time, … Continue reading The Forgotten Children

Beware of Third Person Perspective

As Christians, especially in this new age of what I can only call the corporate church, it's easy to reduce people to demographics. We talk about people as prospects, as "future growth," as communities, as "the unsaved" or "the lost." And to the ears of those outside the church - to the ears of those we are trying to reach - I wonder if our approach doesn't come across as occasionally dehumanizing, as though the church lives in pursuit of numbers and not souls. [Click title to read more.]

Defining “Neighbor” Beyond Convenience

A lot of us have an idea in mind of who our "neighbors" ought to be. They are kind, benign people who live near us; they are sometimes homeless, but always grateful and quiet; they are people willing to accept our kindness and generally deserving of it. All too often, my neighbors are people it does not inconvenience me to love. [Click title to read more.]

It’s Okay For Us To Be Wrong

We want to have the "right" answers all the time. We want to look like we know what we're doing. We hate the idea of "looking bad" in front of the world. We like to focus on the positive. But we're human. [Click title to read more.]