Sometimes Faith is easy, sometimes it takes a great deal of courage to take the leap. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is pivotal and vital for a vibrant consistant relationship as a Christian. How's your faith doing? (click to read)

One of the biggest reasons why so many people endure the abuse and control of their religion is because there is something within that religion that they believe they can't get on their own. Perhaps the biggest thing that people think they can't do themselves is the act of worship. It is as if they believe that the church holds the patent on worship. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people admit that the only reason they come to church anymore is "for the worship". This has become such a common saying, that many churches have taken heed and spent the majority of their time and money enhancing the "worship experience" in their services. In today's religious world it has become a known fact that unless you have "extraordinary worship" you cannot build a church. (click to read)

Here I was praying about how to reach out to my community and God was tapping me on the shoulder saying..."Helloooooo, they're knocking on your door. Quit running away!" It was so obviously in front of me all of these years. What a fun way to give to my neighbors. (click to read)

Sometimes it can be hard to "see" God in the middle of difficult circumstances; in fact, we work hard to avoid hardship and difficulty in our lives. But hardship inevitably comes our way, and as we endure and by God's grace, survive and even thrive, we begin to realize that hardship trains us in a way that comfortable, risk-free existence does not. God uses "trials as training" to form us into the people he needs us to be. (click to read)

You cannot be a both a party strategist and a Christian prophet. In biblical terms you cannot wear both the king’s mantle and the prophet’s robe. These are separate callings that are only damaged when they are mixed. This mixture is precisely what has happened to the evangelical right. Christian witness will not be benefited if it also happens to the evangelical left. (click to read)

I want to ask a question, "What if there was a way of doing church that made community more accessible, facilitated discipleship, and inspired organic growth? If there was a way to do all of these things, why would anyone oppose something that helped people to follow Jesus in their everyday life, set them free to discover and practice their spiritual gifting in the context of worship, and helped encourage lifestyle of evangelism and personal mission? (click to read)

Once, on my way home from the library, I drove past an advertisement in a bus stop for a local church. The word, "Belonging" adorned the poster along with the name of the church and the face of an attractive curly blonde, smiling woman with teeth so white you could have mistaken it as an add for whitening toothpaste. (click to read)

Moving on but staying close to forgiveness. (click to read)

I recently attended a church planters conference at which there were free pens given out. I took that chance to pick up a few extra ones. In my attempt to be Missional as a bi-vocational church planter, I took one of these NWMN Church Planting pens to my “missional” job. My hope was that the pen would remind me of why I was working this full-time job – I am here to plant the church. (click to read)

Following is an excerpt from an interview with Randall Balmer, professor of American Religious History at Barnard College, Columbia University and author of such provocative books as Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, Thy Kingdom Come and God in the White House. (The full interview will appear in a forthcoming issue of The Wittenburg Door. ) (click to read)

The church split was like a death in the family. (click to read)

What do you do while inbetween ministry positions? What to do while waiting on God for an answer to your next step in a ministry career. (click to read)

If you're reading this, you probably have some sort of interest in "shaking things up" a bit in the "main corporate worship service/s" for your community. Your desire comes from a part inside of you that honestly wonders, "can this be *all* there is?" While I'm not saying that my observations will work in *every* setting, I think I've found a few things that can really help get things going in the direction you are pining for. (click to read)

Ten Practices of a Healthy Leader: (1) Laziness (2) Ignorance (3) Stage Fright (4) Identity Theft (5) Cheating (6) Day-Dreaming (7) Inefficiency (8) Think Unrealistically (9) Procrastination (10) Forgetfulness I try and practice all ten every week! (click to read)

One of the first things I struggled with when I first became a Christian was worship. Because I had never been exposed to any sort of church tradition or practice, I pigeon-holed the practice of worship as being the 15-20 minutes of music and singing before the sermon. (The on-going debates around me about contemporary vs. traditional, praise choruses vs. hymns did not help my struggle--it only reinforced my immature misconception of worship being only about singing.) I don't think I was alone in that struggle in the early days of my faith. (click to read)

I have come to conclusion that is quite easy to adopt the model of being emergent and this feature will be an easy-to-use guide for anyone wishing to reach this vital target market. You needn't worry - by following these simple guidelines, you'll get instant cred and can now call yourself "pomo" as much as you like (click to read)

The first time I saw this was two years before, and I laughed at the sight; it just didn’t seem to fit. The second year I wondered what the owners were thinking that they would do this. And on this Christmas Eve I just had to find out. (click to read)

Missional churches, emerging churches, mega-churches, Purpose Driven Churches, seeker sensitive churches, community church models, ancient future models, prosperity gospel churches... the list of labels can go on. Various groups like these are increasingly coming under organized leadership, exchanging resources, and sharing ideological similarities... all qualities that are driving the creation of neo-denominations. (click to read)

I sometimes wonder if we see our home churches as little spaceships. We are comfortable and safe in our spiritual life-supported environment. We are safe from the vacuum of the lost world around us. We may venture out into that vacuum during the week, but not without our pressure suits. Even so, we look forward to Sunday when we are free to worship in the shirtsleeve environment of our pressurized living rooms. (click to read)

This article gives Christians a view of woman that comports with Scripture. It is designed to set our sisters in Christ free from religious bondage and from a bottom-basement view of themselves. It also reveals to men the high place that God has given women. (click to read)