“The cost of change is always high,” says Edward H. Hammett, about his newest book (with James R. Pierce) Making Shifts without Making Waves (Chalice Press, 2009). “The cost of genuine transformation is the ability and desire to find and embrace the new, believing it is God’s next step for you, though it may be uncomfortable or unfamiliar at first.”
Read More >If your congregation is a cause that is accomplishing something worthwhile (like, say, growing the Kingdom of God), and if your congregation is a useful resource to people (helping them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ), then growing your tribe is pretty easy using social media.
Read More >The Orange River Challenge was the adventure of Brian Gray’s lifetime. The rafting excursion down South Africa’s longest river, in which Gray and his group of 17 encountered 90 kilometers of white water over the course of five days, was something he had never experienced before. In fact, before the 2005 trip Gray never hoped to, because he is a paraplegic. Even more amazing, Gray was not the only unique member of the group; it also contained five visually impaired members and a quadriplegic.
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What are multi-site churches thinking today? When the multi-site movement emerged, it really made a lot
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Not many pastors choose a missions point where they can also pursue their favorite sport. “I grew up on the beach in California and surfed all my life, and Indonesia has some of the best surfing in the world,” says Gary Galbraith, 43, senior pastor at Revival Christian Fellowship. But there was more to it than the love of surfing. “I fell in love with the people and saw the need,” he says.
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An amended “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” was enacted (section 249 of the Federal Code) in October 2009. The act expanded the scope of what crimes are punishable as “hate crimes.” Included as a punishable offense in the new law is the willful causing or attempting “to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived — sexual orientation [or] gender identity … of any person.”
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Many new church plants start out with several members of the family holding paid or volunteer positions. The wife heads up children’s work, a brother might be in charge of small groups, and as years go by, and the congregation grows, these people might remain and children may be added to other positions in the church.
Read More >I love to listen to music. For me it’s not just the beat, it’s the lyrics. What was going on when the writer wrote the song? One song that has meant a lot to me over the years is the Beatles “Help.” The difference from 20 years ago and today is that I can truly relate to this song.
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Is this the time for a church to be building? Jobs are being lost and families are rethinking their pledges to their church’s budget. Even as many are having difficulty with their own home mortgage much less be financing their church’s new home, one person in the building trades says the present time is “an incredible opportunity for the faith-based building sector.”
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