Your attitude as a leader is a vital to the health of your small group. That’s why your daily time with God is so important. It’s the starting point for leading from the heart. It’s way too easy for a leader to fall into an “O, God …” attitude. O, God, these people aren’t really growing. O, God, why are …

“How’s the condition of your heart?” What would happen if you asked that question as an icebreaker before your next study? What if you asked it before a conversation with your kid? What if you asked yourself, “What’s the condition of this person’s heart right now?” even before sharing the gospel with someone? I love the story Jesus told about …

I’m glad 2009 is over. It was a very difficult year for me. I won’t go into all the particulars here, but as I look back now, I’d say it was a year of battle. At times during the year I found myself on the front line of an intense spiritual war in my marriage, job, family, finances, and other …

I was thinking this morning about a perspective on Christmas I had never really considered before this year. When Jesus was born, it was as if God was sending his Son into the enemy’s territory to do battle–battle for our souls. Peace on earth, goodwill to men will come in time. But now there is a spiritual war taking place, …

The other day I was listening to a sermon by Chip Ingram in which he compared authentic community to an “ecosystem” (a link to the MP3 can be found at the bottom of this blog entry). I like this comparison. For years I’ve taught that authentic Christian community is the “environment” or “culture” where people grow best. I used to …