I’ve been talking about the first sign of a healthy small group. It must be Christ-centered. Heather Zempel (at right) put it so well in her blog November 23. Check it out: “The disciples didn’t lay their lives down for a cause but for a person.” That’s how Dave Buehring kicked off his talk on the Ways of God at …

For those of you outside of Northeast Christian, we are now on Day 2 of a food challenge, eating just a small amount of rice and beans for lunch and dinner (and maybe 1 tortilla) and oatmeal for breakfast. We’re doing this as a church as an act of solidarity with those who live in the bottom economic half of …

I am not the leader of our small group. I’m not trying to get out of anything. I’m not passing the buck. It’s just that a group can only have one real leader, and I’m not it. In my last blog, I wrote about the importance of a small group being “Christ-centered.” What’s even more important is that the leadership …

Healthy small groups are like Tootsie Pops. The most important part is what’s at it’s center. I was thinking about this analogy and the tract that contrasts two ways of living life, represented by two circles: the self-directed and Christ-centered life. Here’s the illustration from the Campus Crusade web site: What’s at the center of these circles determines the kind …

Today I came across a great blog post by DeAntwan Fitts, pastor of Peace Chapel in Los Angeles, titled “Five Stages of a Healthy Small Group.” Great post, and a very necessary part of what I’m discussing here. DeAntwan begins his post, Healthy small groups do not just happen. They are the result of the leader being INTENTIONAL about moving …

Question #1: Is your group healthy? A healthy group is a group that will naturally grow, develop, bear fruit, and reproduce. Question #2: How do you know if your group is healthy or not? Last spring I wanted to answer the second question so I could help our groups answer the first one. So I thought and prayed and asked …

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 …