People talk and sing a lot about joy, especially at this time of year, but as you look around, is there much joy to be found? Most people in the world find joy in sentiment and circumstances and stuff, but the Christian has a different sort of joy—a godly joy. Let’s look at some of the songs of the season …

Small groups can either divide us or bring reconciliation. We can’t deny that a level of racial divide exists in the U.S. (still) today. I’m not pointing fingers for who is responsible for this and I hope you don’t either. But I want to move beyond that fact and look at the state of our small groups. Are they places …

Like you, I’m reading and listening to people who don’t understand why a Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk is refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on her religious beliefs. This is a clash of worldviews. Some see their religious liberties being violated. Some see their rights, as upheld by the Supreme Court, being violated. Some see this as …

What will happen to the church and to small groups if (or when) it becomes illegal for Christian ministers to publicly hold up biblical values? What if your testimony became “hate speech”? These are the questions Francis Chan addresses in this three-and-a-half-minute video. The video, I believe, is actually misnamed. While politics is the backdrop of his comments here, Chan’s …

Today: Proverbs 19    “Get ‘er done!” – Larry the Cable Guy “Just do it.” – Nike advertising slogan “I did it my way.” – Frank Sinatra “Have it your way.” – Burger King    These are the ways our culture teaches us to live. They say …      You da man!      You are the master of your own …

My friend Ben Reed, a fellow small group pastor (Grace Community Church in Clarksville, Tennessee), writer, and the Small Groups Network marketing director, sent me an email earlier today that contains a letter from Rick Warren to his church staff at Saddleback Church and an interview Warren did in response to some misinformation about him and Saddleback. I thought it …

Two opposing world-views. Two ways of living life. Two patterns for how to operate. Which will you choose? The culture this world teaches one thing and the Word of God teaches the opposite: “Get ‘er done!” – Larry the Cable Guy  “The Son  . . . can do only what he sees his Father doing.” – Jesus (John 5:19)  “Just do it.” …

In my time with the Father this morning, I read Zechariah 5. Strange chapter at first glance. The “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” chapter of the Bible. Seems like Zechariah ate too many poppy seeds the day he wrote this. There are huge scrolls flying through the sky, like those airplane banners you see at Myrtle Beach … only …

Have you seen the news lately about a Pew Forum survey on religious knowledge? Apparently Christians did not fare well. I took the survey online this morning and scored 80%. (Hey, it was really early, before my first cup of coffee.) Christian haters on the Internet and TV are using this as a “gotcha.” Some Christians are doing the same, …

“Blood is thicker than water.” I’ve given that proverb a lot of thought for a long time. The saying goes back hundreds of years and means that the bonds of family are stronger than those between friends. I know plenty of people (those who have messy relationships with their families of origin) who would argue with that opinion at even …