Bringing our first child home from the hospital was a joyous event. But after a few days of sleep deprivation, my wife and I were teetering on the edge of insanity. After a particularly difficult night, I called my mother to apologize for my selfish ...

Many churches are enthusiastic about cell group meetings in homes, but parents with younger children face a crunch: Shall they hire a babysitter, or shall they bring their kids along and hope they behave during the adult interaction? Here's how two groups ...

I've discovered that most church folk, whatever their denomination, have a similar reaction to evangelism: "That's just not my cup of tea, thank you." You can almost hear the iron gates clanging shut in their minds.

When I ask people ...

On earth, the kingdom of God comes into the lives of God's people. When asked by a bunch of teachers of the Law, "Where is this kingdom that you're talking about?" Jesus basically said: You know what? The kingdom is inside of you. The ...

A great many people seem confused about how small-group leaders should view themselves these days, especially in terms of what they should do in the Bible-study portion of a group gathering. One of the ways this confusion manifests itself is in the variety ...

A man I'll call Paul (because that's actually his name) told me he recently started going to church. In his mid-seventies, with no faith background, he woke up one morning with a sudden urge to hear the pope, and that launched him on a journey ...

Many churches are measuring the wrong things. We measure things like attendance and giving, but we should be looking at more fundamental things like anger, contempt, honesty, and the degree to which people are under the thumb of their lusts. Those things ...

A. W. Tozer gives us an answer to that question:

Some people have a knack for making me hungry to know God. I know a few people who when I'm done talking with them make me want to know and love Him more. I treasure those people. They don't try to be religious. ...

In the second and third chapters of John's Revelation, we find the letters dictated to the seven churches. Here, in a uniquely direct way, we have the Lord's assessment of health indicators for local congregations.

What strikes me is that some of the ...

It's Sunday morning in Nigeria. What do I look forward to at church today? A testimony of God's intervention in a life this week, a special number or song, a sermon, a prayer. The testimony challenges me and also helps me know that if I run into a similar ...

I firmly believe that small groups can be a positive force for discipleship, spiritual growth, and advancing the kingdom of God through acts of service and love. But, like any human endeavor, that potential for good is balanced by the potential to cause ...

Get to the heart of the question before you get to the answer.

One of my colleagues told me the story of a professor, a brilliant man, whose father couldn't support the family. As a boy, this professor listened as the extended family argued over who was ...

Pray continually, Paul urged the Thessalonians. The early church fathers took this one step further: continually make the sign of the cross.

"In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at ...

I applaud you for even pondering this question. All too often God's people switch loyalties from one church to another with the same amount of deliberation they give to what kind of fast food they'll eat for lunch! Yet choosing the gathering where we ...

Q. Do I need to go to church since I can find fellowship online?

A. What a great question! I've often wondered what the apostle Paul would think of our internet-driven world populated by blogs, chat rooms, and instant messaging. Imagine his letters ...