In December of 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld got into hot water when he responded to reporters’ questions about whether-or-not US troops were ready for war by saying “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at ...
People aren’t giving enough.
People aren’t attending enough.
People aren’t volunteering enough.
These are the complaints I hear most often from other pastors when we’re talking about the frustrations they have with church members.
Family Frustrations
Before ...
Of all the ingredients needed for a healthy church, one of the most important is a leadership team that works well together.
This is true for a megachurch with paid staff, and for a small church working entirely with volunteers.
One of the most visible and influential relationships ...
All healthy things grow.”
There may be no phrase that has caused me more ministry angst than that one.
For years, I pastored a healthy church.
For many of those years, it was a numerically growing church.
Then it wasn’t.
But, as far as I could tell, it was still healthy.
Most of what we do in the pastorate makes no logical sense.
At least not in the here and now.
We invest in people who fail us over and over again. We pray, counsel, cry, study, preach, give and sacrifice – and often we wonder what good it all does.
Then we do it again.
Why?
There’s something very freeing about letting go of the need to perform.
Even when our goal is something noble.
Recently, I had the chance to observe this in a very tangible, personal way.
I was speaking at a conference to a bunch of pastors – mostly from small churches ...
Church growth is great.
But I’m done with pushing for it.
Done with making it the reason I wake up in the morning.
Done with obsessing over numerical increase or decrease.
Done with thinking that our church has to be bigger to be better.
Church Growth Is Not Enough
Years ago ...
Read More from Karl
