Change or Die

I am currently reading a book by the same title as this article that was written by Alan Deutschman. As a student of change management and organizational development for churches, the title immediately caught my eye. I am deeply concerned when I read that 4,000 churches will permanently close this year (Steve Ogne and Tim [...]

Innovation: Where Has the Church Gone?

Like most people, churches resist change. Indeed there is a need to resist every whim and “new thing” that comes down the pike, even regarding the next big program from respected church leaders. However, could it be that churches have given up their position of leadership in the area of innovation? A review of church [...]

The Power of Coaching for Spiritual Growth

Until recently the word coaching was instantly connected to some area of sports, but that has changed. Today the term “coaching” is applied to many areas of everyday life. In the secular realm one may hire a life, executive, business, wellness, etiquette, marriage, spiritual, and of course, sports coach. However, the church has been slow to [...]

God Put the “Zing” in Amazing Grace!

One of my favorite quotes comes from Dietric Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship where he contrasted cheap grace and costly grace. Therein he wrote:
“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace [...]

What is Your “Cross-Style?”

Henry Blackaby wrote a spinoff book of his Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God work. The spinoff book I am speaking of is Experiencing the Cross. He was correct when he said, “The cross is not just his; the cross is mine, and the cross is yours. (p5)…Too many of God’s people [...]

Church Organizational Culture

The dawn of the 21st century brought a focus on organizational culture. Every organization is characterized by a culture, including churches. In fact the culture of a church perhaps does more to contribute to her success or failure than corporate culture contributes to a business in the secular realm. Various characteristics combine to form corporate [...]