By Thom Rainer As we look at the incredible response to the book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, on its fifth anniversary, I think it’s worth noting why some members were really surprised when their church closed its doors. “I didn’t see it coming,” commented a member of a deceased church. She knew the church had declined, but she was not prepared for the demise of her congregation. In her church, and in many others, there are at least five…
By Michael Todd Wilson “Come . . . all who are . . . burdened. . . . my burden is light.” This is a very different kind of unburdening than we’d initially think and, on brief reflection, different than we might even want. The idea of being unburdened conjures up images of running a full-tilt Olympic sprint without restraints, completely unencumbered. We certainly have this in store for us in heaven, but this isn’t going to be our experience…
Thom Rainer in his small but powerful read I Am a Church Member, compares the difference between Country Club Membership and Church Membership. God clearly designed the church to act as a body, with each member actively serving for the mutual benefit of others, exercising their God-given spiritual gifts for the health and well-being of the body with the end result a healthy church involved in building God’s kingdom. However, the predominate trend that Rainer addresses is the country club…
Given the opportunity to either please God or trust God, which path would you choose? Most of my life has been spent trying to desperately please God and striving hard to be all God wants me to be and so much depended on me. I had to do all that others told me to do in order to be a “good Christian.” I wanted to please God so I could have an intimate relationship with Him because if I wasn’t…
By Michael Todd Wilson There are lots of things we can do when we realize we’re under attack by the enemy: make a healthier choice, quote Deuteronomy to the devil, phone a friend, sing a favorite hymn. All of these are good things to do. But if these are the first things we do, it will turn into more of a self-help maneuver than a biblical response. James 4:7 says we’re to resist the devil. But notice the context: “Submit…
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